Will Hess

Shortly after we woke up, the captain informed us that we had arrived ahead of schedule, so we hustled to have some breakfast and oack up for the excursion of the day -- a tour of the Puerto Plata. After we disembarked, I looked down and realized I had packed and been wearing mismatched shoes for the past several days, which explains why my run on the treadmill felt much more off than the gentle sway of the boat could explain. Putting my vanity aside, we boarded a bus and set off on the tour.

The first stop was at Macroix Rum house, where we learned the history of the family, followed by a tasting session. While Laura and I felt it was a bit early to start drinking in earnest, many of our fellow guests didn't not share our trepidation. I sipped an 8yr rum that I liked, but we passed on the majority of flavored rums. Caty sniffed one and decided it was not her jam, which was confirmed after dipping a finger in another.

The next stop was the estate of Gregorio Luperón, a general of the Dominican Republic in the 1800s. We learned a bit about the history of the country and his life (the kitchen downstairs also acted as a restaurant to make money) before we were herded back onto the bus.

Stop #2 was the Rainbow shop, where we saw larimar stones/minerals, which can only be found off the coast of the Dominican Republic and is made into jewelry. Caty scored some souvenir earrings from the adjacent store.

Stop #3 took us to Umbrella street, the origin of the name being self-evident with all the rainbow umbrellas suspended overhead. We popped into a local coffee shop for some liquid chocolate (Caty was thrilled), and Laura grabbed some Empanadas from a nearby vendor for her and Caty while we waited for the group to finish. We then walked over to Pink Street, again whose name was self-evident with 100% pink walls. The street took us to a local cigar shop, which smelled heavenly with all the drying tobacco leaves. We heard an overview of the cigar making process, and its importance to the country's economy.

The penultimate stop was the Amber museum, featuring a collection of amber pieces with various insects or small critters suspended within. Interestingly the museum had ties to Jurassic Park. The movie used one of their pieces in the film, and the film crew liked it so much they asked to keep it. The museum allowed them to in exchange for the rights to copy the logo and use JP intellectual property as part of the museums branding.

Finally, we bussed over to Fortaleza San Felipe, a fort used to protect the island against pirates and corsairs. We opted to walk along the beach. We wish we had more time to spend in the ocean -- it was like bath water.

While the sights were interesting, in all honesty the excursion wasn't a winner, as spending the day in a bus with some of our more boorish passengers detracted from the experience. We took it as a lesson learned for how we'd organize the rest of our trip.

The day wasn't a total loss -- once we got back on the boat Caty went down the water slide "at least 40 times" while Laura and I had lunch, napped and then exercise. Caty had dinner at the buffet (I enjoyed some cocktails at the bar), and then we all went down to the theater for the highlight of the day. Our show was Choir of Man -- a men's choir set in a local pub. The group was talented, and the set had some very funny moments. We were all thrilled with it. Following the show Laura and I had a late dinner, and went back to the room to catch a bit of the Packers game before calling it a night.Read more