Thursday, October 28, 2010

Honeymoon: Day 3

On day 3 we woke up around 8:30 and headed back to Bahama Bay for breakfast.  They had a huge breakfast buffet with lots to choose from.  I did stress a little that there were no egg whites and the french toast wasn't on whole grain, but I eventually got myself together.  The coffee there absolutely rocked! Jon didn't let me down on day 3- He managed to make about 4 trips to the buffet and down some coffee and orange juice like nobody's business.  We got our money's worth!

We headed back to the room around 9:45 for a short nap and decided it was time to hit up the gym.  We checked it out the day before and it was really nice.  The trainer introduced himself to us at the pool the day before too- Jesse.  He was a nut, but we really liked him (even though we couldn't understand him).  Jon & I worked out for about an hour.  It made us feel so much better after all that eating and laying around.  He rode the bike & lifted while I ran on the treadmill and lifted.  I love that we both love to workout & it's something we really enjoy doing together (not technically "together," but we are in the gym at the same time).  We headed straight to lunch after our workout. 

They had a huge salad bar with lots of fresh vegetables and fresh grilled fish every day.  It was perfect!  I don't get how people sat out by the pool and ate chips and salsa and pizza and nachos in the heat; particularly when there was such GREAT food inside.  We definitely made the most of every meal.

We headed back to the room & got pool ready.  We spent a little while reading by the pool, then headed down to the beach for an hour or so.
                          It started to rain, so Jonathan & I headed to the GameRoom next to the pub.
  We played darts, Irish ring toss, & pool.  We were both terrible at pool, but I absolutely stomped him at the ring toss game & darts.  He swore it was cuz my softball background somehow helped (whatever! how??), but I didn't care.  I won big.

When it finally stopped raining there was a gorgeous rainbow outside.  "If ya wanna see the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."  What a great way to look at life.
Jon & I watched Hitch while we got ready for dinner. 
I finally took advantage of the robes they had for us.
The hat is part of his getting read/hair- fixing routine.
Hey handsome, look this way!
No doubt a honeymoon only dress.....Way shorter than I am comfortable wearing.
   We ate at Bahama Bay for all three meals on Day 3.  I had scallops and Jon had stuffed chicken.  It was GREAT.  By this time, we are making friends with all the staff.  They thought we looked like a famous couple.  Jon was hoping they thought he was Brian McCann, but nope...
(They must have heard us singing....we both have magical voices.....haha)

When we arrived back at our room, out butler had decorated our bed for us.
Haha.... "Can you wait till I get ready to take the picture, please?"
 Are you wondering about the butlers?  We had two, Prince and Stephen. They each worked 12-hour shifts and we had a cell phone to call them any time.  We rarely used them, but they did stuff for us on their own.  They kept our refrigerator stocked, which is a task of its own considering how much water I drink and how much OJ Big Jon drank.  They also made our bed every time we left the room, and no matter how many times we messed it up (a lot!) :) it was always made when we got back to the room. I loved that- it makes the room look so much neater.  Of course Jon became buddies with both of our butlers.  Him and Prince had nicknames for each other..."strong arm"....I know, lame.  And Stephen gave Jonathan his shades.  I didn't pack Jonathan's sunglasses or sunblock, so of course he didn't have either. I refused to pay $30 for them in the gift shop (because I thought we needed a Christmas ornament instead!), so Jon's new bud GAVE him his.  I thought that was so nice. 

Ready for Day 4?


Honeymoon: Day 2

We woke up around 7:30 on day 2 (Our bodies are accustomed to waking up at 5:30 and 6:30 every day).  We ate breakfast at Bahama Bay, where we ended up becoming regulars. 
We had so much good food.....french toast, chocolate chip pancakes & fruit.  We laid by the pool most of the day. 
 By the way, resorts have the best places to lay out.  The chairs are actually comfortable. 

 We did take a short walk on the beach as well.  Had to burn off some of those carbs from breakfast...
 We came in around 4:30 because Jon was getting major burnt. *Not exactly sure why he gets so burnt.  He informed me very early on in our relationship he's part "Indian" (as in Native American- Cherokee) but manages to fry almost every time we go outside.  haha.  ANYWAY, normally I pack all of our bathroom stuff, including sunscreen, but I didn't this time.  I only brought "Faces" sunscreen and decided to use oil with an SPF for myself.  (It's my honeymoon, might as well soak up the skin cancer one more time!)  Needless to say, Jonathan was without sunscreen, so we had to buy some from the resort gift shop.  I almost passed out in the floor when I found out it was $18 for a normal bottle of sunscreen that costs about $6 at Wal-Mart. 

After buying the luxury sunscreen, we headed back to the room and took a long nap (I know, shocker!).

We got ready for dinner around 6:30 & headed back to the Italian restaurant to try something else from the menu.  Check out some of our nightly "on our way to dinner" pics.
The pool looked awesome at night, especially when they lit the fires around the property.  We planned to get in the pool or hot tub at least one night, but somehoe ended up back in the room by 10 every night.  Honeymooners. :)  I don't really liek extreme water temperatures anyway, so I was okay with that.
   One thing we have learned about the Bahemian lifestyle after a few trips there- they take their tiiiiiiime with everything.  It was nice to have a long, slow meal and actually enjoy dinner & some good conversation.
 Jon had the beef medallions I had the night before, and I ate spaghetti with shrimp.  Then off to dessert!  My favorite part....yum!
We headed back to the room and were in bed by 9:30.  I know, we party like rockstars, right?  It was AWESOME to us that we didn't have a schedule, could sleep in, take naps, and go to bed early.  We are normally two of the busiest people I know, so we really appreciated our slow, quiet, peaceful week.  Ready for day 3!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Honeymoon: Day 1

Our flight landed around 1:30. The airport in Great Exuma, Bahamas was really, really small.  The plane even made a U-turn on the runway.  Of course I had to use the restroom when we got to the "airport" so we were last in line to get our passports stamped.  The lady checking our passports was really slow, so we were the last through "customs."  (Customs consisted of asking us if we had an alcohol or cigarettes.  Baggage was a couple of men tossing our bags through a warehouse door)  Couples waited in line outside and were loaded into Escalades, Tahoes, & Denalis.  As I said, we were last, so we ended up waiting on the final vehicle by ourselves (well, no other American couples.  They were a few Sandals staff members that were going to ride back to the resort with us.)  Our ride pulled up...a grey 1988 Astrovan that had obviously been wrecked multiple times. I am SO mad at myself now for not taking a picture; however, I am excusing myself because I was a little preoccupied during the ride.  I was playing scenarios out in my head and planning how we could retaliate if they tried to take us off somewhere.  Hey- it could happen.  It's funny now, but don't ya think it's a little weird? Last two guests, with several employees (for all we know they could be kidnappers/murderers disguised as Sandals workers), in a vehicle unlike all the others, driving to a resort on a completely secluded island.  Such a movie plot, right?

We arrived (thankfully) at the resort after a 20 minute (felt like hours) ride.  The resort was gorgeous.  We were greeted with a cold rag, drinks, and Bahemian music.  We met one of our butlers, Prince, who carried our bags and escorted us to our room. 
And this is where the magic happened....(they always say that on Cribs anyway)
 There were 2 full bathrooms- brilliant!
 Who needs 2 big screen tvs & a living room? 
 The Honeymoon Suite....
 Our view....
  He gave us a quick tour of the property. 
After we checked it out we were ready to eat. We had a veggie pizza

and chocolate cake for lunch, then took a long nap.  It was raining, so perfect nap weather.

Jonathan was hilarious about the whole "all-inclusive" thing.  He seriously drank like 8 cans of orange juice the first day we were there- I think he was on mission to clean them out. 
It was nice to be able to take our time getting ready- no reservations, nowhere to be at a certain time, no rushing.
Check out my hot hubby showing off his ring!
 We had dinner the first night at the fanciest restaurant on the resort- El Cielo- which ended up being our favorite. 
    I t was Italian cuisine & it was delicious.  I'm not a big meat-eater, and am particularly not a fan of beef, but I ordered beef medallions, which came with mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, and mashed potatoes. 
Jonathan had clam & lobster linguine, but he liked mine better.  You could cut my steak with a butterknife! After dinner you head to another part of the restaurant and choose from a menu of yummy desserts.  Jonathan wanted to order jello, but after I explained to him that gelatto is icecream and not jello, he ended up with a chocolate cake (there are much fancier names for all of these great meals- I should have journaled more specifically. 
I'm sure some people appreciate good food as much as I do and actually care!)  I had some sort of custard with berries- tasted like cheesecake. 

We walked around the resort for awhile after dinner, then headed back to the room to watch a movie & get some sleep.  Ready for day 2!