The Tyler Place Family Resort

Located in Vermont on the shores of Lake Champlain

Great Summer Vacations: Part One

I am not quite sure where to start when it comes to the Tyler Place Family Resort. But, I can tell you this, after 16 consecutive years of family vacations with my husbands clan, the Tyler Place is the only resort that we repeated....five times!!!

Why?

In a Boston Parents Magazine review on the Tyler Place Family Resort, they state "It is how to take a vacation with a really young child and really enjoy it"

If you are a parent, especially of very young children, sometimes your family vacation is not really a vacation for you. But all that is about to change...at the Tyler Place Family Resort, you can have your cake and eat it too. There is no need to feel guilty. Rest assured your children will be having the time of their life as you enjoy a little alone time or quality time with your spouse.

With every feasible activity available to adults such as sailing, tennis, mountain biking and Yoga(to mention a few), there are endless possibilities for creating the ultimate morning adventure. But don't neglect the opportunity to just sit and relax with a good book as well. You choose...will it be the pool side today or the Adirondack chair overlooking Lake Champlain? My favorite was a quick swim out to the trampoline raft to soak up the heat on the warm top. What about the kids you ask? Your kids, they will be off on their own adventure in the award winning children's program that has set the Tyler Place Family Resort apart from other inclusive family resorts. I am sorry to inform you, but by the end of the week your kids will gladly trade you in for one of their camp counselors, no regrets, no looking back!

And as much as the Tyler Place has perfected the art of entertaining and caring for small children, they have also managed not to neglect addressing the number one kill joy to a great family vacation....the teenager. On all five of our stays at the Tyler Place, one of the nine offspring in the Reifsteck clan was in that teenage sulk stage. And although the nieces whined a bit about the overnight camping on an island, secretly they pined for the handsome counselor that crooned folksongs while strumming the guitar, as they all sat around the campfire.

Probably the biggest factor in our repeat trips to The Tyler Place Family Resort, was their approach to dining. With nine children ranging in age from 3 months to 16 years of age the adults in our group never seemed to have an opportunity to actually sit down and enjoy a meal together. You know the drill... in between cleaning up spilled milk, trying to coax a ten year old to eat more than just the cookies and preventing the boys from throwing food at each other, adults don't have a chance. With two camp sessions a day( one in the morning until after lunch, the other for several hours in the evening) not only do the parents get to enjoy a meal talking with one another, they can even get in a romantic moonlight walk down to the shoreline. The food at the Tyler Place is outstanding. The only downside...withdrawal when you arrive home and realize that you do not have five different dessert choices.

If you are looking for a great, relaxing vacation this summer, The Tyler Place Family Resort should be at the top of your list. With many of the children in our group on the verge of adulthood, we are looking forward to a new generation of Tyler Kids!

Look for Part Two in the series on the Outer Banks by subscribing below.

Summer is almost here...start planning!
Medelise

Go Surf Costa Rica

Surf Outfitters
Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Okay....for all those surf wannabes and surf guru's , we would like to introduce you to an outfitting group out of Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Go Surfing Costa Rica was established by two individuals, one Costa Rican and One American, who have worked to combine their experience and knowledge in creating the perfect surf vacation for you , your family or your friends. In their own words, " We offer organized professional management, with all the comforts of home, in a laid back environment, which never lets you forget…you’re on vacation! Both Eduardo and Erika have extensive experience with surf instruction, travel and adventure, but equally as important, they are two people that you will truly enjoy meeting. We are quite confident that their hospitality, knowledge and enthusiasm will result in an outstanding surf vacation for you, your family or your friends.
My family met both Eduardo and Erika last March when were were surfing in Costa Rica. Eduardo was in charge of the surf instruction and tour program at another well know surf camp that we were staying at. Fortunately for us, we bumped into both of them on our last night in Tamarindo this past December. He gave us a quick update on Go Surf Costa Rica and I am ready to sign up. If all goes well, I hope to book a trip with Go Surf Costa Rica and check out one of their surf packages in February or March of this year. With a little persuading, I might even rope my brother Bob, know in the surfing world as Tuna, to pack his board and join me. We will keep you posted.


Check them out!!!

Dawn Patrol at Playa Grande - Thursday

5:30 am on the last full day in Costa Rica came very early this morning even though everyone was moaning into the rack at 9:00 PM the night before. Surprisingly, Jonathan and Meddie were up for the morning trip. At 6:00 am we had a short bus ride and then a 20 minute boat ride to Playa Grande. The waves were inconsistent but they had plenty of height. We were all catching some decent waves but unfortunately having some pretty terrific wipe outs. Med had a spectacular "pearl" - burying the nose of her board into the bottom of a 6 foot wave and then having the wave collapse on top of her. Dan (still struggling with some of the basics like positioning) popped up perfectly on a good size wave only to find myself dead-center at the top of too big of a wave. The board went down the face faster that I did, leaving me to get buried. Our Boat Captain (Chilio) was also surfing with us and had some great laughs at our expense. Its all good....

Back at home base we wolfed down a breakfast (or two) and then went about various mid morning activities. Steven, Nolan and I went for a run, Jonathan and Meddie for a walk, Med went out to get a present for Jonathan's birthday. After a lunch at the local bakery we were all in bed and napping by 1:00 pm.

Surfing at Avenellas

Yesterday, Christmas Day, we spent a quiet morning at the camp. We were all still pretty wiped out from our day at Ollie's and Witch's Rock. In the afternoon we went to Avenellas to surf. It was the best day of surfing we have had so far. Avenellas is a beach break. This particular day the waves were between chest high and head high, beautiful lefts and rights for as far as the eye could see. We got to the beach at around 1:45 with the intention of surfing for about two hours. We did not get back into the van until almost 5 pm. Everyone was catching waves. Jonathan and Stephen, our two nephews, really started putting it all together here. Dan had a great afternoon. I even got inside the barrel or at least that is what people say. Generally it felt like I was getting crushed by the wave, but I held on for awhile.
We were so toast by the time we got back that we ate dinner and crashed. I was asleep by 8pm. The rest of the gang held out a bit longer. We didn't take any pictures from this beach so there is nothing to really show you. But we promise to take some surf shots before the end of the week.
Pura Vida.

Costa Rica Pictures

Motley Crew on a hot afternoon


Italian Ice Cream store manager Flaminia who befriended us


Slick bike that Jonathon talked Adreas (surf instructor middle) to let him ride through Tamarindo to give Ricardo (surf instructor left) a ride home.


Witch's Rock Surf Camp's outdoor patio

Group Photo on the last day


Smallest cousin always gets the short stick


Preparing for the next wave...


Nephew Steven Catching the wave

Nephew Jonathon catching a Wave
Down Time at Witch's Rock


Cattle taking an afternoon stroll on the beach!


A Costa Rican home on the beach. This is located on the beach just before Playa Conchal.



Costa Rican wildlife - largest grasshopper that I have ever seen... A full 6 inches end-to-end.


Walking back from Playa Conchal.

Baby Howler in Playa Sugar.

Her Mama!



One of the thousands of hermit crabs that invaded our spot on the beach. Yes it was a little creepy. You could hear them walking there were so many.


Outrigger trip back in Portero at Playa Sugar.

Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas from Costa Rica. While we are waiting for high tide to surf ... we are looking over the beach having breakfast and preparing to open a few gifts hauled down from the states.

Witch's Rock

After climbing out of the water at Ollie's we wolfed down a packed sandwich (marginal) and some fresh fruit (excellent) and guzzled as much water as we could get out hands on. We hauled anchor and headed south along the dry coastal cliffs of Santa Rosa. Numerous sea turtles lazed in the water and gave us ample opportunity to get a quick shot.

We arrived at Witch's and took a quick tour of the Rock as the guide explained that the local people believed the rock to be haunted. Though exquisite to look at, you can imagine that it's ominous presence could conjure up dark thoughts and perilous stories.

We anchored off of the 4 mile beach and paddled into the surf. A nice swell was coming in with a mixture of left and right breaks. For most of the afternoon there was no one but our group of 6 in the waves. We all got some good rides but the arms started to fade as the surf started to build. This is not a preferred combination! As the waves reached an overhead state, I began to sense that my strong paddle had diminished to a weak imitation of a dying turtle. Arms loosely flapping in the water. It was time to exit with some sense of dignity. The gringos dragged themselves out of the water and onto the boat, barely able to get up the ladder. The Ticos of our party continued to catch wave after wave. David and Jose amazed us with their ability to catch a wave, ride it all the way in and get back out and in position for the next wave of the set only missing one wave. They would do this continuously!!

They finally paddled back to the boat as the waves started to get "mushy".

We then had a 60 minute boat ride back to the beach. A FULL DAY!

Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point

At 5:25 am the day before Christmas I rolled out of my bed and reached for the Ibuprofin. We were leaving in20 minutes for the famed Witch's Rock. I wasn't sure that I could swim across the wading pool let alone manage through any sort of big sets. Meddie, Nolan, Med and I were not well educated on what to expect for the day. After a 1 hour car ride we got to Playa Cocoa and then packed the boards onto an open fiberglass fishing boat and launched. Little did we realize it would be 8 hours before our feet hit dry ground again.

The boat ride to Witch's and Ollie's point took about an hour. The seas were fairly flat except for the last twenty minutes which consisted of a pounding over the swells that rattled us to the bones. We ventured past Witch's Rock and on to Ollie's point as the tide tide was low and Ollie's is much better at low tide. Ollie's is a right point break that begins at a small outcropping of rocks on the far right of the beach. The swells were not huge but nicely formed. There were a couple of other boats hanging around in the water but no one was actually in the water yet. Our tour guide David, a young Tico, pulled on his wetsuit and plunged right into the surf. So with nothing else to do we followed. I would love to say that we riped out there but the truth of the matter is that with an incredible strong offshore breeze we all had some difficulty paddling into the waves. Meddie actually showed us all up including the seven other guys(ticos not included) that were in the water by this time. Eventually we all manged to catch some waves. We hauled out on the shore a couple of times to catch our breath and warm up our bods. There is a beautiful river that flows right out into the break which we explored a bit. We lasted a couple of hours and then, with shivering bones we paddled back to the boat for an early lunch and some needed water. It was only 10:30. We had hours to go still!!!

Witch's Rock and Ollies' point are two of the most famous breaks in Costa Rica. They were both featured in the Endless Summer 2 movie. Most people take a boat to the breaks as they are located off of a National Park (El parque nacional Santa Rosa) which only has road access with a four wheel vehicle. Our guide informed us that there are some hard cores that make the four hour walk to the breaks carrying their boards. The boat seemed a good way to go for us.

From Ollies we headed back south towards Witch's rock...

CPI Central Panamerican Idiomas

Just a quick post on CPI.
We came down to Costa Rica for two reason. One was to surf the other was to learn spanish. When we were in Costa Rica last March, we heard about this school from a number of people we met at the hostel in Saint Elena. CPI is located in the town of Playa Flamingo which is on the Guanacasta Pennisula. It provides individuals with intensive spanish language classes. You can study for as short as a week or for months if you want. We, of course, only had time to do one week.

I would say that in general, it was a really great experience for us all. The kids were in a class together and Dan and I were in a class with two other people. We definately learned a lot. We would love to come back and do another week or two next summer.
The students in the program range in ages from 7 to 65. Many of the students were American but there were also students from as far away as Russia, Switzerland and England.

If you have an interest in learning spanish, in a spanish speaking country we would highly recommend this program. The program has three different locations in Costa Rica; Playa Flamingo, Heredia and MonteVerde. They even have some resident bats!!!

In general, you attend classes in the morning and then can participate in various excursions in the afternoon. You have the option of staying in a modest villa, a B&B or a homestay with a Costa Rican Family. We opted for the villa which was nice and very economical.





We finished with our program on Friday and today we left Playa Flamingo and traveled to Tamarindo to start our week of surfing. we will miss Playa Flamingo and our new friends. We would like to wish Tomar, Evan, Beth, Lean and Michael a safe journey and a happy New Year. You all made our expereince so much more memorable. We hope that our paths cross again. Evan, good luck with the whole college thing and let us know if you caught some waves!!!

Pura Vida!

Playa Conchal

Well we made it through another morning of Spanish lessons. We are all progressing. I can manage some Spanish slightly above basic. So at least when we are in a restaurant or need something (like our laundry done) we can more or less get the point across intelligently. The six years of Spanish that I took in high school and college is slowing creeping back from the abyss.

Today after class the school sponsored a trip to the lovely Playa Conchal. It is a beautiful white sand beach in a large cove. We were able to do some snorkeling and enjoyed the little bit of sun that was out. The water here is a great temperature and such a beautiful color.
The highlight of the outing, however, was the troop of howler monkeys that lounged all afternoon in the trees right behind us. There were about ten all together including very tiny baby that kept hanging upside down by its tail. A sad fact about the monkeys in Costa Rica is that 80% of all deaths are cased by electrical shock. The country is developing very fast. There are now electrical wires and roads that cut through the monkeys routes to the beach. Monkeys are regularly getting electrocuted as they try to swing on electrical wires to get across roads.

At the moment, we are doing our homework together at the kitchen table. When we are done we will walk down to the Heledaria for some ice cream. We are exhausted but in a good way. The last two days have been so great here and we are really getting into the groove of being in an exotic country. We are happy to know that we still have a week of surfing ahead of us.

Nos Vemos
Pura Vida

La Playa Penca

This is a beautiful sand beach north of Playa Flamingo that is off the beaten track and barely used. There is excellent body-surfing in this protected cove that looks out onto picturesque rock formations and islands. From here we explored 3 more beaches to the North, by walking along the rocky points at low tide. The kids loved exploring the tidal pools that swarmed with crabs, sea anemones, brittle stars, darter fish and sea slugs.

Monkey Park

El Parque De Monos

Tuesday
December 19, 2007

It is our fifth day in Costa Rica and our third day of Spanish classes at CPI. For part of our morning session we went to an animal rehabilitation park about twenty minutes from the school. It is called El Parque de Monos, which translates to The Monkey Park.
Although the park was not much to look at, it was a very interesting trip. The guide, who was from Venezuela, was very knowledgeable and passionate about his work. He is a volunteer as is everyone who works at the park and their main objective is to rescue animals and release them back to the wild.
Most of the animals that we saw are permanent residents because they would not be able to survive back in the wild for one reason or another. But many of the animals do get released back to the wild.

While we were there we saw fur types of monkeys, several exotic birds, crocodiles, wild pigs and the Costa Rican version of a raccoon. This last critter has been released several times on the large reserve and keeps coming back. They let him just roam around for a bit on the grounds but he kept coming up to the tourists and growling at them. Apparently he is quite friendly but can be scary if he shows up behind you growling. So they have him back in the cage.