Business Trip to the Dominican Republic

Location: Ocean Blue and Sand Resort, Punta Cana, DR

Sigh, I hate when you're in the middle of a great vacation and it has to be interrupted by a business trip. Oh wait...it's to the DR, going with my sister, Linda, and brother-in-law Gary and we're staying at an all-inclusive resort for a week. Sometime during the week we're going to visit our Dominican cocoa bean suppliers, but in the meantime, we'll just have to enjoy the resort. Linda and Gary are both on the "Board" of Cello Chocolate. Linda has the honorary title of "Fam Club President" and Gary is "Head of Quality." True to her title, LInda was touting our chocolate to random people at the airport. Here's Ned pulling out our Bach Sweets. Yes, we shared.

Getting here was half the fun. We all left Ft. Lauderdale together and had a very easy flight to Puna Cana.

Yep, we scored some drinks upon check-in, you know, cause business travel is so grueling.

 

 

This resort is really beautiful. It is situated right on the ocean, has two pools, 9 restaurants, activity center and gorgeous walking paths. We have rooms overlooking the gardens and pool with the ocean in the background.

Being in charge of quality control, Gary insisted we sample some more drinks. Coco Loco, Dirty Monkeys, and of course a Cerveza...those are the ones off the top of my head that I remember.

 

 

After a swim in the ocean and hitting a snack bar, we had fun checking out the place. Linda and I took a poolside Zumba class, played some ping-pong, and we all visited the bowling alley and fitness center. (Notice I said "visited" and not used). There's a beach side rock climbing wall and I give props to Linda for attempting an ascent.

I would have, but I didn't want to spill my drink.

 

Each of the restaurants have a different theme. Ned got a kick out of the Route 66 restaurant. He thought it was rather ironic that we drove across the whole country, then flew to the DR, just to re-visit an American Themed Place. Nonetheless, it was pretty cute. I don't think it's going to make the cut though for our dinner pick.

 

 

The Mexican Restaurant looked pretty inviting too! Decisions, decisions.

It was a tough choice deciding on the restaurant tonight and we had several false starts. Our first attempt was at a fancy-schmany French Restaurant called Blue Moon. It was a 45 min. wait, but doable since it was next to the sports bar. We finally got called up to be seated when suddenly the hostess looked down at Ned's feet. All things stopped.

Here's a picture of the different restaurants spread around the lake and courtyard.

 

 

The dress attire was button down shirts (check), long pants, (check) and close-toed shoes. We tried to pre-empt this requirement by Gary loaning Ned his white sports socks...to be worn with Ned's Teva sandals. Oh My, the fashion statement it was not, but technically at least his toes were covered! Well, it wasn't passing muster and we were denied seating. To fully appreciate this attire Ned is also wearing his zip-off tropical pants/shorts that he purchased for his cocoa harvesting Trinidad trip along with a Hawaiian shirt.

I'm shocked we were denied seating!

Not to be deterred we went to the 2nd fanciest restaurant, the Steak House, which also had an hour wait. In the meantime, Linda was determined to get Ned seated in the French Restaurant. So, hilarity ensued as Ned attempted to negotiate renting out a pair of shoes from one of the vendors at the resort. Yes, actually renting shoes for an hour! Negotiations were officially aborted when the vendor would not except Susan B. Anthony coins. An American dollar was only acceptable in paper form.

Here's Linda and I posing with the cowboy statue outside the steak house while we wait to be seated. After a good long while, and starving at this point, we decided that what we really wanted all along was the Italian Restaurant. Fortunately, it was a great decision and the food was incredibly good.

After dinner was an evening of karaoke, the majority of which was in Spanish. Good times for sure! I have no idea what songs everyone was singing, but hey, did that ever deter me from singing along?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Don't Believe Everything You Read on the Internet...

Location: Best Western, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Today was our last day in the Keys so we got up to watch the sunrise on the beach. A beautiful sunrise it was too! Goodbye, Florida Keys, we had a great time, we'll be back for sure.

 

 

We had two things to do before we left The Keys. The first, was to locate the filming site from the Netflix series, "Bloodline". We became addicted to watching this show and were curious where in the Keys it took place. Through a little bit of sleuthing, we found it on Islamorada Keys. It's a very posh "Village and Spa" with lots of no trespassing signs. Pishaw...we decided to unload our bikes and ride undercover. I took a couple of pics of the famous curved palm tree and the dock. Cool place for sure, but probably a little more pricey than our camping spots. I think the Plantation House rents out $2900 per night.

The other thing we had to do before leaving The Keys was have a piece of key lime pie. (I mean a girl can only resist all those billboards tempting you for so long!) What better time than for breakfast. We stopped at a colorful and very busy roadside bakery/restaurant. Ned was a traditionalist and went for a slice of Key Lime Pie, while I went rogue and tried the Key Lime muffin. Ned handily won this round. The muffin was really an angel food cake with no trace of lime. Meh. Ned, always taking one for the team, decided we should share. The pie was delicious:)

 

Our plan was to find an RV park as close to Ft. Lauderdale Airport as possible. We perused the County Park, but the concrete pads baking in the sun weren't convincing. We did a quick YELP search and decided upon the Yacht Haven RV Park. We were thrilled that they had a pool and a laundry mat, but the real clincher was their ad copy, "A tropical breeze caresses your face. The taste of salt is in the air. Each breath you take is deeper than the last. As you close your eyes you hear the slight rustle of palm leaves and your senses are filled with an image of nature's opulence...Yacht Haven Park where you want to be." Sign me up coach.

Besides, who could resist this dapper looking fellow!

 

In reality this was a full-time trailer park and storage. Yacht Haven, how about Yacht Heaven - where old motorhomes go to die. We paid our $42 bucks and were assigned the most pathetic little patch of asphalt you have ever seen. The bathrooms were a joke, the pool was excessively warm and a mouse ran across the outside laundry room. Our van thermometer read 104 deg outside and 107 inside the van. Ned is the most patient man in the world, but even he has his limits. As we were sitting there dripping wet with sweat waiting for the laundry, Ned said, "Let's get the hell out of here. Screw the 42 bucks, I want out." So we picked up our wet laundry, loaded up the van, and hightailed it outta there. A quick phone call to my sis LInda confirmed where they were staying for the night.

In retrospect I don't know why we didn't just stay here in the first place! We finished up our laundry at the Best Western, enjoyed a quick dip in the refreshing pool and the best part was spending time with Gary and Linda. We went out to dinner and started planning our strategy for our Dominican Republic adventure. Here's Linda and I being eaten by a shark outside the restaurant. Fortunately our brave men saved us. We live another day.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Best of the Keys

Location:Bahia Honda State Park, Fl...official beach bums

Today was definitely the highlight of not only the Florida Keys, but our trip so far. The winds and choppy water had died down enough so that the snorkel tours were once again running. We tried to do a last minute Dry Tortuga tour, but unfortunately it was already booked. In retrospect this was the best thing that ever happened. Turns out one of the Keys best reefs is a short boat ride from Bahia Honda and the snorkel tours there are about 1/8th the cost of going out to the Dry Tortugas. Also, the Tortuga snorkel trip takes 10 hours, the one today was 3. Just about perfect. Now we'll have enough time to do BOTH the snorkel tour and play around Key West, one of my favorite places. Here I am so darn excited about going out on the tour.

It's only about a half hour boat ride to the Looe Key Reef and Natural Marine Reserve. The calm, blue, crystal clear waters were amazing. Here's Ned enjoying the boat trip back from a fun morning of snorkeling. I think he's still in awe of what we saw.

I've done my fair share of snorkel tours, Maui, Belize and Malaysia, but I can honestly say that today's snorkeling was the BEST ever. The minute we dived into the water and looked down we saw hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of different fish. All you really had to do was just stay put and everything would come to you. We swam over a shark,

 

but the coolest thing was when a school of about hundred yellow-gold and white fish, about 8 to 10 inches in length, swam around and between Ned and me. They were sparkling in the water and just swimming around and around us. Unbelievable. We were just euphoric with the experience. The camera just couldn't adequately capture this moment. Ned said that it felt to him like the fish were saying, "Hey Ned, come join the club!" Here's one of the fish, without the crowd.

 

 

 

All the fish we saw were really so colorful it was hard to believe they were real.

Yeah, I loved every single moment of this snorkel trip!

We cleaned up and headed to Key West. It was hotter than hell...(who better to judge than me?) and even though we tried an iced coffee drink, it didn't seem to help much to cool us off. What a great excuse to hit all those air-conditioned shops.

 

 

 

 

This isn't our first trip to Key West, so we skipped the Truman White House Tour, Hemmingway's Home and Southern Most Point. All things we've done before. Instead we decided to just walk around and take in the vibe. Sooooo, there are so many pictures I could post. Do I post the sweet, romantic vibe of Key West. Like this one?

Or the touristy things that were so indicative of Key West?

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps I should focus on the Cuban connection, like watching handrolled cigars being made?

Well actually my favorite thing was all the crazy, off the chart, kooky wackos. Like the guy who was wearing JUST a blue "sack" over his sack. He then put on a tutu to cover up when riding his bike. Yeah, that happened. Ned took a picture of me, but seriously focus on the guy in the tutu on the bike in the right.

 

 

 

I have so many more pictures of this wonderful, ecclectic place. Okay, just one more of the wackiness. Mad Max with a spear gun while riding his bicycle. Why not?

We finally settled on dinner at a fun Cuban restaurant. Dang, they sure make their mojitos here a lot stronger than at my house. Just sayin'.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm already thinking about our next trip. Who wants to come? They grow cacao there so it would be a legit trip...sorta;)

What a great day!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Paradise Found Redux

Location: Bahia Honda State Park, FL...still!

Today was all about hanging around the campground and enjoying beach life. Not too exciting, but very relaxing.

Debi enjoying the early morning before the sand, salt water and hot sun kick in.

 

 

 

 

 

We did the usual: snorkel...

 

...practice using iphone as underwater camera (in encased waterproof pouch).

 

 

Got in some exhilirating and cardio floating:)

Enjoyed the local wildlife.

This guy keeps coming around. He's about 14" long.

 

 

 

 

 

Ned became fascinated with this miniscule spider. It's about the size of a pencil eraser (maybe smaller) and looks exactly like a crab.

The stork and the dork

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we had to deal with the perils of beach life. What happens when you go swimming with your wallet...oops.

 

After our nightly bike ride we ended up on top of the Old Railroad Bridge this evening. This picture is looking down on our little beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Paradise Found

Location: Bahia Honda State Park, FL

Poor Ned had a rough night. Too much smoked fish? Needless to say, the thought of riding the waves in the rough seas for an hour, then going snorkeling...with no bathrooms on the boat made him turn green. So the sad news is no snorkel tour this morning, but the good news is Ned promised we'd come back again some day. (Road trip!!). I figure this will also give us an opportunity to try and buy another underwater camera. The main thing is Ned is on the road to recovery so all is good. It was also nice to leave Key Largo, the cheesier side of the Keys...(Home of the Original Tuna Nachos anyone?!)

When people ask me what's the single most thing you are looking forward to on this trip, it's such a hard question to answer. However, I can tell you that the one camping spot I have been looking forward to more than any other is at Bahia Honda. It's rated the #1 place to beach camp in Florida. Many years ago we camped in this park, but next to a dumpster and a parking lot. Apparently, the coveted beach spots are really hard to come by. So, I made it my mission to secure us a beach site. Voila! June of 2014 I was able to get one for today!! (In fact planned a lot of our trip around arriving here on this date). Here's a pic of my little piece of heaven.

Bahia Honda is a little more than half way down the Keys. Getting here is truly one of the most beautiful drives. It's hard for my brain to take in the endless blue-green, turquoise water on both sides of the highway. Seeing sailboats, fishermen casting out their nets and even the trailer parks along the road were just so picturesque.

 

 

 

Arriving at Bahia Honda and pulling into our little site Ned seems so much a happier camper than this morning!

Where's Debi? Floating half way to Cuba about now, I'd guess.

The great thing about Winnie is she comes prepared for most situations. Love that we have our own little in-house shower. Great for dealing with those pesky sandy toes.

We went for an afternoon bike ride and Ned managed to eat something after-all today.

 

 

 

 

 

Early evening and it's drinks on the verdanda.

In the Florida Keys watching the sun go down is a big event. Everyone comes out and watches the sun slowly sink behind the water. We took a sunset spin on our bikes and enjoyed watching the people as much as the sunset. Here's a section of the original railroad built by Henry Fagler. The railroad was eventually converted into what today is knows as U.S. Highway 1. The Old Bahia Honda Bridge serves as a reminder of Fagler's dream.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy