Well, night 1 really...we flew out of Minneapolis in the afternoon and after a connecting flight in Atlanta we arrived in Cancun a little after 10pm. The flights were on-time and we avoided all of the storms along the way, kudos Delta! Warning: Cliche airplane window photo:



Customs was more than a little curious about all of our production gear for the broadcasts which led to a bit of a delay leaving the airport. Our highly skilled engineer Veronica (I believe she's the only bilingual staff member on this trip) handled the situation like a pro and we were on our way!

Rolling up to the Iberostar in the evening just doesn't do it justice. This place is massive! The bar near check-in was fully populated with guests as we arrived and we were lucky enough to run into a handful of our winners and guests from Minnesota and shared a drink or two. Everybody's really amped to see Eric Hutchinson's set today for Oake on the Water. We had a chance to sneak into the area where we'll be broadcasting and it's a real trip...check out the view:



One of the friendly faces that welcomed us at the bar last night was Eric's guitarist/keyboardist/singer, Mr. Elliott Blaufuss! He checked in a day or two before us so he was well equipped to give us the lay of the land and showed us around. He told us that he had been chatting with an employee of the Iberostar on his first night about how the hotel is so bright that the baby sea turtles think it is the moon and charge up the beach and amass on the shore outside the hotel. He actually went out in the middle of the night and helped collect them and set them back on their way by releasing them back into the ocean. Maybe it was the alcohol or Elliott's romantic retelling of the turtle run but we made our way to the moonlit beach in hopes that we too could cross paths with the turtles and help them on their way. The beach was covered with little turtle tracks but alas, no turtles to be found. Maybe tonight.

Oake on the Water's live broadcast with Eric Hutchinson will kick off at 3pm today. Eric is slated to perform around 5pm so be sure to tune in or stream it all live via iHeartRadio here.