Heat and sunshine.  
We could almost feel our frozen Canadian cores melting away!
I turned over on the lounging chaise to thaw the other side of my body.  But soon I would be able to resist no longer-I stood and gazed at the tempting waves of the ocean that promised to cool my sizzling skin to a normal level!  I stepped forward and met the lapping waves.  Sigh!  The warmish water cooled me down as I waded deeper and deeper.  A huge wave rolled me back towards the beach but I fought its surge and continued deeper.  I turned back to signal Walter to join me but he was engrossed in his book.  He still had his t-shirt on!
Another big wave caught me unprepared as I was about to call out to Walter and filled my open mouth with salty sea water!  Ugh!  I spit and spat as the unexpected flavour permeated my taste buds.  I quickly waded back to our spot and grabbed my water bottle!  I rinsed a couple times, then swigged back a good mouthful to satisfy my thirst.  There.  That was better.
After a couple of hours on the beach, Walter went looking for the snack bar and stood in line for "paninis" that were being made.  He brought back one for each of us, wrapped in paper.  They were ham and cheese with peppers and raw onion and some mayo type sauce.  Very delicious.  A waiter had come by and brought us some lemonade or pina colada slush - in small plastic disposable cups. We saw others more experienced guests carrying travel mugs around; they would have their mugs filled rather than carry around tiny "shot glasses" that were gone in two swallows!  Next time...
Soon, we were done with laying around the beach.  We packed up our things and wandered up the beach towards the sailboats.  We would find out how to secure a boat.  We found out a flag was posted to show sailing conditions: green was good sailing, yellow was windy and needed a guide to take you sailing and red was NO ONE is allowed to go out!  Today was yellow so the guides were busy.
Heading west, we followed the shoreline and came upon the family area, nearest the family section of our resort.  Kids splashed and called out.  Various sand castles and creations were scattered along the sand.  It was a perfect day for the beach.
By the time we reversed our path and headed back to the boardwalk, we were both hot and thirsty and tired.  We found the ice cream shop and I indulged.  Then we headed back to our room to shower and get ready for our seafood restaurant evening at 6:45.
With a quick consult to our resort map, we located what we thought was the seafood restaurant.  It was a fair hike from our room.  My toes were a little sore from wearing flip-flops, which I hadn't worn in five months!  With all our snooping around and wandering the beach, we put on 12,000 steps that first full day at the resort.  Finding the restaurant, we were seated in the spacious dining room where only a few tables were occupied.  We were waited on immediately.  The menu consisted of one choice of salad, soup, entree and dessert.  We had expected more options.  Oh, well, they sounded tasty.  The entree was lobster so we enjoyed our quiet meal.  We both felt a little sun-baked and so we didn't linger long at the restaurant.  Strolling back to our room in the black of night, the paved stone paths lit by two-foot tall white lanterns, we finally collapsed on our bed and called it an early night.
                                *****                                     *****                              *****

The alarm went off at 7 am.  Walter was dozing but I jumped up with a start.  Although we had been quite excited to go on our excursion, there was no way we could go.
Walter had been up off and on during the night with the urgent need to use the washroom.  He felt OK otherwise but a case of the "runs" on a day-long catamaran trip was not our idea of fun!  So we rolled over and went back to sleep for a couple more hours.
I woke up again and knew I better grab breakfast.  Walter was sleeping soundly.  So I went to the buffet alone and scouted out dry toast and fruit to bring back for my poor hubby.  When I returned, he was feeling a little better but not sure he wanted to eat.   Soon he rallied.  Then housekeeping came so we vacated the room.  But Walter began to feel poorly again, so we didn't stay in the main lobby area very long.  I scrounged for Gravol and other tummy remedies.  No Imodium.  That was a tragic omission on my part.  You can't get such items in Cuba (or many other foreign countries).  But with a Gravol and bottle of water sipped, Walter soon settled down for an afternoon nap.
I read, did crossword puzzles and quietly occupied myself.  About 3 pm, I decided to take a walk to the market that was located between our resort and the neighbouring one.  I left a little note by Walter's bedside.
It was Valentine's Day.  What a bummer!  We had hoped to spend the day on our excursion and then a relaxing evening together.  But true romance is not about perfectly orchestrated days together; it is about "better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health"!  I found more food for Walter and by supper time he was significantly improved so ventured to the buffet.  We figure he had a touch of food poisoning, as he had the salad with tuna on it and I had the soup as an appetizer the night before.  Maybe?
And thus ended our second day on the Cayo Santa Maria!