Tuesday Evening

Tuesday evening Ed and I walked around the outside of the Swan and Dolphin - the swimming pool area of the Dolphin is really gorgeous. We had about 20 minutes before we needed to meet with Ed's boss JoAnn and her husband Red, and Tom and Chris Adams for dinner at the Italian Restaurant over at the swan. You can see the big shell on the front of the columns and at the end of each building is the Dolphin. We decided that the designers of the hotel came up with a cute fish design and then looked something to name it. The smaller hotel is definitely The Swan but we haven't ever seen a dolphin that looks like that. First of all - Dolphins are not scaly fish and secondly don't dolphins have a dorsal fin like the shark? You decide!

We wandered across the bridge between the two hotels and then followed the shore line down past the single pool at the Swan and over to the white sandy beach lined with chaise lounges. The swimming pool at the Dolphin is actually one long pool with two small bridges going over the top of them, four hot tubs, one kiddie pool and one other small round pool! There are palm trees and fountains and waterfalls galore. You can walk under the main waterfall - or behind it really. There is also a waterslide that starts at the back of the area and shoots round and down into the water. There is one sandy play area that has a cute statue of a seal in the center of the sandy circle and it shoots water out of its mouth all day - the little kids were loving it - the can make sand castles in the damp sand under the spray area or just run and jump through the water like a shower bath.

About five minutes to 7 we headed back over to the swan to meet our dinner partners. Scott Marquardt was there there, plus Mel Gaines and John Petersen and his wife. Good friends all and they added to the party. We again were fed some beautiful and delicious food. I had shrimp that had been rolled in batter and steamed with a lemon butter sauce . It was served with spinach also cooked in the same sauce and it was so nummy. Beautiful presentation!! Someone has definitely gone to special chef school! We sat and talked and talked and visited and ate and simply had a wonderful evening, when the maitre'D came in and apologized to everyone for the computer glitch that made them so slow with the meals. He offered the group another bottle of wine but since only half of us were drinking Scott suggested dessert instead!! After he left the room we all burst out laughing - we had been so busy talking and enjoying ourselves we didn't notice there was a delay! Then they came in with a long rectangular elegant plate about 18" x 5" with all sorts of nummy desserts. There was also a goblet with fresh raspberries and blackberries in cream - so we just passed it around and around the table until we all got to taste a little bit of everything. Its still a toss up in my mind as to whether the berries and cream were best or the piece of chocolate...it looked and jiggled like a deeep dark brown thick jello....but it tasted just like a really really rich brownie. YUMM - Scott Marquardt (President and CEO of MTC) picked up the tab so I have no idea what our share of it was - but with the number of bottles of wine the other half of the group went through I'm sure it wasn't cheap.

Another day gone - another how many pounds gained ??? However I only really ate one meal today. Breakfast was Zone bars and water and lunch was a salad I took back to my room but by the time I had showered I was too tired to eat.