Blogger's Paradise, part 3

It's a week after the fact as I write this and the experience has taken on an almost dreamlike quality, but here is what happened on that famous Saturday in the Dominican Republic...at least as I saw it...

THE CAMERA KING & "FAST" FOOD

The Doc and Mario

It's no secret that we had a lot of cameras recording the events of our tour in the DR. Some of us have come to think of it as "Fat White Guys with DSRLs." But no one matches the camera whiz-dom of Mario Takeyama from Cigar Explorer with his multiple camera bodies and lenses...and his video capabilities. I think Mario actually packed a whole extra suitcase just with his equipment so he would be ready for any situation...and it's a good thing.

After a long hour of riding down to Puerta Plata (an hour in Dominican time is closer to an hour and a half to two hours for the rest of us), Mario set about unloading his camera, tripod, and some fancy tripod head gear that made video capabilities better on a DSLR. This took about half an hour. Then he told us that he wanted to interview each of us for a video montage he wanted to put together. Doc was up first...and I'm sure he still regrets it. As Doc explained to us, on his podcast he works from carefully written show notes and the capability of multiple takes; here he had to be "on" all the time and know just what to say off the cuff. And he had to got to be the guinea pig and Mario dialed in the lighting and video settings (and avoided flying volleyballs). In the end, I think Doc was in front of the camera another half hour. Then the others got their turn...and people got bored and started "performing" for the camera. Flying french fries, tackles, beer commercials...we saw it all. Some things will find their way to Mario's video channel...others have been promised to only see light as part of the "unrated" DVD cut. I guess we should all be thankful that the video of Jerry Cruz sitting on the can Tweeting will not be shown to the general public.

Barry "You Talkin' To Me?" Stein

In the midst of all this, Barry Stein (acigarsmoker.com) found himself surrounded by women and soon the rumor was floating around that he was getting married. Married? What? No one believed it, even after Jose Blanco started shooting off Tweets to that effect. Guillermo Leon joined us for lunch and soon asked Barry, "Do you want to get married?" Then he was on the phone to get a justice of the peace down to the beach. While we waited for his arrival, we ordered lunch. Despite "Fast Food" being written on the side of the building, we waited over an hour for the meal. Food came out and Jerry Cruz was immediately recognized and called a "Dirty Bastard" by a Canadian tourist...actually, he claimed that Jerry was eating his lobster. Guillermo defused the situation by asking the man, "Do you smoke cigars? You should." Soon enough the man was smoking a Preferido and drinking a Presidente across the table from me.

Guillermo Leon & Jose Blanco in the same place at the same time!

Some of us posited that the marriage would not have taken place at all if the food had not taken so long, but the food was forever in arriving and the justice of the peace was not. Soon we witnessed the wedding that some people dream of...a beautiful beach with swaying palm trees and just close friends and family in attendance. But did we really see what we thought we had seen? Despite all the hoopla, it turns out we had all been punk'd on the beach. And we were enlisted to spread the word back to our friends in the States, making the practical joke take on proportions that were truly phenomenal. For all you eligible bachelorettes out there crying over the fact that Barry Stein was off the market...well, put your hankies away and stop your sobbing because ACigarSmoker is still legally quite single.

Jerry Cruz: "Can't a guy Tweet on the can in peace?"

KARAOKE WITH THE BIG CAT

After leaving our impromptu wedding ceremony, we went back to the heart of Santiago for a dinner party at Guillermo Leon's house. The spacious back yard was laid out with several tables, tiki torches (just because of the Tiki Bar's presence? we'll never know!), and a projector and screen. Yes, we were going to be compelled to do karaoke for the Big Cat. Except that almost every other blogger took the "I don't want to add more bad singing to the mix" approach and chickened out. For the record, those who chose to participate in the noise pollution were yours truly ("Yesterday" and "Bad Moon Rising"), Barry Stein ("New York, New York"), and Mario Takeyama ("I Just Called To Say 'I Love You'"). A few others sang Spanish-language songs, including the karaoke hostess, one of the consumer guests on the trip, and Guillermo himself.  Jose Blanco said this was the first time he had participated. I can't forget Jose in the karaoke run-down, though...he did several Sinatra songs and...boy, can that man sing!

Dinner was a traditional Dominican dish called Sancocho. As Guillermo explained it to me, this dish had chicken, beef and pork in seven different cuts. It was accompanied by a crispy bread made from cassava, from which we also get tapioca. Traditionally, they eat this dish at times of celebration or on "cold days." I asked what cold was to them...Guillermo answered, "60." I think most DR residents might be a little out of their element smoking cigars with me when it's 40 or lower outside.

Before leaving we were each given gift bags containing personalized boxes of cigars, t-shirts, and a bottle of the wonderful Ron Barceló that we had been imbibing all weekend. At the end of a bizarre and eventful day, we headed back to Camp David. Some of us had a very early shuttle ride to the airport in the morning.

Later this week, I'll wrap up this series with a few final thoughts, some more pictures and (if time permits) a short video of some of what we saw and experienced.