Sasha has been working on our scrapbooks lately, and sorting photos and ticket stubs with her reminds me of how much I love these blog posts and being able to look back at the stories of our lives. With the convenience of posting to social media, I don't come back and write blog posts about our big trips and adventures as much as I once did (admittedly, there are fewer trips and adventures than there were!), and I miss having the recaps and retellings.
I won't commit to our tens of readers to start blogging regularly again, I know myself too well to promise such a thing. But I do like writing and I want to continue to practice to write well, so we shall see.
Like everybody else, our summer and fall plans got completely scrambled by COVID-19. In the fall, I started getting advertisements for all-inclusive places and it got me thinking - maybe that could work as a style of travel in the age of coronavirus? Usually when we travel we go to a new place and plant and explore. We love to get to know the texture of a new place, and as we acquired more kids it became increasingly important to travel with a less packed itinerary. It turns out that my husband also prefers to explore rather than plan too much ahead of time. So, apparently, I'm the only person who eagerly anticipates a pre-planed agenda. Who knew? (answer: everybody).
To be clear, I still think it's important to schedule a few key activities. They'll never break me of that. But I also have learned to appreciate the fun of meandering.
Anyway, an "explore the local texture" vacation clearly doesn't work right now. But, I thought, maybe the all-inclusive thing could actually work. We'd be able to get to know the environment, and if we went somewhere warm we could be outside the majority of the time. Plus, rates were killer.
So, after lots of thinking and planning we decided to go for 10 days in the Dominican Republic. In full disclosure, I tested positive for COVID-19 2 weeks after we returned, so the evidence shows that the wisdom of this whole plan is clearly suspect. Judge if you must.
I'll also say that while planes themselves and the resort felt very coronavirus-aware with lots of precautions taken, the airports and immigration lines were another thing altogether with lots of partially-masked people in tight spaces. So, the experiment of traveling in a global pandemic was of mixed results.
Here are the memories that stick out with extra fondness for me:
1. Sailing!
The resort had paddleboards and kayaks that you could sign out, and they also had a little Hobie Cat! Steve and I sailed in college a lot, but after college and moving to a landlocked state, we've only been out a few times. Boy did we make up for lost time over Thanksgiving!
We took the boat out just about every day - sometimes just one or two of us, sometimes a boatload (4 - it was a small boat). We had so much fun! It took Steve and me a few tries to remember how the heck to sail, but it really did come back quickly and we had so much fun zipping around the little bay in front of the hotel.
2. Chartering a boat!
Tours and activities were limited on our trip, for obvious reasons, but there were still some activities available that seemed like a good idea. One was a boat trip. And it was only a little more to charter the boat privately, so we figured, why not?
Well, we definitely didn't realize what we were signing up for - this boat was HUGE! This photo, for example, was taken from the upper deck of the boat rented for the 7 of us plus 2 crew. It was decadent and fabulous.
Everything about the boat trip was great, but the best part was stopping at a sand bar. We spent roughly two hours at this sand bar throwing sand balls at each other. The sand was just so fluffy and that you could pack it down like moonsand and toss it back and forth. It's definitely the most fun we've ever had playing catch. The open bar on the boat probably didn't hurt.
3. Ben Unicycling at circus night
On Thanksgiving, the resort had a circus night festival and one of the clowns had a unicycle that he kindly let Ben borrow. It was so fun to see Ben in his element in a foreign country just enjoying being on one wheel. And the clown was duly impressed by Ben's unicycle skills.
Here's a bonus picture from that night, because nothing says Thanksgiving like a pirate and a bunny on stilts:
4. Nightly cribbage games with Ben
Pretty much every night after the girls hit the hay, Ben, Steve, and I would sit out on our ridiculously beautiful patio and play a game or two of three-handed cribbage. It was sweet and fun and Ben is unacceptably good at the game.
5. The countryside tour
6. Chilaxing together
No explanation needed.
We had a phenomenal Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic. In fact... it just might be time to go back ;)
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