Yeah I guess I owe you an entry
I said I'd write about the honeymoon. It was really fun. We went on a Royal Caribbean ship to the southern Caribbean islands for seven days. We boarded the ship from San Juan, spent a day at sea, and hit Barbados first. We took a tour of the island in a van. It is a pretty poor island... lots of dilapidated houses. We went to a rainforest and walked through it, always keeping an eye out for monkeys but none were ever spotted. We went to a wildlife reserve where we actually did see monkeys. It was weird and a little scary because it's not like zoos around here where there's a fence that separates you from the animals. Matt and I walked down paths alongside giant tortoises [horny tortoises... they were all mating!! Grosssss]. We looked up at one point and there was a monkey on a branch directly above Matt's head by maybe a foot. We also saw deer and other animals that looked like a mix between a rabbit and a deer, wild birds, and iguanas and snakes. Fun times. The best part though was my first snorkeling experience. We took a small glass bottom boat out on the water and we arrived at a spot where giant sea turtles like to hang out. We actually got in the water with them. Since I'm not a great swimmer and I didn't know how I'd react to giant turtles around me, the boat assistant tied a life jacket around my waist so i wouldn't drown. After a little hesitation, I hopped in the water. No sea turtles. Well none until they started throwing food in the water. I looked down and directly under me, maybe 12 feet, was a huuuuuge turtle. I got scared and swam away from it as my heart nearly beat out of my chest, but I got used to them and it was neat to watch. They didn't come too close and whenever I got scared I just swam over to Matt. Once I got out of the water I was done for the day. Snorkeling was a big feat for me. I should've gone back in though. The driver took us to another spot where there was a sunken ship. Matt snorkeled there but I had had enough excitement and tried to see it from the boat.
St. Lucia was our favorite island. We took a great tour. The van was way nicer than the one on Barbados. Our first stop was a banana plantation where they talked about how banana trees grow, and we got to try some . They're smaller and sweeter than the ones we have here. After the plantation, we had breakfast which included fresh mangos, some fruit that had an appley texture, and different fried dishes. We drank rum punch ALL day. It was really good because it had spices in it like cinnamon and nutmeg. The guys were also drinking the local beer, Piton beer. We visited an active volcano at Sulfer Springs... P.U. It lives up to its name. We had lunch from a local bakery- fresh hot bread in the shape of a giant chicken drumstick so it had a handle, and they gave us fresh cheese to put inside, so it was like grilled cheese. We ended at a Hilton resort between the Piton Mountains, where we went swimming. The water was so warm and blue. Very beautiful.
We also went to Antigua where we hiked and flew down zip lines. The first zip line was scary because you're above a lot of trees hooked to a cable, and your hand is your brake. If you misjudge when to brake, you're stuck on the cable and have to pull yourself in. The hike was hard because at some points you had to hike down really steep parts of the mountain by side-stepping so as not to slide down on your butt. The end was worth it though because we arrived at a beach to an awaiting catamaran, where we ate lunch and snorkeled. The water was choppy and I got a mouthful of saltwater so I kind of panicked thinking I was going to drown, but I got over it. Plus the people on the boat were saying to avoid the giant sea urchins and that someone would have to pee on you if you got stung so I was nervous because once I got in the water and looked toward the floor, there were sea urchins everywhere. Nothing like the glass bottom boat on the calm blue water in Barbados. On the way back to our ship, the crew had a dance party and a limbo contest so that was fun.
On St. Maarten, we went to Orient Beach. It's famous for its nude beach side, but we didn't venture that far. Although.... three or four either fat, ugly, old or all of the above in one case, women walked by topless. Free spirits. I know I wouldn't have the guts, although Matt and I kept daring each other to do it. We stayed on the clothed side and rented some lounge chairs with an umbrella attached for shade. The water was really warm and we swam a lot. Matt decided that it would be fun to rent a jet ski for a half hour. I was nervous but they gave us life jackets. Matt drove that thing like a maniac while I bruised my butt slamming into the waves he was jumping and held onto his life jacket for dear life. It took me about ten minutes to realize that if I life my butt off the seat during the jumps it wouldn't slam into the seat. Rookie mistake. I screamed my lungs out and laughed nervously for a while, and then I got the guts to try driving. It was scary, but a lot of fun. We switched back again to let Matt drive, but I asked him to stop a minute so I could look around. We stopped and we both accidentally leaned to the left a little. Splash! We both landed in the water and capsized the jet ski. I FREAKED out and as Matt said "walked on water" to hastily tip the jet ski upright and climb on again. Matt was laughing and he got back on. After some more wave hopping, we were called back in. About an hour before our taxi came back, we stopped at this great restaurant on the beach for lunch. The people who own it are actually from New York and New Jersey I think. I had the best beer battered sea scallops in the world with a side of onion rings. I think Matt had some kind of buffalo chicken sandwich. Awesome meal. We watched to see what other people ordered and everything looked excellent. All of a sudden this woman pushing 350+ pounds comes walking in TOPLESS with her husband in tow and takes a seat at one of the picnic tables. It was funny to watch the owner interact with her, because I know that I would accidentally look at her boobs if I had to talk to her, but the owner and the customer were sooo laid back about it. They talked like they were old friends. I'm sure she sees boobs every day though. It was a weird experience nonetheless.
St. Thomas was boring because we didn't make any excursion plans. We walked through the port to see what there was for shopping, but nothing caught our eyes. We got back on the ship and hung out all day. We probably each gained about ten pounds on the cruise. We were very well fed, and even when meals weren't being served the dining room was open all day so you could constantly grab snacks. It was so much fun, and Matt and I are talking about going back to St. Lucia someday.
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(Anonymous)
2009-01-05 07:20
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Hey Jeannette! I know you haven't written in a while, but Tag! You're it! (to go my latest blog entry to see what I mean)
Hope married life is treating you well!(Reply to this) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2009-01-05 07:21
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Hey Jeannette! I know you haven't written in a while, but Tag! You're it! (to go my latest blog entry to see what I mean)
Hope married life is treating you well!
Jill(Reply to this) (Thread) |
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