The week leading up to the trip was stressful. I was trying to wash and pack our clothes, tie up lose ends at work, and try to pack anything and everything that Shelley would need for her week with Ansley. We dropped Ansley off on Friday night since we were flying out at 7:25 am Saturday morning. I, of course, cried. But once we got to the airport and got going, I was doing much better. We landed in St Lucia around 2 pm that afternoon and the the island is just beautiful. It took an hour to get from the airport to our resort and the driver did a great job of pointing out the local sites.
The biggest fishing village on the island
Josh planned this whole trip himself so besides the resort location, I knew nothing about our accommodations. He did good.
We had a villa on the bluff that came with a private pool and a butler. Yep, a butler. This is what we saw every day from our room. (I saw more rainbows there in a week than I've seen in years)
We had a door in our bedroom that let you drop right into the pool.
St Lucia is a volcanic island so there are very few beaches and it was a beautiful contrast to see the beach surrounded by the mountains and bluffs.
Our day started around 8:30 or 9 with breakfast from our butler. We would tell him what we wanted the night before and he would come in and set it up every morning. And I am happy to report that the coffee was great:)
After breakfast we would head to the pool on the bluff. There were 2 pools on the resort, the main pool where the hotel was located and then there was a pool on the bluff where the villas were located. The main pool had more of a party vibe, loud music, lots of people. The bluff pool was quiet and for people like us who just wanted to read and snooze.
We learned that in order to get a good seat at the bluff pool you needed to have your butler reserve your seats the night before.
This is the work of Don the butler.
For lunch we would usually call Don and have him bring it to the pool or we would eat in the room to get a break from the sun. After reapplying sunscreen, we were off to the beach. And for those of you who know me well, I am proud to report that I actually GOT IN THE OCEAN!
We also spent some afternoons in our private pool.
After talking to our pool guy, who promised that sharks were not allowed in St Lucia and told me St Lucia was NOT Florida, he and Josh talked me into going snorkeling. We snorkled for about 35 minutes at Rusty's cove.
I read 3 books while we were there. Besides walking to the pool or beach, we did absolutely nothing. And it was amazing. Having a butler only added to the laziness. Don was awesome. They gave us a cellphone and called it "American Express", telling us it's everywhere you want to be. All we had to do was hit send and it would call Don. He made dinner reservations for us, made meal suggestions, and basically did anything he could to make our trip special. I was afraid that having a butler would be awkward, but I adjusted:) This is a picture of us with him before dinner one night. He was a really animated, funny guy.
One of my favorite things that he did for us was turn down service. He found I liked chocolate and this is what we came back to a few times.
So. Good.
This was Gordon's, one of the restaurants that Don arranged for us.
And speaking of food, this was Josh's dinner one night. It was sea bass, topped with shrimp. He didn't realize when he ordered it that his meal would have a face.
One of the big surprises of the trip was our vow renewal ceremony. Josh and I decided to do that as a celebration of not only 6, almost 7, years of married, but a celebration of surviving school. The last few years were hard and it is by God's grace that we not only made it, but are stronger for it. Josh met with the wedding planner and worked all the details out, the only thing I had to do was write my vows and show up. I was surprised that morning that I was actually a little nervous. I was even more surprised that I started to tear up as I was walking towards Josh and then continued to tear up during the whole exchange of vows.
I walked on to the beach to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", the IZ version.
I love that we wrote our own vows this time around and I love that it was just Josh and I. Fun fact, these are the same outfits we left our wedding reception in.
Our last night there Don set up a private dinner for us on our deck.
As anxious as I was go get home to my baby, part of me was really sad to leave. I loved being with Josh and not having to be anywhere or do anything. And the views were pretty spectacular.
The flight back to Atlanta was rough. We came home during the storms that actually shut down the Atlanta airport for a little while. We were supposed to land in Atlanta at 8:20 pm Saturday night. However, long story short, it was after 9 pm before we landed and after midnight by the time we got thru customs and got our bags. The laundry has been washed and put up and my tan is fading, but this was a once in a life time trip that Josh and I will reminisce about for years.
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