Friday, February 12, 2010

Another Day at the Beach

I leave in eleven days so I'm trying to do a lot of things "one last time." Among them: take a trip to Las Gatas, the beach directly across the bay from our home. As far as the tourists are concerned, you can only get there by boat, but you can actually hike along a narrow rocky trail. Since we went with my dad and another couple (who'd never been) we opted for the boat.


Owen's first boat ride!

Wouldn't you know it, there was a cruise ship! Talk about up close and personal!


Las Gatas is known for it's excellent snorkeling, courtesy of the rocky break that extends across the mouth of the inlet. (At least I think it's called an inlet...) The beach can feel a little crowded if all those tables are full, but it takes a LOT of people to fill those up.


We live just beyond the cruise ship and it was fun to see it from the opposite side of the bay. We kept waiting for it to move a little bit more so we could point out our place to our friends, but the cruise ship was very uncooperative.

14 comments:

Travis Erwin said...

Your day was way better than mine.

Allen said...

That is such a beautiful place. And you take nice pictures.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Travis, if it makes you feel better, I got a sunburn.

Thanks Allen. That beach is triple the price of others (for food, etc) so we don't go often, but it is beautiful.

Allen said...

When we are both NYT Best Selling authors, we will have to meet there for lunch.

Should we take my jet or yours?

We should take yours. That used thing I'm going to pick up at the Oprah auction will be so yesterday. I'll buy lunch.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to go on a cruise again. So much fun! If it wasn't for the violence in that area, I'd call it paradise. Enjoy your 11 days!

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Allen, that sounds like a plan. But my book really better hit the NYT list...

Jen, I'd love to go on another cruise too. I loved it.

WendyCinNYC said...

I'm wiping the brown slushy snow from my boots, (again!), while seething with jealousy.

Robin said...

Pretty! It makes me miss cruises. It really is a cool way to see a country. So easy.

Lyra said...

The pictures are gorgeous Melanie. It makes me want to visit. I never been on a cruise before.

This is beyondtourism. I figured out how to get it to post my real name. Yay!

Jen said...

Those are really great pictures! Makes me remember Puerto Rico fondly.

You're gonna have some great pics to remember your time there with!

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I didn't mean to make you all jealous. I just want to share. :)

Wendy, I'll be right there with you soon enough.

Robin, I agree! I'd love to take a Mediterranean cruise.

Hi Lyra! Zihua IS very beautiful.

Jen, so true...

Unknown said...

Took me a bit to write after my return. Got a kick out of reading about myself (and family) in your "Two If By Sea" post (Feb 29). Yes, that was me recognizing Owen and Ibis on the beach that day. We were sitting at a restaurant right there on the beach when I watched this man and his miniature Schnauzer run by.

In my life prior to kids I worked in the pet care industry, so I know my dogs. And as soon as I saw Owen, I got this feeling that he WAS Owen. That made me take a second look at the man running with him, and I thought he resembled a photo from one of your past entries. You know the rest of the story. I almost didn't approach Ibis, but my husband insisted. Anyway, we were in as much shock as you and walked away from our encounter, shaking our heads and exclaiming, "Wow! Can you believe what just happened? What are the odds that we would run into the person who I've been reading about?!" And of course, since we had ONE email exchange, I felt some kind of small connection to you, so that made it even weirder.

Got a kick out of reading your take on the whole encounter. Now I'm passing it along to my friends here who I had mentioned my original email inquiry re: Zihua and violence to. The ones who, before I left, I had told, "I found this blog from an American living in Zihua......."

Just so you know, my research into Zihua, tourism and violence led me to your blog, but once I found it I was hooked. You are now bookmarked for periodic check-ins, and I will continue to follow your posts to see how your story unfolds upon your return to the states. Best of luck (and sorry to take up so much space with my comments). ;-)

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I'm so glad you posted! Yes, the whole thing was just crazy. Last night at dinner I told Ibis that you'd written here, so we were talking about the whole randomness of it again.

Thank you so much for reading, and again, it was lovely to meet you and your family. :)

Nadine said...

So glad you went to the beach and so cool that Owen got his first boat ride!