When Joel and I were on our honeymoon in St Lucia, we made a pact that we would go on an all-inclusive, pamper ourselves vacation no less than every five years of our marriage.
Well, we missed the not-to-exceed deadline by 2 months....but it still counts. We went to Sandals Emerald Bay on Great Exuma Island which is in the Bahamas.
(The first of our vacation selfies...everybody else agree that we both got better looking with age??)
We departed on a Saturday at the butt crack of dawn without telling the kids we were leaving! Less drama and anxiety for everyone that way. We arrived safely after a couple very smooth flights. The airport in Georgetown, Great Exuma was just a small building. Immigration and customs were in a non air-conditioned room no bigger than my living room.
The resort was only about a 15 minute drive from the airport. Once we got there, we realized we had seen it on the flight in and Joel had unknowingly taken a picture of the bay where the resort was situated. Would you look at that water? Just look at it! Incredible.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with the offer of champagne to which I said, "Don't mind if I do!"
Our room wasn't ready yet so we headed to the Barefoot by the Sea restaurant for some lunch. I had a Sunshine Burger (sandwich of the day!) - hamburger with avocado, cheese and carrots. I know the carrot part might throw you, but it was actually pretty good. Joel had a "Grouper Burger" which roughly translates to "soggy fried fish on a bun." It was not good.
I will just take a pause to remind the world that I've been on a diet for 11 months. ELEVEN. MONTHS. Therefore, I will likely provide you way more details about our food than anyone in their right mind is gonna give a d@mn about. But I can't help it. Sorry.
After lunch, we checked in to our room. It was nice. I can't say it was the most luxurious or beautiful thing I'd ever seen, but I was plenty excited to call it home for the next seven days.
The view off our patio was lovely. Again, that water. It's real people! No photo enhancements! Our room was supposed to have an ocean view. And it did....barely.
We quickly unpacked and hit the beach. The sand was white and powdery. The water temperature was perfect. Unfortunately for me, ocean water has salt in it. I hate salt water in my face (as well as sand in my butt crack), so after a quick dip in the ocean, I headed to the pool.
We spent a few hours in the sun and then it was time to go get ready for dinner. At the resort, it's pretty much always time to eat. Lucky me!
We went to the Drunken Duck Pub for dinner. We were absolutely exhausted from our 3:45am wake up call so just getting through dinner was challenging.
I had Drunken Chicken (blue cheese stuffed and bacon wrapped) which was dry and "meh" at best. Joel had a super thin, grisly steak which was worse than "meh." So our first couple meals weren't very impressive and I was beginning to worry - considering 75% of my vacation excitement was for food!
Sunday, day 2, we spent mostly by the pool. We checked out the catamaran sailboats which is a pretty fun way to explore the bay and check out the views. We were too chicken to take our cameras (phones) with us, so didn't get any pictures.
Late Sunday afternoon, we were scheduled for a complimentary couples massage. We had to fill out a survey before the massage regarding our preferences. I'd selected that I prefer a firm massage. At the beginning of the massage, my therapist told me that we were having a "relaxation massage" so all I was gonna get was "light to medium pressure." Boo. After it was over, he told me, "You have a lot of tension in your shoulders." Yeah, no sh*t buddy - why do you think I asked for a firm massage?
We found that you have to schedule your dinner reservations way in advance if you want something other than the pub, the buffet or the pizzeria. So for the second night, we gave the Drunken Duck another go because we didn't have reservations anywhere. This time, it was better. We both got fish and chips (cheese covered steak fries... yes, please).
After dinner, we hung out by the fire pit.
There was a little cafe where you could get fancy coffees, ice cream, milkshakes and super decadent, rich desserts. My favorite was a chocolate shell filled with chocolate fudge and topped with white chocolate shavings and a cherry. Hello! I'm in love. I also grew quite fond of their strawberry milkshakes.
Next up: When Pigs Swim.
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