Monday from Casa Maya...

Day three started off with a 20 minute hike to town with McGruber and Doc. Copacabana advertised a 6 dollar breakfast that we decided was a better decision than making our own.

The View from Breakfast!

By the time we got there we were so hungry they probably could have served us the dirt from our dusty walk there and we would have raved about it. None the less our meal was excellent.

We had coffee, mini fruit smoothies, a small fruit salad, toast, eggs, and sausage. Pretty stout for 6 bucks. We were happy with our choice and headed back toward the house.


When we returned to Casa Maya (that’s the name of our house) we found the rest of our group all lounging in and around our pool. We joined them and spent the next few hours soaking up that tropical sun. Doc was even smart enough to bring inflatable pool rafts for us to lay on in the water. Unfortunately one never quite got inflated all the way before illustrating why it was so cheap, and the other is choosing a slower more drawn-out death as it hisses air out of it anytime one of us tries to sunbath on it.

The two malfunctioning pool toys were hardly a set back in our day though. We lounged and laughed our way through all of midday. When we finally got hungry, we headed back to town as a group.
We decided on a place called Voodoo right in the heart of Tamarindo. We sat on the small patio at a tall table just down from the bar/restaurant owner. He was a really nice man who definitely enjoyed the local herb as evidenced in his surf and turf lunch and several other entrées just during our short meal there.
And speaking of our meal, it was superb. We pretty much all agreed on fajitas and margaritas. Juan Pablo our waiter was excited to practice his English with us, and offered to do a quick group photo shoot even! The delicious lunch is below:

Before we all headed back to the house we ran into Super Mercado 2001 for a few necessities. Now if you ever do a home rental versus a resort stay on vacation you know that going to the local market is a must for things like toilet paper and water and snacks etc. Well night one we hit up the big Auto Mercado. We thought we had done well, but after doing the math translations on the way home, realized our groceries were more expensive than we thought they’d be. It was no big deal, but when on day two we wanted a few more things from the market we chose the one on the same street as our Casa Maya. To our dismay, that market, while cheaper than Auto Mercado, just didn’t have much selection of anything. It was more like a convenient store than a market. Well, the Super Mercado 2001 is a nice happy medium of the two. It’s not terribly expensive, but also provides more than just a small bodega. As I type this (it is actually already the end of day four) we have been to 2001 at least 4 times in the last 48 hours.

When we returned home from the VooDoo lunch and 2001 jaunt, it was our usual nap time. Nothing like a food coma nap on vacation folks. And this time McGruber and I had an ice cold room to take our siesta in!

After the nap it was down to the Langosta Fitness Center and Beach Club for some Happy Hour action. This beach club is phenomenal. The fitness club is top of the line and we used it today, but that will come in the day four post. For now, I’ll give ya the details from our first Happy Hour there.

We pulled up tall bar stools to the cabana covered bar just as an evening storm rolled in. We sat and chatted with Yeffery and Yimmy, the bartenders as they made us more Ciprinahs, this time Strawberry flavored.

And as we sat there we admired the pool and cabanas and view out to the beach. We were taking the pictures above when we noticed a couple in the cabana across the pool from us. I’m not going to accuse anyone of anything here, but I will set up the situation and let you decide. We saw a man standing in front of a seated woman. He was pulling his pants up. We gasped and turned back to Yeffery who smiled and commented in broken English, “Yah sometimes you don’t need no room here.” Whoa. We decided that was plenty beach club for this particular evening and head to La Esquina for some Italian dinner.

The middle cabana is the scene of the "incident."

La Esquina was a really fabulous restaurant just down from Super Mercado 2001. Six of us sat around a beautiful wooden table just over from a pretty intense wood burning, brick oven. Obviously McGruber and I had to go bug the chef for some pictures by the oven, but never did we expect him to allow us to grab the “shovels” and join him. Then we discovered the playhouse for the children patrons and climbed inside only to take pictures that make us look like life size bobble heads!


This dinner was obviously off to a great start, and it only got better. The waitress came with her toddler little girl in tow, and we ordered some of the best Guacamole I’ve ever had, and a standard pepperoni pizza that went well beyond standard in taste. We all laughed and were having such a great time when one of the other gals and I noticed the waitress’ toddler climbing up to the table next to us. The family that had been dinning there had just left, and the table had yet to be bused. No big deal, expect the small girl started drinking out of one of the glasses at the table. Without thinking we busted into laughter only to try and silence it when the waitress rushed over in a panic to get her daughter away from the stranger’s germs.

On the way home we, as per usual, stopped at 2001 for something. While waiting for the guys to pay us gals hung around the outside. We noticed some mariachis sitting on the side of the road in pale blue suits. We asked to get a picture and it only cost us two bum bum grabs to do so. Except we didn’t know until their hands were “south of the border” that we’d be paying that fee. Luckily we snapped the picture quickly and headed back across the street.

Now back in front of 2001 is where we came across the Dirt Bike pizza delivery mobile. And given that my boyfriend is such a dirt bike enthusiast, I had to jump on it and take yet another picture!

Finally we were back on our little dirt street but not ready to be home. So instead of walking through our gate to Casa Maya, we hopped over to the American owned bar on the corner. I still am not sure if the bar has a name but the owners, formerly of Boston, have a great set up. Complete with rocking chairs, ping pong tables, pool tables, poker tables, a stage and plenty of bottles on the shelves; this bar is serious fun. We immediately ordered up a drink and got after the ping pong table.

Not too far into game one we have the Korean, McGruber versus the high speed server, Andy Roddick, I mean Doc. And as Doc wound up for one of her volleys, I turned to watch. Right as the ping pong ball came flying into my face! It was a direct shot to my right cheek. And that little orange ball stung!

After laughing and watching the Korean McGruber dominate Doc, it was over to the pool table where Doc showed off everything she learned in College Station at the Chicken. She schooled one of the other gals in record time and we decided that was a good end to the night, so back to Casa Maya we went.

Tuesday was rather mellow and I only scribbled down a few key words in my little notebook:

Yoga
Smoothie
Junior
Hammock Tackle
Beach Club Rain Storm
Stolen Dog
Shopping
Dinner at Walters
Early to Bed

Tuesday may seem lame by these words but trust me, nothing is lame down here, and Wednesday was one of the most exhilerating days of my life. Until that post...

xoxo Sara Marie