The Plan

Blyth had one wish for her 28th birthday: To travel with her boyfriend on his very first international trip.  Her hope was that the convenience of an all-inclusive resort would curb any concern Billy may have about traveling abroad.  What she didn’t know is that she’d get far more than she bargained for…

For quite a while, Billy knew that Blyth was “the one” but wasn’t exactly sure how (or more importantly when) to ask. It IS a lot more pressure than you think, after all!  He knew that he wanted it to be somewhere special that would be memorable for her.  When Blyth expressed interest in going abroad for her birthday…he knew that there wouldn’t be a better time or place to take that leap.

The Purchase

Now that Billy knew when he would propose, he soon realized that he only had a little over a month to make the most important decision to impact any bride to be… THE RING! -Just Kidding!

Billy’s main concern was figuring out when he could get together with his mother to shop for a ring without drawing suspicion from Blyth.  He soon learned Blyth’s father would be out of town the weekend of May 20th to visit friends.  Blyth had offered to return home to visit family and suggested that Billy could remain in Atlanta if he wished.  It was just the break that Billy was looking for.  Billy quickly called his mother, told her the news…and asked her to block May 20th on her calendar. -She gladly accepted

May 20th came quickly and Billy took a half day from work to meet his mother at the jeweler.  It was one of those moments where everything just came together perfectly.  Billy was able to choose a stone and match a setting in a little under two hours.  Having signed all the paperwork, he was well on his way.

Permission

Meanwhile, Blyth was working hard on planning her birthday trip with Billy.  They had settled on a travel package at the Iberostar Grand Hotel in Punta Cana, DR, booked a flight for her Birthday, and made sure that both she and Billy had cleared their vacation calendars.

Billy was working frantically to take care of last minute paperwork and appraisals to get the ring insured before their trip.  With 48 hours to spare, Billy had confirmation that the ring was insured…gathered his passport…and gathered everything needed to travel. – More on that later

As they neared their departure, Billy had hoped to figure out a way to travel to Charleston to ask Blyth’s parents their permission in person.  Because he had waited to see if his calendar would clear to allow the extra travel, he only left himself 1 day to get permission before they left the country.

Ironically, Billy played phone tag with the Lauzon household for much of that day as he just barely missed each return call they left.  Billy knew he had a date with Blyth that evening and that it would be difficult to step away for a phone call for the rest of the evening.  After already missing a call during dinner at Westside Pizza, Billy excused himself for what he called a “work call”.  Billy stepped outside of the restaurant and heard Mr. Lauzon’s voice on the line.  Billy quietly stumbled over his words as he tried to ask permission for his daughter’s hand in marriage.  Before he could even finish his sentence, Mr. Lauzon reassured him with a “1000 percent yes” and added that the whole family was actually in the room with him.  After talking for a few more minutes, Billy had the toughest task at hand… returning to the table and acting like he didn’t just receive one of the best calls of his life.

Day 1 – Blyth’s Birthday

The next morning, Billy and Blyth prepared for their travel. Billy tried his best to prepare for their flight like any ordinary flight.  He had never traveled internationally before, and certainly didn’t want to risk a customs search turning up a suspicious ring in his carry on.  Could you imagine being forced to propose in front of all of TSA?  How embarrassing! So, Billy made the conscious decision to leave the ring in his bag and check his bag.  After all, the ring WAS insured…

Other than that, the flight went as usual…there were some delays, crowded legroom, overflowing overhead compartments, limited cart service, and some paperwork required upon arrival.  Really everything went smooth with their travel arrangements.

They arrived at the Iberostar Grand Hotel around 4pm via conversion van through the rough, barely-paved, moped-congested highways of the Dominican Republic.  At first impression, the hotel was Grand alright.  Marble walk-ways adorned a palace facade with lagoon-like waterways sprawling the distance between the building and the beach-front.  A faux pirate ship in the middle of the resort lagoon was the focal point of this paradise landscape.  Billy’s immediate thought is that he could propose as soon as they get settled in as the sun sets from their balcony.

Blyth and Billy quickly settled into their luxurious room before making dinner reservations for the weekend.  They were told that they were lucky to have called when they did as reservations were filling quickly.  Unfortunately for Blyth, the French restaurant that she wanted to try the most was completely booked for their entire trip –More on that later

Meanwhile, Billy quickly shuffled through his luggage to make sure the ring was still in his bag.  As soon as he found it, he made sure to run to the lock box…leave the ring box deep toward the back of the lock box, and place the loose ring in his pocket.  He now knew that he could ask as soon as the moment was right.

As Blyth and him stepped out to the balcony…he observed the view from the room.  Unfortunately, they were stuck facing that cheesy pirate ship.  To make matters worse, a Summer storm soon broke out as soon as they sat on the balcony.  Light conversation turned heavy, and suddenly the moment was lost.

Billy decided to wait through dinner to see if the moment would present itself later.  They went to dinner at a Hibachi restaurant and later went for a walk.  It was Billy’s hope that he could lead her somewhere by herself…but curiosity struck Blyth as they passed that pirate ship.  Blyth led Billy to the ship and walked down the hatch.  To their surprise, the bottom opened up into a large Discotheque.  Billy knew that this was not going to be the night, but gave in to Blyth’s invitation to the dance floor.

Day 2 – The Proposal

So Billy now realized that he had officially missed proposing on Blyth’s birthday by at least 1 day.  Day 2 started with the largest breakfast order ever. –Hey it’s all inclusive…why not?  They laid at the beach and pool through multiple rain showers, met with their travel agent to arrange an excursion, and ate a lunch buffet by the pool.  As dinner turned, Billy was still anxious to present the ring that has been burning a whole in his pocket for over a day –Thank goodness it’s insured.

Dinner reservations called for the Surf and Turf restaurant and they left their room early to make their 7pm reservation.  As they approached the entrance, they were informed that Surf and Turf was closed that day.  This was odd as they had printed their reservation conformation for that restaurant and confirmed the date and time were correct on the ticket. It now seemed like Billy would never get to pop the question.

They asked to speak with a concierge and discovered that the front desk must have been looking at the wrong week in the calendar when they booked all of their reservations.  They asked them if they would like to choose any other restaurant as compensation.  Blyth naturally selected the French Restaurant, and they were seated immediately.

As they entered the restaurant, each table was showered with rose pedals around a candle-lit centerpiece.  The lighting was dim, and the overall atmosphere was very romantic.  It was at this moment that Billy knew this was THE night.

After they finished their romantic dinner date, Billy told Blyth that he needed to “walk off” all of the buffet food they had eaten that day.  They walked the

resort grounds and Blyth had asked that she go back to the room to get her contacts.  Billy was concerned that she may not want to walk after that and pleaded that they check out the beach first.

They walked toward the beach in the pale moonlight as the ocean tide softly laid itself on the beach sands.  Billy knew that he finally had her alone but could not spit out a word.  Blyth began to wonder if something was wrong, and Billy knew that he needed to act now or never.  As Blyth felt Billy’s heart beat harder, he stumbled out of the gates with a “You know I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and…” as he went to one knee, Billy finished with “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Ms. Blyth Lauzon, will you marry me?”

The exact response remains a blur, but both Billy and Blyth agree today that a “yes” was somewhere in there.  The ecstatic couple returned to their room to call their immediate family to share the news…but not before they could stop under some light so that Blyth could actually see the ring (it was dark and she was still missing her contacts).

Day 3 – The Excursion

After a whirlwind Day 2, Billy and Blyth had scheduled an excursion to “the Marinarium” in Bavaro. Their shuttle would pick them up around 11:30 and drive them 45 minutes through several local villages until they reached a remote pier.  After a 20 minute informational session (and a much needed water camera purchase) their boat would depart around 2:00 pm and circle the coastline for another 45 minutes.  Although the weather was less than favorable, the clear water and entertaining boat crew managed to keep the patrons entertained and excited for their arrival. 

The boat pulled up 100 yards from a netted plot of ocean and instructed the tourists to grab their scuba gear.  Billy and Blyth were fitted with flippers, a floating belt, mask, and snorkel and eagerly chose the intermediate level of the two routes offered.  Their guide would lead them through the ocean and even handed them a live conch and sea urchin along the way.  As they approached the netted area, they even passed a wild stingray!

After the guide led them over the barrier into the Marinarium, Billy and Blyth swam through a fully stocked area of ocean where they would snorkel with stinger-less stingrays and tooth-less sharks.  The stingray were completely domesticated and would swim right against them as they circled the outdoor aquarium.  They even stopped to have their picture taken with a large stingray that they would affectionately refer to as “Herbert”.

They would later venture back to the boat for a post-swim dance party.  The boat then led the tourists on a coastline tour before they would stop at an uninhabited island to relax in the shallow waters for another 30 minutes.  The sky would open up, but the cold rain did not stop the party.  The patrons would be herded one more time and returned to the pier where their shuttle buses would return them back to their respective resorts.

Billy and Blyth returned around 5:00 and had reservations at the Italian Restaurant that evening.  They would enjoy another gourmet dinner before retiring from an adventurous, but exhausting day.

Day 4 – A Day to Unwind

After an action-packed 3 days, Billy and Blyth were really looking forward to a day of relaxation.  They began early with a full breakfast buffet, followed by a 4 hour sunburn at the beach.  At about 2pm, they would grab lunch at the lunch buffet, followed by some more sun at the pool.

The day couldn’t be any better.  Blyth was accompanied by her new, shiny Kindle…Billy was catching up on some much needed rest…they wouldn’t return to their room for another 5 hours.

Upon arrival to their room, Blyth would begin to feel fatigued with a slight stomach ache.  Because she had so much sun, Billy and Blyth decided to head down to the dinner buffet to get some food in her to see if that would help.  They would scarf down a wide assortment of Lobster Tails, Steak, and other gourmet delicacies.  After dinner concluded, Billy and Blyth went for a walk before realizing that Blyth would need to return to the room to rest.  As soon as she entered the room, she laid down to watch TV…and fell asleep.

Day 4.5 – A Trip to the Hospital

At about 1:00 am, Blyth awoke to find Billy up watching television on the couch.  “I need to see a doctor”, she muttered.  Surprised, Billy questioned Blyth a little more and she continued to mutter that she needed medical attention.  Because of the situation Billy asked one more time, “Blyth, I know you are not feeling well, but we are in a foreign country.  If you need help, we will need to leave the comfort of the resort…are you OK with that?”  Blyth continued to mutter yes.

Billy rushed Blyth to the lobby where the desk clerk stated that he would call us a cart to take us to the nearest clinic.  We were to wait in the front lobby for 10 minutes until we were notified that a cart had arrived for us.  We would climb onto the cart which would continue to drop off various tourists at their destinations between hotels on our way to a clinic.

Upon reaching the clinic, it became evident that we were not in the comfort of home.  The clinic was dimly lit and was staffed by a doctor and a male nurse.  The doctor remained seated behind a desk while she ordered the nurse to perform various vitals at her will.  Blyth feeling ill would continue to excuse herself to the trash can several times as they were trying to diagnose her.

Meanwhile, Billy would continue to sign paper work with the doctor at the desk and try to break the language barrier to understand what was going on.  Finally after a full IV of water and electrolytes and several vitals, the doctor simply stated, “We will need an ambulance.  She will go to hospital.  You must pay first.”

An ambulance showed up around 2:15am and carted Blyth out of the clinic.  Billy stayed behind to pay a hefty clinic charge in cash before he was allowed to join Blyth in the ambulance.  The ambulance (which was a glorified mini-van) would depart and take them through the jungle and through a handful of villages for close to an hour.  Billy and Blyth had no Spanish education between the two of them, and the medics knew no English…it would be a quiet ride.

Around 3:15am, Billy and Blyth would arrive at a hospital.  The van remained parked as a moped with three young men pulled up at the ER window.  They dropped off a young teenager with a massive head-wound at the front door and sped off.  Their ambulance would wait to back up until the ER staff would clear the driveway.

Upon their arrival, the ambulance was quickly opened up and Blyth was rushed in the hospital.  Billy chased behind Blyth but felt a firm hand on his chest right before he entered the ER doors.  A large security guard placed his hand on Billy and said, “You cannot enter.  You must pay deposit.  Then she will be attended…and you can enter”.

Without stalling even a second, Billy rushed to the ER window and offered the attendant his credit card for a $2000 USD deposit.  He would rush into the ER where there was no one to tell him which curtain Blyth was behind.  Billy would pull back each curtain until he found Blyth and sat by her side.

Upon first impression, the ER was dated.  The lights were dim and had the hum of an elementary gymnasium.  The air was hot and humid and it was immediately apparent that the ER did not have air conditioning.  As Billy glanced at the ground, a trail of ants led from a crack in the wall to the middle of the floor.

They would wait for over an hour until anyone would speak to either of them.  Billy and Blyth figured they would be spending the night behind that curtain and began to nod off. Finally at 4:30am, a doctor who knew English entered.  He explained that they would need to take a blood test and hook Blyth up with some IVs.  He concluded that the results of the test would be available the next morning, but either way…they would need to stay the night.  Billy asked the doctor if they could still make their flight home at 2:15 the next day.  The doctor said that they would be able to tell them the next morning around 9am.

After taking some blood, Blyth was carted to a room on the third floor.  It was immediately obvious that the hotel was a converted motel with a closet, chest, bathroom, and balcony off of every room.  Fortunately for Billy, Blyth’s room

had a second bed.  The two were shown to their room and quickly dozed off.

Day 5 – A Change In Plans

Blyth would spend much of the night traveling between the bed and the bathroom.  Billy did not sleep well that night either, and woke up for good around 7:30am.  Upon further examination of the hospital roos, it was apparent that this was not sanitary to the American standards.  The balconies on each room were mostly used for patients that wanted to grab a quick smoke, and no patients could flush toilet paper down the toilet.  Needless to say, the hallway had a hint of cigarette smoke and festering human waste.

Billy and Blyth were supposed to catch a shuttle to the airport at 11:30am.  Their flight was supposed to leave at 2:15pm.  It was 9:45am and there was little interaction from the staff other than Spanish-speaking nurses that would intermittently check Blyth’s vitals and IVs all night.  Blyth began to grow restless as they were approaching their 11:30 check-out time and Billy would try to find someone that would give them a diagnosis.  Billy would circle the hospital for over a half an hour before he finally found a nurse that spoke broken English.  She informed Billy that it was Sunday and none of the specialists would be in until later that evening.

Billy returned to the room and told Blyth that they weren’t going to make their flight. In a moment of panic, they looked at each other and realized that they would need to part in foreign territory.  He kissed her on the head and told her he would be back with their luggage as soon as humanly possible.  He rushed down to the lobby, asked that same nurse to call for a taxi, and took a quiet cab ride 50 minutes back to the resort.  Upon his return at 12pm, he noticed that the TV was still on, the lights were still on, and he had missed several calls to the room that they were late on check-out.  We was quickly reminded how their plans had so unexpectedly changed.

Billy haste-fully threw all of their belongings into their three bags.  Billy also remembered that the hospital had no cafeteria, or any walkable restaurant for that matter.  He raided the mini fridge and threw all of its contents into his bag.  He called the front desk, checked out, and asked that they call him a taxi back to Hospiten Bavaro.

He would return 2 hours after he first left the hospital to find Blyth nervously awaiting.  He would drop off the luggage and notify their travel insurance that they would have a change in plans.

The specialist returned shortly after and told the panicked couple in broken English, “She has some bacterial infection.  We can’t tell exactly what.  It will take 2-7 days to clear…and we can’t release you until our doctors can sign a “fit to fly” to book your flight home.”  It was at this point they knew that they had to stay at the will of the staff.

Meanwhile, Billy had received paperwork from the Travel Insurance agency and filled it out with their life story (social security numbers, date of birth, family contacts, etc) and returned it to that same nurse to be faxed back to the states.  Baring approval to get out of that hospital, they would only need the doctors signature to leave quickly.

They would watch television for the rest of the night, Blyth sick as a dog…and Billy hungry as he continued to eat the potato chips and Co-co-light he stole from the mini-fridge.  They were beginning to prepare for an extended stay.

Day 6 – The Release

Billy and Blyth would wake up Monday morning and continue to work through the travel insurance company to prepare their documentation.  There was still no word from a specialist and no indication of when they would here any news.  Blyth was still making frequent trips to the bathroom and her symptoms were not improving.  Billy’s surplus of wetbar food was depleting as well.  Fortunately, a specialist entered at 6pm and told Blyth that she could leave as soon as her IV had run out.

They didn’t have confirmation that Blyth was better, but they were willing to take a chance to get out of the country and on to the next available flight.  After the IV ran out, they continued to work with the Travel Insurance agency to arrange the next possible flight out of the country.  An hour passed, and no nurses came to release them.  Billy looked around for an available nurse and soon learned that they were supposed to release themselves.

As they unhooked Blyth and stumbled down the hall, Blyth’s symptoms began to get worse without having the antibiotics and Electrolytes on IV.  They went to the front desk and worked with a nurse to get the paperwork ready for their release.  Unfortunately the nurse had trouble understanding what was needed for their release and had no recollection of the document with sensitive information that Billy had submitted the day before.

After an hour and a half of having the Travel Insurance company work directly with the hospital, they finally had the paper work they needed.  Billy would continue to request the cheapest (safe) resort to stay in…as well as a taxi to the resort…and the next possible flight to the US.  The travel agency would book them at the Paridisus Punta Cana and their flight would depart at 2:15pm on Tuesday.

Their taxi pulled up shortly after, and Billy assisted Blyth into the cab.  They would arrive at the Paridisus around 8pm.  Upon initial impression, the hotel was out-dated and under heavy renovation.  The interior of the hotel rooms were 80’s sheik with a faux aquarium above the bed.  Blyth would soon fall asleep, and Billy would stay up to enjoy some much needed room service after nearly a day and a half of no food.  Around 10pm, the heavy renovation combined with a freak thunderstorm resulted in a power loss that would not return until morning.  Without AC, poor Blyth would struggle through her sleep with 95 degree temperatures and 100% humidity in the room.

Day 7 – The Return

The next morning, Blyth and Billy would rise early to ensure that they would (in no circumstances) miss their flight.  Blyth cleaned up and packed while Billy ventured to the buffet for one last “free” meal.  They would get a taxi to the airport at 9am in hopes of checking in early and relaxing.  To their surprise, the airport didn’t even open until 11:30.  After waiting in the lobby for a few hours, they would check-in and be on their way.  Other than the fact that Blyth spent the majority of the flight in the bathroom, the return was smoother than expected.  As they descended in Atlanta, they shared a sigh of relief like they never had before. They left girlfriend/boyfriend…they returned engaged with an adventure that they could surely remember for years to come.  Home Sweet Home.

Epilogue

It would take Blyth a total of 2 weeks to feel fully recovered.  In retrospect, however, Billy and Blyth have no regrets about their trip.  The first 4 days were the happiest 4 days of their life, and the last 3 days are certainly a story to tell for years to come.  They are still working through insurance claims for both the hospital bills and travel extensions, but Billy agrees there is no cost too high to bring Blyth home safely...

2 weeks later, Billy realized his camera with half their pictures were stolen from his checked back.  Coincidentally, his homeowners insurance agent that assured him the ring was covered…reached out to tell him that he forgot to cover the ring and that it was uncovered during the trip.  Imagine the heartache he would have felt if it were the ring that was stolen from his checked bag and he was never able to ask…ESPECIALLY if it were uninsured

We hope you have enjoyed our story, and we hope that each of you play a part in it for years to come.  Thanks so much for your support!