So, finally, January 2 came and it was time for us to head to the airport! (It took us 2 days to travel there and 2 days to get back here.)
We arrived in St. Lucia at about 1:00pm on Jan 3. There was an hour-long shuttle ride from the airport to the Sandals Regency Resort where we stayed. We were pretty tired when we got there, so we just pretty much unpacked, ate dinner, toured the resort, and crashed. We slept so well that night!
The next morning, we woke up and walked over to the "main area" where they served an AMAZING array of food for breakfast. Anything you could ever want to eat must have been there! The dining area itself was imp
ressive. With a panoramic ocean view and such a beautiful, open space - it was a perfect way to start the day every day.
After breakfast, we went to go sign up for our excursions and adventures. We knew we wanted to do the zip-lining tour for sure, and when we asked about it, we learned that we could actually go that day if we hurried and got ready! So we packed everything we needed and met the shuttle that drove us over.
Zip-lining through the rainforest was such a blast! There were 11 lines that we rode on, perfecting our "riding technique" a little more with every ride. The lines got longer, a little faster, and somewhat higher up as we progressed through the course. The guides there were so friendly! There was one in particular (Dexter) to whom we credit with these lovely pictures and video. :)
The Sandals resort we stayed at was enormous. There is a golf course on the property and about 7 restaurants to choose from (all meals/drinks are included). There is a huge pool that wraps around the front of the building, complete with a few waterfalls and a small bridge that goes over one part of it.
There were lots of gazebos on the property (which there seemed to always be a wedding going on at at least one of them every day!) and a few giant hammocks big enough for 2 people to comfortably recline in. Of course, there was a gym there too - not bad.
The resident kittens on the property were sure to greet us. There were about 8 of them! There were a few that really took to us, and one black kitten in particular that seemed to be every guest's favorite. He had such spunk and personality! We called him "Jack" - short for "Black-Jack." :) Apparently, the island has a bit of a rat problem and the cats are there to serve as a deterrent. The kitties would even come around at dinner time in the main area - and it was so funny to see everyone try to throw food under the table without letting anyone see. Sara was even sure to have her leftover fish boxed up - and then she took it and sneaked it over to their food dish.
We did lots of SCUBA diving while we were down there, too. There were some very pretty fish to swim with and a friendly lobster who was trying to "feel" us with his tentacles and a couple of sea turtles - one of the turtles was ENORMOUS! Brian even got to do a wreck dive (he got to check out a sunken ship).
Another fun adventure we went on was the horseback ride and BBQ on the beach. We rode our horses from the stable down to the beach, and we actually got to ride ON the beach to the place where we tied our horses to palm trees (yeah, no kidding) and then walked over to the BBQ area. We had BBQ chicken and grilled plantains (so yummy). They served us St. Lucia's special beer called "Piton" - it was good... somewhere between a Corona and a Heineken, I'd say. Not bad.
After we ate, we went back to our horses which had been unsaddled. With the help of the guides, we mounted our steeds and entered into the ocean on horseback. We rode double and had so much fun splashing through the ocean on the horse!
One of the horseback riding tour guides took some silly photos of us... and then the guide did something kind of crazy! While standing behind Brian, the guide draped his (very) long dred-locks over Brian's shoulders to make it seem like Brian had grown our his hair! Check out the picture. :)
On Thursday, we LOUNGED all day... and did absolutely nothing. And it was wonderful. We did, however, go down to the water sports shack and rent a kayak and sailboat. Brian is such an expert at all of these things - he taught me how to kayak and "showed me the ropes" of sailing. :)
Of course, being big fans of mountain biking, we HAD to take the mountain biking excursion through the rain forest. It was pretty fun - St. Lucia is surprisingly "hilly" for a small island. There aren't really any Colorado-sized mountains there, but still, the mountain bike ride wasn't all flat and easy. There were a few places that were pretty darn challenging!
The name of our guide for this excurision was "Prince." Prince hopes to one day open his own resort and call it "Prince's Castle." :) He was great at explaining the plantlife along the way and describing the process of harvesting bananas from the trees we rode by. We got to actually walk into a banana plantation (and experience it's extreme muddiness and hot humidity!). Wow, people who work on the banana plantaion are definitely HARD CORE. We also got to see where cinnamon comes from - and eat the best orange I think I have ever tasted in my whole life.
We rode our bikes to a waterfall along the way and we got to go in and take a dip in the water. The water wasn't as cold as we expected it to be, but it was pretty chilly. Refreshing!
After playing around in the water, we ate a coconut that had fallen from a tree there at the waterfall and rode our bikes back to the "Love Shack" where the tour had started.
On Sunday night, Brian treated me to a special, private candlelight dinner on the beach. Words cannot even describe how perfect it was. We were there under the moon and the stars, the sound of the ocean splashing on the shore, and the feel of sand between our toes. We wore our "fancy" clothes that evening - but were barefooted below the tablecloth.
There was a single long-stem rose on the white tablecloth with a scattering of local tropical flowers around the candles. There was a tiki torch that provided enough light for us to see our dinner (and each other!) and two glasses of champagne to enjoy.
Behind us (a ways back) was a American country inspired restaurant called the Arizona where there was live music every night. A St. Lucian by the name of "Cowboy Eddie" sang there every night, including the night of our romantic dinner. Cowboy Eddie had an AMAZING voice... he could sound just like Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw - even Elton John. And he wasn't lip synching! He had such talent! Anyway, he was singing as we ate there on the beach. After we finished our dinner, we danced on the beach to the country music - barefooted with the sand as our dancefloor. It was SOOOO romantic!!
On our last day there, Monday, we decided to treat ourselves to a couples massage. It was the first massage we had ever had together - and it was total bliss. We were in this private room, dimly lit by candlelight, each with our own personal "massage artist" for an entire hour. It was wonderful!
That day, we packed our stuff back up. We had the patio door to our room completely open so that we could get some fresh ocean air while we reluctantly put our things in our suitcases. As we packed, a few birds flew into our room! They were beautiful black birds with a little bit of red at their throat. They had the most beautiful song - we will miss them! It was as if they were saying goodbye to us. :)
That night, there was a pirate-themed dinner in the main area. They had put groups of tables together so that everyone could mingle with other resort guests. We met a couple that had just arrived that very day and had only been married for about 72 hours! They had 10 days of vacation ahead of them... we told them about our adventures and we hoped they would have as much fun as we did!
Sadly, the day came when we had to head back home. We said goodbye to the kittens there and reluctantly boarded the shuttle to the airport.
It was the most fun we both have probably ever had - and we are so glad we could make so many fun memories together!!
A few weeks ago, the wind here blew part of Mary's fence down (Mary is Brian's mom). Since it was so nice outside on Monday, we thought we would do some repairs on it and take advantage of the nice weather. Besides, Brian is so good at building and fixing stuff... and Sara is always up for learning something new and helping her man out. :)
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