My Incredibly Sweet DH's Surprise 10th Anniversary Trip to Punta Cana 7/13 - 7/20/08 About This Page:

[minemoz1]

My Incredibly Sweet DH's Surprise 10th Anniversary Trip to Punta Cana 7/13 - 7/20/08

Cast-aways
Myself 37 - Unsuspecting wife
DH 38 - Sly trip planner and love of my life!
and 15 other friends

Our Tropical Getaway
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Iberostar Punta Cana all-inclusive resort

The pre trip-Do you wanna Punta Cana?

Several months ago, my DH told me to not plan anything for our anniversary. He would "take care" of it. I didn't hear anything else since then and thought that we weren't going away. We had family issues and money had been flowing a little more freely than usual.

On Thursday, our 10th anniversary, we went out to dinner to a nice restaurant. DH excused himself as he forgot something in the car. When he came back, he gave me my card. I opened it and expected something to be inside but it was just a card. He asked what I would like to do this weekend. I said we could go downtown. Maybe take an architectural tour or go out to Galena. He reached back under the table and took out another envelope. He said he'd rather do this instead and slid it across the table. I opened it, and immediately saw a clip art of an airplane and started to cry. He wrote a cute little poem and we would be leaving for Punta Cana on Sunday! We were staying at an all inclusive resort and would be joining some of his friends from his paintball team and their families. I was so excited I couldn't stop tapping my foot on the table. I then started to think about everything I would need to do and buy. I needed new clothes and bathing suit. I also had freelance design work to complete before leaving. I have to pack! YIKES! I was going to be really busy the next few days.

Day 1
The departure - Whoever schedules 6 am flights ought to be shot!

We had to get up at 3:00 am to get to the airport by 4:00 for our 6 am flight. UGH! Our car arrived at 3:45 and we were at the airport a little after 4 am with only the other passengers for our flight at the terminal. We cleared security and found there was nothing open on the other side so I couldn't get my bottle of water or a much needed Starbucks . Our flight boarded on time and I got out my newly purchased inflatable pillow, earplugs, downed a few benedryl and tried to go back to sleep. I dozed in and out for about 2 hours and finally gave up and watched a movie on my ipod. DH was playing his PSP, watching movies and reading.

We flew USA3000 and had Brad Pitt as one of our flight attendants or so he said. At the end of the flight, they had a raffle. If you wanted to participate, you could put a dollar in a bag with your seat # and if they drew your $ you win the pot. We didn't win but someone walked out with over $120.

We arrived in Punta Cana early. The Punta Cana airport looks new but is very low tech. We had to exit down the rolling staircases and walk on the tarmac past other planes to the terminal. It was about 11:30 am and it was hot and humid already. A little warmer than Florida in July. The airport was opened air with steep, thatched roofs. There were no doors, windows or air conditioning. We entered the airport to a line. It turns out they take your picture with 2 girls dressed like Carmen Miranda-for later purchase of course. We paid the $10 tourist tax, cleared customs and went to baggage claim to the sound of live caribbean music. The airport also had the largest ceiling fans I've ever seen. They had to be at least 20 feet in diameter.


The airport baggage claim and one of the giant ceiling fans.

We got our luggage and followed our friends toward the buses. They told us to go on ahead and all of a sudden, our luggage is taken by one of the "sky caps" and we are wisked away. We are asked what hotel we are going to and are soon being led at a very fast pace to our bus, or what we thought was our bus. DH tips him and he's gone. The driver is looking for our names, but we're not listed. It turns out since the trip was booked as a group, we had our own private bus. Our friends finally find us and we unbury our luggage from the one bus and get another "sky cap" to take it 30 feet to the other bus- and of course-another tip. We finally get everyone loaded and we are on our way to the hotel. The tour rep then tells us to not drink any water besides the water in the restaurants or bottled. He told us not to even brush our teeth with the room tap water or even get the water from the shower in our mouths. Good advice as no one in our group got sick.

Complete Chaos a.k.a. Driving in the Dominican Republic (DR)

Our 1/2 hour drive to the hotel was pretty psycho. As the DR is a developing country, many amenities that we take for granted do not exist there. Such as, paved roads, traffic lights/signs, police etc. They are currently trying to pave a road to get to the resorts. I kept on calling it a road to nowhere as it's 2 strips of asphalt not connected to anything. You would see it every so often on the drive.

As gas is so expensive (we were told about $7US a gallon) most everyone has a scooter. And these people drive like maniacs, weaving in and out of traffic. We were certain we were going to hit someone. We also saw as many as 4 people on one scooter and even a family, dad, mom and baby. When we came to an intersection, it was whoever had the biggest or most aggressive car, got to go. There were no stop signs or traffic signals. It was a free-for-all. You don't want to drive around there.


Driving through town



The DR is a developing country. You'd have a few shacks and next door was a resort development surrounded by 8 foot walls and razor wire. When we did see a nicer home, it always had bars on all the windows and doors and a fence. There are also lots of private security around -some sitting outside holding shotguns. DH even saw a woman in a mini skirt with a holster, though we never saw any problems. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

We arrive at the resort and pass the guard gate. It's a complete contrast to what we just drove through. Manicured bushes, lush landscapes and lots of flowers. The bus pulls up to the lobby and my first thought is there are no doors or windows. The resort is almost completely open air. There is a fountain in the middle of the main lobby with a pond full of turtles. The grounds beyond are lush and full of palm and colorful bushes. We are greated with an Hola! and a fruit punch while we check in. Our room isn't ready yet, so they tell us to have lunch at the buffet while we wait. THe buffet was also open air so there was no escaping the humidity. Lunch was ok with a lot of salads, burgers, beef, beans and many other offerings. I ordered a mojito and was given a Dominican version without the 7up. It was ok but had too much lime for me.


The Lobby


Turtle pool


Mojito

Our room was finally ready and we went to go and change into our suits so we could head to the pool. THe room was nice if a bit dated and very salmon pink. It was very clean and we had a towel heart with fresh flowers on the bed and our bathroom was decorated with fresh flowers as well. Our fridge was stocked with water, seltzer, sprite, fanta, coke, and Brahma beer. They are currently refurbishing the rooms and DH said they looked very nice. He peaked into one of the rooms when the door was open.


Towel Heart


Our room

We went down to the pool and jumped into the bathtub warm water. We swam with the kids for a while, but I wanted to go down to the ocean since I've never been in one. The view from the beach was awesome. A pretty reef offshore with turquoise water. The sand was powder fine and extremely soft. The ocean was kind of rough with 1-2 foot waves but I went in anyway. The water was the perfect temperature. Cold enough to be refreshing and warm enough to stay in all day. We splashed around until 7-when they closed the pool and went back to the room to change for dinner.


DH and I on the beach


Getting hit by a wave-gee thanks guys (I'm on the left)

Dinner was back at the buffet. Tomorrow we would need to make dinner reservations for the regular restaurants. Depending on how many days you stay, you get a certain number of reservations. As we were staying 7 days, we had 3 reservations. The dinner was nice, I had a big salad with some very taste steak kabobs. For dessert, I had fruit. YUM! They had the tastiest pineapple and watermelon. I had a beer-a Presidente-from the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, the day caught up with me and I started getting a migraine. I excused myself from dinner and went back to the room. I took 2 advil and was asleep by the time DH came back. He woke me up and asked me some questions, which I have no idea what he asked me. I only remember nodding and falling back asleep.

Next up -- Day 2. The beach, the butt, the (um) boobs (Can I say that on this forum?) and the burn.

[chezp]

Wow - what an awesome surprise. That's a great DH you've got there. It does sound like the Dominican Republic is very different to what you're used to at home.

[Colexis Mom]

What a beautiful place Great pictures!! Hurry back with more

[disney_duke]

Beee-you-tiful pictures!!! Punta Cana is one place I very much want to go to, it looks so nice! We had the same skycap people in St. Lucia who tried to carry our luggage about 10 feet and ask for a tip. We literally had to struggle to hold on to our bags to avoid them!! I think those fans at the airport are called Big A$$ fans!! There's some of those at our local gym and that's the name on the wall by the controls for it!!
Sounds like a great start.. looking forward to more!

[Diz]

Originally Posted by minemoz1

My Incredibly Sweet DH's Surprise 10th Anniversary

You definitely have an incredibly sweet DH! How romantic!

Your trip sure did get off to a great start! Can't wait to hear more!

[MaryEL8775]

I have to say, "I fell in love with the heart towel"...

[KimM]

How wonderful of your DH to surprise you! Can't wait to hear more about the trip.

[JoanW]

Oh how wonderful. My DH Pat would never be able to pull that off. I'm the planner! Love the photos too (now we can put a face to your posts!)