{"id":18011,"date":"2017-11-24T06:59:08","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=18011"},"modified":"2017-11-24T06:59:08","modified_gmt":"2017-11-24T12:59:08","slug":"first-wake-up-in-great-exuma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=18011","title":{"rendered":"First Wake Up in Great Exuma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37948035672\/in\/datetaken-public\/\"  title=\" \"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4468\/37948035672_cd2be52901_c.jpg\" width=500\" alt=\" \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We got room number 9404, which is a beachfront walkout villa in the first 9400 building. I liked how the had really subtle lighting throughout the property. It was sufficient to find your way back to your villa after a long day of drinking but not overpowering so that you can still see the stars in the sky. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37933037066\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4465\/37933037066_789968662b.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is what we woke up to the next morning. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/26210030079\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4480\/26210030079_e5831b8cdb.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The view inside wasn&#8217;t bad either. I love watching Brian sleep&#8230; but not in a creepy way. I usually get up well before he does. He looks so adorable when he sleeps. It&#8217;s so peaceful. Even when he snores, it&#8217;s cute. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fflipandching%2Fvideos%2F1765167413494832%2F&#038;width=500&#038;show_text=false&#038;appId=162933833794177&#038;height=280\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" allowFullScreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It was awesome to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of waves lapping on the beach. I took a short video for you guys but it&#8217;s not quite the same as being there to experience it. It&#8217;s the best I can do, though.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/24135199778\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4492\/24135199778_ecd99560f5.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"132\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, we wanted to enjoy the amazing view a bit longer so we decided to have breakfast on our patio that morning. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37933861226\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4490\/37933861226_61ebde26c2.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bacon, eggs, and potatoes for Brian. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/26210883259\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4460\/26210883259_7a650f2b52.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Omelet for me. It doesn&#8217;t turn out quite as pretty as when you&#8217;re eating at the restaurant because the butlers carry these around while they&#8217;re riding their bikes. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37277802214\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4498\/37277802214_75b1b16f8b.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The plus side is, it&#8217;s still warm when it arrives. If he had walked it over, that wouldn&#8217;t have been the case as we are on the far end of the resort. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37277801434\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4488\/37277801434_8a12710751.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The fresh fruit was delicious and is one of my favorite parts of vacationing in the Caribbean. Fresh fruit is abundant and tastes so much better than the produce we get here at home. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/26210883649\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4449\/26210883649_02a1f81dd9.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bread assortment. I guess I could have asked the butler to swing by the cafe for the good stuff. They have chocolate croissants and Danish there. That wasn&#8217;t an option on the breakfast card, though, and I didn&#8217;t think to do it. I only realized it after. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37934895886\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4458\/37934895886_7ca1916245.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Later that morning we decided to hang out at the beach. Our butler reserved a palapa for us, which was not the one pictured above. LOL. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37934916196\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4449\/37934916196_9d8b512ae5.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I hung out at this palapa a good while before Brian came out and was like, &#8220;What are you doing over here? This isn&#8217;t ours.&#8221; Our palapa was a couple of palapas over. Brian and I had a good laugh about it. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37279285684\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4491\/37279285684_076291024b.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our butlers were great and, anytime we were at the beach or pool, the would pack us a cooler full of waters and beers (usually Kaliks because Brian doesn&#8217;t like Sands). The Kalik Light is in there for Becca. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37958917482\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4466\/37958917482_822dd412b6.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"124\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a panoramic photo of the beautiful beach. It was a cloudy day and we probably shouldn&#8217;t have been out there. This was the start of several weeks of misery for me. <\/p>\n<p>Apparently, the sand fleas come out when it&#8217;s dark (like at night) or cloudy (like that day). They&#8217;re kind of like chiggers and when you get bit the bits are super itchy. Most of the rooms at the resort have bug spray in addition to the usual toiletries that hotels provide. Ours didn&#8217;t have one. Brian and I brought our own bug spray and we sprayed but, I guess, it wasn&#8217;t strong enough. We did ask our butler for bug spray and he brought it out to the palapa for us but it was too late. I already got several bug bites. Sometimes you can see the tiny bugs but most of the time you can&#8217;t. So you really don&#8217;t even know that you&#8217;re getting bit until it&#8217;s too late. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/24138027978\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4451\/24138027978_db129506cd.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the plus side, the beach is beautiful and so pristine. The sand is super fine. It rivals <a href=\"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=11675\" >Bavaro Beach<\/a> in Punta Canta. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37988908261\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4501\/37988908261_ed09e974d8.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Obligatory beach selfie. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37280001704\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4469\/37280001704_ccd81120e0.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s another one with the villas as the backdrop. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/38125100201\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4580\/38125100201_8def60c8cf_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Just look at that beautiful, clear, blue water. We were told that, when you look down on the water on a calm day, you can see a hundred feet down. <\/p>\n<p><BIG><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>The water is that clear. <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/BIG><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/38069514446\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4561\/38069514446_3a50a16ffb_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a pic of the horizon with my toes in the foreground. I took it while we were waiting for Jay and Becca to join us. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37988910501\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4514\/37988910501_97f0a7cea3.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a pic of Brian. We set up some lounge chairs for Jay and Becca next to us. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/26213111459\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4473\/26213111459_f9c2692e93.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our butlers were Garth and Jackson. Garth was on duty that morning and he was very attentive. He came to check on us several times and even brought us food and drinks without prompting. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/38119044616\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"22815418_10210690182755855_7803181986789660186_n\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4528\/38119044616_fdddc88f21_z.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"22815418_10210690182755855_7803181986789660186_n\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here he is bringing over some chips and salsa.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/38119044706\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"22815343_10210690183115864_1022308936915984411_n\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4547\/38119044706_60063cebbf_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"22815343_10210690183115864_1022308936915984411_n\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37990825861\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4500\/37990825861_e74952618a_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He brought me a yummy frozen cocktail. I think this is called a Bob Marley.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/26386678969\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4567\/26386678969_87493c058b_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/38119044506\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"22815501_10210690182075838_2571575766494781849_n\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4543\/38119044506_4941bcfd07_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"22815501_10210690182075838_2571575766494781849_n\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I really wanted a frappucino from the cafe, though, which he went and got and brought back to me and that made me really happy. Those frappucinos are yummy. I got so hooked on those drinks that I would have one (sometimes two) everyday on our way to breakfast.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/37453355824\/in\/datetaken\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4573\/37453355824_c92b04dd84_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, we were very spoiled during our entire stay. I will post some more later. For now, this is how our first morning on the island went. Other than the bug bites, we were off to a fantastic start! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,21],"tags":[3002,3000,3001,3003],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18011"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18030,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18011\/revisions\/18030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}