Two Tickets to Paradise: Tropical-ness

Two Tickets to Paradise: Tropical Flowers

Two Tickets to Paradise: The End

Saturday was our last full day in St. Lucia. We tossed around a few ideas as to what to do: snorkeling, spa day, etc.


Wednesday we had planned to go snorkeling after our morning at the beach, but the other couple we were going to do it with cancelled. And because there is a minimum requirement of 4 people, our whole excursion was cancelled. :( Then we found out about a spot about 30 minutes from our resort that had excellent snorkeling, so we thought about getting a taxi and doing that on our last day.


We also thought about spending our last day at the resort's spa. Justin has never had a massage and we thought it would be a nice way to end our honeymoon.


But in the end we just decided to spend the day by our pool. And it was probably the best way we could have ended our vacation.


We didnt want to leave, but we also missed home and Maddie. Sunday we got up and had our last breakfast in St Lucia then headed to the airport to catch our flight to Atlanta.

St Lucia was the perfect place for our honeymoon! We've already talked about going back for an anniversary.

Two Tickets to Paradise: Volcano, Sulphur Springs, Botanical Garden & Waterfall

Ok... I have a sad story. The battery on my camera died Thursday night/Friday morning. And in the craziness of the last minute things Thursday morning before we left Newport News for Richmond, my camera charger didnt make it into any of our bags. So I have no pictures of the last 2 days of our honeymoon. I was extemely bummed, but there was nothing we could do. So I'll have to share pictures that I found online.


Friday we arranged to do another excursion through the resort. We went to the only drive-in volcano to see the bubbling pools of lava and there's also mud baths -- the same place that the Bachelor Jake took Vienna for their "steamy mud baths." We didnt do the mud baths, but there were some people in it.







Then we headed over to a botanical garden that was the location of the diamond waterfalls and mineral baths.

Hurricane Tomas

I'm cutting into my honeymoon recaps to share some sad news. I just found out today that Hurricane Tomas struck St. Lucia this past weekend killing 14 people -- 1 of them an American tourist. I've been looking at pictures of the aftermath and I have to say its really sad to see the island where we spent our honeymoon in such devestation.

Thoughts & prayers to St. Lucia!

Two Tickets to Paradise: Gros Piton

Thursday we decided to get out and take on Gros Piton. Stonefield offers hiking tours for both Pitons, but the Petit Piton is an expert level hike. Now I am no hiker, but after talking to other guests who had done it, I thought I could do it. I am not going to lie... it.was.HARD!

We woke up Thursday morning to rain, but we decided to still do our hike. Most rain lasts for a short time and then clears up. So we thought by the time we got to the piton it would be cleared up. We were wrong. As soon as we got into our taxi, it started thundering and lightning and raining buckets. But we still went. When we got to Gros Piton, it was still raining and they were closed, but one of the tour guides said he would take us up if we still wanted to go. We said we did and headed up.

It started out pretty easy, but then we hit the part where it was pretty much straight up. My legs have never worked so hard. Justin and the guide seemed to just fly up the mountain, while I struggled to keep up. But the guide was really cool and told me to take my time and that they would wait for me to catch up if I fell too far behind -- which happened A LOT.

We made it half way to the half way point and stopped to take a 5 minute break.

Us at the half way to the half way point. See me smiling through the pain.

Then we started up the mountain again. The guide was determined to get me to the half way point. So he kept telling me I was doing a good job and motivating me to continue. I told you it was hard.

We finally made it half way up Gros Piton. The view is supposed to be one of the best on the island. Remember when I told you it was raining? Yeah, well it was super foggy so it was hard to see. We sat there for a good 20 minutes hoping it would clear up, and it did some. So we snapped this picture.

Justin wanted to continue to the top and I was more than happy to sit at the half way point and wait for them to come back on the way down. But because of the fog and the fact that it wasnt clearing, it didnt make sense to continue since the view would be blanketed by fog. So we headed back down which was much much much EASIER than climbing up. I had no problem with the descent.

Eventhough it kicked my butt and I felt it for days after -- even when we got home -- its something that I am so glad I did. I just wish the weather had been a little bit nicer.

Two Tickets to Paradise: Jalouise Beach

Stonefield doesnt have their own beach, but they do have it in the plans for 2011. They are actually expanding the resort to include more villas, a beach, fitness and business centers. Because they dont have a beach, they provide a free shuttle to another resort's beach -- Jalouise Beach.

It's located between the 2 Pitons and provides the perfect setting to feel like you are in paradise. The water is crystal blue & clear and we saw lots of little fish without snorkeling gear. We spent Tuesday afternoon and most of the day on Wednesday here.

Two Tickets to Paradise: Mango Tree Restaurant

The resort's restaurant where we had all but one meal. Breakfast was included in our villa reservation and lunch and dinner were additional. The breakfast and lunch menus were the same everyday, but dinner changed each night and were themed. And it was delicious. We didnt have one thing that we didnt like.

The main seating area, bar and kitchen.


Additional seating area that overlooked the Caribbean.

The resort pool is right in front of the restaurant and had a great view of the Petit Piton.

The view from the restaurant's additional seating.

Justin enjoying a local beer one afternoon.

You cant go to the Caribbean and not have a fruity drink with an umbrella.

The waitstaff was great and extremely friendly. Theo was my favorite waiter and after a day or 2 they all knew us. They offered suggestions on things to do and would ask us about our days. Tuesday nights the resort holds a Manager's cocktail hosted by the GM. They served rum punch and some appetizers. We really enjoyed it because we got to meet and mingle with the other guests. Since we never really saw anyone outside of the restaurant.

Two Tickets to Paradise: Hibiscus

Quick Note: The song title used for the honeymoon recap titles was picked solely because it was fitting.

Justin and I boarded a plane Monday morning headed to our honeymoon destination -- St. Lucia. We had a short layover in Atlanta which ended up being just enough time to get off plane A, speed walk to another concourse and board plane B. The flight from Atlanta to St. Lucia was 5 hours, but because it's international they serve food and they had tvs in the back of every seat so you could watch tv or a movie.

We landed in St. Lucia around 3pm and found a taxi to take us to Stonefield. The ride was about 40 minutes and our driver pointed out sites and shared information about the island. The island is extremely hilly/mountainous which can make for some scary twists and turns. The first thing the driver said was "Let me do the driving" -- I guess most people become backseat drivers.

When we arrived at Stonefield, we were greeted with glasses of fresh lime juice and shown to our villa -- Hibiscus.


The door leading to our villa.



Once you enter the door, you are greeted with these views.

The front of our villa -- complete with rocking chairs, hammock and lounging chairs.

Looking into the villa.

The kitchenette.

The outdoor garden shower. It was FABULOUS!

Our private plunge pool with a view of the Carribbean.

And looking up, we had a view of the tip of the Petit Piton.

A zoomed in view of the Petit Piton.

It's amazing how private the villas are. There was a villa right beside ours with a fence separating the 2 and one up on a hill behind us, but with all the trees and greenery they couldnt look down into our villa. The whole time we were in our villa, we felt like the only ones on the island.

S-L-A-C-K-E-R

Yep, that's me. I've been such a slacker at posting, but today in our mailbox was the cd of our pro rehearsal dinner & wedding pics. So I've found my motivation... my second wind to pick up where I left off. I knew "it" - my motivation - would show up sometime.

While I'm going through the 400+ wedding pics, I'll start with the honeymoon. So... let's get started... shall we?!?!

Sorry For The Interruption

It's almost Halloween and Maddie would like to share her costume with everyone. We gave her a few options to choose from and she picked...

drum roll please....

A Squirrel!!!

I cant wait til we have a house and trick-or-treaters. I've already told Justin that we are going to have themed halloweens and dress up to match the theme. :)

Last Little Touches

There were a few projects that were completed in the last few days before we left for Richmond. I gave myself a deadline to have everything completed by that Wednesday. I didnt want any projects looming over my head, so my motto was... whatever doesnt get done before we leave for Richmond, gets let go. And I have to say that that probably kept me from getting worked up over the little things.

So, lets take a look at what I was working on...

These were supposed to the be tags for the favors. I printed the Thank You side and used a stamp I bought mentioned in an earlier post on the back.

The place cards for the rehearsal dinner. I used the same stamp from the rehearsal dinner invites and handwrote everyone's name.

I found a picture that I loved where a bride used block letters to make their monogram and placed them on their cake table. I was inspired, so I bought the letters and paint from Ben Franklin. The final product...

The letters were used on our gift table.

I didnt want to do a traditional cardbox. You know the kind that is boxes stacked and wrapped. Boring. My original idea was to buy a watering can, but I couldnt find one that I liked. So I bought a mailbox and used stickers for our last name.