Our Honeymoon

Our honeymoon destination was a resort in the Dominican Republic called Secrets Cap Cana and was basically what I would imagine Heaven looking like! The resort had just opened up the week before we went, which is why we didn’t go right after our wedding back in June. They were not allowed to open 100%, so not everything was able to be used (mostly restaurants) while we were there, but it did not take away from our experience one bit. I can’t wait to show you snapshots of our week in paradise!

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We have arrived!

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First of all, I have to talk about how easy it was to travel. The last time Brett and I left the country was basically a horrible experience (travel-wise) because we went on Spring Break and there were so. many. people. at customs and so we had to wait in lines for hours both on the way to and from Mexico. This trip, we did not have to wait at customs at all! We were both extremely relieved and we wish it could always be that way! By the way, yes we did wear masks in all the airports we were in and on the flights.

It was a fairly short ride to the resort from the airport and we were greeted with champagne (which is the best way to be greeted, I think). At check-in, we upgraded to a room with a swim-out pool which was amazing! The first thing we did while we waited for our room was eat at a restaurant called Seaside Grill and then we checked out the pools and beaches.

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Day One

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You can see that there are very few people on the beach! We spent most of our time at the pool, but we made sure to enjoy the beach as well, especially because it is not very often that you have the whole place nearly to yourselves. We thought we would use our swim-out pool more than we did. If the resort had been busier with people we probably would have used it more often, and it was also chilly (I am a baby when it comes to cold water).

A few hours later, we couldn’t wait to try one of the restaurants!

The restaurants we had to choose from were:

Bordeaux – French

El Patio – Mexican

Himitsu – Pan-Asian

Market Cafe – International Buffet

Oceana – Seafood

Portofino – Italian

Rosewater

Seaside Grill

Coco Cafe – Coffee Shop

On our first night, we ate at Portofino (Italian). We are glad we got to eat here at least once because the other nights we wanted to come back, they were not open! Since the resort could not be 100% open, the restaurants were only open every other night or so. This was probably my favorite one because PASTA.

Nearly every night after eating, we sat up on a balcony in the lobby in rocking chairs and just enjoyed the night. We are also dead-set now on buying rocking chairs for our front and back patios at home because we enjoyed it so much!

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Day Two

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After coffee and breakfast, we decided to spend our first morning at the beach before spending a little more time at the pool. Aren’t the pools beautiful?? The pictures above are at the main pool that anyone could swim at. We were in the Preferred Club which allowed us access to a private pool, but we never went to that one because not many people were there and we wanted to be at a livelier pool. But anyway, the beach…

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Since the resort had been closed for months during the pandemic, fish started to feel more comfortable coming close to the shore and we were lucky enough to see a pufferfish while walking along the shore!

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I am very proud of Brett’s photography skills as well as modeling skills. Lol

We tried out different spots at the pool almost every day because we wanted to take it all in and enjoy as much of the resort as we could! We knew the days would fly by.

On this night, we planned to sit up in those rocking chairs again and have a few drinks before heading to Himitsu for some sushi.

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Anytime we were up in the lobby, Brett’s drink of choice was either beer or champagne, and mine was Savignon or champagne. In fact, champagne is what I drank the most of on this trip, anywhere!

We also caught some views at the entrance of the resort. So pretty and romantic!

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Day Three

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRETT! How cool is it that Brett got to celebrate his 30th birthday in Punta Cana!?

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We had planned on having breakfast delivered to our room, but it didn’t work out, so we went to Rosewater and planned to have the breakfast delivered the next morning. At breakfast we decided today would be more of a pool day than a beach day, and we headed there as soon as we could!

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Our pool spot this day was by the swim-up bar! There were so few people and we always got out there early enough that we basically had the whole place to choose from. We could also see the ocean from this spot AND we had quick drink service so you might say this was the best spot to be. Lol

For supper, we had planned on going to the French restaurant, but it was closed (and so was the Italian restaurant where we took this picture). So, we went to Oceana and had seafood! Our Butler had planned on surprising Brett with something special on his birthday that night, but it didn’t happen so I was kind of bummed that two things that were planned for his birthday hadn’t happened… because he deserves the world! But it was still another amazing night and we headed down to the beach for an evening walk after supper.

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I hope it was your best birthday yet, Brett. I love you!

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Day Four

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We went on a walk along the beach before our breakfast was delivered back in the room! Talk about a great start to the morning.

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We claimed our chairs at the pool before walking down to the beach again and we chose ones that jutted out into the pool like a peninsula – and of course had an ocean view, too! My first drink choice was a pina colada (because you can’t go wrong there) followed by strawberry champagne after strawberry champagne.

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We spent hours and hours at the pool this day! We met another couple on their honeymoon too and we chatted with them for a while about how crazy it was to be at such a beautiful resort and have it seemingly all to ourselves. Grateful!

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We were surprised with a pretty sweet setup when we came back to our room! I loved all the little things the resort did for us/offered us. They had put a “honeymoon” banner across our door, we had a nameplate by the door that said “Houchen Suite,” they gave us 2 bottles of complementary champagne, and so many more thoughtful touches. I am a sucker for those!

This was about the only time we really used our pool. We both agreed that we would have swam in it at night if it had just been warmer!

Finally Bordeaux, the French restaurant, was open. This was my favorite restaurant based on appearance (I mean, the outside of it was PINK)!

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There was a guy there with a whole cart of wine bottles for sale so we HAD to get one… we didn’t finish it this night, so we brought it out to eat with us the next night to enjoy! When I ordered wine from anywhere else in the resort it was usually Savignon and I liked it, so we went with a wine that was Savignon or at least similar.

Also on this night, our butler, Eduar, surprised Brett with a little birthday cake! We couldn’t finish it all, so they brought it to our room for us to enjoy at a later time. Another one of those thoughtful touches!

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Day Five

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This was our last full day… sad! We came back to the same spot as the day before because of the view. We liked to swim over to the far wall of the infinity pool and look at the ocean! We enjoyed being at the pool the most but we also wanted to soak up the beach as much as we could. The resort had also put hammocks up on the beach that weren’t there when we first arrived, so we had to try those out, of course!

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After we ate lunch, we went back to the room to grab something and a storm had rolled in – it was pouring! We were glad we came back at that time. The storm rolled through quickly and we went back out to the beach for a couple hours. We were glad the sun came back out because we wanted to get the most out of this day!

For supper, we ate at Himitsu again where we had way too much sushi and our wine from the night before. Then it was back to the rocking chairs to people watch and enjoy our last night!

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Day Six

Our bus came to pick us up at 11am, so we really soaked up our last few hours in the Dominican by being near the water! Our walk was a little longer than usual so we could walk out on this pier that actually belonged to a different resort but didn’t quite look up and running yet.

There was a little piece of home with us while we were gone – a John Deere tractor picking up seaweed off the beach! It was out there on the beach every day and reminded us of my dad when we saw it (he’s a farmer).

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Feeling our honeymoon come to an end was bittersweet but also exciting because this was just the beginning of a wonderful life with my husband, that will be full of many more adventures!

Thank you for making it this far, whether you read all the way through or just looked at the pictures. I hope you enjoyed it!

Paige