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I would like to apologize in advance for a few things…
~ neglecting my blog for so many weeks
~ subjecting you to a horrifyingly large amount of vacation pictures
~ being forced to view me in a swimsuit countless times in aforementioned vacation pictures
We had splendid time on our cruise… what a neat way to go on vacation. You get on a giant boat… they feed you, and give you a bed. Then they drive you to a gorgeous island, you get up, go explore for a few hours… lay on the beach, then go back to the ship, grab a snack, a nap & a shower before you head down for dinner. Your biggest decisions for the evening included whether to order 2 deserts or 3, and which show to go see (the stand-up comedian, or the broadway musical). Then they take you to a new island, and the cycle continues… Not to say it was a flawless vacation. But a wonderful way to travel and see a bit of the Caribbean.
For your viewing pleasure, I’ll work through the week chronologically… please keep in mind that these are all shot with a point and shoot camera, and I did not take all of them (obviously, I’m in 1/2 the shots!!) FYI -the other couple in all of the pictures is my brother, Korey and sister-in-law (and high school best friend), Kelly. We used to go on little trips together all the time (as in camping, casino’ing, etc.), that was all before kids though mind you. But we’ve been talking about doing a cruise together for about 4 years. So it was nice to go, and I know this won’t be our last!
SAN JUAN~
Our Sunday travel day was smooth, got right on the ship and got situated in no time!
ST. THOMAS-ST. JOHNS~
Monday we arrived bright and early in St. Thomas. We took a ferry ride to a beach called Trunks Bay in St. John’s. It was GORGEOUS. We all agreed that we would love to come back to this island and stay longer. It was definitely my favorite island of our trip. Wanna see my new screen saver ?
We snorkeled here at Trunks Bay through there underwater guided trail … there were lots of gorgeous coral and fish… it was a lot of fun!
Every time we got back to the ship, my brother insisted we stop someone to take our picture in front of the boat… he was very insistent… whatev. Oh, and those drinks Kelly and I are holding… the BEST Pina Colada e.v.e.r. Seriously. I could go for one right now. The place was called BONES (in St John) and they would fill up your glass with the pina colada mix, and then hand you the bottle of rum, and let you fill it as full as you wanted…who does that?? Then back to the ship for more gorgeous views. St Thomas almost tricks you into thinking you are somewhere in Greece. (Well not that I've ever been there, but the harbor with all of the boats sure reminded me of it)
DAY AT SEA! Tuesday was our only day at sea. This is were I must say my trip took a bit of a turn for the worse. I was plagued with nausea like you wouldn't believe. Thinking it was sea sickness I think I took a few types of sea sick meds, which didn't help. So I didn't sleep much all night, and didn't even make it out of my room on Tuesday. By Tues afternoon, I realized that I've must've come down with a stomach bug (and not sea sickness), so I went to the ships infirmary… I don't know if that was a mistake or not, but you will be happy to know they take stomach bugs extremely seriously. Yes, they quarantined me to my room for another 24 hours. Yep. No islands, no dining plan, no evening show... not that I was feeling up to it. But I groggily went back to my room with some powerful meds to sleep it off. So I missed ALL of Tues & Wed… that really sucked. But I felt great after that... and was ready to enjoy the rest of our 4 days.
ST. LUCIA
Thursday we did an all day open-air Jeep Tour of St. Lucia. It was the best tour… WOW!! We used Jungle Jeep Tour (and Shal was the BEST guide) The island is beyond stunning… They shot parts of Jurassic Park there… my little point and shoot camera in a moving vehicle does not do it justice.
Our tour guide for the day was pretty well-known on the island…everyone came up to his van for a drink of his special ‘jungle juice’ (rum punch). He took us to a sulfur springs spot for a ’spa treatment’ (this includes rubbing mud all over your body), and then driving us to a really pretty hot springs waterfall to wash it all off!
DRESS UP! Irrefutable proof that we showered & groomed every night!
ST. KITTS~
Friday was St. Kitts… yet another very pretty island. We went to Cockleshell beach and soaked up the sun. The beach was beautiful, the drinks flowing, my beach chair, umbrella and book was all I needed. Aaron's mission I think was to support the local brewery's (HAHA!!) he drank a bucket of STAG beer (locally brewed).
ST. MARTIN~
This was another beach day for us! We were running low on funds by this point, so we just took a little taxi ride to a nearby beach. I can not stress how gorgeous the water and beaches were everywhere on our trip.
And how can I go without showing some candid bloopers. Yep. Here are some pictures of us being super cool and mature… 
SAN JUAN~
Sunday morning we were back at our original port of San Juan. We took a tour of the Bacardi factory… our flight wasn’t until 5pm, and we had to do something! Nothing like drinking rum at 10 in the morning to get your day started off right. But the Bacardi tour and history was pretty interesting.
Sunday night, things went downhill fast… We spent the better part of 6 hours in the San Juan airport killing time until our late flight (FYI - not the greatest airport for hanging out), then we landed in Charlotte, NC, only to find out that our connecting flight was canceled. Of course, Minnesota would get a snow storm the DAY we come back from vacation. We got to the ‘help’ desk, and they told us the first flight out was Wednesday at 10pm…FOUR days!! Seriously, this is 2011 people! I was mildly freaking out telling the 'babysitters' that, "I hope you like my kids... cuz' the are all your for 3 more days!!" Fortunately, I have pretty great friends. Thank you Cindie and Ashleigh!! After spending many hours on the phone early Monday morning, we were able to secure a fight home on Tuesday afternoon.
Well. That's it!! Thanks for making it through all those pictures… All and all... a fabulous fabulous trip. It was so nice! But it's also great to be home in my own bed.
And... I'm more inspired than ever.… I have lots of fun stuff coming soon, so stay tuned!
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