We are off to Costa Rica! The girls and I each had a carry on with our clothes and I checked a bag with all our toiletries, snacks, etc. We used the same company to take us to the airport that we have used in the past (Windy City Limos). With all the talk about security lines, I was a little nervous about what we were going to see at the airport. We were picked up a little before 6:00 AM for our 8:00 AM flight.
We dropped off our checked bags, went through security and got to our gate in about 20 minutes. So that was a relief! We had plenty of time to grab bagels and drinks before boarding.
We had a row for the girls and Matt sat behind us in the window seat. We flew American Airlines this time because of flight times/prices. The flight was full! Yes, we are in almost the very back of the plane. The flight took about 5 hours.
We landed with a huge THUD on the runway! And everyone clapped that we made it safely! :) We had landed about 30 minutes early, but we had no gate to go to, so we ended up waiting on the tarmac for 45 minutes before we could deplane. Since we were in the back of the plane, we figured it would be a while to deplane, but we lucked out that they opened the back also so we could make a quick exit!
Then it was off to immigration... not a good sign when the line is out the door.
Once inside, we were in lines that snaked back and forth like rides at Disney! I took this picture right before I read the sign that you aren't supposed to take pictures. Ha! Morgan thought for sure we were going to be deported. She also was very nervous about going through immigration. She asked me multiple times to get the passports ready, even though we had plenty of time. Hopefully, the more she travels, the less anxious she will be!
We made it through immigration in about 45 minutes. Our checked bags were already waiting for us. I had arranged a transfer from the airport through our hotel. The process for finding and getting in the shuttle was pure chaos! We found a guy that had my name on a list and he eventually got us into a van and we were off! The traffic getting out of the airport was terrible (common theme about car travel in Costa Rica). It's about 40 miles from the airport to our hotel and it took us 1 hour 40 minutes to get there.
We checked into the Tamarindo Diria and dropped our bags off in our room. We had room 471, which was called a garden room. It was actually away from the main hotel, off by itself with just one other room connected to it. It had 2 queen beds and a small patio. There was a lot of space in the room for suitcases and the sink area in the bathroom had a ton of large shelves to store our stuff. The shower was really large and had a rain showerhead. We changed and walked to the beach to check it out for a little bit. It was extremely HOT in Tamarindo - like 95+ degrees and sunny!
Then, we swam at the large pool near our hotel room. Everyone grabbed a cool drink from the swim-up bar.
We came back to the room to clean up for dinner. By the time we headed out for dinner, we had missed the sunset. It sets earlier than I expected in Tamarindo! We did catch some of the final light in the sky. Pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it was in person!
We had dinner reservations at Pangas Beach Club. We walked along the beach part of the way to the restaurant and then along the roadside the rest of the way. It was a little farther than I realized - oops! And Costa Rica is not known for having sidewalks! We ate on the beach outside. It was hot (my body was not used to such hot weather - ha!) Morgan got a grilled lobster tail - she loved it!
Matt got the surf and turf house specialty. They bring you the steak seared on the outside and raw on the inside along with a sizzling volcanic rock heated to 500 degrees. Then you can cook the steak to your liking on the volcanic rock. Kind of an interesting concept. Avery got buttered noodles and I got a steak skewer that came with a salad. All the food was delicious!
After dinner, we were all so exhausted. There is a one hour time difference right now between Chicago and Costa Rica (they don't change time for daylight savings). We were all crashed out by 10PM (11PM our time).
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