Day 2 recap:

Friday, November 16.

(Since I didn’t have my phone, some of the images are mine, and some I found on Google images.)

Before my eyes even opened, the scent of the room hit my nostrils and reminded me where I was. Tiniest bit of a headache behind my eyes reminded me of how I had ended the night before… eeeek…

My husband often calls me a “trashcan” during my first day of vacation… the half of a dirty martini in one glass and a half finished sparkling wine in the other reminded me I didn’t disappoint… Ooops!

Well, it was our first full day, and I was going to enjoy it no matter what! Husband ordered fruit, pastries and coffee through room service, and I decided to start with the hangover remedies. I put a generous splash of Bailey’s in my coffee and scarfed down some delectable croissants to combat the shakes.

It was about 9 AM by this point, and I had a an 11 o’clock hydrotherapy appointment with my friends. Richard and I decided to wander the resort some. First, we went down to the club lounge. Protein seemed like a good idea, too, so I got some cheese and turkey to go with my croissant. I inquired about the magical and mysterious chlorophyll water. They told me they didn’t have any, so I asked for just a Diet Coke.

However, just a few minutes later a Diet Coke AND a chlorophyll water came to our table! The bartender (I wish I had been writing down names, but I had “lost” my phone on the first day, and didn’t have any place to take notes) was kind enough to send someone to get it for me. It tasted minty and fresh and may have helped a little.

After that, I went on a hunt for the storied cabanas by the spa. I found them. Alas, they were all taken. I went to Revive because I wanted to try coconut water from an actual coconut. I was told those were available from 12-2 only. I ordered a “Tommy” smoothie instead. It was parsley and mint and cucumber and quite yummy for my angry tummy and head.

We found a bali bed right behind revive on the corner of the spa pool where the hammocks are, and I read the newspaper and enjoyed the peace with my husband. Eventually, birthday boy Mark and Heather joined us to go to the aqua therapy at the spa.

As we entered for our appointment, I had one of those… “Uh oh… I’m gonna throw up right now…” morning after moments that reminded me of college… But we entered the spa, the essential oils hit my senses, and all was good at that moment. This was my second time to do the hydrotherapy, and knowing what was going to happen made it even BETTER than my first.

I gotta say this for first day overindulgence.. doing hydrotherapy on day two was PERFECTION. Go from sweating it out in the steam room, to the cold showers, back to the sauna with some water… Oh, yeah… by the time we left, I was feeling ALMOST human…I don’t like massages… Too much time in one place with my eyes closed and not knowing what’s going to happen next, but I DO like hydrotherapy. A LOT. I’m fine with the cold water and the crazy jets.. ALL of it. And, it was free(ish), since we’re EC. (My husband, who DOES like the spa, did this one with us on Friday; then, since hydrotherapy comes with all treatments, he did it again when he got his massage on Sunday.)

As we were leaving, we stopped BACK by Revive, and I got my fresh coconut and my first taste of coconut water right from the source.

Next up, since it was Friday, I have been thinking about Rock-n-Burger on the beach ever since I heard of it last year. I LOVE Rock-n-Roll more than Joan Jett and burgers more than Ronald McDonald. Still, when I walked into Las Olas, my tummy did a tentative turn. I braved it, however, and got some grilled onions and swiss cheese and got that big fat patty on a bun.

Oh my goodness! It was better than I expected… for real. I LOVE burgers. I really love thick juicy burgers. These really were to my taste for sure. It was HUGE. But great. Sitting and listening to the band with my toes in the sand was a great way to ease into the afternoon. This is what I needed for the last remnants of my hangover. It was about 1 o’clock in the afternoon by this time. Still, there were plenty of palapas available on the EC beach, so we snagged one. I wandered up to look at the sushi. It really looked quite lovely. I didn’t eat any, as I was all full of burgers.

It was Mark and Heather’s last full day, so I saw them get their pineapple eviction notice. Then, we went to pool 8 to let Tonatiuh abuse us a bit.

There, I had my first real drink of the day, a Mexican flag. Then, Heather and I went to paint lizards. We both have lizard tattoos. We both call ourselves “lizard b***es” (which is a quarter of a century old complicated story that I may share on my NEXT first day there…). Regardless, we needed to paint some lizards. They turned our VERY cute thanks to our limited skills and the skills of the touch up artists. It was a lot of fun! Back to EC pool 8 to hang out with Heather’s new friends…

Then, back to the room to clean up. Richard stopped by Sol bar and brought a meat lover’s pizza up with him, which was okay, but didn’t live up to the hype in quite the same was as the burger had for me.

From there, on to Lobster House for an appetizer of steamed lobster tail. This was MUCH better than I anticipated. I’ve had Caribbean spiny lobsters before, and they’re always small and chewy. This was larger than I expected and sweet and tender like I want a lobster to be. The view was perfect. And, somehow, the staff was aware it was Mark’s birthday, so they came and brought him cake and sang happy birthday to him.

Next, it was inside for actual dinner at Barcelona. (This was my second visit to the resort. The first time we went to Basmati, Chez Isabel, and Flavor Market. I LOVED Basmati, thought Chez Isabel was okay, and Flavor Market was my favorite. It was my goal on trip 2 to repeat as little as possible.)

Barcelona was pretty dark inside and not a whole lot of other people. In my opinion, this restaurant had less ambiance than any of the others I’ve been to. It was stark and cafeteria like. I had the artichoke/ham appetizer. The artichokes tasted canned. It was just okay. Then, I asked for the seafood fideua to be made into vegetarian. (They did). I also ordered lobster canneloni. I wasn’t aware that the main dishes at this restaurant were so large. The fideua was HUGE. It was okay. It didn’t taste much better than a frozen spaghetti. The lobster canneloni was quite good, and my husband said the beef ribs were excellent. Service here was VERY slow. There were long times between taking our order and getting our food, and very long times between courses. The staff was kind and attentive. The food was just quite slow in coming. Maybe it will be better next time. It wasn’t a bad meal. It just wouldn’t be at the top of my list.

After dinner, I saw Cesar who made me a thin mint girl scout martini which I LOVED…

Then, out to the magic show in the theater. I LOVED the over-the -top drama of this! Yes, it was cheezy, but it was such, good fun! I particularly liked the spinning into another dress and the laser portions of the show. I was suitably entertained!

After that, back to Diego for a nightcap and to watch the silent party for awhile. We didn’t participate, but it seemed like the people who were doing it were having a great time. Diego gave us some Agavero, which is a tequila liqueur. It’s not creamy like 1921, but it’s sweet with a floral infusion. I really liked it a lot.

We were sad when we got back to the room that turn down had not come, but I planned to contact the concierge the next day to let them know that we generally came back to the room around 10 or so… I had hoped to get an Excellence Times to plan the next day, but no worries… I knew one would be on the door when we woke up.

I went to bed that night with NO fear of waking with a hangover in the morning for day 3… which is ALWAYS a good thing!