Now, every travel writer knows you can bank on at least five surreal moments for every press trip. This was my first such moment during the first press trip Cap Juluca has hosted since it reopened following a $25 million renovation.
But it sure wasn’t my last.
Two beers and about a hundred beautiful views later, we arrived at the property where we were greeted in the lobby by Charles L. Black, director of sales and marketing; General Manager Gary Thulander and, the most quiet of the three, a stiff, yet delicious glass of rum punch. Now this was a first impression if I ever saw one.
All guests mingled, exchanged business cards and cheesy “getting to know you” jokes about sports and whatever cities we were from, and made our way to our rooms to freshen up before cocktails and dinner at the property’s Spice restaurant.
I was in villa 9-3, a luxury room with a king-size bed and a terrace with ocean views. Like Cap Juluca has always been, the villas cannot be locked from the outside so no key was needed. This wouldn’t fly in my native New Jersey but it was safe here.
The bathroom has glass walls, so you felt like you were outside while taking a shower. At first, I thought this was going to be the first time I was bladder shy outside of a public bathroom, but the rooms were built so that none of your neighbors could see in. The walls and trees surround the outside near the restrooms, shielding you from any peeping toms. Speaking of Toms, we were told former "Friends" actor David Schwimmer checked in while we were there, only under the name Tom Hodges. But I don’t think he fooled anyone.
Dinner at Spice was more than relaxing. The tables were set on a deck over looking Maundays Beach. It was a bit too dark to see anything but the sound of the waves crashing while I was eating my shrimp pad thai and sipping on white wine was definitely surreal moment number two.
Now, I’m not going to tell every detail of the trip just yet since I’d like to milk this experience for a few more stories, so I’ll jump to surreal moments three to five.
The next day we took a boat ride to the hip, local beach bar, the Prickly Pear. The bar was empty but had potential, and the food was delicious. But the beach it is located on is what makes the 20-minute tract worth it. Be forewarned: If you are going to snorkel near the gorgeous reefs here, don’t be dumb like me— wear your flippers. I know they look and feel goofy and you’re not going to win Coolest Guy on the Island award for wearing them. But without them you’ll be gasping for air about 10 feet into your swim like I was.
That night, we mingled with the locals at the Dunes Preserve bar where local music legend Bankie Banx jammed while we sipped on the bar’s specialty drink, the “Duneshine.” I couldn’t tell you exactly what was in it except for some assorted fruit and a mess of alcohol. |
