Ah, it finally arrived, oh but a year later ;)
I know some people have never even been on their honeymoon and I honestly don't know what you're thinking. You have to! Go! Plan it now and get away!
One thing I would suggest, probably one of my favorite parts of the trip, go out of the country and don't pay for International service on your cell phones. Best. Thing. Ever. No phones, a beach, just the two of us actually giving undivided attention to each other, having conversations. Ah-mazing!
(riiight...as I sit here on my computer, typing this. Mr. Bell on the iPad looking for a mower. And the Cardinals game in the background).
Our honeymoon trip was put off for a year but it also doubled as our one year anniversary, we actually left on our anniversary. I know, I know what you're thinking, "It's already been a year?!" Why yes, yes it has! I know, I can't believe it either, it has seriously flown by.
So our anniversary was on a Sunday. Saturday night I kept saying to Mr. Bell, "Man it would be nice not to have to get up really early in the morning (for our 8 o'clock flight) and drive an hour to the airport on top of having to be there two hours before our flight." He kept saying he wanted to save on a hotel, blah blah. Hello, I need my beauty sleep here! :) Well, I went to Wal-Mart to get a few more things for the trip, travel size stuff, etc. I came back, opened the door to the house to Mr. Bell standing in the doorway holding a card. (He's going to kill me for posting this. hehe, love you!) The card said, "Happy One Year Anniversary! I got us a room for tonight!" Yay, yay, yay! I was so excited. Of course, I wasn't packed yet because I thought I had until 4:30am the next morning. So I rushed to pack up my stuff, got in the car, and headed to the hotel.
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| Us at the airport before boarding |
Sunday we left for Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It took us for. ev. er. to get through the airport once we arrived in Punta Cana. (This was my first time out of the country FYI, so I was blind as to what to expect). Once we finally got through the airport, we got on a bus and headed to the resort.
Let me just say, their driving is absolutely *crazy*! For example.....
Stop signs are there. They don't use them. People just go whenever they want.
Lines on the road are there. They don't use them. People just drive wherever they want.
Policemen are sitting around. They don't do anything.
There are huge and I mean huge places missing in the road where they are "fixing" it. Well on a two-lane road with oncoming traffic, one would think that one person would probably wait, let the other pass in the only lane available, then it would be their turn. Nope! They just drive in the open lane, hope they don't hit anyone, when someone comes they plop over into the gap in the road. It was pretty scary!
Once we were on the resort, we walked around, checked the place out, and got cozy in our room. It poured that night so we waited for it to pass then headed to dinner. That night we ate at the steakhouse that was on the resort. On Monday we just hung out by the pool all day then around mid-afternoon I started to get a really bad migraine and wanted to go back to the room. Well by the time we had walked back to the room I was sick. I ended up throwing up most of the afternoon. I never throw up and when I say never, I mean that I can't tell you the last time I did. (Sorry, maybe a little TMI? oops.) Well we ended up just eating at the buffet.
Tuesday we went on an excursion. It was called the "Reef Explorer". Basically what we did was take a boat out to this huge dock in the middle of the ocean. There were two levels to this dock. On the first level there were lounge chairs where you could relax and tan with the ocean right there. Try to just imagine that...okay, okay, you don't have to imagine. Here's a picture. :)
And as if one massage wasn't enough, we went back to the resort and got another massage. This one actually lasted for an hour though. And we got to do it together. It was...interesting. Let's start by saying that Mr. Bell had never had a massage before except for earlier that day and from me (which if you ask him, he'll let you know that I really stink at massages). So we walk in, they take each of us to the locker rooms, one for women, one for men. We come out in our swimsuit and a robe. We had a man that worked there take us around and show us the different things we could do before the actual massage. They had a sauna, a steam room, a pool that had these fountains which had extreme pressure to beat down on your neck and shoulders (incredible!), a jet in the bottom of the pool that you stand on and it massages your feet. Then they had this pool that was FREEZING and I mean freezing. We had to go in, enough to cover our shoulders, stand there for 5 seconds, and come back out. I'll admit it felt really good after being in a sauna for 15 minutes. After we did all this stuff, we sat in the hot tub and waited for our massage appointment.
Here comes the interesting part...we get in the massage room, they tell us to undress and get under the sheet. They come back in and start massaging. We'll keep this part short and sweet, let's just say that they got a little too close for comfort for Mr. Bell. Funny story to tell now...but he was not laughing when it was happening. HA!
That night we went out to eat at the Seafood restaurant there on the resort called Oceanas. Here is a picture of us outside the restaurant. The rocks behind us was actually a water fountain type thing so there was water running down the rocks. Super pretty!
The next day we hung out by the pool, the beach, swam in the ocean. Got hounded by a man walking the beach trying to get people to parasail. There were a lot of European people on the beach too..so let's just say that we got our fair share of their stylish swimsuits. ;)
Then Thursday we had to head back home. Here's a picture of us on the beach before we left.
And I'll just post some pictures I took on my phone...
Happy Anniversary to my bestest friend! Can't wait for the many more to come! Love you so much!
Thanks for sticking with me through this long story. It's kind of hard to put a honeymoon, a one year anniversary, and a 5 day trip out of the country into very few words.
much love,
mrs. bell
Tuesday we went on an excursion. It was called the "Reef Explorer". Basically what we did was take a boat out to this huge dock in the middle of the ocean. There were two levels to this dock. On the first level there were lounge chairs where you could relax and tan with the ocean right there. Try to just imagine that...okay, okay, you don't have to imagine. Here's a picture. :)
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| Seriously...paradise. |
You could also paddle board, kayak, and snorkel in the ocean from this level. On the second level there was a shaded bar area where you could eat, drink, and be merry. If you walked to the other side of the second level they had a massage area where you could get a massage...using seashells! That's the one I picked, pretty neat! Also on this side, you could swim with the stingrays and the sharks. We both swam with the stingrays and got a really cool picture taken with one. But the whole shark thing just isn't for me so Mr. Bell swam with the sharks..all alone..by himself..with the sharks.. ah! But he is still alive, so I guess it's safe?
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| check out how clear that ocean is! |
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| Us feeding the fish with our toes :) |
And as if one massage wasn't enough, we went back to the resort and got another massage. This one actually lasted for an hour though. And we got to do it together. It was...interesting. Let's start by saying that Mr. Bell had never had a massage before except for earlier that day and from me (which if you ask him, he'll let you know that I really stink at massages). So we walk in, they take each of us to the locker rooms, one for women, one for men. We come out in our swimsuit and a robe. We had a man that worked there take us around and show us the different things we could do before the actual massage. They had a sauna, a steam room, a pool that had these fountains which had extreme pressure to beat down on your neck and shoulders (incredible!), a jet in the bottom of the pool that you stand on and it massages your feet. Then they had this pool that was FREEZING and I mean freezing. We had to go in, enough to cover our shoulders, stand there for 5 seconds, and come back out. I'll admit it felt really good after being in a sauna for 15 minutes. After we did all this stuff, we sat in the hot tub and waited for our massage appointment.
Here comes the interesting part...we get in the massage room, they tell us to undress and get under the sheet. They come back in and start massaging. We'll keep this part short and sweet, let's just say that they got a little too close for comfort for Mr. Bell. Funny story to tell now...but he was not laughing when it was happening. HA!
That night we went out to eat at the Seafood restaurant there on the resort called Oceanas. Here is a picture of us outside the restaurant. The rocks behind us was actually a water fountain type thing so there was water running down the rocks. Super pretty!
The next day we hung out by the pool, the beach, swam in the ocean. Got hounded by a man walking the beach trying to get people to parasail. There were a lot of European people on the beach too..so let's just say that we got our fair share of their stylish swimsuits. ;)
Then Thursday we had to head back home. Here's a picture of us on the beach before we left.
And I'll just post some pictures I took on my phone...
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| Swim up bar at the pool |
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| View from Dinner one night |
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| View from Dinner another night |
Thanks for sticking with me through this long story. It's kind of hard to put a honeymoon, a one year anniversary, and a 5 day trip out of the country into very few words.
mrs. bell
