Saturday, departure day, dawned sunny and clear. After packing and checking out of La Vista Beach, we had breakfast at Bon Appetit. I had their Eggs Benedict with a Bloody Mary, and David had the French Toast again. We then drove around a little to kill time before dropping off the phone and returning the car. Check in was painless (although they’ve moved the US Airways counter without telling us!), and we headed over to the arrivals area to welcome Artie and Judi (Weeks5051) who we met at LVB a couple of years ago. Security lines were typical for a Saturday, and it took us about an hour to get through passport control and security. Had a drink at the Rum Jumbie bar and waited to board. Boarding occurred on time, but there was a situation with a dog that caused a slight delay in pushing back. The flight appeared to be uneventful to us, but apparently something was going on in the back of the plane, and when we landed in Charlotte, we all had to remain seated until the plane was boarded by officials of some sort, and a group of passengers were escorted off the plane. Not sure what it was about, but it seemed to have to do with something being in a passenger’s lap and not properly secured (the dog, maybe?), and the passenger refusing to cooperate with the crew. Regardless, we passed through customs without incident, claimed and re-checked our bags, and arrived at our next gate in plenty of time to see that there was no plane there. Fortunately the plane was brought over from the hangar in just a few minutes and we departed only about ten minutes late. Arrived in Richmond on time, met our driver, and our bags were the first ones on the belt. We got home around 10:30 to a freezing cold house, but down comforters are a wonderful thing!
A few general observations:
La Vista Beach never disappoints. The resort is so well maintained; items are replaced before it becomes apparent that they are becoming worn. This year all of the upholstery in our unit had been replaced and the flat-screen TV in the living area (which was new last year) has been mounted on the wall, freeing up some great storage space. Andrea tells me that the kitchens and baths in the beach units will be replaced next year. The proactive approach that she takes to maintaining the units makes such a difference.
The island roads were clearly impacted by all the recent rains. There are potholes everywhere, but there is also resurfacing work going on. Traffic increased each week we were there; you can see that the island is gearing up for high season.
We came prepared for mosquitoes and encountered none. After the first two nights we never even bothered with repellant. I got one bite the entire time we were there; David none. La Vista sprayed at least once while we were there, so that may be why we didn’t have a problem; but even in other places on the island we had no problems. The island was very green and flowers bloomed everywhere; butterflies were abundant, especially during our last week.
We never felt uncomfortable at any time, but again, we’re not late night people. Crimes did occur while we were there (we read about them in the paper), but we didn’t experience any.
We probably did more this trip than we have in the past; we enjoyed visiting with friends we’ve met through TTOL and just out and about on the island. I’m getting ready to set the countdown calendar for next year!
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