After a long and relaxing morning on the veranda, we ate breakfast at the poolside restaurant so we could make a quick transition to the beach. We spent the entire morning and well into the afternoon in and out of the water, back and forth to the pool, and several stops in the lounge chairs under the palm trees. We grabbed snacks from our room and stayed out until 3:30 pm... our longest day yet! I think none of us wanted to leave.
We snuggled on the lounge chairs. JC found our largest crab yet. Scott picked it up so we could all take a look, until he got pinched by the very flexible and somewhat angry crab.
Tyler and JC posed in the lifeguard shack... you can see the guard coming to stop them in the first picture.
We've heard that there is a restaurant at the point on the far eastern side of our beach. It sets on a small peninsula that juts out in the ocean (you have seen it in most of our sunset pictures) We hoped to time our dinner so we could watch the sun set from that point, so we ran in for showers and got changed to head to an early dinner.
It took a while to make the trek across the beach. It was warm and we were walking right into the sun so both kids were uncomfortable. We had just about made it to the restaurant when we realized something was wrong. With security guards closing in on us, we soon understood that it was a private club and we were not welcome. We got directions from the guards who then escorted us off the property. At this point, we've walked quite a ways in the sand, we are hot and sweaty and back out on the road without dinner yet. We found ourselves close to the restaurant from last night and, remembering it had air conditioning, decided to go there again for our last meal in the Dominican. Once again, it did not disappoint. We didn't recognize one of the gourds that they used to decorate our plate. The waitress even went back to the kitchen to bring us a full one to show us what they looked like... it grows on a vine on the ground and is native to the DR.
We enjoyed the walk back to the hotel. On the way, we decided to take a spontaneous swim in the pool... in our clothes! Sammy was eager to do it, Tyler took some convincing, but either way they both loved it.
When we got home and dried off, we got a movie started for the kids in bed while the adults went to work packing. It was all hands on deck but we finished packing and cleaned up the condo with enough time to get a movie in before bed.
It was hard picking which shells to take home after our collection had grown so large... here's some of loot!
It was hard picking which shells to take home after our collection had grown so large... here's some of loot!
Today we spent a lot of time talking about the highlights of our trip... the surprises, the views, the beauty, the new experiences, the laughs. It will definitely be one to remember!
