Wednesday was a great day. It was pretty much overcast all day, but still a nice day. We didn't get rain at all where we were, but we heard that it did sprinkle off and on in certain places. We slept in a bit on Wednesday and made our way to the breakfast buffet when we woke up. MMMMMM, I do have to say, There is the main buffet by the lobby that is for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the AM and the afternoon, they open up the two restaurants closest to the beach for buffet as well. That is really nice, as Las Olas was just a hop skip and a jump from our room, and we didn't have to take the almost 10 minute walk to the front of the lobby.
After breakfast, we made our way to the concierge and made reservations for an ala carte restaurante. We are eating at Miso on Saturday and will have Tempanyaki. One nice thing, is Friday, La Hacienda (Mexican Restaurant) will no longer require reservations and Saturday, Mama Mia will not need reservations as well. So that really helps, as reservations seemed really hard to get. I am thinking that maybe their staffing is improving, so they are able to do this???
Not sure...We had to stand in line for almost an hour to make the one reservation, but we met a really nice couple in front of us and chatted with them, so it made the time go really fast.
After that, we made our way back to the room to get ready for our day in Playa. We caught the 12:00 bus to Playa, from the hotel. This was supposed to be our Guinnea Pig Self Guided Tour day, but dang it!!! I forgot the guide at the hotel. So we didn't get to do it since it would have been another taxi cab ride to and from the hotel...So, we found Babe's right away, and I got my blueberry margarita and Korey got a mango margarita.
NUMMMM!!! We were not going to eat there, as we really wanted to order Taco's somewhere, but it smelled and looked so good that we did. I had Chicken Teriyaki and Korey had Thai Chicken. We had the half plate and that was PERFECT for us.
I almost forgot!!! I got my picture taken with a MONKEY!!!
I wanted to walk down by the other resorts right IN Playa, so we went down to the beach and walked it until we got to The Royal. I wanted to see what their beaches were like in case we wanted to stay in one of those some day. I have to say, I don't know why people were complaining about the Grand Princess beach, as it was VERY comparable, if not better than some of the ones we saw. I thought the Royal had way too many palapas and they looked like they were packed in like sardines. But that is just my opinion. I have never stayed there, and one of my co-workers has, and she REALLY enjoyed the Royal.
We did LOTS of shopping and it started getting REALLY chilly. Word of advice, when going somewhere all day, away from your hotel, BRING YOUR SWEATER OR JACKET. It got really cool, and I was shivering so much in my shorts and tank top, I started looking for a sweatshirt. They are kind of hard to come by, especially since I don't care for hoodies. BUT, at the end of 5th Ave. near the shopping mall area, we found a little shop that had really soft ponchos for women. It was a little spendy. He asked 650 pesos for it (about $65), but I was able to get him down to $400 pesos. It was still more than I wanted to pay, but it was really soft and pretty. I think if I would have offered less, I probably could have gotten it for less. But I am not much of a haggler, so I was happy geting him down 250 pesos.
After that, it was time to meet up at Manne's Biergarten for the peep meet.
We got there and saw Dan and Mickey
Kathy and Ross,
Terry and Sheryl.
We shared a table with them, had lots of fun, and drank lots of Margaritas. I started with a Pina Colada, and had two Margaritas after. They make them good, that is for sure!! Here are some tequila shooter pictures:
I got a few pics of everyone, but then my camera died, so I didn't get as many as I wanted. And Terry, sorry I was too mellow for you. I am just a mellow kinda gal and that was "loosening up" for me. I maybe would have gotten more roundy if I had another drink or two, but I knew I had an early morning with the F1 Tour the next day, and didn't want to be the chick puking off the side of the boat.
Dinner at Manne's was AWESOME! Manne and Susie did an awesome job with the ribs and everything else. We also had saurkraut, red cabbage, spaetzle, potatoes and bread.
They definitly have a good thing going on, so stop in there if you are ever in Playa. Thanks to all who were involved in setting this up!! Here is a pic. of the whole gang:
We also hung out with John and Sheryl.
They are at the Grand Princess, too, so we were able to share a cab with them on the way back. THANKS YOU GUYS!! John and Sheryl are awesome, too. When we got back to the hotel, Korey and I went to the sportsbar and brought a plate of chips/salsa/cheese back to our room. I needed something to soak up the booze. After chowing and chugging water, it was time to pass out and sleep up for an early morning on Thursday.