Monday was our last full day of vacation, so we tried to get as much sun and ocean time as possible. We started by setting the alarm for 6 am so we could see the sunrise. When my alarm went off, Andrew had already left for the fitness center to get in a workout. What I had forgotten is that the best time to see the sunrise is about half an hour before the sun actually rises. Sunset was 6:20 am, and when I opened the curtains to look at the ocean, there was already a beautiful sunrise happening. Madeline and I got ready quickly and headed down to the beach. We walked until the sun had completely risen, and it was a lovely morning.

When Andrew was finished working out he came back to the hotel to pick us up, and we went to one of the restaurants that was on the property but not actually at the hotel itself. It was actually, for the second day in a row, the restaurant where we’d had dinner the night before. Breakfast was fine but not as memorable as the giant steak dinner.

After breakfast we went back to the room, changed into swimwear, and headed for the beach! When we checked into our cabana it was already warm enough for us to be grateful for the shade. It was not a large tent, but it was big enough for four beach chairs, a small table, and a large cooler. The cooler was stocked with water, sodas, and Gatorade. Andy also added a few beers to it.

We sprayed ourselves with sunscreen and went into the ocean to play. The waves were fierce! They were breaking pretty close to the shore, and it was hard to stay upright. We all ended up with shells where we did not want them. I was the first to retreat to the cabana, but a few minutes later Andrew and Madeline joined me. We spent the day lounging in the cabana until we were hot, then playing in the ocean until we were cold, then repeating. The waves were much better the rest of the day. It was probably 4 pm when we left the beach, which means we’d been there about six hours.

We cleaned up and then walked to a restaurant called Falcon’s Nest. When we had checked into the hotel, the front desk lady told Madeline and me that it was her favorite restaurant at the resort. Unfortunately, we didn’t agree. There was a very long wait for a table, but we killed time at a nearby play area, where Andrew and Madeline played chess. Madeline won. When we were seated, our table was shoehorned into an area where people were constantly squeezing past to get to other tables. The most annoying part of that situation is that the restaurant had an entire upstairs they weren’t using! I get that you may not have enough staff to fill your restaurant, but why pack people in like sardines? And our food was just ok. I had a barbecue platter, and maybe in different circumstances I would have loved it, I don’t know.

Near the outdoor play area was a putt-putt course, so we headed there after dinner for a game. Our scores were pretty close, and we were having fun until about hole 12, when the mosquitos came out. We all got many bites, although mosquitos love me best, so I got the most. We walked back to the hotel and were happy to get into our room, away from the mosquitos and out of the humidity. We were all exhausted and didn’t want to think about heading home the next day.