Rather, I've simply been MIA from here for a while now. Fortunately, I have a good excuse - I've been on vacation!!! Yes, that does nothing to account for the other few weeks without writing but cut me some slack, please. With the semester winding down, this past month has been crazy busy at work. Bar prep is just around the corner so these next few weeks are my chance to catch up on everything that's been neglected for the past few months.
On to more interesting things...my vacation! Every 2 years or so my family tries to do a big vacation together. Our last one was to Aruba two years ago. This time it was off to St. Kitts with my parents, brothers, and older brother's wife. There aren't a ton of resorts on the little island (just 68 sq. miles), so we stayed at the Marriott Beach Club:
That was a stock photo pulled from the internet...the rest will be photos I took myself on our trip. We stayed in one of the little condos/villas instead of the hotel part. The hotel was very nice while the condos themselves were a bit outdated, but not too bad. With plenty of places to eat on site, you wouldn't even have to leave the property if you didn't want to...but we definitely got out to see a bunch of the island. They had a replica of the Nina, one of Columbus's ships, that was 50% of its actual size. Let me tell you, that 50% was small! If I had to cross the Atlantic on such a tiny ship, I would probably die from puking my guts out! Here's a pic of the ship:
Prior to our visit, I didn't know much about the island. It didn't take long to realize that there are basically two classes: the very, very wealthy and the very poor...the latter of which was in the majority. St. Kitts was the home of the first French and British colonies in the Caribbean. Sugar cane used to be the main industry on the island, but when St. Kitts (and its sister island, Nevis) gained independence in 1983, the industry suffered greatly. Without the British government to subsidize the sugar cane production/exportation, it began to fail. In 2005, the state-owned sugar industry was shut down and the population had to seek new means for survival. The solution was tourism...and in just two years (from 2007-2009) the number of visitors increased by about 40%. I'd be willing to bet that in a decade or so, the island will look completely different than it did on our visit. So here's how my trip went...
When we arrived on the island on Sunday afternoon it was a good thing our plane was able to stop because the end of the runway wasn't very far from the ocean's edge. Unfortunately, my luggage never boarded the plane in Miami so while the rest of my family was able to get cleaned up and change into something different, I wouldn't be able to do that until Monday evening. (Yes, I know I should learn to put a change of clothes and clean underwear in my carry-on...esp. since this isn't the first time I've lost my luggage) Here's a pic of me with my sister-in-law on the beach the day we arrived:
That's not a brown bagged adult beverage in my hand...it's bug spray in there! The resort had a casino on site so usually we spent a little time there every evening. I escaped the week only down about $80 - not bad for a week of roulette and free drinks!
On Monday morning, we decided to take an ATV (4-wheel) tour of the island. Before we left, we specifically asked the resort's activities director if we would get very dirty. He assured us we wouldn't. That bird was a liar! None of us have ever done the whole ATV thing before so we were pretty excited (and blissfully unaware of the filth to come).
See? All clean in that picture. The tour itself was a lot of fun - great scenery all around and it was really fun to fall back from the group a bit and then floor it to catch up!
The first picture above shows some of the dirt kicking up on the trail. The second is one of the many abandoned sugar mills on the island. This next picture is embarrassing, but it perfectly shows just how dirty we got on the ATV's:
How gross is that??? I literally have a dirt unibrow going on! That evening, I bought a pair of shorts and borrowed my Dad's t-shirt just to have something clean to wear...
On Tuesday, we took a "scenic railroad" tour of the island. It was a rather long trip and not incredibly exciting. I did enjoy the (sort of) free pina coladas they served on board. And it was a good opportunity to snap some nice pictures of the island:
The second shot above is one of my favorites from the trip. After the train tour, we took a cab up to Ottley Plantation for lunch. Though it was a bit hazy over the water, the views from the terrace where we had lunch were stunning. Then again, finding a beautiful view on that island wasn't very difficult.
The next day, Wednesday, four of us decided to go on the horseback riding tour through the rainforest. If you know me at all then you know that I love horses. I grew up with them and every time I go on vacation I try to do a horseback riding trip. In Aruba a couple years ago that was easily my favorite activity. It was a little different this time around. First of all, the horses were not in the best shape and were very small. I mean VERY small. How do you know your horse is small? If you stand next to it and your legs are longer than the horse's legs, it's prbaby a small horse:
Before we started our ride, the guide asked if we wanted a group shot. Of course we did! The picture we got back was a little less than complete...yet absolutely hilarious. Here it is:
Thursday was a day for zip-lining. I've never been, but my brothers and father have gone a couple times. Previously I was self conscious about my weight, but now that I've lost quite a bit I was comfortable taking on the zips. It was easily my favorite activity of the entire trip. Our guides were both really fun and personable and went by the names String Bean and Budweiser. What a great pair of guys:
The set-up was great and the harnesses kept you feeling very safe and secure (definitely a plus when you're about to be zipping 250 ft. above the ground!).
The feeling you get when you're soaring above the treetops was like nothing I've ever felt before. Beyond fun is what it really was. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun way to see a new place. The longest line was 1/4 of a mile long...so amazing! The only downside was be that it was too short. I would have loved to do some more zips!
That evening we took a walk along "the Strip" to take in the Caribbean side of the island for a change. None of the group photos were really great, but here is my favorite one from that evening:
On Friday, we took a cab to the southern peninsula of the island to grab some lunch and search for some monkeys. Along the way, we captured this shot that shows both the Atlantic and Caribbean sides at the same time:
The island is said to have thousands and thousands of green vervet monkeys everywhere. Until our second to last day there, all we kept hearing was, "This is usually a great place to see the monkeys but they don't seem to be out today." That was very frustrating! After lunch we went to Shipwreck Beach - a place that usually has wild monkeys since they feed them sugar cane. Happily, we FINALLY got to see some monkeys there!
As you can see, based on the number of pictures posted, I was really excited to finally see those little monkeys!
On our final full day on St. Kitts we just did a little shopping in the town where cruise ships come in. At the end of it all, this was another great trip filled with fantastic memories!
Haha... I like your "dam it" t-shirt! Cute.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much! It's easily one of my favorite t-shirts. :) And thanks for becoming a new follower!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy my humor t-shirts too. And you're welcome!
ReplyDelete:-)