Saludos from Sosua. To be clear, I am now still here at my home in sunny, funny Bangkok. This report is another of my past trips to visit my brother Gary in the Dominican Republic.
For those not familiar with the DR and what and where it is – here is my cliff-note version. The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is its second largest after Cuba – shared by both the DR and Haiti. Hispaniola is located between Cuba and Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic is known for producing great rum & cigars. In my opinion, Dominican cigars are every bit as good as Cuban and not quite as pricey.
Report pics start from Sosua Beach, known as one the country’s best. My photo shooting advantage was from an elevated small outlook on the U shaped bay. A pic from on the beach has an arrow pointing to this photo vantage point. Moving inland the beach is lined with trees that provide much welcomed shade. Beach stalls with restaurants, bars and other businesses line the back of the beach.
Highlighted is “Big D’s Place” – well named as D is a big guy. Gary regularly stopped in here for their great BBQ and famous drunken chicken. The drunken chicken was unbelievable. Slow cooking the chicken with a container of beer and must stay covered. Tried this myself, not as good as Big D’s but I don’t have regular use of a Weber grill to perfect it. Also seen is a Haitian bar & restaurant. Definitely an enthusiastic staff.
For you beach lovers, Sosua Beach should be on your bucket list. One thing I don’t understand is how Sosua Beach is not choker-blocked, packed when nasty winter weather hits in the north when relatively short flights to the DR are available.
Driving through Sosua Gary told me that ‘this section’ is known as the Pattaya of DR for its hmm, let’s say dodgy bars. I then asked him what happened? He answered that was it. Hardly what I would say even qualified as a “Little Pattaya.” This was a really a small section of Sosua and not the rest of it which was much more a resort vibe.
Next shout-out is to Captain Bailee Restaurant. Great menu but I was only interested in one item – their pizza. As Gary told me, with so many Dominicans having lived and worked in NYC – this influenced their style pizza. Yep, I am biased. The NYC area including New Jersey and especially Northeast Pennsylvania make real pizza, great pizza, best in the world! The rest of the world calls bread with stuff on top – pizza . . .
Favorite watering hole – Spankys Bar – what I considered “Silver Dollar Bar” of Washington Square, Bangkok fame of Sosua. Nice rooms on their second floor, I had the room above the ‘bar & grill’ in the pic. Wake up and head down to the bar for a hot cup of tea and it was already crowded with guys knocking back cold brews. Same same as Silver, my kind of place.
Gary decided to head down to Sosua Beach. I opted to stay in the pleasant shade of Spankys Bar with iced-cold beers, banter and conversation. Featured next are Gary’s pics from that beach visit.
Hotel Voramar is another Sosua destination well worth a look. Got it all here, access to the beach, really nice rooms, pool, food, affordable plus a great bar.
Part of my ‘quest’ on these past visits was to find and notate active DR darts bars. Ah, wasn’t much of anything to report. However, this report’s final shout-out is to a Sosua Bar with active darts events – Check Point Bar.
Check out “Check Point Bar” on FB for announcements of their many bar activities including darts. I’ve only met these fine folks via FB but my brother Gary occasionally stops in there.
Check Point Bar
https://www.facebook.com/people/Checkpoint-Bar-and-Snack-Shop/100058825485144/
Thanks for taking time to have a look at this newest update report. Until my next update – Stay Well. – Johnny
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