Just checking in.  I am going to change really quickly an then am heading to have a late dinner.  The cocktail party was GREAT!!!  The group that came was GREAT !!!  Folks from New Jersey and England made for an interestingly amazing interaction.  We normally end at 7 or so, but the East Coasters and Far East Coasters just kept on partying!  We are actually changing plans and are having dinner in Playa Dorada at Hemmingway's, http://www.hemingways.com.do/, which is a really cool restaurant with an old world fishing industry feel (old fishing lines, a bar with anchor line, photos of bearded fishermen, etc).  They always have great music, artists, and a wide range of entertainment and most importantly they have really great food.  Anyways, time for more good times for me, as a reminder, GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!!!

Ernest Hemmingway, The motivation behind HEMMINGWAY's BAR AND GRILL  

It's Friday again, which continues the tradition of our early evening cocktail to get the night rolling before heading to dinner.  I plan on having a few mojitos and a nice appetizer or two before moving on to The Ahora Beach House for some delicious smoked ribs.  Well, as always I am in a rush on Friday...gotta run!!!

Life is great down here.  The weather has been absolutely amazing today, I had a delicious burger from Social for lunch, and it is Karaoke Night at the Lighthouse Lounge which I will attend with a great group of international friends.  What more could I ask for?

We had 2 really great cocktail parties going on at the same time last night at The Bungalows.  It's always great to see the restaurant and bar loaded with people having a good time and enjoying the fare from social.  Having every table, lounge chair, and cabana occupied is a contrast from the usually casual setting of small groups scattered throughout the property.  The parties began to wind down around 9pm where Social transitioned back into its normal low key lounge feel.  I left around 10pm and went for a quick shower and change before heading out to a crazy night at the discotechs in neighboring beach area Playa Dorada.  Don't make me keep saying, just hurry up and GET DOWN HERE!!! 

What's up everybody?  Things are going great down here as always!  We have a great group that started checking in yesterday for a wedding that they have on Sunday.  This group is coming through our partner company LUXE, www.luxedestinationevents.com, who specialize in coordinating weddings, parties, and corporate events at beautiful locations like the Maxim Bungalows.  I had a chance to have a few drinks with the groom last night and it sounds like it is going to be an amazing weekend with all of their friends and family relaxing and partying at The Bungalows.  We have had quite a few weddings in the last few weeks as we are in the peek of wedding season.  I love weddings down here because you have a group of people who may not have seen each other in a while, put into an amazing Caribbean setting, and the good times are just unavoidable.  I think that this will be a weekend to remember, not just for the wedding couple, but for everyone who gets to be a part of this gorgeous destination wedding.        

Well, we are back to the typical beautiful weather that the Dominican Republic has to offer over 300 days a year, and I am going to enjoy it with an afternoon at the pool.  I'll try not to let myself get sunburn like I did last week, that was painful.   

The weather has been amazing down here, for me, it has almost been TOO good.  Needless to say, I was really happy to get a little bit of rain yesterday in the early evening.  We had our traditional Friday cocktail at the Social Pool Bar and were forced into the covered patio area due to the rain.  It actually made the event a little more intimate as everyone chatted, mingled, and lounged amongst the classy ambience created by Social.  After the cocktail party, a small group of us headed down the Love Wrecked Bar on the beach to watch the beautiful display of lightning from the storm that had just passed over us.  It was really amazing, I had never seen anything like that before.  When looking out at the ocean there is nothing to block you view, and the lightning for the storm was REALLY active, so it was one of the most impressive performances that I have ever seen mother nature put on.  We tried to take pictures but really only came out with one or two good ones, however, my friend the photographer was able to get a great shot which I have included below.    

Lightning over the Atlantic

      

I haven't put up a post in a few days as I have been EXTREMLEY busy eating, drinking, and soaking up sun.  I spent Sunday afternoon pool side, and at the request of my friend decided to get some sun on my incredibly white thighs.  All I have to say today is that sun on my thighs was a VERY BAD IDEA.  I have never been so burnt in such an uncomfortable area, I have to walk bowlegged so they don't get aggravated.  On a lighter note, I spent the yesterday evening watching the 1st round of the MLB Home Run Derby being held at Yankee Stadium in NY.  Josh Hamilton broke the 1st round record with 28 homeruns, which was HUGE!!!  The weather has been amazing and the groups coming through the Maxim Bungalows have been great, isn't it about time that you took a vacation?  

It's 11:00 pm here and I am sitting at the bar at Social checking my emails, myspace, facebook, IMing, and blogging all while drinking a Kettle One and Tonic....god I love this place. 

I know exercise is not normally the point of focus when on vacation, but I wanted to make note of the great options that you have here at The Bungalows.  I recently started taking tennis lessons from the onsite tennis pro here at Maxim.  After watching Roger Federer get beat out by the Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal I have had a budding interest in the sport and I have been rotating from the clay courses to the cement course.  I have been sorer from playing tennis than I am from doing my ordinary routine in the gym facilities at The Spa here on property (which by the way is WORLD CLASS).  You also have access to a basketball and street hockey court, where our annual NHL alumni tournament is held.  We have kayaks which can be taken out on the open water in the Cofresi Beach area for a mix of workout and scenery.  If you are in for a more social physical experience you can always play a mix of games on the beach from volleyball to horse shoes.  With all that being said, I feel exhausted and am going to go eat a burger and fries...I mean salad with a vinaigrette dressing.  

  

We recently had the pleasure of accommodating the amazing and EXTREMELY genuine actor Gaincarlo Esposito at the Maxim Bungalows.  He has performed in about all facets of the entertainment world, but is most notably known for his Broadway performance in Tennessee William's Pulitzer Prize winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as well as his role as Detective Jack Baer in the Oscar winning film The Usual Suspects.  Giancarlo was such a great guest that our staff and plenty of guests have commented on how much they really enjoyed spending time with him.  One thing is for sure, when you are down here at the Bungalows you are able to leave the busy world behind and just enjoy the great company and the beautiful surroundings.      

Today is the day where us Americans celebrate our independence, usually in the form of barbeques, fireworks, and mass alcohol consumption (so for those of you in the States be safe on the roads today).  In the DR we seem to celebrate every holiday as there is such an international crowd down here.  With that being said, we also celebrated Canada Day on Monday, which is often referred to as Canada's Birth Day, an equally boisterous occasion.  I am going to be heading to Cabarete to watch some fireworks and a great U2 cover band.  I hope to make it out before the end of the day so I can watch the sunset and check out the kite boarders busting out their ariel maneuvers while I drink a cold beer.  On that note, I hope you havge a great holiday and you know you'll be hearing more from me.    

 Kite Beach, Cabarete, DR   

Sunset Shot, Kite Beach, Cabarete, DR

WHAT'S UP!!!  It's another great day in the Caribbean and I am making the best of it.  I am going to have a music filled weekend which will start this evening with a rock concert in the city at the Brugal Rum factory, you can imagine how that will pan out.  Then tomorrow night I will be heading to Cabarete, a kite surfing and party Mecca, for a crazy 4th of July party where the leading U2 cover band will be performing.  It should be a REALLY cool event, as everything that happens in Cabarete tends to be amazing.  Well, gotta run, I'll fill you in over the weekend.     

It is an absolutely gorgeous day down here today.  I Spent the late morning down at the beach playing darts of all things, which is a great game when you incorporate drinking cervesa (beer, for the layman) into the equation.  I'm going to go kayaking in the late afternoon, take a nap, and then head out to the Lighthouse Lounge at Ocean world for Karaoke Night.  As always, get your butt down here and enjoy everything the Bungalows have to offer.

You know what; sometimes you just need to take a rest day.  For me, it seems I end up taking Friday as my rest day, which goes against all preconcieved notions of Friday as the official party day.  Sometimes you just expend so much energy in the week between working and hanging out that by the time Friday evening comes around you have no juice left.  I am going to take this evening as a chance to finally go check out the new Indiana Jones movie at the Playa Dorada movie complex, however, when it's over I am only steps away from one of my favorite clubs...hmmm...we'll see what happens.