Beach Baby Johnson: Until Next Time, Costa Rica!!!

We'll Be Back!!!

This trip was awesome! We really didn't seek out Costa Rica. The "Hilton" points determined where we would go on this vacation. We were very, very pleased with our decision. The all inclusive feature was not really something we were looking for-in fact we were a little nervous about it. Turns out it was great. We knew we wouldn't be venturing too far and if so, it wouldn't be simple with Wesley in a 2nd world country so this worked out really well. I guess I have/had a bad assumption about 24 hour, all you can eat types of places and the people that go along with them....this was not the case here. We realized when we got home that we ate 3 meals a day and never once ordered food or snacks between meals! We didn't overindulge at the meals either...I did partake in dessert each night but what the heck, I was on vacation! We even gave in to the "Howler Monkey" frozen drink a couple of times. Besides fresh bananas and rum, I am not sure what else was in it but they were certainly yummy. The "all inclusive" wasn't what we expected but in a good way. There were plenty of restaurants to have variety and all were good. I think we would give the all inclusive a go again, but would normally prefer to get out and "do as the locals do". With Wesley, this was perfect and that is something we would consider again with a little one.

Wesley seemed to enjoy himself on the vacation as well. He loved the pool the most. He never got used to the beach enough to enjoy it but it wasn't without trying. The sand was so hot and we didn't have the proper shoes for him so not his fault!

We did learn that Wesley loves Ketchup while on this trip. The kids menu was the same at all the restaurants but even with 6 nights, he had a variety. He had french fries several times and eventually started dipping just his fingers in the ketchup, without the fry!

On the last day, we had one more great breakfast, said goodbye to our Canadian friends, our lovely friends from CT/Netherlands and then headed back to finish packing. We were greeted by Alonzo, one of our favorites who made sure we met our transport. The airport was a ZOO!! We were so lucky and grateful for a porter to notice Wesley (or a young child). He gave us some preferential treatment and we found ourselves at the front of the huge line to check in! We gained time in the airport and were able to have one last sit-down lunch. We had a long day ahead of us and wouldn't really get much else in the form of meals so this was great.

Wesley did pretty well on the flights. The second and last flight out of Atlanta to home was supposed to leave at 9 which was late anyway but then we got delayed. There was actually a felon being escorted by important looking people that boarded ahead of us. They started to board us and then made us leave the plane...it was a mess and needless to say, Wesley was also. Once we took off, he finally fell asleep after a bit of crying and basically slept until we landed. Overall, he was a great traveler. I learned a bit about what we can do to make him a bit more comfortable and what may/may not work better next time. For the first time, I think he did great!

Now we are trying to think of where we want to go next! (Chris has switched his travel benefits to Marriott-they have a lot more properties in more desirable areas plus, we will make my little brother proud. He is a GM for the Marriott in Richmond!)