Dominican Republic 2015

What. A. Trip. 

Let me preface by saying I rarely do the "relaxing beach vacations." My last few vacations have been to Boston, London, Italy, and New York City. What do all of those places have in common? Walking. Sooooo much walking. 

So when prepping for this vacation I wasn't quite sure what to expect. And knowing myself, part of me was scared I wouldn't be good at it. My norm is faced-paced and jam-packed. Relaxing in the sun and listening to the waves is rarely never on my to-do list.

Well let me tell you what.....I adapted. At first I panicked a little. Our phones didn't work over there so I was completely disconnected from everything and I never had any idea what time it was. Again...I adapted. :)

I will give the disclaimer that this post was really hard to write. Mainly because 1) we didn't take pictures of everything we did, 2) the pictures we did take don't do the sights justice, and 3) I didn't want to write a novel. But alas, here's my best attempt :)

Friday evening we got settled and of course made a visit to the "relaxing pool." Yes, because different pools had different adjectives. We got dolled up, went to dinner, and then went to the resort's beach party where we danced and participated in a limbo contest. Yeah, I sure did dance on a beach. I kept telling everyone I felt like I was in a Brady Bunch movie or something.

Saturday we donned our red, white, and blue and celebrated the USA. This time we went to the "party pool" and participated in bingo and water aerobics. Always a good time.

When the rest of our crew got in to 'town,' we got dressed up and took some group pictures around the resort....

Love these people!

 And then we took couples pictures. (PS my boyfriend is a ham).

And THEN.......this (finally) happened. 

RYAN AND MOLLY GOT ENGAGED!!

Aren't they precious?? And doesn't he look terrified?! I just love this picture. Congratulations to these two lovebirds!! It's only been five years and counting...and now? It's wedding time :)

Sunday and Monday were very similar.....breakfast, pool, lunch, pool, reading, beach, dress up, dinner. Rinse and repeat. Prepare for picture book:

Duh.

This picture makes me laugh EVERY time.

Me and Molly poolside

Italian night!

Me and my hunny

 Then Jeff lead the group in water aerobics...and I "read" my book and tried not to act like I was watching and laughing... Have I mentioned he's a ham?

Boys having a poolside sushi break

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I'll have you know Jeff fell over after the handstand picture (even though it was his idea). I, on the other hand, did not. Winner. Then we headed off to Mediterranean night for dinner!

Never gets old...

Tuesday was a pretty incredible day. We left the resort and went on a day excursion to the Saona Islands. Let me tell you what - if you ever go to the Dominican Republic - you HAVE to do this. It was incredible. We all just kept saying "is this real life?"

There are three main stops: an island, a sandbar in the middle of the ocean, and then the Johnny Depp island (I'll explain later). To get to the first island, you hop your little self on a catamaran (aka sailboat). SO much fun. You're just coasting in the middle of the ocean with the prettiest waters completely surrounding you. 

Oh - and then the locals lead you in a dance party on said catamaran....

 So this is seriously what I looked like the whole trip. #beachhair #dontcare

The roommates, their women, and their beloved straw hats.

Then we reached island #1 - ridiculous. I mean look at this y'all!

Complete with a little tiki hut and everything!

They fed us lunch (which was ridiculously good by the way) and then we loaded up on a speedboat that took us to Starfish Island. What is Starfish Island, you ask? Oh it's just a sandbar in the middle of the ocean where you can pick up starfish and take pictures with them. Yeah - I'm serious. So we did that (sadly, we forgot to ask how to GET the pictures) and then headed to Johnny Depp Island. 

By the way - before we left I told the group there was no way I was getting in the ocean. I mean have you been watching Good Morning America? The sharks have gotten a serious case of the munchies, and I personally am a fan of all of my limbs. BUT when I saw those gorgeous waters, I had zero reservations about jumping in. Even when Jeff kept singing the Jaws theme song in my ear. I persevered! And still have 10 fingers and 10 toes.

So, in one of the 37 Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Johnny Depp is left stranded on an island with a lowly bottle of rum. Well that island was the third stop! My little toesies were in the same sand that Captain Jack Sparrow's toesies were in. And once we got there, we could see why Hollywood chose that spot...

Pretty flawless backdrop, huh? :)

Then Wednesday it was time to head out (wamp wamp), so J and I just walked around and took one last look at the resort before heading to the airport. 

All in all, it was an incredible visit to paradise. And I would absolutely recommend our resort to anyone visiting. Not pictured were events like disco night, casino night, Michael Jackson night, and karaoke night (all languages welcomed). 

Plus we got to see Molly and Ryan get all engaged and stuff.

We all took pictures with signs in the airport on the way TO the Dominican (except I couldn't find Austin/Roxana's). Ten people traveling....9 knew a big secret....1 sweet girl had no idea :) A pretty special trip indeed!

Until next time,
Katy