After our Motley Crew party last evening, I wondered what shape the rest of the crew would be in come morning. Surprisingly, Jackie and I were up early and had our coffee and juice as the cochina was opening. We treated ourselves to some huevos y jam (eggs and bacon) since we would be driving across to San Jose in a few hours. Candice and Joel were next up and did not look any worse for the wear, but they are kids. They, too, are heading out later in the morning to go inland to a resort that has hot springs and were staying there for a few more days. Tom and Paul were the last to arrive and Paul was fairly quiet, Tom buried in his computer. They were leaving in the afternoon to catch a flight to Miami where they were staying the weekend before heading back to Philadelphia.
We all collected our experiences and email addresses for future conversations before gathering for a photo-op.
Motley Crew - The Day After
After talking with Harold, a travel option for us was to head past Nicoya and down the coast to catch a ferry that would take us to Punterenas, where we would catch the new Highway 27 into Santa Rosa. The ferry left at 12:30 and we would have to leave between 10:00 – 10:30 to catch it. As always, the good-byes and last-minute photos of everyone took a bit.
Motley Crew Plus Two
The last sad farewells given, we head on the road towards Nicoya at 10:30 and time would be tight. The next ferry was not until 5:00 PM, so we had to hightail it down the road. There were some concerns on Jackie’s part about a one hour ferry ride without her seasickness pills and since time was so tight, we decided to bypass the ferry and take the roads to San Jose.
While I was focused on watching out for the turn-off from Highway 1 to Highway 27, I completely missed the turn-off at Orosco, and up the mountains we went. In fairness, Jackie did not bust me too badly for missing the turn. But it was a nice day and we were making good time until we came upon an accident heading in the opposite direction, which created a minor rubbernecking back-up. We were a bit giddy when we saw the traffic backed up in the opposite direction and we continued on. But the fates were not that kind to us. About 5 Km down the road we saw nothing but red tail lights and backed up traffic. Bottom Line, we were backed up for just shy of 2 hours, policia and ambulancias running up the open lane. This could not be good. Inventive locals were walking among the stopped traffic selling sodas, chips, and even grilled food for the stranded motorists. Entrepreneurship, Costa Rica style.
Once the traffic started moving, albeit at a snail’s pace, we discovered that 2.5 Km down the highway, they were replacing a bridge and only one lane was allowed through at a time. Jackie, while slightly busting me, was cool as there was nothing we could do about it, and, after all, this is Costa Rica. We then motored down to the Holiday Inn at the airport and again were greeted by the most friendly desk clerks who treated us like most welcomed guests. They gave me refrigerator space for our perishable gifts, gave me awesome directions for dinner and department stores, and could not have been more accommodating.
We headed off to dinner in Allejuelia with the directions Hanna gave us to an Argentinian restaurant, Como en Casa. We arrived, and never having tasted Argentinian food, we scanned the menu and decided it was non-lethal and were seated in a most modern dining area, with crisp linens and a glass views of the street activity. Our waiter, Douglas, was entertaining and educational. He spoke limited English and we, limited Spanish, so we helped each other out. After drink orders of Chardonnay for Jackie and a perfect martini for me, we ordered separate pollo dinners for ourselves, Jackie with a tomato sauce and mine grilled with herbs. Douglas brought us fresh made bread with an olive oil spread with basil, garlic, peppers, garlic, cilantro, garlic, parsley, and did I mention, garlic? then came a perfectly sized salad with a sweet vinaigrette dressing, and then our meal…what looked like a whole fileted chicken perfectly prepared. The tastes were unbelievable. Douglas was at the ready should we need anything, but was not one of those obtrusive waiters that hovered over you. After ordering to-go boxes for extras, and a cafe Americano (black) for me, and a cafe Costa Rica (cappuccino) for Jackie, we left after having our greatest dinner of the trip, overall. Douglas was, beyond a doubt, the best waiter I have ever had at a restaurant, and the food is one more thing that will make this a regular stop for us in Costa Rica.
The drive back to the hotel, while congested, was pleasant with the windows down and the street activities providing us with the proper sounds for such an evening. This hotel has American satellite feed to their televisions, so we saw our first TV in a week, but it was short-lived since sleep was not too far along and, soon, the TV was watching us. Despite the road worries, we made it safely, were well-fed, and restful in a soft bed. Pura Vida.
