St Lucia, West Indies

Our trip to St Lucia was a good one...

The airport sits on the far end of the island from where many of the resorts lie. It's about an hour ride via shuttle, but if you get queasy from car rides, this is not the place for you. They were hit pretty hard by a hurricane last fall, and as a result, many of the roads have crumbled down the cliffs in to the jungle. There were some points that I thought we were going off the side.

The island is stricken with poverty. Even my kids noticed how many of the people live in shacks. This is common with Caribbean islands, but I don't really like to be reminded that others live this way when I'm on vacation. It sounds callous and selfish, but it makes it really hard to enjoy yourself, knowing the staff are probably underpaid and will never know what it's like to enjoy a trip like you are on.

The Atlantic side of the island is beautiful, but not really a great place to vacation if you enjoy the beach. It reminds me of the coastline of California..beautiful mountains but not beach-worthy. The Caribbean side of the island is where the majority of the people live and the resort are.

The island operates with the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is roughly $1 US Dollar to $2.70 ECs. The drinks are reasonable...about $6/drink...but the food is RIDICULOUSLY priced, and at the Windjammer Landing, where we stayed, it was just so-so. The resort is beautiful, but I was not a fan of the beach. The sand is rocky and dirty. The staff was very warm and welcoming...most of the veteran staff remembered my MIL from her 11 years going there. Its a timeshare resort, which is a nice option. We own the Disney Vacation Club, and personally, I think its a better option for timeshare, but everyone has their own opinions of what they like. I am by no means putting the place down...we had a great time.

The villa was very nice and relaxing. We spent most of our time there. I like the option in having your private pool.

All in all, I would go back to St Lucia, but it's not somewhere I would go on a cruise ship stop. I would be more inclined to try some different islands, rather than rush back there right away. I loved Costa Maya, Mexico...but with the violence in Mexico, I would be worried about traveling there right now. If you are looking for a relaxing place to lounge, St Lucia was lovely...if you like to be more active, I would go somewhere else.

The view from our villa.

Our glorious porch, where I could happily live forever.

The view off the side of our pool.

My handsome son Gavin.

The debonair Taylor.

The open-air lobby.

The pool.

This ship was AMAZING.

How could anyone not like this?

As I sit in paradise, I realize I suck at relaxing.

Day 4 in St Lucia...

I have now spent 2 full days in one of the most relaxing places I've ever been. I've tried as best I can to block out all the events I will encounter in the next 3 months. I've laid on the beach, and cursed my blueish-white thighs. I've so far, managed to dodge a lobster-esque sunburn. I've laid around, doing nothing but reading trash magazines. I've consumed my weight in rum.

I'm bored.

I know...cry you a river, right?

I'm not really complaining. But I find myself missing my bed, my dogs, my ability to not live out of a suitcase. And I am ready to plan out my moving. We got a lot of information in the two days before we flew here...we are moving to San Francisco proper and we ARE allowed to sign a lease, so we can go househunt before we move...which alleviates many of my anxieties.

But we've also spent a buttload of money here. The food is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. The alcohol is much cheaper though. We chartered a private boat for the day tomorrow, in an attempt to get out and do something. Andy and the boys want to snorkel. I don't do floating, so I will be riding up front, happy as a dog sticking its head out of a moving car window.

My MIL and I are also going to go shopping, which I know will end in utter depression and lots of overeating, since I won't fit in to any of the clothes in the high-end boutiques. AND I really shouldn't spend more on clothes and accessories anyway.

It's been a good trip, but I really need structure in my life....so this can get a little maddening.

Keri

Greetings from St Lucia!!

Well, we got in to St Lucia around 2:30pm local time here, which is an hour ahead of eastern time, but then we had a hellish almost 2 hour drive from one side of the mountain to the other. Then when we finally got here, they had given away the villa to someone else!!! So, we inhaled several complimentary rum punches, as they straightened out the mess. We finally got up to the villa, got stuff settled and then went to eat dinner. When we got back, it was like 10pm, so we took showers and went to bed. We were exhausted from getting up at 3am Sunday morning to leave.

The island is pretty ghetto, and I was getting kind of worried about our accomodations, but the resort sits in a bay, and I guess most of the big resorts are all at the north end of the island. When you drive in to the resort, its like a whole different world. Really lush and green, our villa sits up on a mountain. We are REALLY high up. So high, we can't hear the ocean. But we have a pretty awesome view, and can even see the Grenadines in the distance. The whole island is mountainous, and volcanic.

The villa is open air during the day, and the breezes are WONDERFUL! No humidity at all. Its a white stucco villa with spanish red tile roof, and tiled floors. We have little birds flying in, and Gavin hand fed a little finch this morning. I woke up before anyone else and stepped out on our balcony. Then I decided to go downstairs and out on the private porch and lay there on the couch, just looking at the ocean and feeling the breeze. We have a pool too...which the kids have enjoyed.

I really had to motivate myself to turn on the computer, but I will try to be good about communicating this week, although maybe not as good as I thought!!! We are relaxed and enjoying life (and the frozen concoctions, such as the Mango Crush I've been enjoying.)Now if this place came with a mute button for my kids, I would never leave!!!

I will try to get some pictures out after I take more. Today, we've just been lazy as hell and loving EVERY minute.



Keri

An Ode to the "fair-weather" Facebook Friends...

Yesterday I got a friend request from a girl who used to torture me in Elementary School.

I'm not quite sure why browsing through the lists of potential facebook friends, she would decide that I would be a good candidate. I don't even remember this girl past 6th grade. But what I DO remember, is her making fun of me for years. So why would I want to be friends with you?

I usually dont accept anyone as friends unless I personally know them. I have maybe 4 FB friends that read my blog...but they have to tell me thats how they know me because if I don't, I won't accept.

I can generally break my FB friends in to several groups:

"Actual, honest to goodness, real friends that I still talk to".

"People I went to school with and used to be friends with, and would probably still grab a beer with."

"People I went to school with and used to be friends with and have little than a vague interest in what they are up to, but they may be a contact down the road."

"People I never even uttered one word to in high school, so although I am a bit confused as to why you want to be my FB friend, I will accept you."

"OH HELL NO!" These are the crazy people that scarred me emotionally in a way that I will fully never recover. OR THAT I JUST HATED!!!

I am not about having 8 million FB friends. I think I like it just be able to think about a person I had a fond memory of, and be able to look at their lives in an instant...see how it all turned out for them. I don't care how the "bad eggs" turned out, because I have enough faith to know that karma has come back around and gotten them in some way. And because I am not truly evil, thats enough gratification for me.
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Just a reminder…I am leaving for St Lucia!!! YAY!

So you will hear back from me on Friday, because tomorrow, I will be driving to South Carolina and then back to DC. In other words, NO POST FOR TOMORROW, unless I give you a status update via my Droid phone. But I am taking the laptop and the Wifi is ready in St Lucia. Have an awesome Wednesday and Thursday!!!



Shameless Begging About to Commence: I was nominated on Babble's Top 50 Mom Blogs List. So can you please take two minutes and click here: http://www.babble.com/babble-50/mommy-bloggers/nominate-a-blogger/index.aspx then scroll down to "Glamorous Life" (on the second page) and click on the "like" button.