As I continue writing about the week, I keep remembering things I forgot to mention in the appropriate post. Like I just remembered that on Thursday night in our inebriated state, as we were stumbling back to our room, I insisted on stopping at the little cafe for strawberry milkshakes. I walked in and asked the barista if there was a Taco Bell near by. Bwaahahahahaha!
Also I forgot to mention that Joel saw Butch Stewart, the owner of Sandals, riding around on a golf cart one day. He told me this and I was like, yeah right, babe. Sure you did. But then we heard later from one of the staff that ol' Butch had been at the resort that week! I'll be damned. Apparently, he likes to go all "Undercover Boss" and wears disguises to check out the service and quality levels of his resorts. He wasn't disguised when Joel saw him though. Obviously.
Friday was our last full day in paradise and we really wanted to make the absolute most of it. But, we woke up to rainy conditions and overcast skies so we were kind of bummed. We claimed a cabana by the pool anyway so even if it did rain all day, at least we'd be under cover! Turned out though that we were worried for nothing - the Bahamian Gods were looking down on us and the sun came out mid morning and it turned in to a beautiful day.
Also I forgot to mention that Joel saw Butch Stewart, the owner of Sandals, riding around on a golf cart one day. He told me this and I was like, yeah right, babe. Sure you did. But then we heard later from one of the staff that ol' Butch had been at the resort that week! I'll be damned. Apparently, he likes to go all "Undercover Boss" and wears disguises to check out the service and quality levels of his resorts. He wasn't disguised when Joel saw him though. Obviously.
Friday was our last full day in paradise and we really wanted to make the absolute most of it. But, we woke up to rainy conditions and overcast skies so we were kind of bummed. We claimed a cabana by the pool anyway so even if it did rain all day, at least we'd be under cover! Turned out though that we were worried for nothing - the Bahamian Gods were looking down on us and the sun came out mid morning and it turned in to a beautiful day.
My rash was getting better (thank you again to that angel nurse!) so I felt that I could manage some time in the sun. As soon as the rain stopped, we headed to the beach to get in a final sail on the catamaran. We really enjoyed doing that and both of us had a really good hang of sailing, steering and turning by the time we had to go back to shore. Once we got back we decided that we wanted to try something else, so we took out a kayak and paddled around a bit.
Some time after that, I was thinking to myself, man that hot dog from yesterday was so good. I wish they'd have hot dogs again. Lo and behold around lunch time that hot dog cart was wheeled out and my hot dog prayers were answered! I can't explain how I can love hot dogs smothered in ketchup and cheese so much - I just do.
Some time after that, I was thinking to myself, man that hot dog from yesterday was so good. I wish they'd have hot dogs again. Lo and behold around lunch time that hot dog cart was wheeled out and my hot dog prayers were answered! I can't explain how I can love hot dogs smothered in ketchup and cheese so much - I just do.
I forgot to mention that Joel went snorkeling on Thursday afternoon with the Sandals activity people. They take you on a little bus over to the marina which is right next door to the resort. Then they take you out to good spot somewhere near the marina - about a 10-15 minute boat ride - to snorkel. The sign up sheets for the snorkeling mini-excursions are always filled up several days in advance. But when Joel showed up to go on his excursion, only one other couple showed up (I think 14 people can go at a time).
On Friday, after we sailed and kayaked, we tried to sign up for the afternoon snorkeling but of course there were no spots available. Considering the turnout the day before, we decided to just show up at the appointed time anyway and see if there were any no shows. And there were! So off we went.
We ended up snorkeling basically right at the outside edge of the bay where the resort is situated. I was trying to be brave and get over my salt water claustrophobia, so I geared up and jumped in. I really tried this time. I wanted to see all the cool things that Joel told me about the day before. But once again, saltwater in my mouth, nose and eyes and I just couldn't deal with it. I gave up after about 5 minutes. The water was a little rough and the boat was really rockin'. Since I get motion sick so easily I just floated in the water near the boat for a while. But I was getting thrown around so much that I did end up getting back on. And then I got all nauseous and just prayed I wouldn't puke.
Meanwhile, Joel is snorkeling all around and seeing all kinds of neat things. He saw a HUGE lobster and a big, beautiful tuna fish. Someone hollered that they saw an octopus!
I was really jealous. I'm such a geeky loser. Can't handle sun. Can't handle salt. Can't handle waves. Aren't I a barrel of fun?!
Our last dinner was back at the French restaurant. The food there ended up being our favorite. I asked our waiter to bring me a fancy, fruity martini. I didn't really care what it was, I just wanted to try something different. He brought me this beautiful green kiwi/peach drink. It was yum. Through the meal, our waiter brought me two other fruity martinis. A Cosmo and some kind of blue drink with a pineapple flavor. It was my favorite.
We both basically repeated our meals from the night before. Except this time I got photos! Salmon for me and steak for Joel. And of course, finished off with creme brulee of which I never got any pictures. Apparently I was always so excited to dig in that I never thought to take a photo.
As we were finishing up dinner I could hear what sounded like a marching band coming from outside and across the courtyard. I was completely intrigued and I was hurrying Joel up so we could go check it out. I didn't want to miss a potential Bahamian marching band! We get over there and apparently we had somehow missed the memo that there was a resort wide buffet dinner and festival that night. There were some folks dressed up in very festive costumes and there pretty much was a marching band there! We stayed and listened for while.
And that was our last night in paradise. We headed back to our room to start packing. Sad, sad times.
We woke up Saturday morning to beautiful rays of sun streaming in to the room between the cracks in the curtains. Joel goes and opens them up and it's raining! Like pretty steadily. But the sun was shining brilliantly. It was pretty neat.
We didn't have to leave for the airport until 10:30am so we had plenty of time to leisurely finish packing and getting ready. Joel took a couple snapshots of me in my favorite outfit of the week. He also got me completely addicted to caramel macchiatos from the cafe. Sooo delicious.
After packing and saying goodbye to our room, we headed for our last breakfast of the vacation. Now, I haven't mentioned breakfast yet in any of my posts, but let me just tell you, it was my absolute FAVORITE PART OF THE DAY!! First off, most days, we'd get a coffee and some danishes from the cafe and bring it to our room as we got ready for the day. Then, every day except one, we went to the breakfast buffet and Jonniemae made me the best fried eggs over medium smothered in cheese on the face of the planet. The whole. Entire. Planet. She could also make a mean omelet which Joel regularly enjoyed.
You'll notice on the last day, I didn't even bother to try to make it look like I wanted to eat healthy. I didn't get any fruit or yogurt or smoothies or anything that might be construed as making a smart, healthy breakfast decision. White cheddar cheese, bacon, toast, sausage, cheese covered fried eggs, fresh orange juice, caramel macchiato, and two diet cokes. And keep in mind, I'd already had a danish or two in my room. Wow, I'm a little embarrassed right now.
On the last day when ordering my eggs I said, "Jonniemae, I'll miss you most of all." (I'm pretty sure I might have said that to barista as well to in regards to my strawberry milkshakes and caramel macchiatos.)
After stuffing myself silly for the last time, we still had an hour or so before we had to leave so we headed to the balcony over the swim up bar to just hang out, take in the ocean breeze and the peaceful ocean noises.
Joel said, "Babe, this was way better than our honeymoon." I couldn't agree more.
And then it was time to go.
We left the resort and headed back to the airport. We had to wait in line for probably 30 minutes or so to check in as they only had 1 agent checking in all the people on our flight. Right as we were approaching the desk, another agent came along to help out and I scooted in to his line. Then the people in front of us were taking forever cause their bags were too heavy and they were trying to juggle their crap around. I'm notorious for picking the slowest line possible. And Joel, teasing me, says, "Babe, did you pick this line?" And I'm like, "Shut it. We still have 2 hours before the plane leaves. Have a little patience." (I know, right? It's funny cause I never have patience.)
It's finally our turn and I put my checked luggage on the scale. I get out my credit card to pay but the agent never says anything. Then we put Joel's luggage on the scale and the agent tags it and still doesn't say anything. Then he hands us our tickets and tells us to have a nice day. I'm so dumbfounded that he didn't just charge me $50 for our checked luggage. I'm kinda speechless cause he charged the folks in front of us - I figured maybe he waived it for us and not for them cause they were so annoying, moving tennis shoes from one suitcase to another.
We go off to make our way through security (where we didn't have to remove our shoes!) and I look down at the tickets and see that we're seated in row 4. And I get a big grin on my face. And I say, "Babe, we've been upgraded! Booyah!" That's why we didn't have to pay for luggage cause in first class it's free. So not only did that agent save us $50, but we're also going to get spoiled with bigger seats, more legroom and all the goodies that come with sitting in first class.
We headed off to the waiting room and it was approximately 11:20 and our flight wasn't until 1:15. Uhhgg. Oh well, I just buried myself in my Kindle, working on finishing book number 5 for the week.
About 12:45 or so, it starts POURING DOWN RAIN. I mean torrential, sideways rain. And the terminal is not covered. You have to walk outside to get on the plane. So everyone in the waiting area is grumbling and whining (myself included) about how wet we're going to get when we board the plane.
Our plane didn't even arrive until about 1:00 so at 1:15 when we should have been taking off, it wasn't even ready yet to be boarded which turned out to be a good thing cause it was still raining. But in true Bahamian fashion, by about 1:30 when they called for us to board, the rain had slowed to a minor sprinkle and the sun was shining bright! I love you, Bahamas.
I snapped a couple pictures of the islands on our way out. Holy crap this place is so beautiful.
After we got to cruising altitude, our goodies arrived. We were only mildly embarrassed by our "poor people who don't usually fly first class" behavior.
What was that you were saying about picking the wrong line, honey?
The end.
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