After two days of airline food and one day of indiscriminate eating, we needed to sweat it out. While Lou went to the gym, I went for a five mile run along the Marina walk. I had meant to start earlier than I did to avoid the heat, but we were still sleep catching up so didn’t get started until 9:00AM. It was a mistake I won’t be making again. Running along the walk was wonderful because I was able to avoid the traffic, it was right next to the water which was cooler than anywhere else I could have run and the crowds were minimal if not non-existent in some sections. After cleaning up and eating breakfast we thought we’d walk back down to the Marina to see about renting a boat we could take out to the Palm and over to the Burj and back. We couldn’t find one we could take on our own, but we were able to charter a 32′ boat with a tour guide for an hour through First Yachts, which is all it takes for a trip of that length. It was a nice way to see the island without having to actually be ON the island. The tour guide pointed out to us a few landmarks and was able to answer most of our questions. He also provided bottled water, which is essential to surviving the heat. As I said before, never say no to legit bottled water.
When we were dropped back off at the Marina, we decided to see what it would be like to walk to the Ritz from the Marriott so we could determine whether we wanted to walk with our luggage on moving day or hire a taxi. Although it wasn’t that far (about 1.5 miles), it turned out to be not a direct path due to construction, and temps were in the upper 90’s. “Taxi!, we said to each other. While there, we walked around the grounds, which were luxurious, and had a light appetizer at the restaurant next to the adult pool (La Baie Lounge). We were pretty bushed and sweaty by the time we made it back to the Marriott so spent the rest of the afternoon next to the pool, where I tested the accuracy of my Garmin 920XT. It seemed to think I was doing laps in a 3 foot kiddie pool. Looks like I have some calibrating to do.
Dinner was at The Observatory, which I highly recommend. It was a bit pricey, but as this was the meal we decided would be our splurge this trip, it was well worth what we paid. Everything was perfect, starting with the view and ending with the elevator ride to our room immediately after. The food was incredibly tasty and the waitress made the experience even more pleasant. This was definitely the best meal of the trip.
