In case you missed it on the People Talk board: Our turn - Day 1

Day 2 and the start of Day 3

After a long travel day (and a few rum shots before bed-thank you Bob), I slept very well. As I started coming to consciousness, I found myself thinking, oh sh*t…I have to go to work…and then I opened my eyes and realized that I was here!!! I knew it was after sunrise, because it was already pretty bright, so I got up checked the time, woke John and Marissa and we headed out for our walk. (Marissa's first and probably last time walking the whole length of Orient Beach!)

There is a manager’s breakfast here at Club O on Friday mornings, which we went to, mostly just to get a cup of coffee…still hadn’t had a chance to go buy groceries. Then it was off the boutique to get some sunscreen and then head to the beach while John headed to Grande Marche.

A good day overall, spending time with all of our fellow ttol friends. The water is warm, the sun is hot. There was brief shower in the afternoon with intermittent clouds, but it was a bit of a welcomed sun break. Marc was not exaggerating when he said that there is enough sand for 6 rows of chairs at the Club O beach. Mostly just one row of chairs, though, is needed for beachgoers. I have no idea what it’s like down the rest of Orient Beach, because we just don’t usually head down that way during the day.

Marissa ordered a burger and fries for lunch at the Perch. She couldn’t finish all of it, so I just nibbled on her leftovers …I was so disappointed with my guavaberry coladas…way too much cream of coconut made them sickeningly sweet. The ‘regular’ bartenders are all away (or working at Papagayo’s…we even heard that the Perch will be closed today because of a lack of staff).

Our biggest decision of the day then became where to go for dinner! Marissa didn’t think she wanted steak (I couldn’t believe it!), so we thought maybe Jimbo’s for tex-mex.

Headed to happy hour at Papagayo’s to greet Lynette and James, who had just arrived. By then Marissa had decided that she did want steak after all, so we chose to go to Uncle Harry’s. We all had the filet and it was very good and very big! (Denise- I was right…no leftovers for Marissa, but I did bring mine back for her to have for lunch today!) I do think the place was a bit overpriced for the ambience/amenities, but the food was very good.

After dinner we headed to Maho to stop in at Riviera Jewelers. I’m not big on expensive pieces of jewelry, but I did want to get a yellow gold ankle bracelet and a new toe ring. Marissa had her belly button pierced about a month ago, and we told her that she could see if she wanted to buy a nice ring while we were here. We both found just the things we wanted, (thank you, Nash!) but she still has to wait another month to put in her new ring!

A quick stop at the Food Express and it was back to our room to have some Etna Ice Cream and head off to bed to get ready for Day 3.

Our morning walk today was interrupted by a downpour. We were all the way down by Mt Vernon when it started. With nowhere to take shelter, we just headed into the water and waited it out…10 minutes later the sky had cleared, a double rainbow appeared and we headed back.

Now it’s time to wake up Marissa and head to the beach…