Girls' Trip to Puerto Plata Recap

Remember that time I had a mimosa on the beach every morning for 5 days? Yea... that was nice! 

This trip was something that had been planned for a long time with my group of friends. It was something that started as an idea, maybe just a weekend get away. Then, it turned into a 'we need a REAL vacation' trip! Five of my friends (I've known them all since high school! Some even middle school!) and myself decided to take a trip to Puerto Plata! Four of the girls were there for a full week (Wed - Wed) and my friend, Kristen and I went for the last 5 days (Fri - Wed). I just wasn't sure about leaving my boys for a full week when we were booking the trip. But, five days and nights was plenty! 

I don't get to see these friends too often, so it was so nice to have the quality time with them! We are all working moms with busy schedules, so it's always difficult to coordinate schedules for some girl time. This trip helped me reconnect with them and now we have a slue of memories that have brought us all closer together! If you are a busy mom, I HIGHLY recommend booking a girls' trip at least once per year (doesn't have to be this extravagant!) just to reconnect with your girl friends. It's so important to keep friendships with other mamas! 

airplane outfit: tee | shorts | cardigan | hat | beach bag (carry on) | earrings | tory burch sandals

It took about 7 hours to get to Puerto Plata from Columbus, OH. We had a lay over in Miami for about an hour, so we weren't able to get a direct flight. But, once we got there, the long travel day was totally worth it!!

Where we stayed

We stayed in a private villa at the Lifestyle Holiday Vacation Resort in Puerto Plata, DR which is an all inclusive resort. We found out about it through one of my friend's parents (who own a time share here) and were able to get a little bit of a discount on the villa for the week. Our villa had 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, full kitchen, large stone patio with a beautiful view over looking our private pool!

The beaches at this resort were like nothing I've ever seen! We went to 'Serenity Beach' pretty much every morning. This beach is lined with white curtained cabanas with big pillows, beds with complimentary beach towels, hammocks and swings and little tiki bars! It was like Heaven on earth! 

Every morning we would get up and have breakfast, which was made for us by a chef in our villa!  He was the BEST and made such a wonderful spread of food every morning at 9am. He also made fresh fruit smoothies every morning which were always delicious! Our maid would set our table for us on our balcony so we could enjoy our breakfast with a view. It was amazing! Definitely one of my favorite parts of our trip was breakfast and coffee in the am and just chatting with the girls. 

Once breakfast was cleaned up, we got ready to go to the beach. We always wanted to make sure we got a good seat on the beach, but on this beach it was hard to have a 'bad' seat!

We also would start our morning at the beach off with a mimosa! The wait staff on the beach was so good and kept our drinks flowing! 

You guys... I actually finished a book on this vacation! It's been so long since I've felt like I had the time to read. Now that I've started again, I'm hoping to keep it up! I realized how much I enjoy reading! I brought 'The Couple Next Door' to read, but my friend had just finished 'Girl, Wash Your Face' by Rachel Hollis and insisted I read it. I'm so glad I did! I highly recommend it! Great beach/pool/summer read!

(tank available at my friend's online boutique Middle Sister Boutique)

My suit | sarong | sunglasses | hat from Target dollar spot!

Four out of the five nights we were there, we had dinner reservations at a different restaurant on the resort. One night we had a chef cook a big BBQ dinner for us in our villa! It seriously felt like I was on one of those 'Real Housewives' vacations lol! I didn't take too many pics at night, mostly because I wanted to be in the moment and focus on what was happening instead of being on my phone, but we usually at least got a group picture of all of us each night.

We also got to tour one of the high end villas on the property! This place was like something out of MTV cribs (is that still a show?)! I'm sure if the Real Housewives did come to Puerto Plata for a vacation, this is where they would stay!

Below was the view out of one of the balconies...

And it had an infinity pool!

By day 5 I was definitely ready to fly home to see my boys, but I am so glad I was able to take this trip!

You can go to this post to see everything that I packed for the trip!

PS - This post is not sponsored in anyway, just wanted to share our experience in case you are looking to book a vacation to the DR! 

Put-In-Bay Girls' Trip Weekend Getaway Guide

Here's the thing... Being a mom of young children is draining. Your kids suck up all your time and energy. They are worth your time and energy, yes. But, sometimes us mamas need a little getaway with our friends in order to really appreciate our lives at home. Enter the girls' (moms') weekend getaway!

It was just 4 of us on our weekend trip to Put-In-Bay, but I feel like it was the perfect size group. Not too big where you feel like you can't talk to everyone and not too small. Since we all live in Ohio, Put-In-Bay was a great location because it was less than a 2 hour drive for everyone to get up to Port Clinton and from there it was a 40 minute jet express ride to the island.

Our hotel (BayShore Resort) was the perfect location right by the lake and walking distance to the main action, but not right in the middle of the craziness. We got one hotel room with 2 queen beds just to save money and we were just fine bunking up together! There was a restaurant and a tiki bar next to the pool. The view from our balcony was amazing! It over looked the pool and the lake. Just the perfect scenery to wake up to in the morning.

(photo from hotel website)

We all met Friday evening at our hotel and left Sunday afternoon. So, it was somewhat of a quick trip, but it was just the right amount of time to experience all we wanted to do while we were there. 

My checklist of things I wanted to do included the following:

• Dinner and drinks by the lake (our hotel restaurant had patio seating over looking the lake!).
• Go to Mojito Bay, listen to live music and act like we were in our 20s again. And you MUST grab a swing seat at the bar if you can get one! (you must also order their famous mojito, duh!).
• Continue to bar hop and stop in to see the longest bar in the world! Order drinks you haven't had since you were 29 (like a red bull and vodka...yuck!).
• Dance like no one's watching... check!
• Order the wine chicken and corn on the cob on the way back to the hotel. Decide you can't wait and eat at the patio tables like no one's watching... however, most people are...
• Have a hang over the next day... worth it!
• Enjoy a 'hair of the dog' Bloody Mary from the tiki bar by the pool.
• Have a relaxing pool day. Also, try a cannonball to cure said hangover.
• After a little nap and quick shower, head out to find a golf cart (if there are any left!).
• Finally find and rent a golf cart for the remainder of the day after your hustler friend tracks down one that is being returned (thanks, Court!).
• Drive around aimlessly on the island looking at all the pretty lake houses.

• Stop by a chocolate cafe that is also home of the cutest little biergarten for some chocolates, soft pretzels and beer (am I in heaven?).

• Hop back on the golf cart and drive to the little beach area at the end of the island. (cue screensaver shot).
• Hop back on the golf cart and head over to the Put-In-Bay Winery for some wine, cheese and pizza on the front lawn patio over looking the boat filled docks. 

• After wine and dinner, why not get ice cream? This is vacation, right? (there's the cutest little ice cream shop next to the BayShore Resort. I can't find anything about it online! Must be a local hidden gem!)
• Then, head back to the hotel by 9pm and realize that we can hang like we used to... And be completely ok with that!
• Get in jammies and talk until 11pm like you're having a middle school sleep over. 
• Enjoy a little fairwell breakfast by the lake before packing up to catch the jet express. 

• Of course, stopping by the candy bar on your way to get some fudge and truffles to bring home to your husband for watching the kids all weekend. (Although, you'll most likely eat half of the fudge in the car...oops!)
• Wave goodbye to all the boats on the water as you cruise back to Port Clinton on the jet express. Feel bad for all the hung over bachelorette party girls... But, not really because you are older and much wiser. 
• Before leaving Port Clinton, you MUST have some fried walleye or perch baskets at Jolly Rogers. Three words : homemade tartar sauce (Opt for the onion rings instead of fries because you are classy and they are sooo good!)

• Jam out to all the late 90s and early 2000's hits all the way back to Columbus.

Yep, I think we checked off everything on my list! All in all this was such a great little trip with my friends to recharge my batteries and let me know I can still have a little fun! I was happy to see my babes on Sunday night, of course!

If you have been to Put-In-Bay before, what are your must see/do attractions?

I hope this post helped if you are looking to plan a little girls' getaway to the island in the near future!