Dominican Republic Vacay Recap {Part 2}

Part 2 of our Dominican Republic anniversary trip today!

(If you missed part 1, just click here to get caught up).

This one is full of a bunch of pictures, so you've been warned!

On Thursday, we were up early to meet our bus at 8am in our lobby. We'd booked an excursion to a place called Isla Saona (if you ever go to the D.R. you HAVE to go!)

We took about a 45 minute bus ride to get to the place where we then got on a speed boat!

We got on the speed boat and sped off for about 20 minutes or so until we got to a natural sand bar in the middle of the ocean.

 We stopped, jumped off the boat, and walked around in waist deep water while the tour guides came around and poured rum and cokes for us! 
If you're thinking "that sounds like Heaven" yes...yes it was!

Just hanging out in the middle of the ocean, taking selfies :)

We even got to take some pictures with starfish before we got back on the boat and sped off to Isla Saona.

The island was beautiful! Everywhere you turned lent itself to a post card-worthy (or Insta-worthy) photo!

We swam around in the ocean and made friends with a couple from Peru whose English was MUCH better than our Spanish and spent pretty much the rest of the day with them. 
Lunch was prepared for us, so we ate our lunch at picnic tables with our feet in the sand and then walked along the beach to take everything in! 

Seriously, doesnt this look like it belongs on a post card?

The rest of our time was spent relaxing, lounging on the lounge chairs and soaking up the sun before it was time to hop onto a catamaran for the ride back home.

We've been on catamarans before and they are a favorite! There's music playing, drinks flowing and a really calm and smooth ride back to shore!

By the end of the day we were beat from being in the sun and having so much fun during the day. We said good bye to our new friends when we got dropped off at the hotel (and exchanged Instagram information :)

We had a delicious dinner at the gourmet restaurant that night. I ordered the triple seafood dish and I was overwhelmed by the size of my meal!

Shrimp, a full lobster tail (that was massive!) and crab, plus risotto...I was so full!

The next day we spent relaxing on the beach, reading, taking walks along the beach, playing in the water, and maybe a cocktail or two on the beach ;). After showering, it was not uncommon to see me lounging in the sunshine on our deck, looking at the amazing view before getting ready for dinners

That night we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant and the food was SO good--this was probably our favorite meal of the trip! 

MG ordered tequila shots to go with our margaritas. I had one sip--that was good enough for me! 

We watched the "circus" act that night which included all kinds of body acrobatics. It was insane how good they were! (I would try and explain but it wouldn't make sense or do it justice, but it was one of the most impressive shows I've seen.) I was too busy with my jaw hanging open at what they were doing and clapping to take pictures. 

(I found this one on-line just to give you a taste of what it looked like--in addition to a bunch of other super impressive stuff)

The next day, Saturday, was our last full day, and we spent the day saying things like "this will be the last time that we _____", soaking in all of the beautiful stuff around us, and not wanting it to end.

My last drink on the beach

We had dinner reservations that night at the hibachi restaurant. The view on our walk to dinner never disappointed:

Our food was super delicious again and we left dinner completely stuffed. 

MG spent a little bit of time in the casino that night, winning us some money, and then we watched part of the entertainment for the night before doing our last nightly walk back to our side of the resort, along the beach under the moonlight.

The next day we packed up, did a quick final walk along the beach, and made our way to the airport. 

Checking our bags was an insanely long process for some reason, so when we got to the plane, we were ready to leave and get back home. The guy who ended up sitting next to us was an airline steward, just flying back home after working another flight. We got to talking with him until he got upgraded to first class. 

He came back part way through the flight and offered us complimentary drinks....two rounds of drinks in fact. He said "your vacation isn't over yet!"

He was so nice and really made the last part of our vacation really nice with that kind gesture.

these are the leftovers of what he gave us--a ton! 

As you can tell, (and you've probably heard me rave about it enough), we had an amazing time. It ended up being a great vacation and the perfect way for us to celebrate our anniversary!

So, if anyone wants to pay for my ticket to go back, I'll gladly accept! ;)