BEACH BEACH BEACH BEACH BEACH

Before we made our way to the top of Mount Isabela, Bob stopped at the side of the road for some coconuts. He bought them green and had the vendor slice the top off one and pour us a cup of freshy-fresh coconut water. Not coconut milk, mind you. There's a difference. The coconut water is much more nutrient rich. In fact, when the coconuts are not quite ripe and the juice is still water and not milk, the fluid very closely resembles the chemical composition of human plasma. It was used for transfusions in WWII. Amazing fun fact of the day! 

I was proud of Nicco for trying the water. He said it was pretty good but then he didn't want any more. It's an acquired taste, you might say. Even though he didn't like it so much, at least he tried it!

After our tours of the mountain and the fort, we had to stop at a Dominican Walmart before we could head to the beach. We came home and dropped off the groceries and found a fun surprise from Mary.

 She made our beds and folded our clothes in a cute and whimsical fashion.

Nicco was very pleased! He likes fun surprises.

And now, a shameless plug. We got home in time to take care of the groceries and then head out to Bob and Pat's condo on the beach. They have new renters coming in and Pat needed to greet them and give them their keys. Here's the plug: if you ever find yourself on vacation in the DR, rent this condo. It is nicely furnished, it is air conditioned, it even has a full size washer and dryer. A rarity, apparently. There is a bbq on the deck and you can rent it for any amount of time. And the owners are incredibly nice!

The deck looks down on the pool...each pod has its own pool, so they aren't too crowded. However, the reason they aren't crowded may be the fact that this is the walk to the beach:

 Two minutes, max. Along a private path so you don't have to brave the traffic.

A hibiscus lined path, even!

 

Pat had to remain behind to take care of the incoming tenants while the rest of us headed to the beach. The plan was to meet her near a particular restaurant, but it took us a while to get to the appointed rendez-vous point.

Nicco found a friend. This little Dominican boy was playing in the water. The two of them played together as we made our way down the coast.

They spoke the universal language of children. It sounds something like, "hee hee hee hee!!!! Ha ha ha ha!!!!! Weeeeeee!!!! Hee hee hee!!!!!"

 We finally made it to our stopping place and Nicco got in the water with his daddy.

We all had a chance to get tossed about by the waves. I was first in the water with the boy and Patrice asked me how it was. He was surprised when I said it was like the pool in July. Soooo awesome!

We could only drag the kid away with promises of more beach tomorrow. With sand in our britches, we headed home.

And the sun set on a beautiful day.