Main Trip Report - Day 2 (Sunday)
Well this is our first full day in the sun.... oops! Its a bit cloudy and I bet we get fried! Lets see how that happened!
Sunday Morning:
Well we woke up Sunday, opened the window drapes and WOW! Hey Katester we have a view! Glad we upgraded one level to luxury because now we had a balcony with a great view. Although we didn't see them, we later heard that later on Friday and on the weekend the locals surf just off to the left of our view. The Cap Estate, Bonne Terre, and Pigeon Island Buildings are set back from Rodney Bay, and are closer to the Atlantic side. So if you have a room on the north side, you'll have a fine northern view of the Atlantic and can see St Martinique Island on a clear day. There is some a/c or other machinery noise that originates around the fitness centre area which does compete a bit with the sound of the surf. Those in the Pigeon Island Building probably have the best location to enjoy the sounds of the ocean surf at night and in the morning.
Breakfast at Bayside this morning. Nice! The standard buffet we are accustomed to at all Sandals has a table of champagne! As we soon find out, champagne is very accessible at the Grande and we will be drinking more than our share. As usual I settle into my standard breakfast at Sandals: bacon, potatoes, toast, pinneapple, cheese, and a second glass of champagne. We enjoy watching all the happy chirping island birds who linger nearby, keeping an eye out for left overs. The staff is quick to clear any plates however so the birds don't take over. The other alternative for breakfast is Toscani's, which is the Italian restaurant with full service.
We did a basic tour of the resort to see where things were and take a bunch of photos. This year however I decided to try not to take as many photos early in the day when there aren't many people about... this makes the resort look to deserted!
We join other newbies lacking sufficient tans in the lobby for the 10am orientation which lasted about 15 minutes. It was pretty limited and we basically walked past the Bayside and Toscani's, tour desk, Palladium, the spa area and then out towards the main pool. It wasn't overly imformative... maybe we have just been to Sandals tooo many times. The spa staff did mention something about the sun, and some treatment for sunburn involving an ice bath? Anyways this might have come in handy later.
Time to get poolside! So off we go to convert to bathing suits leaving behind the suntan lotion and my straw hat... oops! We quickly learn the activities schedule and join the group already in the Upper Cascade pool for pool volley ball. We quickly learn all the players are from the UK, and they decide to play just with their heads! One guest we met was Richard who was there for a 3 week stay, lucky duck! Pool volley ball is the one activity we play the most on all our Sandals trips. Its also a great place to meet other Sandals guests, cool off (and burn your head).
Ok time for some serious swim up bar activities Kate! I break in my first float pad and paddle over to the swim up bar for my first drink. Remy is the man this day, and Kate and I ask him to make a 'Louis Special' which we had the night before at the Lobby Bar. Well Remy didn't know what a 'Louis Special' was, and I just sort of knew what might be in it. So Remy made a 'Louis Special Copycat' which had a bunch of stuff in it... but probably wasn't anything like Louis drink. Later Sylvia made a 'Louis Special Copycat of Remys' drink which was even farther removed.
We'll it was hot but cloudy that day, and so we toasted at the swimup bar drinking this and that and not noticing the sun so much. Soon we met Jacquie and George, yet another couple from Alberta and the next thing I knew we were trying more drinks with them while still glued to the swimup bar. Playmaker Elijah over at the beach bar announced it was time for bingo so Jacquie swam over to pick up some bingo cards for the gang at the swim up bar. We were specifically told not to get them wet! No problem mon!
Eventually we headed for dinner at the Barefoot by the Sea restaurant. As the name might suggest, Barefoot is right next to the beach and has no floor. The decor consists of picnic tables on the sand with a roof overhead and decor of fishing nets and the like. It's a great spot for casual dining. Kate had chicken, I had steak, we enjoyed both along with champagne. At the neighbouring table we met Alex and Kate. Alex is a top professional tennis player from the Dominican Republic who was there sharing his knowledge and training staff. Nice job! He also ended up as DJ at the beach bar most days.
Guess we were pretty tired that day and headed to bed early with lots of reminders of just how much sun we took in that first full day...
Next Up: Day 3 - Managers Party and Soggy Beach Party (Monday)
Back to Yesterday: Day 1 - Getting There (Saturday)
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