Saint Lucia

Just a quick update today. We are enjoying our last day at Ladera before we have to leave at 4pm for a red-eye to London. Because Ladera is SO nice and hospitable, they are allowing us to stay in our room until 4 (even though check-out is at 11am), so we basically gained a full day of fun and relaxing!

It stormed all night last night - great for sleeping, but not so great for horses. We were supposed to enjoy our horseback riding tour this morning, but because of the lingering rain, lightning (which really frightens horses!), and muddy trails, they "strongly recommended" that we not go. We were disappointed, but appreciate the advice - better safe than sorry! - and were happy to enjoy one more day in paradise. We were also fortunate that they gave us a couples massage in place of our horseback riding tour that we won't be able to take - it was relaxing and fantastic!!!!

So far today, we've been lounging around reading and enjoying. One awesome benefit of the frequent rain bursts today was awesome rainbows at breakfast!!! I'll leave you with a few photos...

Wow, another AMAZING day. We feel SO lucky to have the opportunity to spend time in St. Lucia at Ladera – it has been PERFECT! We’ve been talking about how we’re sad to leave tomorrow – but at the same time, we have such amazing destinations in store for us, that we can only be excited at the same time!

Let’s start with last night. We stuck to the plan and had drinks at the bar. We had a STUNNING sunset – the best we’ve seen in St. Lucia, we believe. Here are some pictures! We even did a little wedding ring photo shoot – what can we say, we’re excited!

At the bar, we met the owner of Ladera’s daughter, and told her that we had gotten engaged at Ladera last year and spent the first nights of our honeymoon here this year. She thought the story was impressive and romantic, and was generous enough to buy us a bottle of champagne to celebrate! We are so appreciative – yet another example of how AMAZING and HOSPITABLE this resort is. As you know, we HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for a romantic getaway! (The one tiny caveat is that you must like the outdoors – it can get a bit hot, and I literally have upwards of 60 mosquito bites now! But it is SO worth it!)

Anyway, we followed with dinner. We had the most AMAZING sweet potato and cinnamon soup – OMG, I could eat this every day! Kev got the Filet Mignon (amazing, again), and I got the christophene-stuffed chicken breast (incredible!). We shared a chocolate lava cake, but I forgot to take a picture! I “tricked” Kev by sneaking into bed early, as the several drinks + bottle of champagne got the best of me, and we had a great night’s sleep.

This morning, we woke up early again to head out to the zipline tour. The “highways” of St. Lucia are a unique feature of the island – namely, there is only one “highway” (one-laned, in some parts) that goes around the island one-way. So, in order to travel a distance of about 1-2 miles, we drove about 80 minutes to arrive at the zipline course. Downside – VERY windy, bumpy roads = car sickness for Megan. Upside – the opportunity to get to see a LOT of St. Lucia, including several smaller villages, shopping centers, schools, and more. It was awesome!

Once we arrived at the zipline, we were guided to our equipment and helmets. Unfortunately, we did NOT bring Rover (our camera) along for the adventure, as he doesn’t like flying across vast distances at high speeds with no secure attachments. Let us just say, though, that the views were AMAZING! We rode on 11 zip lines, all through the rainforest of St. Lucia, and it was VERY exciting and beautiful! We had a blast!

When we got back, we ate lunch (chicken burgers for Kev, a salad with sweet potato-encrusted-date-balls for me!), and relaxed/ read by the pool. We each took a nap, and headed to the gym (a very short workout for me, as I’m still sore from yesterday’s hike!), then took up the bar/ dinner/ drinks routine. When we arrived at dinner, though, we found a General Manager’s Reception on the main pool deck, for drinks and appetizers. We met several other nice couples, also on their honeymoons, and enjoyed a great buffet of appetizers.

Once we sat down to dinner, we had vegetable soup (for me), and lobster bisque (for Kev), a gorgeous fresh, local vegetable salad, and then headed to the buffet. The first thing I saw was a “suckling pig” (disgusting!!!), but the rest of the food was incredible – especially the cauliflower! Here are my plate and Kev’s. We followed with a dessert buffet – I only took a picture of the sign because it’s so cute!

After dinner, we headed to the bar and listened to the band, and are now sitting in the room listening to the crickets and frogs and gazing at the stars. Even though there are no TVs/ radios/ mass media at the resort, we are following Game 6 online – GO CELTICS!!!! Tomorrow, we head out on an overnight flight to London and then connection to Dublin, so we’ll see you across the pond! Thanks to everyone for your comments – we love hearing from you!!!!
-Megan and Kevin

Today was awesome! Great hike up Gros Piton, followed by lunch at Ladera and floating around in our plunge pool (with several recovery Piton Beers). Life at Ladera is almost like a Corona commercial, but with Piton beers instead of Corona. Life can't get much better than this! Off to the bar to watch the sunset.

Another quick update for you, we’re still having an incredible time!!! Yesterday, we finished off with some more lounging in the plunge pool, some drinks at the bar, and another great dinner.
I had the vegetable cocktail for an appetizer and Kev had duck and plantain spring rolls (out of the box for him!!). For an entrée, Kev had the Dasheene shrimp, which was a little too spicy, and I had a vegetable soup with tons of grilled tuna on top - it was amazing!! For dessert, Kev had crème brulee in a cocoa shell, and I had passionfruit panna cotta.
Tough life! We hung around a bit more and got another good night’s sleep.

This morning, we ate breakfast overlooking the Pitons and the ocean, as usual. We’ve decided this is either our favorite or 2nd favorite part of the day, next to pre-dinner drinks. Both times are SO peaceful and quiet. For breakfast, they start you off with an “appetizer” of fresh fruit, and all the food is so fresh and amazing. The service here is also incredible.

After our breakfast, we drove to the base of Gros Piton, a mountain about 2,700 feet, and began our hike up. We had done this last year (the day after we got engaged!), so we knew what to expect, but it is always a bit daunting when your guide tells you how many people end up turning around and not making it! We surprised ourselves with how quickly we made it up – 1 hour, 23 minutes! The guide says his fastest time ever (while guiding) is 1 hour, 9 minutes, and slowest is over 8 hours (ouch!), so we were pretty happy. It is a tough hike – you have to “climb” up and use your hands several times, but no ropes or anything like that. The views are absolutely spectacular – I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! We had an amazing time and appreciated our guide, who taught us a lot about his village, let us smell a lot of fruit tree leaves, cracked open a coconut like a pro and let us drink the water and eat the flesh, and much more. It was a really good workout and a great start to the day! By the way, the dog in the picture also did the hike with us - it was SO crazy and amazing to watch!

When we got back, we showered and had lunch (mahi-mahi on a salad for me, chicken burgers and sweet potato fries for Kev), then read and took a nap. Now we’re lounging in the pool, and will start our routine of heading to the bar, eating dinner, and listening to the live music tonight! We’re having a BLAST!

Wow! This place is amazing. We are having an absolute blast and are relaxing SO much. Let me try to do a recap for you. Feel free to comment so we know if anyone is reading, if you want more details or fewer, etc.

Friday night/ Saturday morning we arrived in at our apartment (from Dallas) at 1:30am. We unpacked from the wedding, packed for the honeymoon, slept, ran, showered, and were out the door again at 8:30am! Besides a 2-hour delay for a missing screw on the plane (I am torn here - should we be annoyed that one silly screw in the cockpit kept us from flying? Or thankful that they paid such close attention? I think the latter!), the flight was uneventful. I couldn't even sleep because I was SO excited to get to Ladera!

We finally arrived around 4pm and the Ladera driver took us to the resort. We got to see a bit of "real" St. Lucia on the way - kids walking and biking in the street, small neighborhood bars, family barbecues, etc. The resort was even more beautiful than we had remembered. Upon our arrival, they gave us "Ladera Punch," a cold towel, and the general manager came to greet us. As return guests, we were upgraded to a 3-bedroom suite with 2 bathrooms (including an open air shower overlooking the ocean!) As all the rooms feature, we have a private plunge pool looking directly over the Piton Mountains and the ocean, and the entire room is open-air (so there is no 4th wall). It is a bit hot and there are tons of bugs, but that does NOT keep us from enjoying this paradise! Until you stay at Ladera, I think it's impossible to understand what it's like to be living "outside," hearing the ocean and the animals and birds, but also be in such a beautiful resort. I had some trouble uploading pictures into each post (which would have been better), but I'm not going to spend time figuring it out now. For now, I'll just keep adding to the Photo Album, and I'll mark the pictures by day. You can see in there several views from our room, the bar, and the AMAZING restaurant (Dasheene) where we eat all our meals).

Anyway, when we got to the resort, we enjoyed the view for a while (including a little moment standing beside the plunge pool which reminded me of when Kev proposed here last year!), then headed to the bar to grab a drink and watch the sunset, which was stunning! We met several other people who are also enjoying their honeymoons here!! We later headed to dinner, which also overlooks the Pitons and ocean. We started with tuna tartare to share which was SO fresh! Kev got a salad (only because it came in a "Parmesan basket!") and I got a Carribbean vegetable cocktail (with "regular" vegetables, pumpkin, and a few new ones like Cristophene!). For the entree, Kev got Filet Mignon (which was amazing), and I got Catch of the Day (tilapia, which was also amazing and again, SO fresh!). For dessert, Kev got the chocolate lava cake (of course!) and I got a fruit skewer with yogurt sauce. Yum!!!

After dinner, there was a live reggae band playing at the bar, so we sat there for an hour or so. They also had a fire dancer/ limbo guy, of whom I'll also share a few pictures! It was great music, fun, and relaxing, but we were tired after only 3 hours of sleep the previous night, so we went to bed early. We slept for about 10 hours, and it rained hard which is great music to sleep to

This morning, we wandered over to breakfast (highlights were pumpkin pancakes and grilled tomatoes!), then spent a while reading at the pool and getting some sun. We signed up for a 5-hour hike of Gros Piton tomorrow (expect great pictures!) and a Zipline Adventure on Tuesday. We hit the gym (which is also outside on a patio!), then came back and lounged in the plunge pool, read some more, and napped. I'll tell you, this is a TOUGH life!! Right now, Kev is getting a massage (which is included in our package), and my massage will follow. Tonight, we plan for another drink (or two!) on the balcony, another great dinner, and another relaxing evening. By the way, there are more visible stars here than anywhere I've ever seen - even Colorado! It's amazing!!

We are having SOO much fun - this honeymoon could not be more perfect so far! Just a few shoutouts, then we'll return tomorrow or the next day .... First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!!!!! Hope today is great and wish I could spend it with you! Second, thank you so much to my parents for the amazing camera. We have named it Rover, and are taking very good care of it. It's so much fun! It took Kev a while to allow me to touch it, but now I'm allowed! Third, thank you SO much to Pat and Gary for the gift of this resort - WOW! I don't know what we did to deserve this, but we certainly appreciate it. Last, thanks so much to everyone who came to our wedding or wedding party or sent us good wishes. We are still talking about what a dream it was!!!
xoxo
Megan and Kevin