Honeymoon in St. Lucia: Day 7

I've finally made it to the end of our honeymoon recaps! I know they probably aren't the most thrilling to read, but I know that I will love having them to look back on. So thanks for sticking with me. :)

We woke up for our last day in St. Lucia to the most incredible storm. Rain in the rainforest is no joke! We did our best to stay dry and headed down for our next to last breakfast at the Bayside Restaurant. It was actually kind of relaxing to watch the rain and listen to the ocean while we stayed dry under the pavilion.

By the time we finished breakfast, the rain had stopped. After our couple days of adventure, we wanted to spend the last full day of our honeymoon just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Jalousie Beach has these super comfortable lounge chairs under straw umbrellas, and we decided to camp out there for the day. We laughed, read, napped, ordered lunch to our chairs, and indulged in some (very strong) sangria. The sun eventually decided to come out, and it was a perfect last day on the beach!

I (obviously) have such fond memories of our honeymoon, but something that I really remember from those lazy days on the beach is our "life" conversations. What our life together will be like, where we'll go, what we'll do, what our family will be like...all of those conversations that we know can come to fruition now that we are married (if they haven't already!) We also read a couple of great books that put the focus on what is really important after the wedding; our marriage. So, between all of the adventure and relaxing on our honeymoon, we also started building dreams, plans, and wishes for our life together.

When the sky started looking threatening again, we decided to head back up to our villa and sit on the patio. After spending some time in the pool, we acted a little bit ridiculous and played with the self-timer on my camera. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard.

From our villa, we watched our last beautiful sunset in St. Lucia...

...and then it was time to get dressed up for our last fancy four-course dinner at The Great Room. I miss that coffee and the incredible desserts. I would give anything for another Bailey's Chocolate Souffle.

The next morning, it was up bright and early for our last breakfast (amazing chocolate croissants...I don't know why we waited until the last day to try them!) and then to catch our ride to the airport. Before we left, Brian and I both had to say goodbye to our beautiful villa and the infinity pool. We were not happy to leave. :(

At the airport, we walked out onto the tarmac to catch our flight and said goodbye to the beautiful island of St. Lucia.

Our honeymoon was perfect in so many ways. It was just beyond blissful to enjoy being husband and wife; to take a week to recoup from the wedding, renew our love for one another, and to begin the next chapter in our life together. :)

Honeymoon in St. Lucia: Day 6

This week, I caught a feature about our honeymoon at the Jalousie Plantation on the Travel Channel's "Best of the Caribbean", and it reminded me to get a move on blogging about our trip! I mean, I do hope to share some of our wedding pictures eventually too. :)

When we first started planning and researching our honeymoon, I stumbled on some pictures of a couple covered in what looked like dark black mud. I had no idea what the story was, but I was definitely intrigued! After some research, we found out that St. Lucia is home to a dormant volcano, the "world's only drive-in volcano," which feeds the Sulphur Springs.

Locals say that slathering yourself in the mineral-rich mud from the volcano can make you look ten years younger. Brian and I don't necessarily need to look 15, but we jumped in anyway! Well, I guess jumped is kind of an exaggeration...considering the springs are SUPER hot. Like over 100 degrees! I was a little bit less skeptical than Brian and reached straight to the bottom of the spring and grabbed a handful of the clay-like mud. I was not about to miss out on discovering the fountain of youth! Brian took some convincing, but he eventually covered himself as well. We stood in the sun to dry and waited for the miraculous transformation to occur. :)

After donning a couple of "mudstaches," we rinsed off and assessed our new appearances. Besides softer skin (which I guess you'd expect after exfoliating with mud) and a slight greyish tint, we remained unchanged. :( So, we didn't discover the fountain of youth and we may have even been victims of the hugest tourist trap in history, but we had fun...and that's what matters! Afterwards, we got to check out the "drive-thru" volcano, where you can actually see still see smoke from its last eruption in the 1700s! During our honeymoon, I was also semi-obsessed with The Hunger Games, and appropriately kept referring to my hairstyle as a "Katniss braid."

After the volcano, we headed over to the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens. The biggest draw of these gardens is a huge waterfall! St. Lucia suffered a lot of damage from Hurricane Tomas in October 2010; we knew that much of the area around the waterfall had been destroyed, making it impossible to get to. We were so excited to find out that the paths had been restored and we could go see the Diamond Falls!

We also enjoyed wandering through the gardens and looking at all of the exotic plants. Brian's personal favorite was the Bird of Paradise; I loved seeing all of the cocoa growing! The sign even mentioned a certain factory in Pennsylvania where most of it would be sent. :)

Our next stop required a small hike from our villa. Even though it was a short distance away, we didn't expect to be walking down the side of a mountain! While getting there wasn't really an issue, walking back up was certainly not my favorite part of our honeymoon. :)

At the end of our "walk," we took a dip in the naturally occurring mineral baths at the base of the mountain. They were warm (much more comfortable to sit in than the Sulphur Springs) and fed by a small waterfall.

After our (strenuous) walk back up to Jalousie and a quick dip in the infinity pool (Brian could not get enough of that pool on our porch!)...

 ...we got pretty and headed out to another yummy dinner at the Bayside Restaurant!

It's hard to believe that it's been over three months since we got married and took this dream vacation! I have already started trying to convince Brian that we need to return for an anniversary trip...

Honeymoon in St. Lucia: Day 5

On our fifth day of our honeymoon, we left our resort, The Jalousie Plantation, for something I was just a little bit nervous about...ziplining! We knew that if there was ever a good place for this kind of adventure, the rainforest of St. Lucia was probably it; however, that didn't make me any less nervous!

When we got to the Morne Coubaril Estate, they fit us with harnesses and helmets and gave us a (very) brief safety demonstration. Then, suddenly, it was time to go. If I look a tad terrified in this pre-zipping picture, it's probably because I was!

Our guides showed us how to slow ourselves down by squeezing our gloved hand around the cable if we were going too fast, and on my first run I definitely utilized my brakes! After a stern warning that I would have to drag myself back hand-over-hand if I stopped myself in the middle, I got a little braver and zipped more quickly!

Zipping through the trees was definitely exhilarating, and at each tower we took in some incredible views of the town of Soufriere and the Pitons. On one run, they made me sit on Brian's lap and zip together; apparently it was "required" for honeymooners. I was not a fan of going backwards!

Post-zipping, we took to the Pitons Bay in a kayak made for two. While Brian paddled us out to sea, I took approximately a thousand pictures, went on and on about how blue the water was, and pointed out all of the fish and birds I saw (read: I was generally unhelpful in paddling our kayak). Brian was already a great husband though and pulled both of us without complaint. :)

The rest of the afternoon we spent by the pool, enjoying a relaxing lunch.

The entire week, we were looking forward to our Saturday evening at the Dasheene Restaurant at Ladera. We loved staying at Jalousie because it was right on the beach; Ladera is another resort high up in the mountains and has an incredible view of the Pitons! We knew we had to make the trip up there for dinner while we were in St. Lucia.

We got to Ladera and enjoyed a couple of drinks at the T'cholit Bar (a Pina Colada for me, and a Piton beer for Brian) while watching an incredible sunset.

After sunset, we were seated in the restaurant at a table with that same gorgeous view! This was the first place we had eaten that had pasta on the menu (and I love my pasta), so we both had a yummy pasta primavera dish with lots of local veggies.

After dinner, we headed back to Jalousie. I had a brilliant revelation and realized that we could still grab some dessert, because it was included in our all inclusive meal plan. So before heading back to our villa, we stopped by The Great Room for some dessert and coffee to end another amazing day in St. Lucia!

Honeymoon in St. Lucia: Day 4

The fourth day of our honeymoon in St. Lucia was probably the one we were looking forward to the most...the day of our treatments at the gorgeous Rainforest Spa!

We started the morning with breakfast at the Bayside Restaurant, and I decided to order two meals (it's no wonder I gained a couple of pounds on this trip!) Blueberry french toast, with a side of eggs and bacon. Yum! Brian enjoyed his favorite smoothie, the Wake Up, which was a delicious combination of Baileys, chocolate, and coffee.

 

After our yummy breakfast, we went down to the beach to do some snorkeling. 

 The water was so clear, and we were able to see a lot of coral and colorful fish. However, when I saw an eel swimming a handful of feet beneath me, I had seen enough! I immediately headed for the shore. :) 

Then, it was finally time to head to the spa!

The Romantic Renaissance package included our own private tree house treatment room with watsu pool and waterfall...

...hydrotoning facials, a 50 minute full-body massage, a light lunch of salads and smoothies, and relaxation time in the watsu pool with a bottle of champagne!

It was absolutely perfect, and definitely the perfect splurge for our honeymoon! Nothing compares to a massage laying in the middle of the rainforest listening to the chirping of the birds and the rushing water of the river. We left the Rainforest Spa completely relaxed and happy! :)

That night, a French couple was being married on the beach at Jalousie. We sat on the beach and watched all of the wedding guests arrive by boat into the harbor while the sun was setting. It was so neat!

Because their wedding reception was held on the beach at Bayside, we headed to the Great Room for another delicious dinner overlooking Pitons Bay.

I swear we ate more than just dessert on our honeymoon (in fact, this night Brian had the most amazing steak ever), but that's seemingly the only time we remembered to take pictures. :)

Honeymoon in St. Lucia: Days 2 and 3

The second and third days of our honeymoon in paradise were all about relaxation! The month leading up to our wedding was STRESSFUL, and the thought of laying on the beach or at the pool at Jalousie was something I looked forward to during that time. It was just as amazing and relaxing as I had hoped, if not more so. :)

We woke up each morning for a delicious breakfast at the Bayside restaurant on the water. Yummy french press coffee, omelettes, blueberry and banana french toast, pancakes, and chocolate croissants....it was all SO good. On our second day at Jalousie, we spent lots of time in our private infinity pool. I am pretty sure it was Brian's favorite part of our honeymoon location.

We also got acquainted with the Rainforest Spa for the first time for a relaxing foot massage...after which we immediately booked more treatments for later in the week.

Of course, I had to spend some time by the pool in the comfy hanging beds I had seen in pictures.

That night, we got dressed up for our second dinner at Bayside.

...which we ended with dessert and coffee, of course.

Day 3 started with the requisite breakfast at Bayside and some time at the beautiful Jalousie Beach, which had some of the bluest water I've ever seen! People from all over St. Lucia head to this beach because it is one of the best on the island...we were lucky that it was right down the mountain from our villa!

Not to mention that the beach chairs are more like beds...

Of course, the afternoon consisted of more time in the infinity pool.

That night, we decided to get a little more dressed up and try out the other restaurant at the resort, The Great Room.

While Bayside was more casual, this was probably the fanciest restaurant I've ever eaten at. We were seated out on the balcony with a gorgeous view of of the Carribean Sea.

We ate our meal in four courses and tried our hardest to remember which silverware to use first. :)

After two very relaxing days, we went to bed excited to find some adventure in St. Lucia (and anticipating our spa treatments the next day, too!)

Honeymoon in St. Lucia: Day 1

his past weekend, I got to see all of the beautiful pictures from our wedding! I can't wait to share them all with you...I have so many favorites that I don't know how I will ever be able to choose! While I wait for them to make their way to me, I'm going to share a bit about our honeymoon. As I mentioned, we traveled to beautiful St. Lucia and stayed at the Jalousie Plantation.

Brian and I have been blessed enough to do a lot of traveling together, but our honeymoon was by far the most relaxing, enjoyable, and incredible trip we have ever taken. Looking through these pictures almost takes me right back to our beautiful villa between the Pitons. But, let me start at the beginning...

Brian and I decided to give ourselves a couple of days after the wedding to recuperate and spend some time with family and friends who had traveled to see us tie the knot. On Tuesday, we headed to the airport (at 2:30 in the morning!) to catch our 6 a.m. flight to Miami. From Miami, we were off to St. Lucia!

One of the best things about honeymooning in St. Lucia is that we were there before we knew it! After just a 3 hour flight from Miami, we landed at Hewanorra International Airport to meet our transfer to Jalousie. Our driver navigated the very treacherous roads of St. Lucia (seriously, I cannot imagine how they drive there!) and pointed out some of the local sites, and we arrived at our resort by late afternoon!

As we pulled into the resort, we were given our room number: 803. I don't think we were even remotely prepared for the amazingly gorgeous private villa we pulled up to.

We immediately met our butler(!), who brought us glasses of rum punch, got us checked in, and made us dinner reservations for the night. We quickly explored our home for the week, turning every corner and reacting with excitement over how ridiculous this place was! We arrived in the sitting room to find a plate of fresh fruit, plantain chips, local rum, and a bottle of champagne waiting for us.

We were in awe of the bedroom...

...and the huge bathroom with claw foot tub and chandelier (because obviously bathrooms need chandeliers). Our villa even have a huge walk-in closet (with another chandelier, of course!)

But, our absolute favorite part was the terrace overlooking the Caribbean Sea with our very own infinity pool!

 

 

After relaxing for a bit and taking everything in, we got ready for dinner and headed down to see the beach and our first sunset in St. Lucia.

Just after sunset, it was finally time for our first dinner on the island! We were starving after our day of traveling and enjoyed an amazing dinner at the Bayside restaurant right on the water. I wish I had taken more pictures of the food, because it was incredible and I can't even remember all of the amazing dishes we had! Because we were on our honeymoon, we went all out! Appetizers, salads, main courses, and desserts at every meal...and it was all delicious!

It was an amazing first day in paradise!