Thursday, May 28, 2015

Las Flores


 As an Interim Innkeeper I get to spend time arranging flowers for many of the inns I take care of. Often we have flowers in the great room or on the breakfast tables. Right now we are working in Colorado and the only flowers available are these uninspiring ones from the grocery store.




I so wish I was back in the Caribbean and could make a display like this  - - -


WOW, right? That one was in the dining room and here's another from the hotel lobby-  Don't you love it??


One of my favorite things on our last vacation was enjoying all "las flores"... I took so many pictures that Kirk was deleting them behind my back. So now I can share the ones that are left with you!



 This is a botanical garden that we visited on Mt Isabel de Torres in Puerto Plata. I had to take this photo because Kirk matches these flores so well! To get to this botanical garden we took a scary aerial tramride up to the top of the mountain but once there it was magic. We wandered around for hours and marveled at all the tropical plants and flowers. Just amazing. Then we had a pic-nic lunch overlooking the whole city and the ocean beyond. If you are ever in the DR, it's a great place.







We also spent some time in Santo Domingo and this is a typical street there. You wouldn't even need to bring "las flores" into your home.... they just grow there. 






So anyhow, I miss "las flores" and now I'll go back to making my uninspired floral arrangements. SIGH!

Monday, May 18, 2015

We're Bums!



We love to travel! We love to travel as Professional Innsitters and we love to travel as Beach Bums. We try to take a little time off from our profession each year to go someplace warm with lovely sunsets, turquoise water, white sand beaches, palm trees,rum drinks etc.etc....

                                                   

This year we went to the Dominican Republic and really enjoyed it.  The beach on the left is Cayo Arena where we went for a great snorkel trip. There were lots of colorful fish and coral and I even got the fish to come to my hand. The boat ride to this deserted island with our guide was a bit of an adventure and on the way home he took us through an incredible mangrove swamp!
Punta Cana beach is the most popular beach in the Dominican Republic.  It was a little too crowded for us but we did enjoy hanging out there for a day or two. You can see I love to walk on the beach but this time I got caught - and soaked!
This tiki god guarded our favorite palapa - great spot for reading and lounging!


                                          So CHEERS to Beach Bums everywhere!
                                               Where is your favorite beach?