Happy Birthday, Dana – Final Tuesday

After being told that our bags would be moved to our new room while we were eating breakfast, we headed down to the restaurant. We were delightfully surprised to be told that the manager was paying for our breakfast, after we dove into the American Breakfast Buffet --- specialty coffees (cappuccino, mochaccino, lattes, etc.), fresh juices, fresh fruit, selection of bagels, Danish and other pastries, granola, cold cereal, bacon, sausages, home fries, eggs cooked to order and waffles. Well, we didn’t eat all of this, but this is what was available.

Dana had discovered that he left his iPod on the boat, so he set off for the 45-minute each way trip back to the boat to retrieve it. I spent my morning on the computer, FINALLY able to get a decent internet connection to post my earlier adventures, clear out some work emails and get generally caught up.

Dana got "Happy Birthday" texts from the kids (although we haven’t had real cell coverage, we’ve been able to text the kids all week, trying to remember the 5 hour time difference when doing so). Dana got back, iPod in hand and we wandered down to the beach for one last afternoon of swimming and sun.

After that, we hit the beach bar for lunch --- cheeseburgers and fries, and watched the iguanas "begging" for food. I kept one eye on them, though, because they have really big claws.

We talked to the two bartenders, curious at how each had ended up here. One was a guy who had come on vacation in 1980 when he was 22 and ended up staying. He was from Long Island --- and had never lost his accent. The other was a beautiful 22-year old Argentinean girl, who confessed that she had grown up spoiled and not wanting for anything, and was now making her way in the world by going away from home and supporting herself, more to learn how to be self-sufficient than anything else. She offered to take our picture, and when I said "Happy Birthday" to Dana, she came back a minute later with a huge piece of 3-layer chocolate cake for him.

All the sun and swimming had taken its toll, so we returned to take yet another nap, then watched yet another movie (can’t get our fill of TV), then went down for our last dinner here.

Dana went "lite" with soup and salad, and I chose the pasta primavera --- no appetizers tonight, because creme brulee is on the menu for dessert. We both had dessert, then returned to the room to pack in preparation of our early departure on Thursday morning.

Can't wait to get home and see everyone!