Signet's Best - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

It started with a text that said, "I just won a trip to Mexico."  Followed by another text that read, "Oh, and you can come too."  Well, I certainly hope so!

I have to admit, Mexico? Not my favorite destination spot but when John came home that night and gave me the skinny, I was thinking this would be pretty sweet...and it was.

Signet is the company that John works for now that Zale's has merged.  They own all the major jewelry stores: Kay Jewelers, Jared's, Zale's, etc.  Most of the folks that go on this trip know that they've won it.  It's based on sales in the actual store so there are store managers, district managers, etc.  But John doesn't work in a store.  He works at the corporate office so it's a little different for him.  He was actually nominated by...someone there.  Then a group of upper level management folks had to vote.  John won.  Am I surprised?  Not at all.  He and I are both cut from the same cloth.  Though we don't necessarily want to, we both give a sh*t about our jobs.  We work hard because it goes against our grain not to.  John says that there are others in his department more deserving.  Maybe that's true but I doubt it.  My guy works his bum off to what needs to be done.

Signet's Best for 2016 - John Chaney

I think it's super cool that his company has recognized and rewarded him for his efforts.  Plus I got a free trip to Mexico.  The trip is all-inclusive.  Now, the last time we did all-inclusive to Mexico was in Cancun and it was at Jack Tar Village, which is why I made a face when he told me.  But Signet doesn't do anything half-assed.  They go all the way.

The view from our room.

We stayed at the Fiesta Grand Americana in Cabo San Lucas.  This place is like a small city.  The folks that work here are so friendly.  One young guy even gave us a Spanish lesson.  I'm sad to say that I've already forgotten it.

There were three required "events" put on by Signet and we did the requisite eye roll but they all turned out to be very cool.  The first was a "business meeting" where they recognized all the winners and had them stand up. 

There were three "waves" of this vacation so about 1200 employees plus guests came over that three week period.  Signet pretty much took over this place.  The trip was all expenses paid.  You only had to cover extra alcohol and any sundries/souvenirs.

The mariachi band at this "business meeting" was fantastic.

The next event was a dinner with a theme called "Ignite the night".  It was a buffet dinner with an open bar.  (This is where I learned about the Mango Mojito.  Oh kids!)  The event ended with a spectacular fireworks show.  John & I knew nobody here.  So we awkwardly found a table that had a few people sitting there and asked if we could join them.

The famed Mango Mojito - yummy!

We met Marilyn, who was a store manager in Tennessee.  She and her husband Chris had been married for a year and had been trying to squirrel away time for a honeymoon.  This was her first time to win this trip, which came at an opportune time.

Sara was from Kentucky.  She was also a manager and had brought her grandson, Dillon.  He worked at her store as well.  This was her ninth time winning the trip.  Dillon worked at the same store as Sara while he went to school. 

Both ladies worked at Kay Jewelers.  They were awesome.  They had some serious stories.  I've never worked retail and neither has John so it was an interesting perspective.  They told tales of working long hours with naps in their cars to get the job done during the holidays. 

We met another couple from Louisiana that had been on this trip ten times.  I looked at John and suggested that he hustle his butt.

Beautiful palm trees.

The third event was toward the end of the week.  Oh, did I mention that?  It was a week long vacation in Cabo San Lucas!  A WEEK!

For the third event, we found ourselves, once again, looking for a place to sit.  We found an empty table and made ourselves comfortable.  Shortly thereafter, a lady asked if we were saving seats (8 of them).  We said no and she brought her troops over.  We had the opportunity to meet even more folks that worked onsite.  These guys were from the Colorado/Utah area.  They were so fun!  (This is where I learned about Tequila and pineapple juice).  They actually got both John and I on the dance floor.  (I know, right?).  It was "paint the town neon" night.  I didn't have any neon clothes so we got glow in the dark glasses.

Cabo San Lucas is...kind of dry and brown (until you get to the beach), a lot like Phoenix but with a better temperature.  The first couple of days it was a little chilly but then it was only June.  The water was so blue and inviting that we couldn't resist.  We went into the ocean (Sea of Cortez?) and it was freakin' freezing!  We immediately scuttled back to the pool and hung out there for the rest of the week.

 Proof we were down on the beach...long enough to take a photo.

The Grand Fiesta Americana was like a small city.  Every room had a view of the ocean.

 As I mentioned, the hotel was like a small city.  This is a view of some of the buildings from the beach.  That last building on the right is where our room was.

Below was the route we took to get to where all the action was.  We could have called for an "uber" ride, where a guy in a golf cart would come pick us up but we needed some exercise so we hoofed it.

 

Initially, we had a very aggressive schedule.  We'd planned on taking an excursion into the city for shopping and then another day we were taking the boat for a snorkeling exercise.  After three days on the resort, we cancelled those events in favor of laying by the pool like bums.

This is how I spent most of my time.

Our routine went something like this:  Get up around ten, have breakfast.  Back to the room to nap.  Get up and go out to the pool.  Have lunch.  Go back to the room for a quick nap.  Then shower and off to dinner.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Sometimes naps took place on the balcony.  It was just that relaxing.

They gave us a selfie-stick in our gift bag.

 The resort did have a gym (thank you God!), though it wasn't very well stocked.  It was good enough for my purposes.  There was a treadmills (or 4), some other aerobic machines, some free weights and a couple of other weight machines.  We managed.  The only purpose was to offset all the food we ate.  I'm happy to report that we made at least four visits.  Not bad for being on vacation.  The gym had amazing views of the ocean.

During the day, they had two places where you could get a breakfast buffet and then three places where you could get lunch.  All the food was pretty good but the fish tacos at the Cervicheria were the absolute best.  In fact, we ate there for lunch at least three times!

 

Lunching at my favorite Cervicheria.  Sorry about the hat...

The yummy fish tacos.

 

 Hanging out at the pool.

 

The food at this place was really good.  Way better than any cruise we'd been on.  There was a Mexican place (not your average Tex-Mex), an Italian place, a steak place and a Sushi place. 

 

This would be before the Mexican dinners...

 It was a fantastic week of doing absolutely nothing!  Oh, except a massage.  We did do the massage.  It was John's first one.  I was getting my own massage so I didn't think to take a photo.  But believe me, it was awesome.

 

Sadly, when the week was up, they insisted we leave.  One last look at that magnificent view.

 

Thank you, Signet for a fun-filled week of lounging around the pool!