Tic Toc!

Day 7 - Sunday!

We got a late start today due to all the fun last night. We decided to lay out on the beach since we’ve mostly spent our days at the pool. Around lunchtime a little storm blew in but we were having a under cover eating lunch by the beach by then. We watched the people in charge of the watersports take out the Hobies and windsurf in the strong winds of the storm. They were flying the hull in the Hobie and almost lying on their back when they were windsurfing. Quite impressive.

After lunch we grabbed the wakeboard and both got in two runs before a much more relaxed day of volleyball. Most of the people we’d been playing with all week were gone and the talent level was a bit lower. We headed to the swim up bar after the games where Rebecca had a drink named after her. She told the bartender how she was sad that she missed the chocolate minty ‘Dirty Girlscouts’ of the night before so the bartender made her something similar and named it a Becky Special.

We plan to eat at the London pub again tonight for our last night here. We leave for the airport at 11 tomorrow morning and should get back in KC sometime around 11 at night.

Au revoir St. Lucia!

Day 6 - Saturday!

We made the short walk from the resort to Pigeon Island around 10AM. We paid our $5 per person to get into the national park and started hiking up the hill. There was of course a wedding going on (7/7/07 being a popular date) with lots of steel drums playing as we made our ascent. We decided to tackle the taller hill first and got some great pictures since it’s the highest point around. The other hill had an 18^th century military base on top complete with cannons.

On the trek back we bought some souvenirs from local vendors. Rebecca got the hematite necklace she’d been eyeing. Amazing how everyone has no problem taking American currency even though they’re technically on the Eastern Caribbean Dollar.

We checked out a couple of kayaks and paddled out for a bit right before lunch. While I’m glad we did it, and those things are really maneuverable, there wasn’t really any place to paddle to. So after we got our kayak fix we ate lunch at the Barefoot by the Sea café and laid around until volleyball at 3:30ish.

Dinner was an elaborate outdoor buffet at Bayside (the restaurant, not the High School of ‘Saved by the Bell’). I’m not sure if I’ve ever had steak, pork, pasta, and seafood chowder all in one meal before! Soon after that we headed to the Palladium dance hall for the much talked about Karaoke Night. John and several other guys drunkenly belted out Pour Some Sugar on Me and Sweet Home Alabama. After a few gin and tonics and some beers Rebecca was able to drag me up to sing Love Shack with her. Luckily, my mike was somehow off so the crowd was spared really hearing me sing.

Day 5 - Friday!

We made it back to the breakfast buffet, since we wanted to scope out one of the other two resorts on the island. So after a 30-minute van ride we arrived at the Regency. We had our most ocean-time there, because the waves were amazing! But the rest of the resort just wasn’t as cool as ours. And believe it or not, we ate Italian food AGAIN for lunch because it was so close to their major swimming pool. But we went for pizza and a calzone instead of the pasta to mix things up. After we (well, Dave) confused the time for the departure van, we had to kill another hour at that resort. So what do you do when you have free drinks all day everywhere you go? Drink some more and read a book! Only this time we were in the shade just in case we got too much sun during the day. Finally we made it back to the Grande, and were welcomed by the people that we have met here (including the CA doctors Tom & Lisa). And we missed volleyball for the first time, only to find out our entire team wasn’t there today! So hopefully we will reunite again tomorrow. The bar was crazy with everyone doing shots – so we had to get the camera in the pool to capture some of those moments!

Tonight we are going to go casual and try the pub – along with attempting to stay up past 11:30 PM if we can. Tomorrow morning is hiking the Pitons, ocean kayaking, wind surfing and maybe the pool? J

Day 4 - Wednesday!

Somehow another lazy day happened – I am not sure how, but after breakfast was delivered to our room we just decided to go back to sleep at varying times. And it doesn’t help that we are both sunburned, so being in the sun all day today doesn’t sound all that appealing. We have been so good about putting on the sun block a bunch of times, but I guess SPF 15 just isn’t enough on the islands. We scheduled a snorkeling trip for 1:20 PM, but of course we were trying to catch up so we both did our first ocean-wakeboarding (also included at the resort). It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and Dave did really well too. The only hard part was when water flew into your eyes the salt BURNED! Snorkeling was cool, I hope some of the pictures I took with the underwater camera come out because we looked pretty hot in our gear… J After snorkeling, of course we had to go back to the pool for some pre-volleyball beverages! We hung out with our Arkansas friends (John and Stephanie) and after some intense v-ball with our standard team (Casey & Ashley, Matt & Kristin, Dave & I) we agreed to take some pictures on the beach before heading back to the Italian restaurant for dinner. Even though we had eaten there the previous night, it was great company and some funny stories!

Dinner was over, and they had a fire eating and limbo show on the Sunset porch – followed by the cultural show to learn all about St. Lucia’s dance and dress. Next another live band started playing (they love American Oldies for sure) so we did some more dancing. Dave finally got the hang of “1-2-3” for steps!!! After some dancing, we decided to hit the hay since it was more activity than we were used to for a day!

Day 3!

Since yesterday was so relaxing, Dave and I decided to try doing at least three activities. We woke up a little earlier and went to the Bayside for the breakfast buffet. It was overwhelming with all of the stuff – stations where they were making fruit smoothies, pancakes, and omelets – so we started with a big breakfast and then claimed a couple of lounge chairs for the day. We headed out to the Hobie Cat and had a blast running around in the bay. Dave made me drive for one of the trips – but he was sweet and held on to the “throttle” rope so all I had to do was steer. For all the Americans at the resort (probably more than 90%) they had a 4^th of July lunch on the beach. We each had an American delicacy called a “hamburger.” I hope I spelled that exotic food name right! We went back to the pool for a couple of drinks, and then somehow I was pretty drunk. We even tried walking around the resort but nothing helped! So I passed out in the pool chair and Dave let me sleep it off for a bit. I woke up to a poolside band playing dance music, and announcements that volleyball was going to start again. So off we went to play some more!! This time we were able to play on the same team, so it was much more fun. But we were a lot more dedicated to the sun block today! J Anyways, now we are relaxing before we head to the fancy Italian restaurant for the evening. And tonight in lieu of fireworks they had a Mr. & Ms. 4^th of July. It was more of a Newlywed Game that took WAY too long. But there were a couple of KSU grads up there! So hopefully tomorrow we will get a chance to try para sailing and then wake boarding – and perhaps hike to the top of the mountains on the island!

I mentioned that most guests here are Americans. Also, most are honeymooners this time of year. When we meet a new couple, the default questions are always “When did you get married?” and “Where are you from?” We’ve met couples from all over the U.S. including some that are into four wheeling! We both agreed not to go on the ATV excursion since we’d probably get kicked out pretty quickly for doing wheelies or something.

So far, Dave’s favorite drinks are the Dirty Banana and the BBC. Both taste like banana milkshakes with rum. We’re working our way down the list of drinks and hope to try them all by the end of the trip. We’ve learned to stay away from Pedro. A Pedro Collins here is a Tom Collins with Tequila. But there are so many fruity drinks all the time at every turn, so I am sure that we will taste-test a LOT of them! And the local beer is Piton -- which was great when we were tired and thirsty, but Heineken is our top beer choice (and the only other kind)...

Day 2!

Today we decided that it would be the “do nothing” day for us – to truly relax. After sleeping in VERY late, we went out to the pool and enjoyed the swim-up bar for a while. LOTS and LOTS of drinks later, we needed a snack so we got some nachos by the poolside. But more drinks and we needed a real lunch – so down the beach we went to Barefoot by the Beach for some true lunch. Then we took our first dip in the ocean before heading down the beach for some volleyball! Even though we had to play on separate teams, it was a great time. I cannot remember the final scores but it was a great time! And of course, we ended up back at the swim-up bar in the pool for a few more drinks before our pre-dinner nap!

Dinner was again at the Bayside, and what a difference it makes when it is not a buffet! We each had some drinks (me a Cabernet and Dave Scotch & Water just like his Dad used to have -- same brand and all!) and a fantastic dinner near the side of the pool. Tonight is a special night for newlyweds, so they are featuring a full chocolate bar where the men are required to feed their ladies! We will post again sometime in the next few days!

St. Lucia - Day 1!!!

We started at the butt-crack of dawn to catch our 5:45 AM flight to Atlanta – and after that flight jumped on the plane to St. Lucia. We arrived safely on the island (where Dave was super excited to get out of the back of the plane and walk on the tarmac), and went through Customs. This is where Dave was asked to change out of his camo shorts, because only police and military are allowed to wear that print! Next was the longest bus ride of our lives – about 2 hours to the other side of the island – where we had a running commentary from GG (Gabby Girl) the Starbucks worker. After the goats, school children and other random views on the way we arrived at the gorgeous Sandals resort! We were greeted with someone to take our luggage, and another greeter that checked us in with a cold towel and some Rum Punch!

After going to our room (and seeing the GORGEOUS space) we decided to put on our swimsuits and get a tour of the resort. With so much to do, we took the easy route by attending the managers’ cocktail hour with lots of wine and cheese. There was supposed to be a Beach BBQ, but the weather made us go inside. But the buffet was amazing, along with the drinks and dancing show!