I am still telling stories – once that are related to my “work” and ones that are not. This is a mix of both.
Before I left for Costa Rica, my good friend kept asking me to define vacation. There seemed to be an opinion going around that I needed to unplug and take a break. I was caught up in all of the “get it done before I go on vacation craziness.” Right before I got ready to pack I looked up the definition of a vacation: A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest or relaxation. Wow. It hit me. It’s not taking a few breaks from your computer during the day. It’s not looking outside at the view and then going back to work. A vacation is devoted to pleasure – rest – or relaxation. Well, what do you know?
So I went off to Costa Rica with that goal in mind. I did it so well, I have been having a very hard time plugging back in. In fact, this trip has caused me to think hard about my non-vacation life. But that’s another story. For now, here is the Costa Rica story.
We stayed at a wonderful resort in Tamarindo – the JW Marriott. Yes, it was decadent and lavish and had the largest pool in central america. And I took advantage of every part of that. So, take a little tour with me. You may decide to unplug yourself.
Driving in Costa Rica
We decided to rent a car and drive from the airport in Liberia to the resort in Tamarindo. We had such detailed directions, we just knew we would find our way just fine. Huh, uh. Well, we did ok, but there were certainly moments when we weren’t sure we were going the right way. When we made the last turn toward the resort and the “road” was just a gravel path, we really weren’t confident.
There was tremendous relief when we drove into the resort and they came to greet us. Whew! Plus, the 95 degrees was a shock after the 45 degrees we left in Atlanta. But we were thrilled to get to a beautiful room, have a view of palm trees and green grass, and change clothes. We had lunch at the pool restaurant looking at the ocean while we ate. 
The next step was swimsuits, sun block and costa rica hats.
First Night Sunset
The first night we were there, I learned about being so close to the equator. You get about 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. I didn’t totally understand all of that, until I realized that we were walking on the beach and folks were setting up to get photos of the sunset – at 5:30 pm! After I got out of my geographically challenged mode, I realized that I was in exactly the right place at the right time – totally by accident. As I watched Nancy walk the beach with her new costa rica hat, I was also ready for the first sunset.
Tamarindo
We ventured into town the next morning and realized the definition of roads in Costa Rica. The people are wonderful and friendly, we just had to get our brains away from the urban definitions of road signs. We did find our way to Auto Mercado (the grocery story), and were relieved to be able to use dollars and just get colones in exchange. With an exchange rate of 10,000 colones to $18, my brain couldn’t do the conversion in my head. I got better as the trip went on (move the decimal point over three and multiply by 2 – take off a little), but our dollar was more popular here than it is at home.
Roads and signs aren’t quite the same in Costa Rica, but we loved driving around feeling like we were big and brave. It was great fun! And yes, I know the self photo is dumb, but I couldn’t resist.
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The Resort
I can’t describe the resort. It is even more amazing than the photos on the website. OK, OK, I work for nonprofits. I know about the contrast between the resort and the “real” Costa Rica. I spent some time talking with the folks who worked there, partly because I like to know people and partly because those little guilty moments crept in. I was impressed with the folks I met and how much they seemed to enjoy what they were doing.
One waiter talked with us quite a bit about his work and his boss and his goals in life. He was appreciative of the opportunities he has, is almost finished with business school (to change is waiter life style and see his girlfriend more. Hummm, sound familiar?), and talked about being tired but loving the overtime pay. The country may be different, I’m not sure the goals are.
So, enjoy some resort photos.
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Eating
Eating in Costa Rica was a wonderful experience. The freshness of the food was a delight. Our breakfast buffet allowed us to have fresh fruit to the max. Pineapple, mangos, melons – yum!!! The fish was fantastic and it was all I ate. These photos are of the resort at night and us having a great time. I just couldn’t resist the night photos – remember, I’m on vacation… On Friday night all the power went off at the resort and it was more than a little weird. But then we managed to find our way our the sliding glass doors to the our garden and the stars were amazing.
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Snorkeling
We loved our snorkeling trip, perhaps more for the boat trip than the snorkeling itself. The ocean was a bit rough and we got swamped a lot. But check out the landscape (and I don’t mean me…)! Wow.
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Lola’s
Lolas is the place everyone wants to go and with good reason. It’s a local restaurant right on the beach with all the informality that implies. We thought about walking to Lola’s, but we were put off by having to leave early to avoid the tide coming in and blocking our way back. Since we had the rental car and had managed to find our way to the resort from the airport, we thought we could handle this one. Imagine our surprise when we met these folks on our way out! It was a very interesting road trip…
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Lola’s is named after a 300 pound pig (no longer with us, the photos below are of a descendant), the seating and ambiance are wonderful and the view cannot be beat. You can relax in your swimsuit, drink beer (or whatever) and enjoy a spectacular view of the ocean. I’m not sure there is anything better. It’s also a place where you can soak up the local culture. Dogs are indeed everywhere, something we had no problem with. This was probably our best outing. It’s a wonderful place. This is one of those times where photos speak louder than words.
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The Last Sunset
People who know me are well aware of my penchant for sunset photos. But the last night we found a wonderful location to take the photos and had our best sunset ever. I couldn’t resist and if you are a sunset photo lover like me, you can see a bunch more on my flickr site. But here are three that will tell you why we didn’t want to come home.
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What did I learn?
Be careful when you unplug. You may not plug back in. More to come in a later post.