Birthday Memories

Today is my Mom's 74th birthday; we did a celebratory thingey over the weekend that, she told me this morning, turned out to be her favorite birthday get-together of them all. That got me thinking...which birthday, if any, do I recall as being particularly memorable?

Right off the bat, I have to say going to the Dominican Republic for my 40th with my best friend and brother was, in a word, FABULOUS. I am a beach person, loving the ocean, the warmth and the pure unadulterated sense of having ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do and ALL DAY to do it in! I can still vividly remember arriving at the Sosua Bay hotel - a lovely multi-tiered Spanish-hacienda-type complex that cascades down the hill to the alcoved beach below; the latter spy-able through the open-air columned lobby. I literally gave a scream at the incredible beauty of the view. Even though I've never been, it made me think of Greece. The days were filled with lounging, laughing and partaking of the many local delights including a Jamaican Rum-laden treat called a Bahama Mama or the goods from a plethora of fantastic food 'stations' in the main restaurant that would cook you anything from an omelet to steak and lobster any time of the day or night.
And the nights. OMG. Romantics would be in seventh heaven with the starlit skies, the glow of lamps and the soft strains of a sax playing The Girl From Ipanema drifting up from the main level. Everywhere you went, people looked wonderful with their bronzed skins, sparse summer attire and relaxed happy expressions.
We did wander away from the resort a couple of times and enjoyed our adventures "beyond paradise" as well! Trust me on this...I could really go on forever about the pluses of the place so let's just say, yeah, that birthday was a biggie.

A very funny one was five years earlier when my group of single girlfriends and I made my love of tropical getaways the theme for the night. We went to a Malaysian restaurant and then spent the night in the "Polynesian Room" at the Fantasyland Hotel - a local hotel that decorates its rooms in different themes. Equipped with a volcano, waterfall, boats and plenty of palm trees, we made took to our bathing suits and leis, drank homemade Mai Tais (someone brought a blender), and had an absolute blast. Our plan to go down to the hotel's World Waterpark and do some body surfing was 'turfed' in light of sipping our tropical, umbrella-ed drinks in the waterfall/hot tub.

So now it's your turn... what was your most memorable birthday and why?

TTYS,
Susan