When we planned this trip back in November 2019, I think I had heard the “Coronavirus” mentioned. It was a China thing, nothing I was thinking about a whole lot, ESPECIALLY not for November 2020. I planned with no concern at all.

I invited my parents to join as well as two other couples, both of whom had traveled to the resort in the past. We all booked our club level rooms during Black Friday, and that was really the end of it.

Then, came March and the US shut down. Still, November was a LONG way away… couldn’t REALLY be a problem, could it? Then, the RESORT shut down. Still, November was a long way away. We booked flights, with fingers crossed. There were none of those non-stop flights which we love from Austin. Still, going through Houston couldn’t be TOO bad. Finally, the resort reopened, COVID numbers started to go down.

Then, just weeks before the trip, they started to rise again, to even higher levels than before. We hemmed and hawed almost to the last possible second, wondering whether this was the most foolhardy undertaking we had ever considered. Still, we decided that the resort was no more (or less) dangerous than our day to day life, and we went. I am glad we did.

I took the day off before the trip to get all my paperwork printed (immigration form, excursion, room requests, Kalido travel voucher, confirmation, etc.) and all of my items assembled (clothes, power cord, fan, Liquid IV, champagne stopper, fire stick). I like Southwest because I can pack everything I will need and MIGHT need. I like to make my room feel like home for those few days.

Other than the worry of getting sick, I quite like airport travel during COVID. The airports are EMPTY, and on Southwest, until the end of this month, the middle seats are unoccupied. Our travel was totally non-eventful, just as you would hope it would be! When we landed at about 1:30 Thursday afternoon, there was NO ONE in the immigration line. Customs was merely a question for each of us as we walked through, and our luggage was already waiting. We were out of the airport in less than 15 minutes. I’m not exaggerating. And the always punctual Kalido was ready and waiting for us. We were to the resort before 3:00.

Glasses of champagne were handed out and we were escorted immediately to the club lounge for checkin. It was a little confusing because my friends and parents were there with us, and all three couples were checking in at the same moment, so there was lots of talking through plexiglass as our requests were taken. They wanted to let us know of their COVID precautions and to schedule our housekeeping and turn down to be sure we wanted it, and to be sure that they did it when we weren’t in the room. No sooner were we seated than the ninja guest services manager, Carolina Paz, was at my side. She is EVERYWHERE all at once! She welcomed us back to the resort and wanted to see if we had plans for dinner.

Actually, I did. I love Mexican food on the first night, so we opted for Agave. She said since there were six of us she wanted to be sure we had a chance to eat together if we wanted to, so we made plans to meet at 7 o’clock.

I had made some requests before we arrived (building 8B, Bailey’s in my room, Viscofresh pillows). All requests were met EXCEPT the room; however, when we got to the room, I’m glad that request was NOT met. I had room 8154 in building 8A, overlooking the grill and lobster house. Supposedly this was a pool view room. It was, sort of, but really? The view of the ocean was amazing. It wasn’t just a glimpse. It was expansive and wonderful. I’ll be requesting that again if at all possible.

As we were being escorted to the room Zuri, our building concierge stopped us to see if we had any requests. Our only request was to lower our room temperature to 64, which was promptly done. Our room did feel slightly humid and smell slightly musty, but damprid takes care of that in no time at all.

We dropped our bags and went to The Grill for lunch. I had another couple of friends who were staying, and I ran by the building 8 pool to greet them briefly before lunch.

I had the corn soup, which I’ve had before. Richard had the grouper ceviche, which he also loved. Then, the club sandwich just called out to me. (I’ve had the fish tacos most other times.) I’m glad it did! It was SO good. I need to be better at taking pictures of my lunch food, but it was an excellent club sandwich. It was bigger than I expected, but so good!

After that, I had intended to get into a pool, but it was already getting close to time to get ready for dinner! (Isn’t that the way it goes on vacation? Finish a meal and then plan another?) Still, I thought we’d stop in to the martini bar to see Cesar before going back to unpack. It was the very beginning of his shift, so we were actually able to talk for a bit. I knew his daughter had started at Princeton. She is back visiting for the month, and I love to see his pride as he talks about her. I had no idea she’d also been accepted at Stanford, Duke, and a myriad of other universities! He eventually sent us on our way with a peanut butter jelly shot!

Back to the room to unpack. There are drawers and shelves EVERYWHERE, so it’s very easy to make the room feel like a home. There is plenty of space to put all of your items and unpack completely while stowing the suitcases away.

When we walked into Agave, we were pleasantly surprised to see another of our favorite friends manning the bar. TNT himself, Tonatiuh!!! And when you see Tona, you have no choice but to get yourself a Tonatini, right?

I was SLIGHTLY disappointed to be seated inside instead of in the gorgeous courtyard, but I’m sure that was because they didn’t have a larger table outside. The disappointment was VERY short lived.

Francisco, our waiter, was excellent and gave us some of his favorite choices. I mean, you can’t really go to Agave without the Oaxaca mixed cheese can you? I veered away from his suggestion some, however, and went with the Enmoladas. Oh. my. goodness. I have had a lot of tasty dishes at Excellence, but this may have been my favorite ever. They don’t have menus at the restaurant right now. You have to have your phone and look at the app to order, but at least this way it wasn’t too dark to see it! I ended with the ice cream trio, also spectacular!

It had been a long day of travel. Still, I was determined to make it to the fire show for white night.

Because of COVID, white night was QUITE reduced. It was really just a few decorations and no buffet. It was also VERY windy our first few days there, so the “fire” show was in the theater as opposed to on the Prelude square. Maybe the fire came out later, but all we really saw were some Christmas light like butterfly costumes. They were pretty, but none of the fire I’ve been used to in the past.

We had a pick up for a boat ride at 8:20 AM the next morning, so we decided to call it a night and go back to the room. We’d brought an Amazon Firestick and hooked it up. I was thrilled! Friends is no longer available in the US but it is in Mexico, so why not watch some comfort TV and get ready for bed! We couldn’t get the regular remote to work with it, but we were able to hook up the room remote and all was well!

Coming back to EPM really does feel like coming home. I was sated, exhausted, and ready to go on my first excursion the next day.