Honeymoon Part 4: "Happy Thanksgiving!"

**Sorry I just realized I forgot to hit publish on this post a couple weeks ago


As I mentioned in a previous post we decided to go to the Dominican the week of Thanksgiving both because of cost and because it allowed me to only have to take a couple of personal days.  I was bummed to be missing my favorite holiday at home with family but we ended up having a great day even without Turkey.

Most of the day was similar to how we spent any other day; we started the day relaxing on the beach and ended the afternoon at the pool.  We had decided early in the week that one night we wanted to have dinner on the beach.  The resort provided private candle light dinners on the beach and we decided this would be a suitable substitute for missing Thanksgiving dinner.  So after relaxing all day we got dressed up and headed to the beach:

A picture of us all dressed up before the humidity attacked my hair

Our table on the beach

The meal was like a 7 course dinner that consisted of:
Grouper Ceviche
Salad Symphony
Portobello Mushroom Soup

Lobster and Vegetables
Grilled Chicken and Potatoes
Passion Fruit Sorbet
You & Me Black & White Chocolate Cake

I took pictures of each course but the pictures really didn't capture the yummieness of dinner.  Our waiter, however, noticed me taking pictures and when he brought us our dessert insisted on not only taking a picture of the dessert for us: 

But then also insisted on taking pictures of us feeding each other:

We were also surprised by a mariachi band that serenaded us during dinner:

While it was no turkey and mashed potatoes it turned out to be a pretty great Thanksgiving dinner!

After dinner we were headed back to our room and walked past the buffet and discovered this little beauty:

How fantastic is he?  We also noticed a sign that said the buffet was serving Thanksgiving dinner so I thought it would be interesting to just go look and see their interpretation of the American tradition.  Let's just say I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up.  There was not a single thing on the buffet that even remotely resembled a good ol' American Thanksgiving.  Good thing they had Mr. Turkey out front to make up for it. 

Every Thursday on the resort was also "White Beach Party" night so we decided to take a walk down to the other side and check out the festivities.  The party consisted on lots of performances by men in little white shorts included a bar tending show, dancing, and flame throwing and don't worry there was a pretty fantastic conga line thrown in as well.  Sadly the darkness mixed with the glow sticks we didn't get many pictures but here are a few to hopefully give you an idea:

 All in all it was a pretty great Thanksgiving and one we definitely won't forget.

So that is the end of the wedding and honeymoon recaps.  Now I suppose we need to get to getting on house stuff so I have more stuff to post about!  Hopefully I will have a couple house posts soon.  

Honeymoon Part 3: "The Real Dominican"

We knew before we even got to Punta Cana that we would want to go on an adventure (or excursion)  we just didn't know what we wanted to do.  The first full day we were at the resort we had an introductory meeting with our travel agency and they provided us with a book of adventures to choose from.  We had a hard time deciding what we wanted to do and in the end it came down to an afternoon cruise on a party boat or a day experiencing "The Real Dominican."  Because we are huge nerds (mostly just me this time) we decided to go with the second choice.  Now I'm smart enough to know we didn't really experience a day in the life of a "The Real Dominican"  but we did learn some things, met some new people, saw some of the island beyond our resort and had an enjoyable day so I think it was a success.

Just after breakfast we boarded this truck/bus thing:

and our tour guide "Rudy"  immediately started serving drinks. We decided with a tour guide/bar tender like Rudy it was sure to be a good day.  Once we were all loaded with drink in hand we were off.  Here is a view of the countryside on the way to our first stop:

Our first stop along the way was a school.  Rudy explained that kids go to school for a half day each day in a one room school house and then another group of kids comes in the afternoon.  It looked like there were probably kids in the classroom from about 1st grade to probably about 8th grade. We spent about 10 minutes at the school before loading the bus again on to our next adventure.

We drove on some interesting "road" and a couple of times I was a bit worried we were going to get stuck but we managed to make it even after getting stopped by a herd of cows:

Some more pictures of the country side:

Our next stop was a "restaurant" owned by the tour company where we had a traditional Dominican meal, learned how cigars are made, and saw some wildlife:

Pineapple Plants- I had no idea each plant only produces 1 fruit 

Iguanas

Crocodiles 

Making Cigars

Lunch- fried chicken, rice, tomato salad, and potatoes- Very yummy!

After lunch we went to a coca bean and coffee bean farm where we learned how both are made.

The cement pad is where they dry coffee beans

Coffee Beans

Coca seeds- raw seeds are very slimy right out of the pod!

Coca beans and pods

After we left the farm it was off to the beach to enjoy some boogie boarding:

It was a very fun day and while most people probably think I am crazy for going on an educational adventure I thought it was the best of both worlds.  We got to enjoy beach time and learned some new things, but yes I can admit I am a giant nerd and Nick is a trooper for going along with my nerdiness.

Honeymoon Part 2: Day to Day

Monday was our first full day at the resort.  After breakfast we had an orientation meeting with our travel agency.  It was a quick session to explain some of the excursion options and special things available at the resort.    Then began our basic daily routine.  We would wake up mid morning and go to one of the 2 buffets on the resort for breakfast.  After breakfast we would usually head to the beach and spend the morning on the beach reading, napping and enjoying umbrella drinks.

Our first Umbrella Drinks!

Then whenever we got hungry we would either enjoy the lunch that was prepared on the beach or head to one of the buffets.

After lunch we usually headed to the pool and lounged around some more.  We also ended up socializing with other couples that were at the resort.

Then when the sun started to set and we were tired we would head back to our suite to get ready for dinner.  Most nights we enjoyed dinner at one of the sit down restaurants.  There was a decent variety of different types of food- Japanese, Italian, French, American, and a couple of seafood restaurants to choose from.

Desert at the Japanese Restaurant

I think this was the French Restaurant entree

 Every evening in the courtyard of our resort would have live music.  It was usually some sort of terrible combination of American Pop music with jazzy undertones (think Madonna meets Kenny G).  It really was awful but was nice to enjoy the nice night outside.  They also usually had a signature drink each night including one night drinks in pineapples!

Every night on the other resort there were also shows.  They were usually held in the courtyard and we would wander through and watch for a while mostly just for a break from the bad music.  The last night we were there, however, was what I think might have been the highlight of the week for Nick-  A Michael Jackson Show!  Let me tell you this was quite possibly the worst thing I have ever seen, but I have also probably not laughed so hard in a long time.  Here a glimpse into the experience:

I wish this gave you a true picture of what it was like, but I think it might just be one of those things you have to experience. 

That was how we spend most of the week we were there.  As I wrote this it sounded a bit boring and unexciting but having no real plans for the week and just relaxing was just what we needed and I would do it again in an instant.  

Honeymoon Part 1: We arrive in Punta Cana

As most of you are aware we decided for lots of reasons to wait to go on our honeymoon.  Our initial conversations had been to wait and go the week between Christmas and New Years but the prices to go to a nice warm island that week are well RIDICULOUS!  So after some conversation we decided to go the week of Thanksgiving.  I did have to miss my favorite holiday, but I only had to take 2 days off work (all the vacation days I had) so it was really the only thing that was going to work.  It turned out the be great timing and an amazing week.

Saturday before we left we hosted Nick's family at our house for Thanksgiving dinner.  I should have taken pictures given that it was the first Thanksgiving meal I had ever prepared and it was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.  Then Sunday morning we were up very very early and off to the airport:

Nick and his coffee at the airport

On the airplane

The flight was about 5 hours and as much as I would have liked to I didn't sleep on it at all so it was pretty boring but before we knew it we were landing in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic:

No you aren't seeing things the airport is several buildings with thatched roofs.  It was quite an interesting thing to see from the air and then realize oh wait that is the actual airport.  It didn't take too long to get through customs and once we were through customs we were herded (and I mean that quite literally) to get our luggage and onto the bus to our resort.  I think the travel company wanted to make sure we didn't wander off. It was a bit overwhelming but in the end we were efficiently shown the way:

on the bus

Luckily the bus was a nice charter bus and had air conditioning cause it was already hot and humid!  After about a 30 minute bus ride we arrived at our resort:

When we got off the bus we were greeted with some champagne and quickly checked in.  We were then escorted to our beautiful room:

Isn't it so bright and cheery?  And yes that is a jacuzzi tub on our balcony!  Also notice in the second picture our complimentary bottle of rum and "fruit basket"  Sadly the "fruit basket" was a plate with 2 strawberries and 2 apples and Im pretty sure the strawberries had been sitting out for a few hours too long- but it was a nice gesture.  We also had a fully stocked mini bar in our room that was included in our all inclusive rate that came with snacks so it was ok if the "fruit basket" wasn't up to my standards the free diet coke (or coca-cola light) and banana chips made up for it!

Once we settled into our room we decided to go for a walk and acquaint ourselves with the resort.  We were staying at an adults only resort but it was attached to a family friendly resort.  This turned out to be an awesome unexpected bonus.  We were able to travel back and forth between the 2 while the guests of the other resort were not allowed on our side.  This meant we had access to twice as many restaurants including the kid friendly buffet which I greatly appreciated.  While I like to be adventurous, sometimes I just want a cheeseburger and fries like the average 8 year old.   Here is what the rest of the resort looked like:

The beach

The beach cabanas

The courtyard 

The pool and swim up bar

I think I took most of these pictures on the day we left which was a bit overcast but most of the time we were there it was sunny and gorgeous!

Stay tuned for some posts about how we spent our time and found a special way to celebrate Thanksgiving!