The Honeymoon

Over the week of Thanksgiving, Chris and I went on our honeymoon. You'll probably remember that we got married back in May [read about it here and here]. It felt like the time wasn't completely right for a vacation at that time, so we waited until November.

For me, the timing was perfect. I needed a long break from work and was so thankful to take an entire week away. We spent seven days on a cruise through the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. The cruise line was Wind Star and the ship was the Wind Spirit.

As you can see from the picture, it was large sailboat / small cruise ship. It held about 150 passengers. As you can imagine with a boat this size, the service was phenomenal. By the third day, the staff were calling us by name and bringing us our favorite drinks and foods.

Everything about this trip was relaxing. Relaxation was exactly what we wanted for our honeymoon so it was perfect. Each day we woke up when we wanted, ate amazing food, laid by the beach, swam, ate good food again, drank, and socialized a bit in the evenings.

We started and ended the cruise in St. Thomas. On the morning we left, we got up early and enjoyed the sunrise.

Day 1: St. John
Chris and I did a short hike through the national park and spent a few hours at Salomon Beach. I especially enjoyed the cactus & hermit crabs along the hike. The water was pretty choppy but we enjoyed swimming.

Day 2: St. Maarten
The ship docked on the Dutch side of the island and we never did make it to the French side. Maybe on another trip. We did some window shopping around Philipsburg then took a taxi to Dawn Beach.

The snorkeling wasn't what we had hoped, but the lazy day on the beach was perfect. Bars on the beach are pretty perfect too.

Day 3: St. Barts
St Barts was my favorite island. It was so quaint and pretty. We spent the day at St Jean beach with Mike and Bethany, friends we made on the cruise.

Day 4: Tortola
We were already worn out by the fourth day so we chose to take it easy. Our ship stopped in a very small port so we explored it in less than an hour. The rest of the day was spent laying around the boat. We especially enjoyed the kitchen tour and talking with our chef, Christian.

Day 5: Jost Van Dyke
After a day of relaxing, we were ready for a little more excitement so we took a catamaran & snorkeling tour. The conditions for snorkeling were less than ideal. Apparently a large swell had come into the Caribbean making the sea very rough. We did get a little snorkeling in, but the visibility was pretty low. The sailing, however, was wonderful! The weather was perfect and the rum punch strong.

After sailing, the ship's tender took everyone back to the ship. However, a half dozen of us wouldn't fit. We figured we'd have to wait for the next tender. But to our surprise, we got a special ride from one of the ship's officers. (He brought a small boat for the few of us left behind.) Because this boat didn't have a roof, I was able to take some great pictures of our ship. It was a neat experience.

Day 6: Virgin Gorda
We missed seeing The Baths on Virgin Gorda, but we did have a lovely day at the private beach. There was even a BBQ on the beach. While we were swimming, Chris and I saw a sand shark only a few feet away.

Day 7: St. Thomas
We were so sad to see the end of our trip and unfortunately I had begun to get sick. We spent the time between leaving the ship and catching our plane doing very little. Luckily the ship made arrangements for us to lounge around a hotel on St. Thomas, which had a lovely view.

Our evenings on the cruise were mostly spent eating and drinking. There was cocktail hour, then dinner followed by more cocktails. Each night we had a gourmet four course meal. It was heaven. The food was one of my favorite parts the trip. We also really enjoyed talking with the other passengers...especially hanging out with Bethany and Mike.

I felt like this was a perfect trip and everything that I had hoped for our honeymoon. Most importantly it was relaxing. Naturally, we took lots of photos. You're welcome to look through the entire set of honeymoon pictures.

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Christmas Time

Christmas is a couple days away and I'm feeling totally relaxed. This year my family decided to keep the gift-giving to a minimum which has taken a lot of stress away. Chris and I are planning a quiet Christmas at home...just us and the dogs. This holiday will be in stark contrast to last year where we visited both families back in Texas and felt like we never stopped going. It will be nice to just chill. (Plus, we'll see both sets of parents in the coming months when they come to Phoenix to visit. It's nice to have something to look forward to.)

Over the next few days, Chris and I plan on cooking all our favorite food, walking & playing with the dogs, watching movies, and riding bikes. It's going to be a wonderful couple days. Merry Christmas!

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Freebootr.com

My former co-workers / friends got written up in the Phoenix Business Journal for their project, Curtis Miller and Chris Irish have done a great job making it easier to find free/recycled products. I think it's totally useful and love the pirate theme. I'm glad they're getting some press.

Great job, guys!

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