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Just a few quick notes, This is a journal I put together of our adventures in Costa Rica. I broke up this document by day in case you can't go through it all in one reading. You can see the quick jumps just below here. Also, there are various links to pictures within the journal itself. For an example, click on this text here. Wherever you see this, I have most likely made a link to some photos. If you see any pictures you like, feel free to right-click on the image and use the "Save Image As..." option to save it to your computer. Thursday November 10, 2005 Friday November 11, 2005 Saturday November 12, 2005 Sunday November 13, 2005 Monday November 14, 2005 Tuesday November 15, 2005 Wednesday November 16, 2005 Thursday November 17, 2005 Friday November 18, 2005 Epilogue Sunday December 3, 2005 Well we finally got ourselves packed and into bed at about 11pm Wednesday night. The limo is due at 3:30 am Thursday so we aren’t going to get much sleep. We tell ourselves that we’ll sleep on the limo ride to the airport. We were half right. The limo arrived a few minutes early and we were out the day shortly before 3:30 am. It was a nice, easy ride to Reagan National but I wasn’t the half of us who got to sleep. We got checked in at the airport without too much incident and got in early enough to grab a quick breakfast before departing to Miami on a 6:00 am flight. I managed to get a few Sudoku puzzles done before touching down in Miami. Elizabeth managed to get a few more winks. Once in Miami, I knew we were on the same flight to Liberia as my dad and his wife Barney, and my two friends Mark and Dawn McQuade. We had about a 2-hour layover in Miami so I decided to go walk around a bit. I ran into my dad as I walking about. We all went over to the gate where Elizabeth was waiting for me to catch up. I then found out that there was a problem with my dad’s reservation that he had made through the hotel. They had collected his money but never reserved his flight through American Airlines. He ended up shelling out $1,000 on the credit card so they could get a seat on the flight. I hope he ends up getting his money back. Luckily Elizabeth and I hadn’t run into any difficulties yet. Mark and Dawn finally showed up at the gate while we were hearing the story. We all boarded the relatively short 2-hour flight to Liberia. It was pretty uneventful and I think I managed to finish another Sudoku puzzle or two. Liberia is a small airport. They had to move the steps up to the plane so we could get off. There was no jet plank to be found. We cleared through customs pretty quickly and went out to a small mob scene of shuttle drivers and taxicabs. We had a shuttle arranged through our travel agent and were quickly escorted to the van. My dad and Barney were on another shuttle so I made sure to say we would meet them at the hotel. Our driver was Umberto and the guide was Francisco. Both very nice guys and they made us feel welcome as we made a few stops before hitting the Allegro Papagayo. More chaos ensued as we hit the Allegro Papagayo to check in. It was a whirlwind of people. We got our room and were about to head down when we were intercepted by the concierge, Nangie. She was the woman in charge of setting up the dinner for us Saturday night and she wanted to go over a few last minute details. We picked out a bouquet of flowers for Elizabeth and a cake for after dinner. Nangie also mentioned the idea of bringing in a live band to play music during the dinner. We told her we would let her know tomorrow what we wanted to do about the band idea. We hadn’t considered the idea and it would turn out to be one of the best things during the trip. We were pretty beat at this point so we meandered down to the room. I was also hungry so I decided to check out the snack bar at Los Corrales by the pool. I wasn’t all that impressed with the choices and was wondering what we were in for the next few days. Luckily the actual meals would be much, much better. Dinner turned out to be great and my fears were assuaged. It was a lot of fun to see the steady stream of family and friends that had arrived during the day. We couldn’t turn around without seeing someone we knew. It had been a pretty long day by this point so we finally crashed out at about 9pm. I got a phone call at about 10 pm from my best man, Alex. Alex and his wife, Kate, had trouble getting out of Albuquerque due to plane trouble and would be coming in on Friday instead of Thursday. I was pretty out of it but managed to keep a conversation for a few minutes. Alex said they would be out on Friday. I am glad that we made the wedding on Saturday. This meant I was still on track to have a best man. I fell back to sleep pretty quickly, knowing Friday would be a busy day. Friday November, 11, 2005 I woke up feeling refreshed. We were going to head down for breakfast and start making plans for Saturday. We confirmed with Nangie that we wanted the band and again, what a great decision that would be. At breakfast we ran into our respective parents and said we would like to get everyone together at 11 am for a “Meet the Parents” session. We also met with Grace and Grandma Harper to go over details for the ceremony. Katherine was also arranging a “Girls Night Out” at Pablo’s that evening. Needless to say we hit the ground running this particular morning. After we firmed up the details for the ceremony I felt like I could breathe a bit better. We made arrangements to go with a number of our other guests on a boat ride to Cocoa Beach to shop. There was no pier at the beach so everyone had to wade into the water and climb aboard. Once we arrived there, we wandered around town a bit and did some shopping. Elizabeth and I picked up a few nice items for our new house. We also split a fajita at a restaurant there called the Casino. It was pretty good and gave a chance to chat with the folks that came with; most of us had split off to do our own shopping. Since the boat ride was a bit difficult getting on and off, Elizabeth escorted a few of the guests back on a taxi. It was dark by the time we came back and we rushed to grab a bite to eat at the resort. Now since the girls were having their night out. The guys were asking me what we would do, so I said lets meet in the Sports Bar at 9pm. I ran a note up to the lobby for Alex and Kate to tell them to meet us at the respective bars, since I knew they would be coming in around 9pm or so. This was their first trip away from their new son Noah. We were in the bar having a few drinks, when Alex came in. I had bought a pocket watch for Alex since he was standing up for me so we went back to my room so I could give it to him. I think he really liked it. When we got back down, he went over to Pablo’s to show Kate right away. It meant a lot to me that he was there. We’ve known each other a long time and have been through a lot together. When I got back to the Sports Bar, there was a whole bunch of the guys there and someone came in with a beer bong. So I was encouraged by everyone to partake. Oddly enough, no one else seemed to be stepping up. Elizabeth remarked later that she saw the guy going from Pablo’s over towards the Sports Bar and wondered whom the beer bong was for, little did she stop to think it might be me. A few of the girls came into the bar with some sort of plastic pinching device called a “Bun Pincher”. At this point I was a bit concerned about what the gals were doing over there. We ended up playing poker for Colones at the bar. What a blast! I think we had Tad, Matt, Mark, Sean, Alex, Rick and myself playing in. It got a little bit loud in the bar so we grabbed a table right outside. That was a bit unfortunate for Sean as his legs did not react well to the no see’ems. The night was winding down and I was wiped, so I gave my sister Ingrid my chips and told her to have fun. Except for Sean, the other guys there did not realize that she has won a few poker tournaments. While we were over in the Sports Bar, Elizabeth and the girls were having fun at Pablo’s Bar. As I mentioned before they had a “Bun Pincher” which was apparently being utilized to a great extent to unsuspecting men in the bar. The maid of honor, Katherine, brought over a shot of Guaro for the bride to be to partake. So Elizabeth turned the tables and had Vikter bring over 18 shots for the ladies present to make sure they all had fun with her. Even Grandma Harper spent the evening enjoying Pina Coladas. Saturday November 12, 2005 Saturday was the big day. That evening at sundown Elizabeth and I were going to exchange our vows, but not before having a little fun first. That morning we went with my Aunt Carol, Uncle Don, Tad, Matt, Ingrid, Shawn, Rick, Mark and Dawn on a Costa Rican invention called the Canopy Tour. Basically this entails a series of zip lines through the forest. Then you strap on a harness and go flying through the forest. It is incredible. Everyone had a great time. Ingrid and Aunt Carol had some issues with braking on some of the lines. Those girls have a need for speed. After zipping through 11 lines, the tour came to an end. If you ever find yourself in Costa Rica, this is a must do tour. After lunch it was time for Elizabeth to head over to Katherine’s room to get ready. Shelly, Pat, Katherine among others, were there to help out. Myself, I went down to the wet bar at the pool to get ready. Elizabeth was a bit nervous, I saw her brother Matt make 3-4 trips with trays of drinks from the bar. At about 3 pm I headed up to my room to get ready. Alex came over with a small bottle of Guaro and a 6-pack of Imperial to get ready. We headed down to the beach at about quarter to five to see how things were going. It was really cool. Pat, Sheila and John had been prepping the beach with luminaries. The breeze had something to say about that and the candles would not stay lit. It at least gave us a nice aisle for Elizabeth and Bart to walk down. Everyone had to cross over the water to get to the area on the beach where the ceremony was going to be. This forced most everyone to have to take off their shoes, which made Elizabeth very happy. Grandma Harper was carried over on a chair; Elizabeth even went barefoot. We got everyone together and Grace started the ceremony. Grandma sang an old Ella Fitzgerald song called “Always” as Elizabeth and Bart walked up. She was so beautiful I could barely keep it together. Bart gave her to me and Grandma sang a song that I had arranged for her, called “Till There Was You” which is from the musical The Music Man. As the ceremony went on, people gathered on the beach to watch. We had asked Elizabeth’s dad to say a few words and he came through in great fashion. It was very special and heartfelt. He talked about an old song called “Little Things Mean A Lot” and how important it was not to put your spouse down. I didn’t think Bart was going to be able to get through it but he managed to finish. As we exchanged our vows there was a bit of a mix-up on the rings as Katherine had Elizabeth’s ring and Alex had mine. We had to shuffle them around a bit but it added a bit of levity to the vows. When we walked off, Katherine had given everyone bubbles for the end of the ceremony and we had a wall of bubbles to walk through as we headed up to the reception. It was really a neat effect, as the sun was going down we walked through the bubbles. We also waited a bit to take a bunch of pictures. The sun was going down fast and light became a bit of an issue for all of the cameras. I think we were both feeling like the paparazzi were surrounding us with all of the cameras people had. It got to be a bit much. We found out later that Chuck and James nearly missed the ceremony as they were out on a golf trip that afternoon that ran a little long. Chuck’s wife, Janet was ready to be very mad at Chuck but luckily for him, they came running down shortly after the ceremony started. That must have been a sight to see. Elizabeth and I walked up to Pablo’s bar and had a drink there with everyone while we waited for the reception room to be ready. It all seemed to happen so fast; everything was a blur. Other hotel guests were coming by to congratulate us. We finally decided to head up to the lobby, which was all the way up the hill. It was a magical evening as Elizabeth and I walked all the way up to the reception. It was a time just for us to be together, alone. We walked into the veranda area off the lobby and it was just indescribable. Nangie, Jorge, Alberto and crew had transformed it into a beautiful display. We all sat down to dinner, which was great. The band we had hired came in and began to set up. Bart had actually met one of them earlier in the day when he was in Liberia shopping for a new watch. They started playing and if I remember right the first song was a Spanish version of “Under the Boardwalk”. At this point Bart got up and started dancing with just about every girl in the room. They even got Matt’s wife, Dana up there much to her dismay. Katherine and Elizabeth started chanting “Dana! Dana! Dana!”. She had no choice. My best man, Alex got up to give a toast. It was a great toast and very heartfelt. He remarked that he could identify most of my family and friends by the Cubs paraphernalia. The toast was written on the back of a receipt for the pre-ceremony 6-pack he brought over. I got up to give my toast, I had scrawled a few things on a scrap of paper myself. I related the story of the first time I told Elizabeth “I love you” and she said, “Why don’t you think about that”. I also told about when I proposed to her and I was on bended knee and she said, “Are you serious?”. Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but she did finally say yes. I told her that tonight, I have a special gift for her and then proceeded to relate the story of the night we met at Rooney’s Bar. We had spent the whole evening talking and I didn’t know her name. She was more then a little bit stunned as she had not known that story. In fact, as we danced to “Besame Mucho”, Elizabeth kept saying to me, “You didn’t know my name?”. Elizabeth’s brother Matt also got up and gave a very sincere toast as well. Sharing how much he loved his sister and how when their mom passed away she took care of Matt and Bart. It was a very nice sentiment. As the evening went on, I remember the Chicago group all got up to do the Chicken Dance. The band moved around the room and I remember seeing Grandma Harper, Sarah and my cousin Matt playing the maracas with the band. Elizabeth and I went around the room and tried to sit and chat with everyone for a few moments. We wound down the evening at the bar with Matt, Dana, Tad, Sarah, Matt, Alex, and Kate among others. Various people had some bottles of champagne and wine sent to our room for us. Elizabeth and I made our way back to the room and were stunned to find that the room had been done up with flower petals everywhere. On the floor, on the bed, in the bathroom, everywhere. There were even towels folded up to look like two birds with their necks intertwined. All in all, the night went better then we could have ever wished or hoped for. Everything was perfect. We are so lucky and our life together is off to a great start! Sunday November 13, 2005 The day after. I know I was feeling pretty good the next day, definitely an emotional high. We had decided that today was going to be an R&R type of day for us and hung around the pool most of the day. The only item on the agenda was a parent’s dinner at the Italian restaurant that evening. We spent most of the time by the wet bar at the pool. Alex and Kate came by for a bit after going on their ATV tour. It sounded like they had a good time. Alex said that we should do the ATV tour simply for the fact that there was no way they could do that tour in the US. That afternoon we found out that Rick came down with a case of sun poisoning. He ended up getting a shot of steroids from an EMT person they had on staff by the pool. He looked pretty rough with big welts/splotches all over. Tad, Sarah, Matt, Mark, Dawn, and Uncle Don charted a fishing boat for an all day tour. They pulled in quite a haul. Dawn and Sarah apparently pulled in the biggest catches of the day. We saw them when they got back and, they had a lot of Mahi Mahi, which they were able to get the kitchen to grill up. I am not much of a fish person but I did try a bit. It wasn’t bad. While enjoying the fish, Mark got a text message that the Bears had won, 17-9. It was nice to get news from home that our guys had won. We went up to the dinner at the Italian place that evening and had a nice time. Well for the most part anyways. Elizabeth had something that didn’t agree with her and she had some sort of an allergic reaction. Her throat closed up a bit, she was breathing fine but couldn’t talk. It was Dad and Barney’s last night as they were heading out on Monday. So it was nice to have some time to visit. We went down for drinks afterwards and ran into Mark and Dawn at Pablo’s. They were also heading out on Monday. So we said our goodbyes and headed up to bed. Even though it was a pretty relaxed day, we were beat. We had to get up early for an all day tour on Monday. Monday November 14, 2005 We were up early for an all day van tour. The tour was going to take us out towards Arenal to hopefully be able to see the volcano. We were also going out to see the rain forest at the Eco-Lodge and stop by some hot springs to take a dip. It was going to be a pretty full day. Our guide was a very bright and knowledgeable guy named Sero. The ride out to Arenal was four hours over some of the bumpiest roads you will ever imagine. We got out towards Arenal and stopped off at a place called Lajas for lunch. It was pretty good. Costa Ricans favor black beans with their rice and also mix in some chicken as well. I am a big fan of that combination these days. After lunch we ran over to the Eco-Lodge and took a tour through the rain forest. I think Sero realized we weren’t going to see the volcano so he spent extra time in the rain forest. After donning ponchos, and entering the forest he went through all of the trees and plants. We stopped several times to taste or smell various plants. I particularly remember one called Lady Hawke, which has a very bitter taste but is supposed to be a great cure for hangovers. We even got to meet some native Indians in the forest who took time to tell us about themselves. Their greeting is two taps on the right shoulder and they say “Capi Capi”. Elizabeth and I bought a wood mask with a coral snake design on it. It is supposed to protect our house. We mentioned that we had just gotten married and that it was for our new home. They took the time to bless it, Sero said that they never do that so we felt privileged. We left the rain forest and headed over to the hot springs. The hot springs are a series of warm water pools/baths that are geo-thermally warmed underground. They were just like being in a hot tub. I got a bit too warm and had to get out myself. We then went over and grabbed a bite to eat at the hot springs for dinner. By this time it was getting pretty late and we headed back to the resort. As I mentioned before the roads are definitely not the smoothest in the world. I think Costa Ricans must take some perverse pleasure in how bumpy the roads are and how well they are able to navigate the roads to avoid the potholes. We made sure to tell Sero about how in Chicago there are two seasons, winter and construction. We didn’t get to the volcano, which was really the only downfall. It was a long day and I was ready to head home. I think everyone was pretty tired. We got back maybe around 11:30 pm. I knew everyone was heading out on Tuesday so we headed down to the bar to see if anyone was still up. The only people we ran into were my sister Ingrid and her boyfriend Sean. So we sat with them and had a few drinks. Chuck, Janet and James who were with us on the tour, met us down there as well. Tuesday November 15, 2005 Everyone was heading home today. The folks going through Atlanta left around noon or so. Elizabeth and I had a massage scheduled for 11 am so we tried to say our goodbyes at breakfast thinking that we wouldn’t be able to see everyone off. After a wonderful massage session Elizabeth and I decided to wander up to the lobby and see if everyone had left. We also wanted to drop off a thank you note to Nangie for all the hard work she did in arranging the wedding reception details. The buses were still there so we were able to say goodbye to everyone again. I have to admit I was feeling a bit sad, kinda like the last day at summer camp. It was so fun having everyone there and now they were all leaving. But, on the bright side, now the honeymoon begins! We went down to get some lunch at Los Corrales and then to grab a kayak for a ride. We must have looked like the two biggest goofs paddling that kayak. We kept going from side to side through the water, no way would we be able to go in a straight line but we had fun laughing at each other. I told Elizabeth that all I wanted to do was relax the next few days. I don’t think she believed me. We went up to dinner and were having a pleasant conversation when we saw Jorge pass by. Jorge was one of the folks who set up the veranda for the wedding reception. I pulled him aside and asked if we could get some strawberries and chocolate to our room. Now realize that for the most part everyone we came across spoke pretty good English. Well this was a classic example of the phrase “Lost in Translation”. Jorge said that he could do that no problem and asked me if we wanted “big strawberries”. Of course I said yes. Well we went up to the room and were waiting for the goodies to come up. A very nice gentleman came by with a tray and two carafes. We tipped him and thanked him for bringing the strawberries and chocolate up. Well we were in for a bit of a surprise when we opened up the carafes. The first carafe had hot chocolate and the second carafe had strawberry slushie like they use for many of the drinks. We laughed so hard over the miscommunication. I do have to admit that the hot chocolate was pretty good, even though it was 80 degrees out. Wednesday November 16, 2005 Today we booked a horseback ride through the good folks at the hotel. This was one of the must do things that Elizabeth and I were really looking forward to. We had to cross the bay to get over to where the horses were. This was actually the same place the Alex and Kate must have taken their ATV ride from the looks of it, as there were horses and ATV’s where we were. We met our guide Fernando and got ready to take off. Elizabeth had a decent sized horse named Coano and mine was a bit smaller and was named Lupita. It was a great ride. We went way up in the foothills and had some very nice views. I had never climbed like that before on a horse so it was a new experience for me, Elizabeth remarked that they must be part mountain goat. On the way back to the hotel, we ran out of gas in our boat. It wasn’t a real big deal and the guide was able to radio back for someone to bring over some gas. The guide turned out to be Willy, who was on of the guys on the charter that Mark and crew took Sunday. This evening we had a very nice dinner for two at the Italian place that we had the parent’s dinner at on Sunday. We got dressed up and had a great dinner; this time Elizabeth’s throat did not close up, which is good as there wasn’t anyone else for me to talk. After dinner we met a very nice couple from Las Vegas that were at Pablo’s. We had actually met them earlier in the day at the pool. It had been a long day so we headed up after a few drinks. Thursday November 17, 2005 Today we are going out to the white sand beach to snorkel and just plain lay out on the beach. We saw some really big lizards, including one that really caught Elizabeth off guard as we walked down the beach. It was nice to just hang out for a few hours here. It was very quiet and relaxed. When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some lunch. I was already starting to dread going home. We had been having such a nice time and really been enjoying ourselves. I am all set to buy that villa in Costa Rica that Elizabeth wants to get. We headed up to the lobby to see our friend Alberto and have a few drinks. While we were there we met a couple from Chicago. They were interesting to say the least. This had to be the people that Chuck, Janet and James ran into a few nights before. The woman had a thing about lifting guys shirts and pointing out beer bellies. As Chuck mentioned they weren’t the best representatives from home. They left shortly after we got there and we chatted with Alberto a bit. I also grabbed a few postcards to send out to people back home. After dinner we went over to Pablo’s for a few drinks and to listen to the Latin band that was playing. They were great, you could tell they were having a lot of fun. In fact Manuel, who during the day is one of the bellman/shuttle drivers was in on the drums. After the theatre group was done with their show, they came over and danced with everyone. Normally Pablo’s closes at 11 pm, I think everyone was having so much fun that it was still going strong when we left at midnight. Tomorrow is time to go home. Friday November 18, 2005 This morning we woke up with heavy hearts. Today we were going home. Every other day we have been here there was an excitement in the air when we woke up. So this was a definite change in mood for us. Everything seemed to move slower and was harder to do. We got up early enough to go down to the beach and take a nice long walk down the shore a bit. We stopped to look at the round section of beach where we exchanged our vows. I listened to the waves crashing up on shore and watched Elizabeth gather up some shells to take home. She was fascinated by the hermit crabs. In fact, earlier in the week her brother Matt had come up to me very excited because he had been down to the beach and saw the hermit crabs as well. After loitering about a bit, we headed back up to the room to gather our belongings and head up to the lobby to meet our shuttle. We sat with Alberto at the lobby bar for a few last drinks and it was finally time for us to leave. I took a last look off the veranda where we had our wedding dinner just a few nights before. This was just the perfect place for us to spend with our family and friends as we exchanged our vows. We got onto the shuttle to head back to the airport. We paid our exit tax and got in line at the American Airlines ticket counter. They went through both of our bags very thoroughly, every pocket, nothing was left to chance. We then went into the terminal area which is really more of an awning/lean-to type of area . When the planes pull up, they wheel up the steps so you can walk down. There are no jet planks. I noticed some clouds off on the horizon. I mentioned to Elizabeth that I don’t think we will be taking off on time. I turned out to be right, as it started to rain pretty hard for a bit. I think we could have taken off but they didn’t want to walk everyone up to the plane in the rain and get them all wet. So they waited it out and we took off about a half hour after the scheduled departure. We got in Miami and it was a very confusing mess. We had a short window to clear security/customs and catch our flight to DC. We had to hand carry our bags through customs for some reason and then hand them off again for the flight to DC. Anyhow we made it back to DC with the zipper on my suitcase, the bride/groom from our cake and a small bottle of Guaro the only casualties. The limo was there to take us home. We got home exhausted after traveling all day and the cats were definitely very happy to see us. Epilogue - Sunday December 3, 2005 Well we have been back a few weeks now. We have been getting a steady stream of pictures from other folks that were with us in Costa Rica. We were so lucky that there were so many friends and family that could be there to share in our special day. For those of you that were there with us and are reading this now, thank you for being there. For the rest of you, I hope you get some special insight to our trip and enjoy all of the pictures.
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