Admittedly, this is a little weird. I mean, most guys have best friends who are also guys – well, not me. My best friend is a woman, her name is Stacy, and we’ve been inseparable since our mothers (also best friends), decided to get us together to play about thirty years ago. Hell, the original plan was to have us get married, and therefore unify them forever – it didn’t work out that way since Stacy and I have been more like siblings this whole time. Well, Stacy’s five-year boyfriend, Hoyt, finally proposed to her last month – and that’s when things got weird. Stacy asked me to be her maid of honor – me – a man! As odd as this request was, of course, I graciously accepted – how could I not? She’s my best friend. As the male maid of honor, naturally, I was to take care of many details regarding her wedding planning alongside some of Stacy’s other bridesmaids – out of all these responsibilities, there was one I had been looking forward to, more than anything: The Bachelorette Party!
It was a cold January evening at Joe’s Pub as Stacy and I sat at the bar with a laptop and beers, discussing what was to be of the Bachelorette Party. There were so many options, she made so many suggestions, and we were going nowhere. All of a sudden, I saw an ad that caught my attention on the side of a website – Costa Rica. I quietly Google’d Costa Rica and began researching the country, its regions, the weather, prices for plane tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages – and before long, I found everything I was looking for. I shared my findings with Stacy, and her eyes lit up. She was convinced immediately – we were going to Costa Rica!
On a freezing cold February morning, I got out of the cab in front of the airport and wiped the lingering snowflakes off my coat. Man, was it cold! I checked in my luggage and headed toward the gate, and waited for the girls. An hour later, minutes before boarding time, my worries were laid to rest as I heard the distant commotion come my way. It sounded like a coup of chickens clucking and squawking all at once – the girls had arrived. We quickly, boarded the plane, the girls louder than ever, and excitement filled the cabin-pressured air. This was the red-eye to San Jose, Costa Rica and it was too early for all these shenanigans. However, before long, the champagne was served and the girls hooted and woo-hoo’d and yelled and hollered; we toasted to the weekend, to the Bachelorette Party, to Stacy and Hoyt, and to us all – and so we took off, destination Jaco Beach, Costa Rica!
Upon arrival in San Jose, we were greeted and received by our personal Concierge assigned to us by the agency I had booked for our stay in Jaco Beach, Jaco VIP. I took the lead, introduced myself, the girls, and got into the Air-Conditioned van, a Mercedes Benz Sprinter, and zoomed off. The journey to Jaco was about an hour, and the scenery was spectacular; this was one of the greenest countries I had ever seen! My moment of bliss was interrupted by the popping of a cork, and that’s when the girls once more began screaming in excitement – someone had taken a bottle of champagne from the plane! Plastic cups full of bubbly in hand, Kelly Clarkson booming on the van’s stereo, and the high-pitch screeching, we made our way to Jaco Beach – and for me, we couldn’t get there fast enough!
Beautiful – Jaco was just beautiful. As I stepped out of the van, I felt my skin sizzle in the scorching sun and my soul cleanse to the echoing deep sound of the rolling waves; this was Paradise! I walked onto the beach, took a deep breath and smiled – I was ready for this weekend to begin, and I would make the best of it. After all, Stacy is my best friend and the least I could do is go through with what I had promised and make sure she had a good time, in spite of the banshees she called her bridesmaids, making my life a living hell.
Mesmerized, in total awe, we stood outside of the Vacation Home – huge, luxurious, beachside, with a big outdoor pool facing the beach and the ocean. As I walked inside, away from the shrieks, the Concierge introduced me to the staff – the private Chefs, the Bartenders, the Massage Therapists, and the DJ. Within minutes, everybody got to work; the loud thumping bass of the House music filled the air, all sorts of delicious cocktails appeared out of nowhere, and I could already smell the food coming from the kitchen. I grabbed Stacy, and jumped into the pool. Everybody cheered and laughed, and the party began. Within the hour there were tables set up, twenty types of different salads and starters, and seafood of all sorts – it was delicious!
In the late afternoon, the girls all liquored up, I stole Stacy away and we went to a nearby bar on the beach called El Point for beers and further planning. We discussed the upcoming evening over a couple of cold beers. According to my research, Bachelor Parties in Jaco Beach were legendary due to its vibrant nightlife with all its super-fun bars and late-night clubs. I had it all worked out, and I had previously talked about it with our Concierge – we were ready for the evening! We watched the sunset from the bar, the sky turned yellow, orange, red and then finally purple – it was spectacular. At dusk, we headed back to the house where we found the girls all dressed up and ready for the evening. After a quick shower, I led the ladies to the restaurant I had booked for tonight’s dinner: El Hicaco. El Hicaco was said to be the best seafood restaurant in Jaco, and it really lived up to is name! We went through a dozen bottles of wine, ordered and ate seven types of seafood starters, and then as my main dish I had the Grilled Red Snapper – delicious! After dinner, we headed to a bar called Orange Pub, where I had made reservations to begin the night. The girls nice and drunk by the time of our arrival, silly hats and scarves and whistles and all sorts of Bachelorette Party paraphilia on them, we entered the bar. After half a dozen shots of this and that, the girls getting wilder and wilder by the minute, we headed out to the club in which I had reserved VIP seating. The nightclub was called Republik, the hottest venue in Jaco. We danced and drank and celebrated all night – night turned to day, and before our very eyes the sun rose and finally we headed back to the house to get some sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to the smell of breakfast – Stacy and I met in the kitchen, the other girls all passed out still, and decided to eat without them. The chefs had prepared us eggs of all sorts, tortillas, and something called Gallo Pinto (white rice with black beans) – delicious! After having fed ourselves, we went to the beach to do some surfing. The waves here were amazing – eight-footers that rolled right over you! Sandy, tired and satisfied, we headed back to the house where we found the girls partying (again) by the pool. The DJ was blasting dance tunes, the Bartenders were making cocktails, the Chefs were cooking lunch – and the party went on where we had left off. By sunset, the girls drunk all over again, Stacy and I stepped off to the beach for a moment of peace. The bass of the music now in the distance, Stacy put her arm around me and said, “Look, I know this wasn’t easy for you – being a guy, my maid of honor and planning this whole thing. Not to mention the girls – they are a handful and I know you don’t like them. Well, anyway – thank you, I want you to know how much this all has meant to me, you’re my best friend and I’ll never forget this weekend.” I smiled back at her and said, “Of course you’ll never forget this – I’m your maid of honor, for God’s sake!” We had a good laugh and headed back to the pool party. This would no doubt be a Bachelorette Party weekend away that Stacy would never, ever forget.
More info: jacovip.com
Jaco Beach, Costa Rica
