Hello! We're back from the wedding and honeymoon!
I don't have any wedding pictures yet. The professional ones will be done in about 4-6 weeks but if you haven't seen my sister Amy's pictures yet they're on her blog.
I do have honeymoon pictures though! Mike and I went to St. John, USVI, in the Caribbean. We stayed at the Caneel Bay Resort in room 57 on Cottage Point, between Caneel and Scott beaches. The room was great. It was fresh and clean, it smelled nice, it had a beautiful view of the bay and Honeymoon Beach and a nice deck. Mike and I enjoy walking so although they have shuttles going around the Caneel grounds, we walked the paths from beach to beach and to the restaurant.
We snorkeled almost every day, making sure to hit up all of the different beaches on the resort. We rented a jeep one day and visited the famous Trunk Bay. It was definitely the prettiest beach we visited and had the best snorkeling. We saw beautiful coral and a ton of fish but no turtles, octopi, sting rays or eel (all were said to live there but.. we didn't see them). We went early enough that we got our swimming in before the crowds showed up. We also went for a burger at Skinny Legs. The burgers were cooked perfectly to order- yum! It's a laid back restaurant that didn't seem to mind that I was wearing my swimsuit and a cover-up.
We also spent some time in Cruz Bay. Our favorite restaurants ended up being Morgan's Mango and Margarita Phil's. The food at the resort wasn't that great (especially for the ritzy ditzy pricing) so paying to take a taxi into town was totally worth it. The food at both of these places was great. Margarita Phil's was a little more relaxed just because the bartender and the servers were so friendly and casual. They enjoyed their jobs and it felt like we were hanging out at a friends house. We ate at the bar and enjoyed our conch fritters, margarita's and fajitas. So good!
We also spent a day and took the Caneel Boat over to St. Thomas to do some shopping. We picked up a couple things but the best part about our visit was the food. Surprise! We ate at Gladys 's Cafe. They are known for having the best local food in the area. I was still tickled by the conch fritters that I'd tried at Margarita Phil's so I decided to order a dish of lemon butter conch and Mike got the Oxtail. Both were delicious. I love the hot sauce on the islands! It's nice and hot but I feel like the heat comes on with a big, open POW and then leaves just a bit of tingle on your lips.
Other highlights:
- the Caneel boat serves rum punch each time you take it
- we happened upon a steel drum band one night while walking through Cruz Bay
- random donkeys wandering the Caneel grounds, along with deer, iguanas and mongoose
- nobody in the Caribbean knows how to make a Mai Tai (and while I realize I need to go to the other side of the world for the best Mai Tais, I still insist that anyplace serving fruity drinks should know how to make a decent Mai Tai)
- fresh towels and sheets every day!!
- Yes, we wore tons of sunscreen, stayed in the shade, and wore hats - therefore, no burns for us!
- Caneel Bay has virtually no night life, so 2 nights of our vacation were spent playing "Sorry!" (picked up from the concierge desk) and drinking the complimentary rum that came with the room
- Mike did very well at driving on the left side of the skinny roads
- Because the Caneel food was so expensive and lackluster, we bought groceries at the store in town and made our own lunch and breakfast most days. I enjoyed these meals, eaten on our deck.
- In the top picture, I am planning the seating placements for the wedding
- In the picture where I am passed out reading on the bed, I am clothed (!), you just can't see my shorts.
We had a great time and although it took a couple days to wind down we got some excellent relaxation time.
