Family Time at an All-Inclusive Resort
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| The Boy and I were buddies on the flight to the Dominican Republic. |
Like most families, we try to take at least one vacation every summer. These can be road trips where we take a multiday drive to our destination like Chicago. Sometimes we will fly to a destination and cover more ground to see a destination further away.
This year's vacation took us to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Wife thought it would be a good idea to hit up a resort and have others do the cooking and cleaning. I thought this was a good idea. We spent the weeks leading up to our trip packing and checking off the necessary items for our trip. Lucky for us, the Easter Bunny had left us some beach towels and clothing for this trip. We packed our bags with the Easter gifts and left home bright and early for our flight to the Dominican Republic.The Dominican Republic
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| Landing in Punta Cana. |
Our plane touched down in D.R. we deplaned and walked outside on the tarmac to the airport where we checked in with customs. On our way from the plane to inside the airport, I made sure the children looked both ways as they were crossing. This diligence and caution earned me eyerolls from the ungrateful Miracles of Christ.
After making it through Customs, we boarded our bus that took us to the resort. It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Dominican Republic. I was excited to start our vacation in the Caribbean for a number of reasons. First, I was excited to try the food. I love trying food from different parts of the world I visit. Another reason I was excited was I found out I would be rooming with The Boy. Hanging out with him, even if it was just for a few minutes at a time in the morning or the evening seemed like a fun thing for me to do. I checked the weather in Punta Cana, and it looked like there would be a day or two of rain. Seeing this, I diligently prepared for a day in our room with inclement weather and time indoors with playing cards and a book of rules for card games. When we were done with that, we could kill a little time watching a movie in Spanish. A little culture never hurt anyone.
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| Man vs Nature on sale for 99 cents. |
At our Resort
We arrived at our resort. It was a beautiful place on the water. If we decided to skip the beach, we could hang out at the pool. When we were done hanging out on the water, we could go eat.
On our first morning of our vacation, we went to the buffet for breakfast. I was interested to see what people in the Dominican Republic ate when they started their day. Grabbing my plate and getting in line for breakfast, I saw a lot of food from the United States and I was a little disappointed. There was fruit from the region and there were fruit and fried vegetables from the region, but the majority of the food was what Americans enjoy when they wake up in the morning.
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| An American celebration in the Caribbean |
Our vacation coincided with the Fourth of July. Our resort pulled out all the stops to celebrate America's birthday. There were displays commemorating the big day. Going to the buffet for dinner, there were hamburgers and pizza. Again, it was a little disappointing to not find more food from the country we were in.
Activities in The Dominican Republic
Our entire week wasn't spent on the resort. We spent some time on a boat swimming and snorkeling. Drinks were served on the boat. We weren't driving, so it was okay.
I had fun snorkeling in the warn, blue waters. I saw the different fish who swam around with the humans. Sometimes, I just swam in the water without my mask and snorkel and felt the water on my entire face. We worked up an appetite for the rice, beans, and chuletas fritas back at the resort.
Swimming and snorkeling wasn't the only excursion we did. We also spent a day driving around in off roading vehicles. The day of riding around trails through the forests was a fun time for the family.
Do you remember the weather I had talked about earlier in the article? Well, it turns out the weather was better than we were expecting, and there was only one afternoon of rain. I spent that time watching "Men in Black" in Spanish. I was excited to tell The Boy about it. He did not share my enthusiasm.
I thought our time as roommates would mean a chance to watch TV or play cards. Tim in the room actually meant catching up with friends on his phone and watching anime on Crunchyroll. The Oppressed wishes you to know his monthly fee is paid by her and her generosity allows him to enjoy his anime.
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| El Presidente beer, also known as "Dominican Water". |
Special Breakfast
Our week was a fun and exciting one. We got to hang out by the pool, the beach. We went out to eat at a steak house and a hibachi restaurant, as well as other restaurants.
There was also a time when we had an interesting breakfast. As we were on our way to the beach one afternoon, one of the gentlemen at the front desk asked us if we would be interested in a special breakfast. A special breakfast sounded good, and it is Wife's favorite, so we all agreed to a special breakfast.
The next morning, we were in the lobby. The nice man who had offered us the special breakfast was there waiting for us with a wide smile on his face. He was excited for us to have a special breakfast. He introduced us to another gentleman who was dressed in a business-casual outfit and looked ready to go to work at an office in the Caribbean. He led us to our special breakfast, which was the same buffet breakfast we had been eating all week. He cheerfully told us to get our breakfast and he would be at the table waiting for us.
We went to the buffet for our breakfast and returned to the table. When we sat down, the talk soon turned into a sales pitch for a timeshare from the company that owned the resort. I'm not sure what this nice man's level of comprehension was, but every time we told him, "No", he had a confused look on his face, like we weren't understanding the great value he was offering us. We weren't. He continued his pitch, and told us it was a great deal we were passing up. We decided we would take our chances.
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| Our view at the beach |
The rest of the vacation wasn't so bad. We spent time together. The weather was gorgeous. Everyone had fun swimming and relaxing. Wife was happy to sit at the beach and work on her tan. It's one of her favorite things to do. I was glad I was able to spend some time with The Boy, even if it was just for an hour or two in the morning or at night. We had fun. We got tans. There is a whole year for us to decide what our next vacation will be. Whatever it is, it will be an adventure.
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