Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

Costa Rica Day 1: Getting there keeps getting easier

No matter the destination , at the start of our trips, one of the kids always asks, “Are we there yet?” when just 20 minutes into our journey. “No sweetie pie, not quite. Just close your eyes.”

With the recent TSA delays at airports across the US thanks to yet another government shutdown, we left an hour earlier than usual, weary of long lines at Dulles. That meant a 3AM wakeup for Amir, Lidia and me, and 3:30 for the kids.

IAD to SJO

#1BigBrother asked Dad for yet another rundown of the size and shape of the airplanes, and #1LittleSister inquired about snacks. “Is there a chef on the airplane?” – referring to the flight attendants bringing meals and drinks by request.

We had an easy flight from Dulles to San Jose. The TSA delays never materialized, and our flight arrived in Costa Rica 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The next leg of our journey was a domestic flight from San Jose to Quepos on the southwest coast. Amir researched driving rather than flying, but drive times can vary anywhere from 2-5 hours depending what reference you are using.

The tarmac at San Jose Domestic Terminal

If you decide to do the same, know that you have to leave the international airport entirely and go outside to access the domestic terminal. As soon as we saw the tiny prop planes, I remembered what domestic air travels is like in Central America. Somewhere around 1999, during a trip to Guatemala with my mom and sister, I flew on one of these planes. They are straight out of an Indian Jones movie, propellers, open cockpit and all.

At this point I was hoping we were well above those mountain tops

Our flight to Quepos was delayed more than an hour, but then only 20 minutes in the air, we were at our destination, Dominicalito. Amir rented a 4WD SUV expecting one of us would need to taxi to Alamo to pick it up, but when we arrived in Quepos, Felix, from Alamo, was there with our vehicle ready.

Minimalism in aviation AKA Quepos Airport

We arrived at our AirBnB just an hour later than anticipated. Our host unlocked the gate, introducing us to our new home for the week. We (and by we I really mean Amir) spent a few weeks comparing options in this region of Costa Rica before settling on this home with stunning views, an infinity pool, and rainforest gardens complete with monkeys playing in the morning.

My bathtub routine got an upgrade this week

The kids immediately wanted to swim. Lidia was a champ and got in with them immediately. I can never resist the need to unpack before I can relax and have fun.

I should probably explain who Lidia is as she’s making her debut in our travel blog. Lidia, from Spain, is our fourth au pair, joining our family last August after we finished two amazing years with Ale (Mexico). Lidia has done her share of traveling the US since joining us, but this is our first trip abroad together all six of us.

#1BigSister enjoying the swing outside our room

Our plans tomorrow only include finding yummy breakfast in town and perhaps a trip to the grocery store. Otherwise we plan to just swim and explore this 5 acre property. The 15 chickens at the bottom of the hill are sure to be a hit with our crowd.

~Steph

Food & Drink, Travel Adventures

Solo Mom trip Day 4: Zero Plans (!)

As I mentioned yesterday, I’d had hopes of snorkeling while here. Well, sometimes reality takes hold and changes the plan. Thanks to some sunburn and highs of 69 degrees and 25 mph winds, I opted NOT to go on the 7 hour snorkeling and boating adventure. One important lesson parenting has taught me is “Quit while you are ahead.”

The sun finally came out at 4pm

Since I decided to skip the snorkeling and poolside, I planned my day around food. I hadn’t yet explored the buffet, not for any good reason except I didn’t know where it was yet. I hunted it down for lunch as online reviews gave high praise.

6 types of ceviche
24 hr pastelería
Fresh salad bar
Churro donuts with chocolate and caramel

Pro tip (not medical advice): if you skip breakfast, you have more room for lunch. The buffet spread was vast and international including ceviche, sushi and even hotdogs.

After lunch I stopped by The Vine Bar to sit down and formulate a game plan. Little did I know but my “plan” turned out to be having drinks and fun with two amazing Hungarian women, tequila shots and all. At 4 they decided they should probably eat lunch, so we parted ways and I headed for a walk.

Toes in the sand

4 pm turned out to be the first time today the sun made its presence. A bit disappointing but my reality was with a bit of sunburn, I wasn’t going to be lounging poolside catching rays anyway. I walked for an hour and headed back inside to regroup.

The resort has daily activities including live music. I sat and watched a saxophonist, pianist and a Broadway singer while sipping a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc. She seemed to appreciate the applause, while I found myself pining for home, thinking of our mini concerts Lidia, our au pair, treats us to.

For dinner I chose the Italian restaurant, Nebbiolo. I was able to be seated and immediately, but was not rushed to make a choice. Time here is in a nice balance – not like some countries where things seem to happen too slowly or in a rushed way, here time is less intrusive.

Caprese Salad
Fruta del Mer

Alas, tomorrow I head home. I won’t lie and say I wouldn’t mind another day here, but I feel sufficiently recharged and with some renewed perspective. Esta es la razón que viajamos, ¿no?

-Steph

Food & Drink, Travel Adventures

Solo Mom Trip, Day 3: Mexico instead of St Maarten

Today was my first full day here in Cancun. I arrived after dark last night, so I wasn’t able to appreciate much of the resort until daylight.

I took my time getting out of bed and may have spend a full hour in the dual head rain shower before lathering myself in sunscreen and climbing into one of three bathing suits I brought.

I sat next to a nice couple from Canada – they both work in healthcare, so we had some good conversation about the state of affairs in both the US and Canada. We tried not to talk too much shop but sometimes you can’t help it.

Despite dousing myself in SPF50, I still managed to get too much sun today. The older I get, the harder it is to protect my pale self – I’m starting to see why old ladies like big hats and linen outfits.

This afternoon I went to the spa for a hydrosubmersion experience and massage. I didn’t exactly know what a hydrosubmersion experience was but figured the surprise might be part of the fun. Turns out you sit in a dry sauna for 10 minutes, a steam room for 10 minutes, then do a full-body submersion in 11 degree water à la a Polar Plunge. Immediately after that, you enter the last pool which is not quite a hot tub. It was fun to try, but the massage was what I was really there for.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Spicy Tuna Roll
Shrimp Pad Thai
Tres leches Cake Bomb
Shrimp Tacos
Piña Colada

There are six restaurants at the resort offering everything from local Mexican fare to Asian Fusion. I ordered lunch poolside – three Shrimp Tacos which was just the right amount of food for me. I was happy to see they weren’t serving “American-sized” portions. For dinner, I’d decided yesterday to try Dragons, the Asian Fusion spot. It’s casual dress, but with a menu spanning Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese or maybe a mix of all of the above.

I think the sun wiped me out a bit. I found myself back in the room at 7:30pm, in Jammie’s again after another hour-long shower.

I booked a snorkeling trip for tomorrow but am now reconsidering given the sun exposure. It may be safer to hang back here at the resort in the shade rather than on a boat where I’ll have less flexibility to dodge the sunshine. I’m going to sleep on it and decide in the morning.

-Steph

Travel Adventures

Solo Mom Adventure, Day 2

I typically reserve this space for reports of family travel adventures. Traveling with kids is a special kind of hard, all of which I’ve been reminded of since embarking upon this most recent Louka journey.

Me with #1LittleSister

School was cancelled all last week due to snow that quickly transformed to ice. Our au pair was stranded in Orlando at the beginning of the storm, my husband facing stranding in Tampa at the end of the week. I held down the fort at home, just happy this all landed when I wasn’t scheduled to work.

My husband said “take a few days – just you. Go somewhere warm and relax.” I fought him at first – that’s not practical, that’s money we don’t have… who will do _____? But he kept pushing, and I realized he meant it. I said yes.

The initial plan was St Maarten Sonesta Maho Resort. If you follow us, you may remember we went there in January 2023. Alas the weather gods did not have that in their plans for me. I thought I’d be safe connecting in Charlotte, NC but of course the day I chose to travel there was a winter storm there dumping 12” of snow, an all time record for the city.

Wee bit of snow at CLT

My flight to St Maarten was supposed to leave at 9:30am. I’ll spare you the back and forth which involved two trips back to the gate and a 1 hour de-icing of our plane, only to be the last plane de-iced before the entire airport shut down for the night. They cancelled the flight, and four hours later, the flight they’d rescheduled me on as well.

Exhausted, I crashed at an airport hotel, which was not easy to get to. Initially I was fighting with 300 other people to get an uber to take me 1.5 miles in 12” of snow. I quickly realized this was not the time to be cheap, ordered up the Uber Black (SUV) and skipped the line.

That turned out to be a good call as we passed 4 sedans that had run off the road or been abandoned after getting stuck in the snow. In just 1.5 miles. I crashed at the Charlotte Suites, just happy to have a safe place to sleep for the night.

This morning I awoke recharged and ready to formulate a new plan. Realizing breakfast might be my only meal of the day as the airport had closed all restaurants due to staffing issues, I stocked up on sausage and fruit.

For the love of all travel gods, Expedia refunded my entire trip since there was no way to get to St Maarten for at least 48 hours. That allowed me to start fresh and rebook an entirely new trip. But where to? How does one decide?

With a lot of help from Amir, I’d narrowed it down to San Juan, Puerto Rico or Cancun, Mexico as those both allowed me to get there same day rather than losing another day. Ultimately I picked Mexico, probably since I’ve somehow never been there (aside from a cruise stop 20 years ago) and would be able to practice my Spanish.

With some help from Ale, our former au pair from Mexico, I picked a resort and pulled the trigger. My flights departed and arrived without issue – a fresh change.

Sunset on the flight

Tomorrow I’ll explore this place – I booked a massage for 4pm but otherwise just plan to wander and relax. There’s a freedom in being here alone, but I’ve already caught myself wondering what Amir or the kids would think about this or that.

-Steph

Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

St Thomas Day 8: Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden and a view from on high

We’d originally committed to hanging out at our house and eating all day, since everything that’s left in the pantry is double the price back home.

Making the most out of these last moments here

After breakfast, brunch, lunch and then snacks, we decided to escape the house for at least a bit. None of us were motivated to pack up all the towels and gear for a beach outing, so a quick visit to the shaded Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden seemed just what was needed.

There’s nothing flashy about this place – and that’s exactly the point. The women’s at the ticket booth told us she only works on Sundays, a tranquil escape from her otherwise stressful regular job.

Water garden with tadpoles

The experience starts right at the ticket booth. There are lizards who make their home at the gate, just waiting for specific sweets from guests. The kids quickly found a water garden sheltering new tadpoles and minnows, plus a bird friend who greets all the guests. In the first minute there we saw hummingbirds, geckos, chickadees, chickens and parakeets. The crowd was pleased.

The pathways are narrow, palm trees wrapped with orchids, vines and air plants – symbiosis is everywhere. You have to look up as well as down to ensure you don’t miss a little plant or critter.

It’s very kid friendly – no steep hills or rocky terrain, but it wouldn’t work well for guests with decreased mobility. There’s no hope of getting a stroller in here, so bring a baby carrier or toddler backpack if you think your little one won’t walk.

We all lost each other at some point, but no one was worried as the place is relatively small, and you can always hear someone even if you can’t see them.

There are numerous places to sit down and rest, write or relax. These guys liked the terraces as they seemed to attract a lot of geckos.

If you’re a photog like me, and/or an old plant lady (or maybe both), add this place to your itinerary. It was a great break from the heat and sand of a typical beach day.

Air plants for sale

There’s a small area near the ticket booth where you can buy plants to take home. Apparently as long as there’s no soil, you can take one on the plane and back into the US. I was tempted.

Soaking in the last of pool time

Just up the hill from Phantasea is Mountain Top, a fairly touristy but fun stop offering souvenirs, world famous banana daiquiris and breathtaking scenic views of the islands below. We partook in all three, then headed back to our house to slow down a bit before dinner.

Tonight I’ll begin the packing and cleanup process. We have to be out by 10:30am with our flight departing at 4:45pm back to Dulles.

~Steph

Occupants of my bed last night