Vacation 2010 - St. Lucia

I can't believe that a week's vacation has already come and gone. It's funny how time seems to pass like a blink of an eye. Let me share with you our vacation day by day.

Sunday February 7th
Woke up at 3:15a.m. to be ready for our airport pick up at 4:00a.m. This was to give us enough time to get to the airport and check-in and hopefully get seats together for our 6:15a.m. flight. We got to the airport by 4:30a.m. and it was very busy. Unfortunately we did not get seats together but we both got aisle seats a few rows away from each other.
We then had to wait in a really long line-up to get through security. Something we are not used to as we often travel during non-peak times. The flight there had two movies. Where the Wild Things Are and Fame. They were ok. I think the highlight of the plane ride was the champagne and orange juice that was served with breakfast.
Our plane touched down at 12:30 St. Lucian time (they are an hour ahead) and it was wonderful to walk out of the plane into warm air. We got through customs, picked up our bags and boarded the mini-van to our resort. It was a long windy ride, which unfortunately doesn't go well with me as I don't travel very well. I managed to keep it together though and there were not accidents but I was very happy to get out of the bus and into our resort (Almond Morgan Bay). Our room was ready so we were able to check-in right away. It had a nice view of a garden, the wedding gazebo and the Caribbean ocean. Unfortunately by the time we arrived all the restaurants were closed until dinner (lunch time had passed). Fortunately I had packed some snacks so I ate those. We wandered down to the beach then took a nap and then it was time for dinner.
At many resorts there is a buffet restaurant but here most of them are a la carte. I had mushroom rissotto for dinner and it was delicious.
Then it was off to bed to recover from our day of travelling.

Monday February 8th
Woke up feeling much better after a good night sleep. I flipped on the TV and guess what I found? Breakfast television! I was so excited. It was great to see how cold it was back here while we were enjoying the warmth of the island. We got ready and headed to breakfast. It's very nice to have someone cook it for you. Agnes the egg lady was very pleasant and it was a wonderful way to start the day.
Raju wandered off to check on internet access and I went to the hotel and tour orientations. During the hotel orientation I learned that there was a snack bar in the kids area that is open all the time that we could have gotten a snack at the day before. Oh well....probably for the best as I would not have wanted to eat dinner if I'd eaten a late lunch.
After the orientations I met up with Raju on the beach where we hung out for the rest of the morning. For lunch we went to the beach BBQ so we didn't have to dress up to get into a restaurant. We hung out at the beach for a bit longer and then headed back to the room for an afternoon nap. Then we headed to afternoon tea. It wasn't quite the Windsor Arms or the Royal York but still delicious. I took a liking to the chamomile tea while Raju stuck with his Earl Grey. After tea we wandered around the resort to check out the other pools and the snack bar. This time I felt like I had lost some weight and was not looking too bad, but wouldn't you know one of the employee's asked me if I was pregnant. Geez.....I just can't get away from it. Raju assured me that I didn't look pregnant but I think he has to say that. For dinner there was a BBQ on the beach. We shared a table with a french couple (he was from Montreal and she was from Cannes).
After dinner we headed back to the room to catch Chuck and then it was off to sleep.

Tuesday February 9th
This morning we woke up as usual, watched some Breakfast Television and then headed to breakfast. Eggs, baked beans and toast seem to be my regular for this week. We hung out in the lobby and checked e-mails and then I met our rep to book some tours. After that we decided to do some exploring on our own and took a cab into the Capital of St. Lucia, Castries. This is where the cruise ships dock. Those things are massive, like cities on water. Other than that there wasn't really much to see. Just markets that sell much of the same things the other islands do. After a short visit we grabbed a cab (which drivers are very pushy I must say) to return to the hotel. We had to take a detour as he needed to pick up his girlfriend on the way.
Once we returned to the resort we sat by the pool, where I read for a bit. Then it was back to the room where Raju took a nap, I watched General Hospital and read.
We had dinner at the Seafood restaurant this night (Morgan's Pier). It was named because it was like a pier and right on the water. Some tables were not in use though as the waves were kind of rough this night and water was coming right into the restaurant.
As usual, it was back to the room where we caught Lost before falling asleep.

Wednesday February 10th
This morning it was rise and shine with BT as usual followed by our regular breakfast. Today we went on a little tour of the rain forest. It was a Gondola ride. There was also zip-lining but Raju and I had both done that before and didn't feel the need to repeat it. This was much more relaxing.
Denver, our tour guide, took a liking to Raju, calling him Wolverine throughout the tour.
We returned to the resort in time for lunch and decided to go to the beach BBQ. For the afternoon we hung out by the beach napping and reading.
For dinner we went to the Asian Fusion restaurant (Bambou). I ordered Butter Chicken and while it was delicious, it was really just grilled chicken and rice. And you guessed it, after dinner we returned to the room for some TV watching and reading before falling asleep.

Thursday February 11th
We started our day off with our regular morning routine (BT and breakfast) and then it was for a day tour. We were headed to the town of Soufriere (meaning Sulfer in the air) which has the only drive in Volcano in the world. Along the way we stopped for casava bread (interesting) and local bread, visited a cocoa plantation and for a dip in a waterfall (this was very cold so I didn't go all the way in but Raju did). We also saw the Pitons, which are two moutains coming out of the sea. This time we sat at the front of the bus which was helpful with my travel sickness. This reminded me of when we were in Hawaii and did the Road to Hana tour. Very windy road, although I think I liked the scenery in Hawaii (Maui) better than in St. Lucia.
We returned to the hotel in time for afternoon tea. It was the perfect light snack to tide us over to dinner.
For dinner we ate at Le Jardin, the french creole restaurant. It was the only non open air restaurant and the most delicious one. I had the Lamb Columbo which turned out to be lamb curry with rice.
After a very filling dinner it was off to bed.

Friday February 12th
After our regular morning routine we spent the entire day at the beach. We found a perfect spot under a tree that allowed us shade at some points and sun at other times. The water wasn't too rough either. There was also a nice breeze blowing so there wasn't any need to move, except of course to eat.
For dinner there was a Caribbean buffet. And of course all that eating made us tired and we returned to the room for the night. I decided to call and speak to my Mom as they are on a cruise with Fariena and her in-laws. I wished them a good time (and was secretly jealous, because I would love to still be on vacation).

Saturday February 13th
Our last full day in St. Lucia. After our morning breakfast we hung out at the beach for the morning. I didn't venture far into the ocean as the waves were pretty rough today. Rough enough to warrant a red flag.
Lunch was buffet style in one of the restaurants. They had fried chicken which I found very yummy. Not at all nutritious but who tries to be health on vacation? After lunch we rested in the room for a bit and then decided to venture out in the opposite direction to a place called Rodney Bay. Again there wasn't much to see. It may be more of a night life area but we're getting a bit too old for that, so we headed back to the resort to relax and start packing. Dinner was a buffet again. I was surprised to see that it was all new food and not leftovers from lunch. Sometimes you'll see repeats between meals but not here. After dinner we headed back to our room to finish packing and our last night sleep.

Sunday February 14th
We woke up, and headed to breakfast. We were really going to miss having it made for us each morning. Raju tried to tell me it would be my job to do this when we returned home. HA!
After breakfast, we completed our packing and it was time to check out. By 9:30a.m. we were on our way. This time I took a gravol to make the travelling easier so I fell asleep. The next thing I knew we were at the airport. This time we were able to get seats together. We had a few hours to kill before our flight, so we wandered around and then had a snack before getting on the plane (you never know what plane food will be). The movies on the way back were The Invention of Lying and Love Happens. Again, they were both ok, but helped to pass the time. After those movies and and episode of The Adventures of Old Christine we were back in TO. We got through customs quite quickly but had to wait a while for our luggage. Two other flights had come in at the same time (Antigua and Cuba). While waiting there was a drug dog on duty. I got to see it in action as it started jumping on a girl in front of us. When their luggage came out the security guy had the dog smell it, but it didn't seem to get anything off of it. I'm not quite sure what happened after that though.
We finally arrived back home by 7:30/7:45p.m. and ordered pizza as we didn't feel like cooking (and also forgot about the food I had made and put in the freezer before we left).

All in all it was a very nice vacation, but Raju and I think that we may be islanded out. Everything just seemed to be what we've seen before and not as good as some other places. We know others have been to St. Lucia and loved it, but we decided there are other places we liked better (St. Maarten and Maui). We'll have to think hard about our next trip. Maybe it will be off to Europe.