I almost put this in the shoutouts section, but eh. So, I'm gonna go all Fealz on you for a post here and write a bit about my vacation to this resort in Puerto Plata, Domincan Republic.

http://www.riu.com/en/Paises/dominican- ... /index.jsp

I had never left the country, never done an all inclusive thing, and hadn't taken a true vacation in over 7 years, so even if this resort is considered mediocre by travelers standards, I'd never know it. Its set on a point that has probably a good 1/2 mile of beach (there are 3 Riu resorts on that stretch), then wraps around the gazebo you can see pictured to a very calm bay on the backside of the place. The views of the mountains coupled with the shoreline were extremely picturesque, dare I say- breathtaking! The sunsets across the bay were very pretty, very romantic.

The staff was SUPER friendly, bartenders were always on the spot, the Animation team while a bit corny at times, provided entertainment all day long with games/tournaments during the day and shows at night. Drinks were a tad watered down, but its all inclusive so just drink more! They had specials every day which basically consisted of Rum, some sort of frozen fruit, and triple sec or some other sort of like schnapps that were all really good. I generally drank those during the day and went to rum and diets at night. It wasn't top shelf booze, but we would drink until 12:30-1am (after drinking on and off most of the day at the pool/beach), and I was only mildly hungover just once.

Food is buffet for the most part, and it got a little repetitive but overall it was pretty good. There is a ton of variety and while they mix up the entrees and side a little bit each day, there is always a salad bar, soups, cereals in the morning, lunchmeat during the day so you can find something to eat pretty easily.

We left the resort twice. Once to golf and once to go horseback riding. I was amazed and how friendly the locals are. Never felt unsafe once, not even while riding in an open bed truck or a taxi that looked like a Honda that was made in the 1970s. Just for a couple bucks tip everybody was extremely appreciative. The golf course was great (link below, only 1 link per post), and I actually shot pretty well. A 45, but considering I haven't swung a golf club since mid October, and I had an 8 and then a 6 on the first 2 holes, I was very pleased with my place once I got warmed up a little. The horseback riding, man was that something. $50 and we were gone about 5 hours. Rode thru several villages, literally next to these shacks and people are going about thier daily lives, then up thru the mountains to this Discoteque (literally), with a view looking down this valley straight to the ocean. Stopped there to let the horses rest and had a beer, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Then rode back a different way thru more little villages. Even saw a cockfighting pit.

I have about 400 pictures that I'll get to posting on Facebook at some point, but overall it was an amazing time. For any of you that are looking into doing an all inclusive trip, I would HIGHLY recommend one of the Riu resorts, and if you are looking for a trip thats maybe off the beaten path a bit, this place is great. I'm glad I went here instead of Punta Cana, which is generally where people go in the Dominican. Maybe its not 5 star, but it was everything I wanted out of a vacation and then some.

I am glad to be back home. I missed my bed, I missed my dog, I missed my guitars, and I miss Chicago tap water, but its a trip that I'm glad I took and one that I will never forget.

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Did you bring back any prospects for the 2011 World Champion White Sox?

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golf course link. One of the 100 best outside of the US apparently. I loved it
http://www.playadoradagolf.com/

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The all-inclusive thing is definitely the way to go. Doesn't have to be 5-star
as long as they have some clean sheets and rooms. The time you spend in
there is pretty minimal. Most important thing is you had a good time. The
golf course looked pretty nice, I am very jealous. Went on a trip like this to
Cabo San Lucas 5 years ago and it was very similar to your descriptions, a
good time all around.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Yeah I mean there are little things I could nitpick. The bed wasn't very comfy and the pillows were small, but other than sleeping and showering we were in the room maybe 1 hour a day tops. They have street vendors that can be quite pushy in the hotel lobby on Fridays, so that kinda sucks but you just say no thanks and move on. The beer was just ok and the wine was not very good (she in the wine drinker, not me), but everything was fine.

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Mr. Hernandez likes this

I've heard nothing but great things about the resorts in the DR.

All I know is that the beaches in Punta Cana are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

Glad you had a great time. The only comment I have is that you had the best time doing an activity off the all inclusive property. All inclusives are a prison IMO.

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Andy Rooney= biggest PUTZ of the dead

A prison? I don't see how staying at an all-inclusive place precludes you from leaving.

I've stayed at two-all inclusive places and the extra money you spend for all-inclusive makes up for the amount of liquor and food you consume. At least it did for me and the lady.

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@audioidkid

Prison? Not at all. Maybe a little restricting if you don't have extra money to venture around a bit. It was wild driving around the town and seeing some of the sights though. I loved it.

But even if we didn't leave the resort, the beach, pools, food, booze, windsurfing, kayaking, snorkeling, tennis courts.....you could still have lots of fun and do plenty of different things.

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I say prison as far as food and drinking goes. You feel like you paid for it already so you wouldn't be getting your money's worth by venturing out. The food gets repititive like you said and the booze is awful sometimes. I think you can do it just as cheap non A-I. On the other hand if thats all you want to do is lay around on the beach and relax that may be the way to go. My best experience of Cancun was leaving the pack when we went to Isla Mujeres (island off the coast) and walking around the villages by ourselves. Other than that I thought Cancun was not at all for me.

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Andy Rooney= biggest PUTZ of the dead

Cancun is fun for a first time visit to Mexico, but I'd never go back. go see the pyramids, go snorkeling using the mini power boats from the lagoon, and there were plenty of shows & nightlife...
We drank so damn much, that it would have cost us more to not be all-inclusive. The food variety was good from what I remember.

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@audioidkid

[quote="Frank Coztansa"] The bed wasn't very comfy and the pillows were small, but other than sleeping and showering we were in the room maybe 1 hour a day tops.quote]
So you didn't even have sex??

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

Cabo was nice but seemed pretty spendy off the resort and we were probably a 20
or 25 minute van ride away from downtown. We did that one night and went to
Cabo Wabo and some other local watering holes. We did snorkeling off resort in
the middle of nowhere and I paid to go deep sea fishing which was awesome since
everyone in the boat caught something. Didn't think the $125 was worth it for the
golf. The big negative about Cabo is the expense of some things as well as how
far spread out it is. Otherwise the beach and resort was outstanding. Food was
pretty good and we actually brought our fresh caught Mahi Mahi back and the
concierge had the kitchen cook up more of our fish than we could eat that night.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Frank,
I really enjoyed your post.
It's nice to see someone having a good time and wanting to share the info.
This was one of the few posts that contain no negativity.
Usually the best anyone has to say about anything is, "It didn't suck too bad!"
Good job!

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Host of the weekly "We Fish ASA" podcast
Weekly columnist for the Northwest Herald
Bi-monthly columnist for Illinois Outdoor News magazine
Former host of The Outdoors Experience on WIND and The Great Outdoors on CLTV
http://www.wefishasa.com

Thanks, Steve.



I put a few pics on Facebook last night, and I've got about a hundred more to go. So I'll try and throw a few of them up here, but they will be on my Facebook in the meantime.

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Did you happen to see Aramis Ramirez's cocks?

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

I have never been to DR , I always found the island a bit weird that basically on the same Island is Haiti, right over the hill? After the quake I kinda figured the migration to the DR would be massive.

I am sure you don't think about it while you are there though, but dont think I could do it now. Still sounds resort life like, which I can do very well.

I am ready to go back to St Thomas...

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Here's a lot of pics. Its Facebook, but its a public link so you don't need Facebook to check the pics out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152559&id=43803178&l=9f5db5b76b

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It says you can't view these photos.

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2018
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