MAI & LANCE MAKE A VISIT

In April, Mia and Lance came to see us.  We had a wonderful time with them.  We told them to pack their bags with beachwear on top because we were headed to the beach before we head back to the casa.  And we did.  We headed directly to Juan Dolio and Ed and Lance snorkled while Mai and I relaxed on the beach and went out for a swim and a half-hearted search for seashells.  It was relaxing and then we headed across the street to El Meson, one of our favorite places to eat.  It is owned by a Spaniard and the food is always good there.  We were not disappointed this time.

On Thursday we headed out to the market, for a new experience of Dominican grocery shopping after which we headed to the Botanical Gardens.  The gardens are probably the cleanest spot in the country next to the Temple Grounds.  Really.  It was hot, very hot, and then we went to Cuchara Madera, a yummy bakery for breakfast.

We took a short rest before we headed over to the Colemans to visit for a minute and then headed to the Temple.  The temple here is so beautiful, inside and out, headsets are a common thing for every session.  The sessions are usually in Spanish but one can listen to it in English any time.  Once in a while when the majority is in French or English the session will run in that specific language with headsets available in other languages as needed.  It all runs pretty smoothly considering that most workers do not know both English and Spanish so communication has its limits. Training is all done in Spanish.

That evening we went out to the Colonial Zone.  The Colonial Zone is the historic part of the city that looks very European with the plaza, Catholic Church dating back to the early 1500's and narrow building-lined streets.  We went to Pate de Palo (I believe it means peglegged Pete, not sure.  And yes, we are known for our pirates here.) which has a beautiful atmosphere, sitting out on the Plaza with a sea breeze blowing through the palm trees looking across the plaza at Diego Colons home/museum.  We had a wonderful meal of lobster ravioli and sipped strawberry and chinola jugos.  The evening was topped off by being serenaded by local musician who were very good.
Friday, we packed our bags and headed for Puerto Plata up on the north side of the island.  We had a little struggle getting out of town between windshield washers and traffic but we did.
We had a great time at the beach.  We stayed at the Blue Bay and enjoyed the food, pools and warm water.  The snorkeling was fun and it was fun to just sit in the sun.
We attended church in Puerto Plata and returned to Santo Domingo that afternoon.  We enjoyed each other and visited into the night knowing our visit was coming to an end.  It was so good to be with them again.  We really do miss our family.