Costa Rica

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Guests who traveled from the Wildwoods to attend the Blaker wedding in Costa Rica included, from left, the groom’s brother Kirk Blaker, Thomas and Heather Holden, the groom’s parents Lynn and Dave Blaker, bride and groom Nicole and Erik Blaker (holding a copy of The Leader), Carol and Thomas Sawyer, Alexis and Trevor Sawyer, the groom’s uncle Rob Blaker, and Kevin and Katie Hughes.

Wildwoodians join former Crest resident at Costa Rica wedding
Erik Blaker spent his school years as a resident of Heather Road in Wildwood Crest, but when it came time to start a business and, more recently, for a marriage ceremony, he settled on a decidedly different locale: Costa Rica, in Central America.
Many of Blaker’s wedding guests at this exotic location were friends and family members from the Wildwoods.
Blaker set up shop in Costa Rica almost 10 years ago, establishing construction and landscaping businesses.
Last month, he married Nicole DiAngelis, a former Delaware resident, in the country that now will be their home. The couple met in Dominical some five years ago, when DiAngelis was visiting Costa Rica on a winter vacation.
Trevor Sawyer, owner of Woody’s Place in North Wildwood, served as best man at the wedding. He and Blaker have been best friends since sixth grade, and visit one another at least annually.
“Eric’s parents were like my second parents, and vice verse,” Sawyer says of his childhood in the Crest.
Last month’s wedding was held at “The Christal Ballena,” a resort hotel built on the side of a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Wedding guests, including those from the Wildwoods, filled the entire hotel.
“I’d rank it among the best weddings ever,” Sawyer says. “They were married outdoors, and it’s rain season in Costa Rica, raining each afternoon around 3. We all got rained on as we were walking down to the ceremony, but as Nicole was walking up the aisle with her father, the clouds parted and there was sunshine. That really threw it over the top.”
A lavish buffet of fresh seafood, and a night filled with dancing in an elegant ballroom, completed the experience.
Sawyer said that the couple technically were married in October of last year in Cape May Court House, but wanted their wedding ceremony in Costa Rica. The groom’s father performed that ceremony, Sawyer said.
Blaker’s parents now have homes in Florida, Tennessee, and Costa Rica, Sawyer noted. Blaker’s brother Kirk also purchased a home there, Sawyer said.

-- Carole Mattessich

The Gazette traveled to Tamarindo Costa Rica over spring break with Clarence Lauer and April Petitt of Petersburg. This shot is on the balcony of Casabambora where the couple enjoyed their stay.
 

Exploring nature in Costa Rica

 The Current traveled with Donald and Beverly Camp of Absecon on their 14-day trip to Costa Rica. Here, they are basking in the sun under palm trees. During their trip, they rode on the aerial tram over the rainforest and cruised the Tortuguero River, where they saw monkeys and tropical birds.

Surfing with The Current 

On a surf tour of Costa Rica, Gene Tunney, Pat Tunney and Damien Staples are shown here taking a break while surfing at Witch's Rock. Their trip included surfing's famous breaks featured in the movie “Endless Summer II.”  The trio surfed Witch's Rock, Ollie’s Point, Playa Negra, the river mouth at Tamarindo and Playa Grande and said they now understand what the saying “pura vida,” or "the pure life," means.

Teddy Lyons and Michael Carmody, holding the paper, took the Gazette on an eight-day surfing trip in | Guiones Beach, Costa Rica.