All Work and a Little Play Makes Jen a Happy Girl!

[jenseib]

I headed off to my room and it was a nice room and it was all mine for the next few nights!


marriott5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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And I had my own little balcony!


marriott7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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And a nice view.


marriott8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We each were given a bag when we checked in as well. Hello Sunny is the catch phrase for Fort Lauderdale.


hello21 by Jenseib, on Flickr


There were chocolates in the room too.


marriott9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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And they didn’t last too long. I ate one right away and the other a few days later. VERY good!


marriott10 by Jenseib, on Flickr



After I checked out my room I headed back to the beach. One of the girls had texted me to say she was on her way and I waited for her to arrive. “J” soon arrived and walked out to the beach and we sat in the chairs and talked a bit. She was super nice and very easy to talk to.

We noticed a kite floating and then a surfboard floated up to the shore. We finally found the guys head bobbing in the water and kept watch to see if he was ok. After a few seconds we could tell he was and that he was swimming to shore, but it looked like he was having a rough time of it.


Once he got back on shore he got his kite, which looked really badly beaten up and he did not look too happy.


marriott12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I took a little more video


https://www.facebook.com/jenseib/videos/vb.1256074446/10215023235355090/?type=3


J’s room was ready so she went to check it out and I went and took some pictures of the lobby.


marriott73 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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This is where they have the breakfast buffet.


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[jenseib]

I headed back outside to take pictures of the pool area.


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And the wild life!


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And then back to the beach where I walked up and down a bit.


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It was just such a beautiful day!


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I had walked quite a ways and it seemed even further when walking on sand.


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I tried to capture the birds.


marriott16 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I thought this flag looked so neat!


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I then decided to do some beach writing and take pictures!


hello1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And I did this over and over…trying to get a picture of the wave coming up before it erased it. LOL.


hello2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And then I wrote Hello Sunny and tried that one over and over and over too.


hello3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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hello25 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I then met back up with J and we decided to get some lunch. We headed off to the restaurant and were seated and looked over the menu. The waitress was really nice and gave some suggestions and did tell us one thing they were out of.

I slacked off here and did not take a picture and I don’t remember what I got…some kind of sandwich I believe.


We chatted some more and then “K” arrived and joined us. She didn’t get a lunch voucher, but she arrived before the cut off time so we told her to go back to the desk and get hers.

We chatted with the waitress and started asking about places to eat tonight that would be in walking distance. At first we had all kind of planned (those of us who had arrived by dinner time) to meet in the lobby and eat at the hotel restaurant, but now we kind of wanted to try some place else.

We had been googling places on our phones and asking the waitress and she would tell us about them…then she started giving suggestions. She mentioned there was a place that Diners Drive-ins and Dives had been filmed at and we then decided we had to go there. My husband is a big fan of the show, so I figured that would make him jealous. Hahahaha.


In the meantime “N” also arrived and had lunch. She was just getting her food by the time we were ready to leave, so we all decided on a time to meet in the lobby and that we would dress casual. We put the word out to the others who would be arriving later as well and then headed back to our rooms to freshen up and have some down time before heading out for the evening.

It had started pouring rain while we were eating lunch, but it had turned into a light spray by the time we were done eating.

I found out that J’s room was right below mine and K’s was above and over 1. LOL.

I just chilled out in my room and checked my emails and cleaned up and got all the sand off of me.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Yay another Jen trip report to read.

 

[jenseib]

Yay another Jen trip report to read.

Yay! Thanks for joining!

 

[jenseib]

Before it was time to meet, I decided to head out front and take some pictures of the hotel.

This light fixture was in the elevator area and I thought it was really neat.


marriott20 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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My room is up there somewhere.


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The resort is really nice, but it’s not close to anything really besides the beach. Not many restaurants in the immediate walkable area and no stores or attractions. So you really need a car to get to anything if you are staying here for more than a couple of nights. The resort, like many in the Ft. Lauderdale area, does charge a resort/parking fee. Some have both, some cover all amenities and parking.


I headed back in as it started to sprinkle again and went back to my room for a little bit more, then headed down early before dinner again.


marriott116 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I walked out front and the place is all lit up with little red lights and it was really pretty. I tried for pictures….but they don’t look so great.


marriott114 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We all met in the lobby and introduced ourselves to all the new comers. We still all were not here (there ended up being 13 of us total for the Hello Sunny Tours), but half had now arrived.


We decided to get 2 Lyft’s to take to the Whale’s Rib.


hello20 by Jenseib, on Flickr


It had a fun vibe and kind of reminded me of a Margaritaville….sort of.


We were seated and at first our waiter seemed frustrated when we said we wanted separate bills. He was trying to say no, but we kept saying yes. He was busy and said he would be back in a bit. A manager came over and was talking to us and we asked all sorts of questions about the place, told him why we came and of course asked what Guy Fieri had ordered. After that, when our waiter returned he was much more pleasant and fun. I think we kind of took him off guard, but he softened up to us and was joking with us by the end of the evening. Maybe the manager told him to treat us good as well.


Our waiter took a picture of all of us.

First a nice one.


hello4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And then a silly one.


whale10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We ordered beverages and I went with diet Coke….and it came in a little pitcher.


whale1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We got an order of Whale Fries with Whale sauce.


whale2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Whale Fries is something that Guy had and what this place is famous for. The Fries are kind of an in between of chips and fries and the sauce …if I remember right…was like a honey mustard mayo sauce.

They were good!


“M” got the sandwich that Guy had tried (he also had oysters, but none of us got those). I think the Sandwich was the Key West.


whale3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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She said it was good and it was huge!


I went with a Caesar Salad with the special fish of the day…which I cannot remember what it was. It wasn’t fishy at all and very meaty. I thought it was good, but I should have asked for more dressing as I like a lot and there wasn’t a lot on….but I worried about flustering our server.


whale4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We had such a good time talking and getting to know each other and doing a lot of laughing.


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Our waiter did do separate bills and had no issues. He said he was worried we wouldn’t want to wait while he did each one….we didn’t care! We were having fun.


whale7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I think most of us liked the food. I know one didn’t seem to care for hers so much, but I think she may have gotten a steak and the place is known more for fish.


whale13 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We saw this party van outside all lit up.


whale9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The Whales Rib is in Deerfield Beach and there were a lot of ritzy homes on the drive to and from. One even had Christmas lights up… I am all about Christmas early but it seemed just a tad too early for houses to have lights on.

The area where the restaurant was looked to have a lot of bars and restaurants and would be a fun area to be. I do hope to get back down again someday and try some more places.


We ordered 2 more Lyft’s and headed back to the hotel. Everyone was tired and we all went to our rooms to chill out and get some rest. I called home and was talking to Skip and I was on the balcony and J hollers up that she can hear me. LOL


We had to meet bright and early tomorrow morning at 8AM so we could be in our shuttle and on our way by 8:15.

 

[Beth D]

Count me in! I’ve been a bit mia from the boards last year, good riddance to 2017! Been back a bit more while I was planning for our Feb. cruise. Lovea Jen trip report!

 

[jenseib]

Count me in! I’ve been a bit mia from the boards last year, good riddance to 2017! Been back a bit more while I was planning for our Feb. cruise. Lovea Jen trip report!

OOOh. Which ship did you go on? I am having major cruise fever but we had some unexpected developments happen over the last few days....so now I may have to wait a little longer before I can get on a cruise.

 

[jenseib]

Nov. 13, 2017, Monday


I slept great and it had been a long day yesterday, so it was nice to get some sleep. I got up and ready early. I took a look out on my balcony to see the beautiful sun coming up.


fl6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I went downstairs to get a drink and took a picture of the bikes that have to ride. I thought it was a cool shot.


marriott117 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Looking out from my balcony again.


b44 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Once I was ready, I headed down to the lobby and met the rest of the clan. We all met Gonzalo who would be our fearless leader over the next few days. Gonzalo was new to Hello Sunny and I believe we may have been his first tour group he has led on his own. He did a great job and we all just loved him.


Our shuttle arrived. I believe our drivers name was James. He was a quiet guy, but you could tell he was listening and smirking at times.


fl7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And we’re on our way to the B Ocean Resort.


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The B Ocean is shaped like a ship.


b1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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James pulled up and let us all out and then went to park and wait for us somewhere.


b3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We met our tour guides and split into smaller groups to go and look at some rooms. The resort is being renovated so not all the rooms are updated yet and the lobby had some construction as well.


We went in and out of several rooms and I’ll just post a couple pictures.


b5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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This room obviously is at the front point.


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Part of the hotel is across the street as well and they have a bridge to get there.


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The view on the other side of the room was the beach!


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Another room


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And view


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I really liked the looks of the updated bathrooms.


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After the room tours we headed down to the lobby to look at the bar that has mermaid shows on some evenings. This bar was also used in a movie before.


b21 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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It’s really tiny and some of the girls tried to see the show on another night and said it was jammed packed.


b23 by Jenseib, on Flickr


These are the windows that the mermaids perform in. By day it’s a regular pool and by night it is closed for the shows.


b24 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Our leader said people do not realize there are windows and sometimes they lean up against them…hahahaha.


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And some video.


https://youtu.be/-GiqIgzkydw

 

[jenseib]

We then headed out to another building of the hotel to tour some more rooms and look at another pool.


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Nice view from this room.


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We were each then given bags and got a group photo. That is the one group photo I never did get. They sent it to Gonzalo supposedly but I am not sure he ever got it.


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The lobby area.


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And time for breakfast!!! We were starving!!!!!


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They had some neat old pictures on the wall.


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We had this wall of tables for all of us.


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I tried to sit by different people at each meal so I could get to know each person. Everyone was so nice.


This meal was served family style.


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We had some time after we were done so we used the restrooms and walked around a bit and some called home, etc. I got a selfie with our tour girls.


b53 by Jenseib, on Flickr


They were very nice and I really enjoyed the tour and breakfast!


After we were all done it was time to go and we were walking to our next destination.


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We were taking the water taxi and they were giving us our own boat and a special tour.


taxi1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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Our Captain was hilarious!!!!!!


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As we boarded he was cracking jokes.


taxi8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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taxi10 by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

[Beth D]

OOOh. Which ship did you go on? I am having major cruise fever but we had some unexpected developments happen over the last few days....so now I may have to wait a little longer before I can get on a cruise.

We were on the Fantasy in Feb. for a 7 night Eastern cruise. Second time for that ship and itinerary for us. I was a little bummed Tortola was cut for St. Maarten, but we made the most of it! I’ve got a dummy date booked, but it may be a few years before we make it back, especially with the way prices are goinh up...

 

[jenseib]

We were on the Fantasy in Feb. for a 7 night Eastern cruise. Second time for that ship and itinerary for us. I was a little bummed Tortola was cut for St. Maarten, but we made the most of it! I’ve got a dummy date booked, but it may be a few years before we make it back, especially with the way prices are goinh up...

I have a dummy booked too but there is a good chance I will be changing it or canceling it.

 

[jenseib]

Our Captain was so much fun and he said things so seriously that if you weren’t listening you might miss something extremely funny.


I took pictures and video.


Here is part of his “safety” speech.


https://youtu.be/1MrjmFM0okY


This is video I took as we sailed and it is about 41 or so minutes.


https://www.facebook.com/jenseib/videos/vb.1256074446/10215031451320484/?type=3


And then some photos I took as well.


taxi11 by Jenseib, on Flickr


taxi12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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There were all these BEAUTIFUL homes along the water way.


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A look at the port!


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And then they took us right into the port to see the ships.


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Of course we were not allowed to get too close.


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He had a story about this bird on the pole. His name is Al and he is an Osprey, which was endangered at one time. He said that they mate at any time of the year and are now coming back strong. The males and females each have their own territory and when the female is ready to mate she finds her male. The male is reluctant to mate, but the female will take over his territory since she is bigger and basically harass the male till he gives in. Once he mates, she leaves him alone. LOL.


taxi31 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And this is the Hilton that I will be staying at later this week.


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[jenseib]

I just can’t even imagine having this much money. He told us how one guy was renting a home for like a 21K a month or something along those lines and building his own home just down the way. He got tired of paying rent as his house was taking too long with all the changes they kept making, so he bought the house he was renting as well. Now he has 2 homes there.


taxi42 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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And this alligator has significance…..It is Lacoste’s house!


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And it was time for our wonderful tour to come to an end.


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Our wonderful Captain.


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And Mike


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We then walked to our next destination, which was not very far away.


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The Riverside Hotel.


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We broke off into groups again and went on to tour some rooms.


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Beautiful views.


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We then were taken up to a party/convention area that had a beautiful outdoor area with views.


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We headed back and did some more touring and stopped for a photo Op.


riverside48 by Jenseib, on Flickr


riverside55 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We then headed back down to the lobby to get ready for lunch!

 

[jedijill]

Someday when I have money one of those houses will be mine!

Looks like a fun tour!

Jill in CO

 

[mickeystoontown]

Getting all caught up again. It sounds like you are having a great time so far and meeting some great people. Don't you just love a good tour guide and/or Captain? They make it so much more enjoyable.

 

[DVC LindsayC]

Great pictures! Looks like such a fun trip. Always nice to add some fun to a work trip

~LindsayC
#dvcrentals

 

[mamamelody2]

We left for Florida last November 12, too! Not quite so early as you, though.
Sounds like you had a great trip!

 

[jenseib]

Someday when I have money one of those houses will be mine!

Looks like a fun tour!

Jill in CO

I hear you! I can't imagine having that much money though. The property taxes are more a year than what most peoples houses cost.

Getting all caught up again. It sounds like you are having a great time so far and meeting some great people. Don't you just love a good tour guide and/or Captain? They make it so much more enjoyable.

Yes! I have done a lot of tours over the years and had some great ones and awful ones. At Epcot, my friend Cass and I had one of the worst...it was so bad and so many people on our tour complained how bad she was too....so it wasn't just us.
Then at Disneyland, Cass and I took the same tour but had different guides. I came back raving about it and she said hers sucked. LOL. She had a not so great guide.

Great pictures! Looks like such a fun trip. Always nice to add some fun to a work trip

~LindsayC
#dvcrentals

I do love when I can have fun thrown in with a work trip. These days tend to be long too, so it's nice when they have a little entertainment thrown in.

We left for Florida last November 12, too! Not quite so early as you, though.
Sounds like you had a great trip!

Awesome! I wish I was down there this week...though I know it is crowded because of Spring Break. Instead I am spending my week cleaning a rental property.

 

[jenseib]

Time for lunch!!!


riverside49 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We walked through the restaurant to a private room just for us.


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I sat a few seats away from the lady in charge at this hotel and we got to talking. She is from the Ohio/Michigan Area, not too far from me, so it was neat to talk about local things. I believe she still has grown children living in the area.


We each got a cup.


riverside52 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And our choices for lunch.


riverside53 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Most went with a salad and it did look good. I went with the tacos.


Caitlan had joined us for lunch today too.

I took a really bad group selfie.


riverside54 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We had some appetizers served.


riverside24 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We had a great waiter, but service was really slow. I don’t think it was his fault so much as it was the kitchens. And they may have just wanted it timed slow too since we didn’t have to get on the bus till a certain time.

I got up after sitting a bit and went to the restroom and took some pictures and also went out the side entrance of the restaurant to take a look outside.


riverside26 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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Las Olas is a very touristy area with shops and restaurants and bars and this hotel was located right there.


fl13 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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They have outdoor seating as well.


riverside35 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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fl12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I headed back in and our meals were finally coming out.


riverside36 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I think we were served a dessert as well but I don’t remember what it was and did not take a picture. It was a fun lunch though and so nice to get to know more of the gals.


Before we left, Caitlan gave us some instructions for tomorrow, which was a day with more touristy activities. One being going to a pro hockey game to see the Florida Panthers against Dallas. Something I did not know was that you could only bring in a small purse. Many of us wished we had known this ahead of time as many carried crossovers or a back pack. Caitlan didn’t think my purse would make it in, but I later did go online and looked for the bag dimensions and mine was ok.


After Lunch we were going to look at the pool for Riverside and then head to meet James and our Party bus. We decided to walk around the buildings to take a look at Las Olas.


fl11 by Jenseib, on Flickr


riverside37 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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The pool is across the street.


riverside39 by Jenseib, on Flickr


After a quick look at the pool, we headed over to our party bus and boarded. We were now on to another resort for touring!

 

[jenseib]

Our next stop was in Hollywood! Margaritaville! It’s a fairly new resort and very beautiful. We were to have a tour and then we were going to have some free time to do a little walking around and shopping at the shops down by the beach. I was enjoying our day, but to have a little free unstructured time was going to be heaven and many of us were excited for this time this afternoon.


We arrived and were greeted with drinks!


marg1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


YUM!


marg2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Our guide was dressed in Captains clothes and was giving us a little history of the hotel and he was very proud of it. I think he said he was the 2nd or 3rd employee hired when they started this project.

As we drank our beverages, many of us ran to the restrooms while the Captain talked about different things. He asked how much time we had and Gonzalo told him we had plenty and what time we needed to be done by. OK, he had a lot in store for us.


marg53 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg31 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Everything in here is themed to one of Jimmy’s songs. It really is neat.


We all posed for a group picture…only to find out later some were still in the bathroom.


marg130 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I can’t remember our guides name so I will call him the captain. He showed us all around the lobby, which is really neat.


marg59 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg60 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg55 by Jenseib, on Flickr


These benches originally were actual swings but they soon found out kids liked to really swing hard on them, so they now have made them stationary.


marg61 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg58 by Jenseib, on Flickr

Love the light fixture.

marg57 by Jenseib, on Flickr

marg54 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I will come back to this picture of a picture later….but take a look and tell me what you see…..


marg56 by Jenseib, on Flickr


This was one of the restaurants, JWB, which was fine dining.


marg7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg64 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg63 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg62 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg65 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg66 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


marg67 by Jenseib, on Flickr


A little bit of video

The captain was quite a talker and left no detail out!


marg68 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Back out to the lobby!


marg69 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And we stopped to look at that picture.


marg70 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I see a parrot don’t you? Well take a closer look….do you see a painted lady too?


Now my pictures are out of order, so I can’t remember the exact time line, but we toured several rooms and also the Margaritaville restaurant and other parts of the hotel and we did a lot of elevator rides and I can’t remember how it all went.