8th November, 2016 US Presidential Election Day!!

We wake after another good sleep in very comfortable beds.  We have a breakfast meeting and review at Spinnaker, with their senior Sales Manager, Stan Lewis a highly experienced Marriott Vacation Home executive who joined Spinnaker several years ago.  He knows and understands our anxiety wth Embarc / Club Intrawest and the acquisition by Diamond International and subsequent takeover / buyout by Apollo Asset Management and the significant increase in Maintenace fees already applied.  We talk at great length. 

But more important to this is the need to prepare for this evenings election results with expectations of a Democrat victory still confirmed , but a tightening as explained via exit poll interviews.  Whilst we are very guarded in our views the depth of divide amongst Americans and including our friends remains something unlike any election we gave ever witnessed anywhere in the world.   

We spend the afternoon walking and taking in the resort and associated area, with the alligators in the lagoon swimming lazily to where people were taking photos.  Ken subsequently enjoys a swim and hot tub in the pool (internal) areas. 

We eat in with roast chickens which Frank and Ken purchased from Publix Supermarket.  We also have potatoes, salads and bread. 

The early election results in no way give evidence to the traumatic evening which will unfold over the hours from 7.00pm to almost 11.00pm.  Suffice to say that Donald Trump wins against all of the odds and is declared president elect after Hilary Clinton concedes.  We are surprised by the volume of the voting despite earlier polls showing Democrats had a 5-7 point advantage.  This has been a nasty vicious campaign, but clearly there has been a stunning Kate backlash particularly from rural non college educated males where Trump has had a result of almost 70/ 30.  He has also done better than expected with women across the USA.  That is unbelievable given his comments.

We decide to call it a night at about 11.15pm having witnessed one of the great turnarounds and stories of election outcomes of all time.  Frank us disappointed but watches the coverage until after 1.00am and like many others there is a sense of disbelief across the country.  How could the analysts and media have gotten it so wrong, how could the result swing so dramatically in the last several days.  The head of FBI with his letter did some damage, notwithstanding his subsequent retraction.  The media and elites just failed to understand the hatred and pain in rural America particularly amongst men aged 30 plus. From our viewpoint just an amazing evening.  Still hard to believe the magnitude of the swing. 

Jeanette and Ken were glad to be here for a momentous occasion of totally unexpected change and even FOX news and CNN are struggling to explain it and MSNBC is largely speechless in the face of such a defeat for the Democrats.