The Honeymoon Finale

Okay, so I've been called out for posting a few too many negative feelings about our luxurious Caribbean getaway. And rightfully so. But before I get to the good stuff - and I promise that there IS good stuff - let me explain. We planned this trip waaaayyyy back in the summer, during the height of the wedding hoopla. I got it into my head that this was where we needed to go. (One downfall of being decisive is that it's very hard to change my mind once I've made it up.) The husband was understandably confused, because whenever we'd talked about a honeymoon, we'd discussed places like Paris or Greece or maybe New Zealand. Not an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. But I had seen a sale and we knew that we didn't want to wait until the spring. (Who wants to go to Paris in January!?) And New Zealand is far enough away that you really need two weeks, which seemed like a lot of my vacation allotment to use up so early in the year. I think I was also anxious to just cross something off of my very long to-do list.

So we booked. And I was honestly very excited about it right up until we arrived. It just didn't feel special enough.

It took me a couple of days to get past that disappointment and recognize that not only were we incredibly privileged to get to take a vacation like this AT ALL, but that this also wasn't the last trip we would ever embark on together. There's still time for Paris, Greece and even New Zealand.

All that said, here are the parts that we LOVED!

The resort grounds were gorgeous! Flowers and greenery everywhere. And so many pools tucked away in spots that we didn't even find the one with the cool swim-up rooms until halfway through our stay. And while the pools were beautiful - I'd never seen ones designed to just sort of slope downwards - we spent most of our time on the amazing beach. The water was so, so blue and just the perfect temperature - cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to just dive right in. Most of our mornings, after the tasty breakfast buffet, involved setting ourselves up in one of the handy blue tents and losing ourselves in our books. After about an hour, we'd cool off in the ocean and then back to reading for a bit more before another dip. At that point, one of us would go off in search of some BBCs.

Ah yes, the BBCs! Basically a milkshake of blended bananas, Bailey's and coconut rum. DIVINE!

We took a full day excursion, which involved an amazing boat ride, a visit to a volcano and a waterfall, and some snorkeling. That was my favourite day. We also climbed the two peaks of Pigeon Island, which was right next to the resort, to check out the ruins of British forts from the 1700s. We took a little catamaran-type vessel out ourselves, which was slightly more nerve-wracking than fun for me, but still awesome to be on the water.

Oh, and the service at the resort was super. They really spoiled us as newlyweds. There was a bottle of champagne upon our arrival and flower petals scattered about our room. We also got a complimentary breakfast in bed (we ate it on the balcony) and a complimentary dinner at the fancy restaurant out on the pier that wasn't part of the all-inclusive. (That was our best meal! Very tasty.)

We met some fantastic people and passed quite a few late-night hours talking with them. And, just generally, we had a lot of quality time together. Which is really what a honeymoon is all about. I have to remember that.

Here are a few of the highlights!