Icognito Cottage Xmas

Costa Rica was calling, Christmas was creeping up, and we were ready to bail to Playa Dominicalito for a two-week vacation extravaganza.

Our home sweet home was the Incognito Beach cottage, courtesy of Greg, the super cool owner who showed us the ropes. Before we even unpacked, he gave us the grand tour - because priorities.

The cottage was a one-bedroom wonderland with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and the real pièce de résistance - a ginormous pool and front porch with rocking chairs that screamed 'Costa Rican chill'.

The beach was a stone's throw away, and the surf's soothing serenade was the perfect accompaniment to our relaxation. We high-tailed it to the nearby grocery store, grabbed some fresh fish, and made a pit stop at the panderia for our new favorite treat - Orejas. Our Alaska-based neighbors hooked us up with some delicious tuna they'd caught earlier in the week - score.

Our days fell into a lazy rhythm: morning coffee on the porch, iguana, sloth, and bird-watching, followed by a pre-sunburn walk on the beach.

After lunch, Dale claimed the pool as his own, courtesy of a lazy chair pool float that fit him like a glove - he became the Pool Float King.

As sunset approached, we'd stroll back to the beach, catch the daily spectacular, and amble back to the cottage under the stars.

No trip to Dominicalito would be complete without a pilgrimage to Playa Hermosa and a requisite Copo, aka Costa Rican Snow Cone - because brain freeze is universal.

The beach was just as stunning as we'd remembered, and lunch was always a breeze with Rapipollo's finger-licking fried chicken and Pizza Time's tasty pies - good food is always easy to find when you're hungry.

Before we knew it, the weeks flew by, and it was time to head back to San Jose for our flight home. We landed in Houston after lunch, right on schedule, and our vacation mode officially shifted to 'back to reality'.