Once Upon A Time In The Caribbean
Serendipity
after
Serendipity!
Once upon a time a relatively young couple searched for vacation destinations. After a less than enjoyable visit to the SunSpree Resort in Jamaica, one of us was not too thrilled to return to a Caribbean destination. But the other one pleaded for a second try which was the Grand Bahamian Sandals resort, a short ride from Nassau. This was a wonderful trip with excellent accommodations and friendly people and things to do, places to go, and good food. So that was the beginning.
After subsequent trips to Sandals Grande, in St. Lucia, Beaches in Turks & Caicos, Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica, Sandals Grande in Antigua, Azul Sensatori in Cancun, Mexico, and a long weekend in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, we both felt a fondness for the Caribbean but didn't feel we knew much about the islands since we spent most of our time inside luxurious resorts. We decided we would do some more down-to-earth exploring on our next trip to really see what it would be like to live there. Our next trip was to a small Bed & Breakfast we found on the internet. It happened to be in the Dominican Republic, on the north side of the island away from the wall-to-wall all-inclusives we were accustomed to. This turned out to be the first of many consecutive, blessed and serendipitous, experiences.
Our stay at the wonderful B&B, Casa Veintiuno , started with a friendly family style greeting from our hosts Saskia & Marc. Saskia and Marc are from Belgium and own and manage the B&B and full service restaurant. David, who works with them in their restaurant lives a few minutes down the road. You couldn't ask to meet nicer people. And that goes for the rest of their staff as well. Thank you Saskia, Marc, David, Julio, Juana, Zita, Victor.
After bathing in the Caribbean glow at Casa Veintiuno, we scheduled a visit to a local real estate agent to get general info on homes in the area and costs. Never expecting the possibility that the agent would provide a full tour of the area with very helpful information. And never dreaming that we would see not one but 2 beautiful houses, both close to what we could afford. The real estate agent is Judith Fox-Hogg , a former resident of London, England and a wonderful friendly and professional person. She gave of her time and knowledge freely despite the fact that we were certainly not high end customers, and maybe not customers at all. Seeing at least a dozen homes over the next four days, we finally got an idea of what this particular flavor of Caribbean life might be like. Thank you Judith.