Several months ago, I got a phone call from an unknown number. I let it go to my voicemail then listened to the message. It said I was a guaranteed winner and call back to receive my prize. Now, since I do drop my business card in those sweepstakes buckets all the time, I was suspicious, but it was plausible. So I called back. They told me that I had made it to the finalists in a sweepstakes in Tampa, and if went down there that night, there would be a drawing and I was guaranteed to win *something*. The Grand Prize was some kind of luxury SUV (I don't remember which), and only one person would win that. The rest of the prizes were a flat-screen TV, a large sum of cash (again, I forget how much, but in the 4 digits) and a trip to the Bahamas. I asked several times and they assured me that I was guaranteed to win one of those 4 prizes. The guy on the phone asked me a few questions, one of them being how much money I made. I answered in the lowest category (I always do, whether I make that much or not, so no one will expect me to buy anything). He asked me if I would be comfortable telling the people in Tampa that I made more. He said I needed to claim I made $40,000 to qualify for the sweepstakes, but that no one would check, so if I was comfortable lying, I could qualify. So I said "sure" and he gave me directions. That should have tipped me off right there to what I was getting into, but it didn't. So, still suspicious, Zen Shooter and I got into his truck (in case I won the TV and needed cargo space) and drove town to Tampa. We made plans to meet up with some friends afterwards for dinner, for 2 reasons: 1) if it was all fake, at least I'd get to see my Tampa friends and 2) I just don't get to see my Tampa friends often enough.
So, we get down there and we are placed in a waiting room with several other couples. After a while, someone comes through a door and starts taking couples back through that door, one set of couples at a time. Eventually, it's our turn. They sit us at a round table with our names on it and we wait some more. Eventually, a guy comes up and stands in front of the screen in one corner of the room, and begins to talk. Turns out, this is not a sweepstakes event, but a vacation package sell. It's not quite a time-share, but that's the idea - they try to get people to buy into their service that provides vacation packages at steep discounts (if you discount the massive up-front payment and annual fees). The incentive for sitting through the presentation was that I would get a scratch-off card at the end that would tell me which of those four prizes I had won, but they cautioned me that the trip was the most common prize available, since, y'know, it's their business to sell vacations.
I sat there quiet but trying not to stir up trouble. I did sales before so I had some sympathy for the guy trying to do his job, but I wasn't going to buy anything even if I did have the money for it. Eventually he finished the presentation and each table of couples got their own personal salesperson to try and talk them into buying. Our guy kept dropping the initial buy-in price lower and lower until he finally asked "what would it take to get you to sign up today?" and I said "nothing". They then took us out of the room, down a hall, and into a storage room while the front-desk kid came in to say that they were totally out of scratch off cards, could I come back in a couple of days to pick it up? I told them I was from Orlando, and they offered to mail it to me. Feeling even more suspicious now than when I got the phone call, I gave them my address and left. I figured it was a scam, but hey, at least I got to go out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with some good friends!
So, I get home and I begin calling their office daily to inquire about the scratch-off card. About a week later, to my surprise, the card actually did arrive. I scratched it off and, sure enough, I had won a trip to the Bahamas. So I sent back the card like I was supposed to and, again, to my surprise, I received a form to fill out to request my vacation dates. Again, I sent it back, not expecting much, but about a month later, I received confirmation of my Bahamas trip for my birthday weekend.
So, on January 15th, the day before my 32nd birthday, my friend Rob and I drove down to Ft. Lauderdale, where we stayed overnight because we boarded the ship at the obnoxious hour of 6:30 AM the next morning. We then spent 4 days and 3 nights in a gorgeous hotel right on the beach. On the last day, we took the 5 hour ship ride back to Ft. Lauderdale, stayed another night there, and drove home the next day. All in all, it was a pretty good birthday!
Click on the thumbnails below to see larger images. Please do not steal these images. If you wish to copy these images, show these images on your own website or link to mine, please ask permission first.
Day 1 Our Arrival
It was freakin' COLD on the ship!
This is the entrance to our hotel, the Island Seas Resort.
We stayed on the 3rd floor, the upper-left window in the central block was our bedroom.
This is the main entrance to the hotel, which we could see from our bedroom balcony across the street.
We actually had a hotel suite, complete with full kitchen, living room & dining!
The dining room
The dining room/kitchen
The kitchen
Towards the bedroom
the bedroom
The bedroom
The view from our kitchen/livingroom balcony of the canals.
The view from our kitchen/livingroom balcony of the canals.
The view from our kitchen/livingroom balcony of the canals.
The view from our kitchen/livingroom balcony of the canals.
This was the pool, about 100 yards from the beach.
We can just barely see the Island's Castle from our balcony
Later we checked out the nearest marketplace, Port Lucaya...
which had this crazy hat stand!
Day 2 The Dolphin Experience
The first day there, we went to the Dolphin Experience
We got to see them play up close...
really up close!
Lucky for me, I brought a waterproof camera case!
Being playfully splashed by the dolphin.
The trainer called the dolphin over to start doing tricks.
First was just to introduce us.
Next was to show us the blowhole.
We got to hear some of the sounds they make
And see how they pop up and swim backwards.
Next was to show us dolphin teeth.
Smile for the camera!
Talking through the blowhole
Tail Splash!
Tail Splash!
Swiming around the square, tail-splashing
Standing up on the tail.
Showing off the tail
Hi there!
Playing Fetch with the cooler lid
Wave goodbye!
Another dolphin playfully jumps and follows another trainer with a cooler full of fish.
A dolphin jumping
The training grounds
Rob and I got our pictures taken with the dolphin. (yes, that's my ipod in a waterproof case on my arm - I'm a geek)