Day 5: Antigua

Today was wonderful! Dave & I got up early and hit the Canopy Tour. We did 9 ziplines over the trees & such, and then did the “Leap of Faith” jump off the last tree platform. It was a beautiful drive across the island. We saw all the children making their way to school in their varying uniforms. I was amazed at how far some of these LITTLE children walk to make it to school. This island is definitely very big on education. This is a very populated island, but it didn’t seem too overcrowded to me. It is hilly, and very green.

After our tour, we hit downtown area, and shopped a bit. The people selling here are pretty persistent. One woman tried talking Dave into buying a hat – and kept putting it in his bag – trying to get him to take it. It was pretty amusing though. Most of the shops we saw today just carried a variety of the items we’ve already seen on the other islands. However, it was fun to see the people.

We got back to the ship while it was before noon – so we ate & hit the pool. Dave bailed a little early & went back for a nap. Once I got sunned out I joined him, and woke up 3 hours later – to get my BCA (Body composition analysis), in the gym. It was pretty interesting.Tonight was our Caribbean night – we ate great food – listened to various music all over the ship, and called it a night. So far – Antigua is my favorite island!

Day 4: St. Maarten

This was not the best island yet… L We rented our car early from Best Deals (yeah right!?). We got a Jeep Wrangler right off the boat. We got about halfway to our destination of Orient Beach (on the French side of the island), when we got the start of a flat tire. So, Jon flipped around & drove as fast as possible back to town, before it went totally flat. We called & a new Jeep was brought to us. So – we turned back on the road to make it to the beach. We got to LITERALLY the exact same spot, and got another flat on our “replacement” jeep. So, we had the Dave & Jon fix the flat while Amber & I soaked up some rays. After a little bit, all was well, and we finally got on the road & made it to Orient Beach. The beach was lovely – rather choppy water, but beautiful. Let me first note that apparently, clothing is optional at this beach… YIKES! Fortunately – most of the “nude” section was around a ways from where we were. Anyway, we rented jetskies and hit the water, Dave and I on one, and Jon & Amber on the other. Dave almost bucked me off several times because he was going too fast – ahhh! After the jetskies, we hit up parasailing… Dave & I went tandem… it was very fun! We saw several sea turtles from the above view, and fortunately, no sharks!

(Notice in this picture, that the color of the jeep is different than the first? This was our replacement rental after the first one got a flat) :(

After our water sports, we ate a delicious lunch on the beach. I had the grouper with yummy garlic potatoes and veggies. We left after lunch to head back to town (for fear that any more exploring would give us another flat tire!!). On route, we hit a yummy Patisserie/Boulangerie (Pastry shop/Bakery). I got to use a little bit of my French for the first time.. well, ever really. It was fun. We drove to Front & Back street in St. Martin and did some shopping. Overall – St. Martin has fun activities, but is a dirty place… pretty up in the hills, but the city was not very clean.

After returning to the ship, I went to a class in the ShipShape fitness center w/ Amber, and then got a workout in afterward – while Dave & Jon roamed the ship in search of a snack J. Before dinner, the ship was having an Art auction. It was SO cool – I enjoyed watching the start of it before we left to eat. At dinner – it was Italian night, which was a bunch of delicious food – Scallops and risotto for appetizer, Chicken Marsala & Tiramisu (of course). Our table-mates were with us tonight for the first time - a group of 6 from Norway. They were extremely friendly and pleasant to chat and dine with. We will see them again for our remaining dinners.

Day 3: St. Thomas

We arrived early this morning at St. Thomas. The weather was beautifully clear & very warm! We ate an early breakfast on board the ship, then headed off the ship. We hit Havensight mall first thing on the pier area. There were lots of little shops – selling perfume, jewelry, souvenirs and the like. We meandered through there – then caught a cab to take us over to Maegan’s Bay. The drive across the island was beautiful – and VERY hilly! There are tons of turns and hills (overlooking large cliffs). The cabs there are usually large trucks with built in seating on top of the back of the truck. Pretty interesting – but gives a great view. We arrived at Maegan’s Bay pretty early, and got some great spots right on the beach. We swam around in the water for quite a while before planting it along shore to catch some rays.

After about an hour and a half or so – we left, and went to Blackbeard’s Castle. It was a fun historical visit – then came down through some “original” homes that still had the décor of the day… this led us to 99 steps – another historical place. We pounded down the hill and ate some lunch at a local place – Gladys’ Café. It was yummy food – with fun people there. Someone kept playing “Endless Love” on the stereo in the background – and was belting out the music… but they didn’t really have the best voice. It was pretty comical.

We heard that all the shops closed early because it was Sunday, so we ran out from lunch – split up… Dave went with Jon, and Amber and I went to hit the tent-shops, so we could get some deals. We both found some purses, sarongs and tried our best at bartering… not too effective for a woman to do alone… I’d rather Dave had been there. Nevertheless – it was fun. Dave & Jon had some good luck shopping – the both bought new watches – at a great deal! We met up with the guys in some local shops, and made our way back to Havensight… perused some more, and I found some perfume. I love a good deal!
Once back on the ship – we lounged for a while – I napped, Dave roamed the ship some, and then we decided to go play a round of Miniature golf on the top deck. I lost by one stroke L I was defeated… dangit. After that (and being totally windblown!), we headed down to get ready for our formal night of dinner. Dinner was great, and our service was too. Our waiter – Alberto – was telling us about his schedule etc. on the ship. He is from the Phillipines, and his wife & 4 kids live there… but he works on the ship – 6 months on (straight – no days off!!), then 2 months off. He has been doing this for 17 years, so he can give his family a better go with education and the like… Anyway – he is a really nice guy!After dinner we went up to the Safari club to watch some Karaoke. It was your typical mix – some really good, and others not so much. I finally got the nerve up to go up there, and when I went to sign the list – they were closed for the night L So – I’ll try my luck again on Thursday.

Day 2: San Juan & Begin Cruise

Today we checked out of our hotel bright and early to return the rental car. We took a shuttle over to the cruise ship to check our baggage, but they were not yet accepting check-ins yet L So – one of the taxi drivers that was waiting in the long line of taxis told us of a place in Old San Juan Barrianos– a restaurant –that would store our bags for free! Yay! So we paid a ridiculous cab fare and went into Old San Juan – dropped our bags and ate some breakfast at a darling bakery –El Meson – that was right next to pigeon square. We ate yummy picadillos & pastries!We hit Pigeon square after eating, and were not totally impressed. The pigeons were crazed! Yikes – flying everywhere… which I suppose is what pigeons do?! Then – we hit shopping, seeing TONS of shops on these little narrow streets. The buildings there are great – bright colors (and varying colors) stacked right next to one another. The streets are an old brick shaped cobblestone. Drivers there are insane!

We decided to break from shopping to see the old forts. El Morro is on the northwest point of the island of Puerto Rico – a very old (15-1600s) fort built to protect the Spanish from others sailing along with the trade winds from Africa & other countries. It is HUGE! There is such a grand space surrounding it – covered with grass, and then dropping of sharply to the ocean. A mile or two down is Fort Cristable. Both forts are connected by a huge city wall that is still in tact from the 1700s. Fort Cristable was meant to protect from any unfriendly visitors coming from inland. Both forts were very cool. We got to see dungeons and other interesting things. After walking around for quite some time – we all decided to go find some air conditioning. I must say – for a winter season, this was HOT… dripping hot, literally! We opted to eat at Café Puerto Rico – it was a few blocks from Fort Cristable. It was DELICIOUS! We had a variety of steaks, chicken in eggplant and chicken mixture in a bread/plantain bowl. I’ve decided that I really like Puerto Rican food – it’s good!

After lunch – we hit the last couple streets of shopping. We didn’t find any amazing deals, but had fun wandering the streets – in and out of shops. Dave & I stopped to get a caricature done – it was amusing. We headed back to get our luggage, and caught a taxi back to the ship – checked in & made our way on board. This ship is so big! Literally a floating hotel. We settled in – showered & checked everything out on our ship before our “safety emergency drill”. Then it was dinner time. Our food was very tasty & the table beautifully set. After dinner we went out on the top deck just in time to see the boat set sail. There was great latin music being played by the live band – it was great. Then we headed to another level of the ship to watch some entertainment. I only could hang there for a few minutes before the “motion” set in – I could feel a definite sway, so we grabbed the “motion” wrist bands & headed back to our room. Tomorrow is St. Thomas - I can’t wait!!

Day 1

We made it! Dave & I - along with our friends Jon & Amber started the fun today, and itwas SO amazing! We began our day bright and early in San Juan - renting our cute little Mitsubishi Lancer. After breakfast we headed straight out to El Yunque Rainforest (or National Park - as it were...). The area was so lush - thick with bamboo, ferns, viney trees and so many other varieties of foliage! We made several stops during our drive through - and got in a mini-hike. We saw a monkey - tons of birds, butterflies, and there is no telling what all saw us!? Yikes!
After leaving the rainforest we drove over to Luquillo and made our first trip into the water - it was a beautiful beach with coral colored sand. THe beach was totally dead - apparently this is the "cold" season in P.R. - and the locals stay away from the beach. Today it was in the high 80s... funny - cold?! We spent a while lounging on the beach, then headed to Fajabra on the east side of the island.

In Fajabra, we caught a plane (LITTLE!!! A 10 seater) with another few people - including a nice couple who filled us in on all the "hot spots". Anyway - we flew over to Culebra Island (snake island), which is a small island - about 7 miles by 2 miles. We rented mopeds and immediately headed to Flamenco beach. It was SO beautiful - this beach is rated one of the top 10 beautiful beaches in the world. Gorgeous white sands, and again - very few people there. We ate yummy bbq'd chicken on scewers, that some of the locals were making.

After leaving Flamenco beach, we headed across the island to Playa Zoni, stopping to get some fresh fruit - nothing like a fresh papaya & bananas! Anyway - Playa Zoni is supposed to be home to many sea turtles - sadly, we saw none :(. So - after a short stint in the shade, we took the mopeds through the hilly (& holey) roads (barely making it up some) to Melones beach. This was somewhat rocky, but very peaceful - NO other people were there. Very pretty!




Our time on Culebra was coming to a close, so we headed into Dewey - the main town (SO small!) and checked out some shops - got some Empenadas and other pastries and made one more drive through town before heading back to the airport. We flew back again on another very small plane and caught the sunset from our viewpoint. It was spectacular! After arriving back in Fajabra, we drove back to Isla Verde (where our hotel is) showered, and then headed out for a late dinner. We ate at this Puerto Rican restaurante called Platos - it was absolutely, without a doubt the BEST meal I've EVER had! For appetizers we had fritters of various types with a guava dipping sauce and a lightly fried spinach & risotto balls with a spicy sauce. Dave & Jon both had Tiger prawns wrapped with a tender, juicy steak and a yummy house rice with beans, sausage etc. I had the Mahi-mahi with a guava - coconut sauce, and then had ripe sauteed plantains - YUM! Amber had a pork chop with guava - Overall - the food was amazing!! It's hard to believe that we have another week to do fun stuff.

T-minus 12 Hours!!

So the final countdown begins! We leave tomorrow morning EARLY to fly to San Juan. It has been crazy and chaotic getting everything in line for the kids (& Mandy) while we'll be away. Derek is starting to realize that we are leaving, and so everytime we walk away - or leave for a while - he freaks out. I think at 2 it's nearly impossible to grasp the concept of "be gone for 10 days & then come back". Sad, really!

However - It will be a great time for Dave & I. We'll be sure to post pictures during our trip.

It's a MURDER MYSTERY!!!

Dave went as "Hannible Schecter" and I was "Aretha Garlique". It was hillarious to play the game in character. Dave ate people (thus, hannible the cannible??!!), and I was a crazy clairvoyant.










Dave, er, Hannible & Josh -- and the Mummy of King Aldrinktotat













The whole group - Mummy, Lizzie Bordeaux, Balihi, Asthadamus - The Prince of Dimness, Dr Deth, Hannible, Madame Garlique and Glumda - the Wicked witch of Depressed!

AUTUMN TIME!!

Hailey & Derek looking cute at Gardner Village (notice the bag of candy in front of Hailey & the sucker in Derek's hand!)















I think Derek looks a little unsure of what the deal w/ the pumpkin is.










Dave showing off his pumpkin carving skills to Hailey -- he has skills! :)

Dave & I recently at our friend Aaron's wedding.

I'm up & blogging!

I'm so excited to finally get a second to get this going! I have so much I want to post to keep my family & friends in the loop. Life has been busy for all of us lately - like it is for all of you! Dave and I are getting ready to celebrate our anniversary on Tuesday - the big 3 :) We leave for our vacation to Puerto Rico & a Southern Caribbean cruise on Thursday morning. I can't wait to be on the plane so I can have the stress of getting ready to go behind me. As anxious as I am, I will miss the kids SO much! Hailey will be okay w/o us, but Derek may give us the silent treatment for days upon our return.

At any rate - I hope you will check back in, as we love to keep in touch!