Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Why hello December...

First things first I have to send a big internet hug to BFL whose birthday is today!!! Happy Birthday darlin', can't wait to celebrate with you on Sunday!

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So... Did November just up and disappear all abrupt like on anyone else?? I swear between being gone for 11 days and Thanksgiving I misplaced half a month y'all! Here it is 3 days into December and I'm just now feeling like life is returning to normal. We're home safe, back to work, the laundry is almost done and the bags 98% unpacked. AND I'm blogging! A girl has to have priorities I guess. :D

The honeymoon was fantastic, better than either of us imagined or dared hope for. We stayed at this awesome all inclusive resort outside of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and yes, it really is as beautiful as it looks in the pictures on their website. You know how sometimes at the end of a vacation you are sad to be leaving but also kind of ready to go home? Yeah well this trip was NOTHING like that. Neither TheBoy or I wanted to leave and it was SO hard getting up that last morning to pack.

The only downside of the whole trip was that flying there from the West Coast is terrible! On the way out there we had three flights with a 2 hour lay-over in LA and a 3 hour lay-over in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fact that TheBoy is 6'7" and doesn't fit into any normal sized airplane seats comfortably didn't help as he spent each flight (including the 6 hour one between LA and Puerto Rico) with either his knees jammed into the seat back of the person in front of him or stretched out into the aisle where the stewardesses I swear were aiming for his knees with those drink carts. Also, since I was still sick (am still sick, whatever) 3 take offs and landings did a number on my sinuses!

Of course once we got there and breathed in the warm tropical air and felt the sunshine on our backs all complaining ceased. I reserved a private taxi through the resort because the #1 thing people kept telling me about the DR was that pretty much anyone can drive out to the airport, call themselves a taxi and pick you up to take to your hotel. Which is fine if they do in fact take you to your hotel directly as opposed to taking a little side trip out to the middle of nowhere and robbing you first. And after seeing the hour long drive out to the beach from the airport I can see would be pretty easy to do! We went through cow country on these crazy rough roads with HUGE potholes and even bigger speed bumps, there are no street signs to speak of and ideas such as "right side of the road" and "two cars abreast" don't seem to matter there. It was definitely an experience!

The people at the resort welcomed us with a cool towel, a glass of champagne and a chorus of "welcome home", it was fantastic. Pretty much after that we never left the resort. Unfortunately because I was still sick, my energy level was not what I hoped it would be but TheBoy was content to let me sleep in and spend most days laying out by the pool reading (or napping) or swimming around lazily. This was our first time at an all inclusive so we weren't sure what to expect but the food was great in all the restaurants though we didn't care too much for the Asian fusion restaurant (I think because we have such awesome Japanese and Thai food here at home) and we definitely LOVED the french restaurant best. And all the booze included too? It was awesome! From the bars in and around the pool to the daily re-stocked mini-bar in our room (including bottle service!) we never were far from our next CocoLoco, Crazy Monkey, Mai Tai or glass of champagne. It was heaven.

Believe it or not we actually managed to take about 70 pictures! I know that may not seem like a lot to some of you who come home with hundreds and hundreds of photos from your vacations but trust me, TheBoy and I usually get home from some fabulous trip only to discover we took 12 photos and 10 of them were on the last day when we discovered we didn't have any pictures! So without further ado...

Room, the first.

View from room #1

Dinner, first night, totally jet lagged and with the ONLY tequila we drank the whole entire trip. Crazy no? They're into this thing called "rum" down there and you know, when in Rome...


Room, the second. Upgraded to swim up suite in the "excellence club" area. VIP. That's how we roll y'all. Woot!

View from the pool, looking at our "porch" of the room #2. Notice the hammock? TheBoy Had. To. Have. the hammock. He spent as much time as possible, when it wasn't raining, the the hammock.


Even though we never left the resort really, there were tons of things to do. We played pool in one of the most lopsided and damp tables ever in the sports bar and TheBoy even tried his hand at the archery they had set up.


Here is TheBoy enjoying the pool and waiting for the next round of pool volleyball to start up. He actually played quite a bit of pool volleyball and water polo though I think he might have had an unfair advantage since 4' deep water is like waist deep for him but... he certainly was a popular choice on people's teams!


In our rooms they provided these super plush robes and slippers to wear as part of the whole "spa" experience. They were of course too big for me but comically too small for The Boy. Check out the one-size-fits-most slippers y'all.


Here we are hanging out in the hammock after dinner one night...


Did I mention the birds? There are a ton of birds all over the resort. Flamingos, parrots, geese, ducks, peacocks... You name it and they are wandering around. Normally I think birds are dirty and gross but somehow in paradise I didn't mind so much. Which was good since they like to come up and visit you in your room and hop onto your hand while you are taking pictures of them.



Also, TheBoy got all artistic on me with the camera one night in the bar after maybe one too many Mama Juana shots. (I know that article says it tastes like port but it most certainly doesn't taste like any port I've ever had... It tastes like maple syrup. Seriously.)




Of course it did rain about half the time we were there. Funny I didn't mind it... Probably because it was still 85 degrees and someone was always still at the pool bar which was right outside our room.


Mere hours after that rain photo was taken, TheBoy was outside in the pool building a raft out of all the floating mats that blew to our end of the pool during the storm.


And last, but not least, I wouldn't be me if I didn't have my own night of too many Mama Juana shots and convinced this nice girl who was also there on her honeymoon to go swimming with me at midnight even thought the pools are technically closed. Y'all know you love me.

3 comments:

Michele said...

Yay pictures!

It looks fabulous there!

Liz said...

That explains the strange girl that looks slightly frightened. LOL, It looks wonderful and I am glad you had a great time. Thank you for the birthday wishes, I will see you Sunday!

Melina said...

so jealous! It looks like you guys had an amazing time!