A Wedding at Vera Cruz
Today, we spent a lazy day around the sun-drenched pool at our hotel. The canal was not very busy except for the odd large container ship creeping into the canal. The weather was perfect with just a few large white cumulus clouds in the sky.
During the balance of Robert’s stay here, we are staying at the Country Inn & Suites by Carlson at Amador. Janine is staying with a friend, who lives in a more rural location, right on a lake that is visible from our property up the mountain. This is a convenient four-storey concrete hotel right on the banks of the canal in a quiet neighbourhood called Amador. It is right at the base of the Amador Causeway, which was built to protect the Pacific entrance to the canal. You can walk to the tip of the causeway where you will find a marina and a number of very nice restaurant, if you are up to a five-kilometer stroll. I am convinced we have found the best hotel location in Panama City, here, right on the banks of the canal. You can sit at one of the many tables around the pool and watch the huge ships head into or out of the canal. The Bridge of the Americas is only about a kilometer further into the canal. This is the second time I have stayed here and I continue to enjoy the service and location. Rooms are US$ 62.00 per night due to it being the off-season and that I booked it several months in advance. It comes with a large buffet breakfast that includes four hot dishes and lots of very fresh and so tasty watermelon, papaya, and pineapple, all in season here.
We decided we would venture over the Bridge of Americas to a small town called Vera Cruz, for dinner so we left the hotel around 4:40 in the afternoon and headed inland, over the Bridge of the Americas. We took the Vera Cruz exit, which is the first exit after leaving the bridge and proceeded along the paved shore hugging two-lane roadway, to our destination, which is about 10 kilometers up the coast.
Along the way, we pass the two-year-old Westin Playa Bonita resort, which we stopped at briefly to take in the views. We continued on to our destination and selected a restaurant right on the beach, just before sunset. While there, we noticed a beach wedding being prepared for, right outside of the restaurant. Plastic chairs were set for the guests and final preparations were being made to make sure everything was just right. The ceremony began just before sunset when the wedding party and guests, all dressed in white, made their way to the ceremony. It was a perfect setting for a wedding and the sunset was spectacular.
The wedding was all over in around 15 or 20 minutes and everyone returned to the restaurant where a separate area had been set up for the wedding dinner. Meanwhile, I had been clicking like crazy with my long lens. I just could not leave without getting up close and asking the bride and groom for a shot. I guess you just never know what you will run into around here.
Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble 
Leave a comment