Beach
We went to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic December 2016. This time was a little different than our previous Caribbean trips because we went with other people…family, in honor of Jeri’s turning 60. Our party consisted of Kyle’s parents Larry and Jeri, brother and sister-in-law Brad and Katie, and Kyle and me. This was a first all-inclusive trip for Kyles parents and we were curious to see how it would go for them, Larry in particular. More on that later.
Happy Birthday Jeri
Earlier in 2016, Kyle and I decided to buy into a vacation club and this was the first time we were using it so we were excited to see how it worked out. We booked a swim up room for each couple. When we arrived to the resort we were informed that each of our rooms had been upgraded to a junior honeymoon suite! That was pretty cool and we were all pretty excited about it. When we got to our rooms, which were all next to each other, there were awesome banners on our doors that said “VIP Member” so that made us feel pretty special. Larry and Jeri’s room had an extra banner that said “Happy Birthday” on it. Their room was decorated with ribbon and balloons and it was pretty special. The rooms had fresh chocolates and a bottle of wine (minus the opener?) in them. They were very large and very nice. Each had a balcony with a private Jacuzzi. After settling in, we walked around the resort and got to see the many peacocks and flamingos that walk around there.
Peacock
The next day consisted of lots of lounging around and also taking advantage of the all-inclusive. By the end of day and before dinner, Brad was MIA. Something about drinking with German’s… I’m not sure. There were some “help” texts that were sent by him and some angry wife texts and finally Brad was found, in time to meet Lorenzo (aka Larry’s alter ego). I won’t go into much detail here but Lorenzo spent the evening with us at dinner and was told to go packing by Jeri after dinner. He did not return for the rest of the trip.
Next day, more of the same lounging around. One of the bars had NFL Sunday and each TV had a different NFL game. The guys were pretty happy they got to watch the Lions game in Punta Cana. That evening some vendors set up at the resort with crafts and souvenirs. Their behavior was ridiculous. You couldn’t hardly get away from them and they didn’t take no for an answer. It made me feel pretty uncomfortable when I tried to go look by myself. We weren’t fans of this.
Dominican Republic
Next day, we booked a tour to go snorkeling on the other side of the island. We were told to bring bread to feed the fish so you saw us all sitting at breakfast hiding our loaves of bread that we were taking. We drove some 40min-1hr to the other side of the island and got out of the van only to find out that the coast guard was not letting out any boats due to a tropical storm brewing. The shop owner was down at the beach trying to negotiate. During the wait we went next door to a tiny shop where the family bought giant beers (something like a 40oz) for about $2. They stood outside drinking these beers and then we were told that we would be heading back as the coast guard officially declared no boats were to go out. It was a pretty nice day and we were disappointed. So we drove all the way back but this time had to stop at a handful of other resorts to drop some folks off. The beer hit everyone and they needed evacuate at the last resort before ours. After we got back, we all ate and then took a nap. The weather must have got pretty bad, windy and rainy, but we missed it all. When we woke up there was a window in the stairwell that was busted which tells you how strong the gusts were. Later that day, Kyle and I got to see some wild? horses next to the resort. There were two of them and it was pretty cool. That evening one of the peacocks flew all the way up to the third floor and stayed up there the whole night. We had good fun entertaining ourselves playing peacock calls from YouTube and hearing peacocks from all over the resort start screeching. They are so loud and when they start sounding out next to you it makes you jump. We fed it bread that we had from earlier in the day and took photos with it. It was pretty entertaining. We had quite a crowd watching us up on our balcony.
Wild Horse
Our last day there was more lounging. They brought a squirrel monkey onto the resort which you could pet and take photos with. The monkey was so soft and cute and I wanted one until I found out it pooped in my hair. Mario was his name. Jerk. Kyle, Larry and Brad got to play some water volleyball and had a water balloon fight with a bunch of people in the pool. Then Larry and Kyle played water polo. It was nice to watch them spend time together having fun like that. I’d never seen water polo before and it was surprisingly competitive at a fun resort on vacation. Kyle got hit pretty hard a few times and left with red marks.
After dinner we went to the casino which was near the size of our living room and nobody in it. Kyle gave me $20 and we started off at the roulette table. Lost that money quickly so we moved to the black jack table. Kyle gave me and Jeri each $20 and we sat down. We did pretty good and had a fun time. The dealer took all our money though. For some reason she couldn’t count either but whatever.
On Stage
It was the last night there and we were able to talk Larry and Jeri into going to the 9:30pm entertainment which was calledAmerican Way. We got there at 9:15pm. To my surprise I was called up to go onstage to participate in a game of dancing. You start out with a partner and held hands dancing. The emcee would call out to switch and you’d have to switch partners quickly before he yelled to stop. Anyone that was not in position was eliminated. It was gross holding different people’s hands and they were all sweaty. I made it through four or five rounds with a few rounds remaining. It was a unique experience.
On the last day we did our usual last walk around the resort. It was so hot and humid we did a quick walk and headed back to our air conditioned room just in time for the power go out in our building. We snapped some last photos on our way out and that was our trip!
