Estamos Volviendo a Estados Unidos

Estamos Bebiendo De Pinas

Today is our last day in the Dominican Republic.  When we came down here, we had big plans of traveling around and seeing the country, but we quickly got swept up by the relaxing atmosphere and spent the entire week relaxing at the resort.  I have to admit that, while I'm disappointed our whale watching and cultural experience plans fell through, this has been really nice.  I'm so keyed up in my daily life (even when we travel) and live by such a regimented schedule that it's been really nice to depart from that, if only briefly.  It certainly takes someone else forcing me to relax to actually make me happen, but it's necessary every once in a while.  Lately I've felt burned out, but now I feel totally refreshed and ready to take on the North Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  Kati and I spent it relaxing, eating Chinese food, and watching the Olympics.  It was wonderful.  Unfortunately, Spencer and Haley did not have as happy of a Valentine's Day.  At around 4:00 p.m. yesterday Spencer got violently ill and spent the rest of the evening stuck in his room under the weather.

Our flight leaves at 5:30 this evening, so we get until around 2:30 to relax at the resort.  Naturally, and in part due to a desire to not be sandy for the flight home, we're spending the day at the Eden pool with Juan.  The best part of the day, hands down, is that Juan has made us pineapple glasses to drink out of in honor of our last day.  That's it for now.  There's too much sun and fun to have before we go. Rest assured that we will be making a trip back down to the Dominican Republic in the future to truly explore the island, experience the culture, watch the whales, and find the perfect Panama hat.  Until then, hasta luego.

Arrr is Pirate for Party

At Pirate Night

I could get used to this kind of relaxation. My decisions each day are limited to the basics.  Should I relax on the beach or by the pool?  What kind of drink should I get next?  What kind of food am I in the mood for tonight?  I thought that by now I'd be going a little stir crazy but, to the contrary, I'm pretty content just sitting around drinking and catching up on some reading.

Monday, much like every day, was split in half.  In the morning, we relaxed on the beach underneath some thatched umbrellas so that Kati and my sunburns could recuperate in time for our impending massages on Wednesday.  Then, the afternoon was spent at the Eden pool where Juan, our favorite bar tender, has taken it upon himself to double every drink order that I place under the guise of giving me the typical American "BOGO" - buy one, get one.  Somehow, even though we stayed out of the sun the majority of the day, we managed to get even more burned.  One of the coolest things that we discovered on Monday was a swim-up sushi bar.  The sushi, while limited, was surprisingly good.  Plus, you really can't beat eating sushi while sitting on a bar stool, chest-deep in refreshingly cool water.

Tuesday was a bit more unique.  We followed the same general pattern - beach in the morning, Eden in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, Kati was in a lot of pain from her sunburn and spent the afternoon in the room, trying to catch up on sleep that her burns had deprived her of the night before.  But luckily, by the time dinner rolled around, she was feeling much better.  Dinner was fantastic, at Isla - the Dominican-style seafood restaurant - it as pirate night.  They went all out for it.  All of the waiters were dressed like pirates and they'd put up a pirate ship, cannons, and all sorts of other decorations.  We were greeted with rum-filled coconuts and a wonderful seafood buffet.  The highlights of the buffet were Caribbean lobsters and mahi mahi.  I forgot how good fresh seafood is down here.

After dinner, the pirate-themed entertainment began.  They had a 15-foot tall stilted pirate and a choreographed pirate fight.  In fairness, there was more flipping and acrobatics than fighting, but it was still incredibly entertaining.  The band that was slated to play had some issues.  They blew two fuses as they tried to kick off the party playing "Tequila."  Finally, after an extended hiatus, they resolved the technical issues and kicked off one hell of a dance party.  We all let loose and had a great time throwing back tequila and dancing the night away.  After the party ended, Kati and I went for a nice stroll on the beach at night before turning in for the evening.

Relaxing on the Beach

On Sunday, our first full day in Punta Cana, we went on a little bit of an excursion.  We heard rumor that, about a mile down the beach, there were places called "Coconut to Go" where we could buy cocunuts to drink out of.  It turns out that these coconut shops are on the beach of a new resort, the Royalton.  It just opened 90 days ago, but it was hopping and it's really cool.  The rooms on the first floor have swim-out porches!  I hate to champion a different resort than the one that we're staying at, but it was a great place.  Rather than bar stools, the bars are flanked by swings.  The main difference between the Royalton and the Hard Rock is the demographic of its guests.  The Hard Rock is a much older crowd that has come to relax in style and quiet (ironic seeing as Hard Rock has spent decades pitching itself as a young and hip company), while the Royalton is a much more party-oriented and hip scene.

On the way back, we were walking along the beach when a big wave crashed into the beach and pulled a speedboat from its beached position into the ocean.  It slipped within feet of my back.  At first, we thought that it was anchored to the beach, but quickly we realized that it wasn't.  Luckily, Spencer quickly thrust out his hand and caught it before it could drift off into the ocean.  The walk was great, but, seeing as it was our first day, none of us were quite prepared for the equatorial sun and everyone got horribly sunburned.

Here's another interesting fact about the Dominican, it's the home of the Panama hat.  Seriously, you would think that the Panama hat would have originated in Panama, but it didn't.  I'm keeping my eyes out for a great hat while we're down here.  No luck so far, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Exciting News

Completely unrelated to our present excursion, I have some very exciting news.  One of my blog posts has been picked up by an internationally-read travel website and cited as authority.  Unsurprisingly, it's one of my posts about Slovenia and Ljubljana.

Check it out: http://storify.com/visitljubljana/romantic-ljubljana

I'm one step closer to my dream of being a true travel writer!

"Welcome to Paradise..."

My Parents, Kati, Me, Haley, and Spencer
at a Swim-up Bar at the Hard Rock

There's no more fitting quote to kick off a stay in the Hard Rock at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  It seems strange (in a good way) to be on vacation again so soon after we got back from Europe, but I'm not going to complain about it.  (Though I might when I get back and have two days to prep for my NC Supreme Court argument!)

The trip down here left something to be desired.  In what seems to be a theme for our winter travel, the flight was pretty turbulent.  At one point, the plane spontaneously dropped about 2 feet and my mom let out a shriek that scared all of us.  Still, we made it down here in one piece and, after navigating the maze of border control winding through the thatched-roof buildings of the airport, we were on our way to the resort.

It was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to the resort.  I was struck by just how empty the country is.  Besides a smattering of "Se Vende" signs (for sale) and a few seemingly abandoned construction projects, there was nothing.  And then we got to the resort...

This place is huge!  They have somewhere north of 3,000 rooms and what seems like dozens of pools, fountains, restaurants, and ponds.  To put this in perspective, I've been running around the resort every morning and, if I just do a loop around the outside of the resort, it just about gives me my 5k for the day.

Now, this is not my vacation.  By that I mean that I didn't plan it and it diverges from the typical "Jackson Vacation" in that we're relaxing and hanging out at the resort instead of traveling constantly to take in the obscure and quirky cultural landmarks that happen to catch my fancy.  Now, that's not to say that this is not a great vacation (it is) and it's not to say that I'm not having a blast (I am).  It's only to say that those who have become accustomed to reading about our exploits should know that this week is slightly different.  It is also worth noting that this chapter in our travels marks the introduction of four new characters - my parents, my brother Spencer, and his girlfriend Haley.

Punta Cana, located on the most eastern peninsula on Hispanola is, simply put, a Caribbean paradise.  It's becoming super-saturated with resorts, but that doesn't really detract from the true draw of the area - the beach.  The area is world-renowned, and with good reason, for it's stunning white sand beaches and turquoise blue water.  Flanking the point are 36 km of pristine beaches.  One thing that has struck me being down here for a day now is the surf.  There are some serious waves.  It really makes me want to get out there and do some surfing.

My greatest disappointment from this trip (Yes, it's the beginning of the week and I can already tell you) is that my dreams of a glorious day trip have been quashed.  They have tons of tourist agencies down here that are more than willing to help you plan a trip...as long as it's one of their standard trips that are easily marketed to the masses.  With that said, the trip that I wanted to take happened to be one of the ones that they offered.

North of Punta Cana is another peninsula called Samana.  It is truly one of the most interesting locations in the Dominican.  There is a great waterfall (Salto de Limon) in the middle of the jungle that can only be reached by horseback.  It's 150 meters tall and falls into a crystalline pool perfect for swimming.  Samana is also north of a bay, most of which is a protected nature preserve, that is famous for one thing above all others: humpback whales.  Between January and March (yes, right now), Samana is one of the top five destinations in the world to see humpback whales.  They come to this bay once a year to breed and rear their calfs.  They say that during these winter months, visitors have a 95% chance of seeing the whales!  I've been looking forward to seeing both of these things for quite some time.  We had planned to take a day and check them out.  The canned trip that the agency offered was perfect, you catch a plane to Samana, visit the waterfall in the morning, and go whale watching in the afternoon.  The only problem was that the next time they were offering the trip was on February 17 - three days after we leave.  Even when we offered to fill an entire plane (9 people) if they would help us schedule a trip this week, the couldn't (or wouldn't) make it work.

One more interesting factoid about Samana, at the tip of the peninsula is Playa Rincon which is notable because it is the fist place that Christopher Colombus landed in the New World.  It's supposed to be absolutely breathtaking.  I apologize in advance for the lack of posts and pictures.  I'm pretty busy drinking, relaxing, and enjoying paradise.