Costa RIca - More Pickleball, Great Dinner, Goodbyes

Our last few afternoons playing pickleball on our Pickleball Costa Rica tour were spent indoors at a rec center. Thankfully it was inside because there was usually rain--sometimes heavy.

Several times the local pickleball players joined us. Most of them were ex-pats living in Costa Rica. Someone brought a container of fruit punch and a canister of some type of soda that, under pressure, would foam the punch. Kind of like milk that gets steamed and frothed for a latte only this was cold. It was very sweet and we were told that it is a real treat for the kids at birthday parties.

Some of us broke play a little early and went back to the hotel to shower and change. Dinner was to be at a private home owned by an ex-pat couple who loved to entertain and the husband was a chef. Tony and Celeste had explained that the house was amazing--something out of House Beautiful. They were right on in their description.






The house sits on a mountainside and looks out into a valley. We arrived and were greeted by a trio of dogs patiently waiting for us to ascend the steps. Each step was decorated with different tiles. I almost hated to leave the garden area though as it was well tended and unusual.

Inside, we crossed a bridge just inside the door that was over an indoor swimming pool. We were in a huge area with bedrooms off to the side and a corner area where there was a green egg grill set up as if it were an outdoor grill area. It was then I realized that the roof overhead was a series of windows that retracted so the area we were standing in would be like an outdoor patio.


Moving further in, there was a sitting room to one side and a large kitchen in which our host chef was busy putting the finishing touches on our meal. Past the large banquet table we stepped out onto the balcony. The sunset was a bit iffy with rain clouds but still an impressive sight to view from their balcony.

The food was spectacular--Tuscan soup followed by chicken parmigiana, green beans, potatoes, and an apple pie dessert.


It was time to start saying our goodbyes. Several of us would return to the hotel and take a shuttle to San Jose for flights in the morning to avoid the early 3 AM departure for the early flights. Our shuttle was waiting for us when we returned to the hotel and we loaded up and made the 50 minute ride to San Jose.

Landing in Honduras

On our way home our flight took us to Honduras for a stop before continuing on to Houston and then Cleveland. We'd never been to Honduras before. I wondered if we could count that as a visit. Or not.