We made heroic efforts towards organizing our week, with some success. We were able to secure reservations for the "Culinary Tour" next Wednesday ... a progressive dinner that works its way through four of the more elite restaurants on the property. We greatly enjoyed it last year, and will meet different restaurants this year. There is also a meal package providing nicely discounted rates for 6 breakfasts and 6 dinners ... how handy there are three of US!
We did some menu planning and made up a shopping list (though, as it would turn out, we missed a few reminders we'd left ourselves in email). We realized that the Culinary Tour now was on the same day as a cooking class we'd signed up for downtown, and were happy the class could reschedule us to tomorrow. We'll take our list and stop by Walmart on the way home from class, and be set for the week!
We had asked after any nice dinner specials for Valentine's Day, but we were too late ... all sold out. Indeed, dinner reservations AT ALL were selling down quickly, so we grabbed one at the beachfront, Cuban-themed Havana Moon, where we cashed our first three dinner chits and enjoyed a couple of "vacation sized" margaritas.
We had ended our Culinary Tour here last year. Our reservation specified beachfront seating, which sounded terrific ... until we got there and realized that we were looking west late in the afternoon. A neighboring table had corralled THREE umbrellas, and the restaurant manager sent for more from a nearby pool. The sun eventually sunk below the cloud bank on the horizon, but not before an umbrella that had been borrowed from a nearby pool got blown over right onto our poor server's spine. About that ocean "breeze..."
Our meal included appetizers, entree and dessert.
Linda enjoyed plantain croquettes
and tuna steak;
Claudette had ceviche & shrimp; 
Carolyn ordered empanadas and ribs.
We shared a trio of desserts for fun, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
The grounds are, to put it entirely inadequately, expansive. There are now several defined routes where expanded golf carts run around all day and night. After a lovely dinner and dessert, a cart came by ... we took the ride to the end of the resort's beach ownership, where a live band was holding forth, then turned around to head back to the Sanctuario. This is a large, open-air space which is available for quiet pastimes during the day and a wide variety of performances at night. The performances are free, though you're certainly encouraged to patronize the bar. It's also the transfer point between the bus lines, so we found our final connection and got on back home.
From the room, we have a commanding view of the Sanctuario and also a pretty good "seat" to hear the live performances. Happily all this wraps up some time between nine and ten, so it's a pleasant end to the evening to sample the offerings from afar.
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