Honeymoon

Today we have been married exactly 2 months! It's amazing how time flies.

We spent the next 4 days after our wedding, in the company of friends and family. We went to the beach, a Padres baseball game, and even the Midway Museum. It was quite enjoyable not having to worry about being late for work. Then Tuesday night we left for our Honeymoon. It was our first real vacation. We've taken plenty of weekend trips to Sacramento and Healdsburg to visit with friends and family, and also mini getaways to Las Vegas and Disneyland. However, this was our first trip ever that we left Princess Mia (our cat) for more than 3 days.

We left on a four hour redeye flight to Atlanta. We landed Wednesday morning (also lost 3 hours due to the time zone) and waited for a few hours for our connecting flight to the caribbean island of Saint Lucia. After another four hour flight, with very little turbulence, we landed safely. We made it through customs faster than our baggage came out on the carousel. Then we were shuttled to our resort, Sandals La Toc.

We made just in time for the next orientation meeting to become familiar with the resort and our surroundings. After checking into our room, which the hotel kindly upgraded for free, we reviewed our plans for the week. We were lucky enough to book most of our activities in advance, using monetary gifts we received from the bridal shower and wedding. Being that we were staying at an all-inclusive resort, Gabe was determined to start his vacation off with a free drink. We ordered a few drinks at the bar then watched the sun set by the pool. Not having eaten much all day, we went in search for the first restaurant that was open for dinner, Mediterranean cuisine at Neptune's. I of course had to order steak with a glass of wine as my first resort meal, while Gabe ordered his favorite, salmon. The food was cooked brilliantly. So tender and savory. This was only the first of our many delicious meals on our trip.

The following day we slept in, for once. It was super nice! We slowly made our way to the main restaurant for buffet lunch, then spent the early afternoon lounging poolside. At 3pm our next adventure began. We were picked up by a shuttle, along with another honeymooning couple, and headed towards some stables. We were going horseback riding!

It took a while for us to get accustomed to riding a horse in the first place. We trotted along through some hills until finally reaching a beach area. There were a few vendors which we bought a couple souvenirs from. Then we mounted one horse together bareback and rode in the water. It was definitely an interesting experience, but not sure we'll be able to do it again. We were both pretty sore the next day.

We spent Friday sleeping in, again, and lounging on the beach. All the chairs by the pool had been scooped up or reserved. We made our way back and forth to the bar and our seats along the beach. In the afternoon, we had scheduled a couples' massage. It's so nice to be side by side, both having tensions relieved.

Saturday, again we spent the day acting like bums by the pool and on the beach. In the late afternoon we were bussed, along with other couples, to the docking bay. We set sail on a romantic sunset cruise. We were treated to champagne, beer, and plenty of snacks. At first we weren't sure if we were going to be able to see the sun set as the weather was a little overcast and had been sprinkling on and off through the day. After about 20 minutes, the clouds cleared, and the views were so beautiful. We met retired couple who had been married for over 50 years, and still in very good health. They had visited Saint Lucia 25 years prior and were in awe of how much had changed.

Sunday we awoke early to join the "Joe Knows" excursion. Couples were separated into three different speedboat groups. Ours, we think, had the three most fun and energetic tour guides. We toured the island passing through famous Marigot Bay (where plenty movie scenes have been filmed) and the majestic Pitons mountains. We docked the boat in Sourfriere and were shuttled to Sulphur Springs where there resided a dormant volcano. We lathered each other for volcano mud baths, then rinsed in the hot springs. Afterwards, we hiked taking in views of the vegetation, including banana plants, to a waterfall. Then we were treated to an authentic, local creole lunch. The food was amazing! We also found most of our souvenirs for family at a nearby shop. After lunch we continued  by speedboat to tour the island until we reached a small cove. We snorkeled  and saw all kinds of fish. We even thought we may have spotted Dory (from Finding Nemo). No matter how many times we applied sunblock, we still ended up sunburned.

We got back to our resort just in time to shower and doll ourselves up for our personalized candlelight dinner on the beach. This was my favorite part of our trip. We were provided our very own personalized menu and served by a white-gloved waiter. We sank our feet in the sand, listened to the waves wash up near us, ate a fantastic dinner, all while enjoying each other's company and conversation. We completed the night by walking off our food, along the beach, back to our room.

Monday was our last full day on the resort. We spent it admiring the views from the beach and pool areas, and sipping our last "free" cocktails. In the afternoon, we were provided a free mini photo shoot. Tuesday, we finished packing our toiletries in time for our luggage to be picked up by the concierge. We ate breakfast, reviewed our photos from the day before, and waited for our shuttle to take us to the airport. It was a long day of traveling. We landed in Atlanta, went through customs, and through security twice before checking our bags in for our connecting flight. We had just enough time to grab a quick bite before boarding the plane. Our gate was moved within 45 minutes of boarding. The flight home seemed to be quick, and we landed just ahead of schedule.

See more from our Honeymoon on the photos tab.