It was literally the day I’d been waiting for all year!
My husband would later accuse me of sounding like a moose when I came back the room the night before. Maybe that last sambuca from Cesar was one drink too many! Ha! When I returned the previous night, my husband was already asleep. I packed my bag for the day so that I could get up and hit the beach before the sun rose. I thought I’d been quiet! Guess not!!!
I knew my husband had a 9 AM spa appointment. I had a 7 AM sunrise appointment. 7:02 to be specific…. so I was out the door at about 6:40. When I got down there, I saw my mom already perched on one of the beds closest to the water.
As the resort was starting to open, I saw the employees all over the beach, literally picking up pieces of sea grass with their fingers and dropping them into trash bags. Grounds keepers were wiping down the leaves of the foliage. I’m not kidding about any of this. The place is THAT immaculate.
I was glad to see there was some cloud cover. That always makes for the most spectacular sunrises.
Really, you have to be there to get the intensity of the colors, but it truly is glorious.
The wind was still whipping around, but I like it that way! It never got too hot. In fact, the whole day was a series of four-minute rain showers followed by bright, spectacular sun. I watched from my bali bed for hours as Manuel was the concierge and Rubi brought me one wonderful drink after another. I read and catnapped. My husband texted me he was done with his massage and told me he was going to paint an ornament at the cart by building 8. I asked him to meet for lunch when he was done. At noon, I saw that two bali beds were still open, and I told Manuel I was leaving for an hour
Generally, I don’t do this. I feel bad about leaving the bed for even a minute if someone else wants a chance, but since so many had been open the day before and were still open that day, I thought it would be okay. As soon as we sat down at The Grill it started to rain, so we moved in, and our friends joined us. Moments later my parents showed up and joined us as well.
Hungry, I went for a quinoa salad and a burger! Again, the magical Carolina Paz showed up almost as soon as we were seated and asked about dinner that night. I told her that I wanted to try Toscana, but just the duck ravioli, and that my parents planned to go to Basmati after that, and my friends, my husband and I planned to go to the Grill. She asked if she could make us a reservation. We were happy to have her do that.
I returned to the bali bed for just a bit before deciding that I like the idea of some pool time. I told Manuel I’d see him in the morning. We walked through the little path to the building 8 pool, where I met a few other addicts and the incomparable Marlon, the concierge.
So, you know those days when you’ve been drinking for a bit? I decided I needed food, yet again. (Yes, this is AFTER my burger at lunch), and I really wanted a bath and room service. I left my husband behind to go up to the room for awhile. I simply couldn’t decide! I had heard so much about the room service hotdog. I knew I liked the cheese fingers. My friend had told me about the carbonara pizza. I mean, what’s a woman to do? I had to order all of it. I only had a little of each, I promise, but WOW that’s a lot of food for one day, and I hadn’t even gotten to dinner!
I thought it was all pretty typical room service fare. Not excellent, but not bad either. I opened up the window to see the gorgeous view outside and hopped in the tub with my cheese sticks! Talk about gluttony…
Still, it was time to get ready to… well, to go eat… If you haven’t done the duck ravioli at Toscana, truly you’re missing out. We had a glass of the house Sauvignon Blanc and the buttery, cheesy, tasty goodness of the ravioli, The duck is ground, which wasn’t my favorite, but the sauce and the pasta were extraordinary!
Carolina had called right before we left for dinner to mention that The Grill was closed so we changed our plans to the lobster house. We had a little wait there, so I took the time to enjoy the beauty of the resort at night. It really is phenomenal.
We ordered the same sauvignon blanc we had at Toscana, but for whatever reason, something was off about it at the Lobster House. We even asked the waiter to open a second bottle. Again, it was off. It smelled and tasted as if maybe it had gotten too warm? Not the waiter’s fault, and that kind of thing happens everywhere. It certainly didn’t put a damper on our night. We switched to sparkling wine, and I had perhaps the best lobster I’ve ever had there. I did the garlic sauce on the steamed tail and it was very tender. I also enjoyed the mashed potatoes, but I was so full it was nearly painful! Far too many treats for one day!
From there, we decided on the burlesque show. Again, I greatly enjoyed it! I particularly liked the roller skaters and the scene from the musical Chicago. I’m often too worn out by the end of the day to make the shows, but I love the two I made it to this year.
That night when we got back to the room, we had a few drinks on the balcony, and my husband suggested I go ahead and pack my bag the night before.
He knew quite well that I had a date with the EC beach early the next morning for our last full day, and I didn’t intend to miss it!
Part-Time Teacher; Full-Time Human 