Island Adventures

Y'all, brace yourselves! Today's post is a lengthy one. Part of the reason is because I wanted to include every.single.photo that Will and I took while in St. Lucia. The other half has to do with the fact that I can't help but rave about all there is to do.

If your seriously looking to travel somewhere for your next getaway and are up for suggestions, then I highly recommend considering St. Lucia. You can even check out the two previous blog posts I did. One on the resort we stayed at; Cap Maison, and another re-capping Part 1 of our honeymoon.

Today, I'm sharing all there is to do (both on land and sea) while visiting this beautiful island! Something to note however...there is SO much to do in St. Lucia and there is a number of excursions and activities to choose from, but you can't go wrong with whatever you decide to go with.

1. Explore your resort's property. Take full advantage of all that is offered. Order room service. And go to any events or social hours that your resort or hotel has planned.

If you want my opinion, you would take my advice and explore the property and it's surroundings as soon as your arrive. That's exactly what Will and I did when we were dropped off at our resort and it was one of the best decisions we made. Cap Maison is fairly small but some resorts and hotels can be extremely overwhelming. After Will and I checked in and put our bags in our room, we ventured back out and explored the resort and got familiar with where everything was. It was helpful because it made me feel safer better knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about getting lost if I was by myself.

And take advantage of services and activities that are offered at the resort or hotel you are staying at. Even if you are one who never spends much time on the property, try to make time for even just a few things that are offered such as ordering room service for breakfast, catching some sun by the pool, eating a meal at one of the on-property restaurants (if there is one) or settle down and read a book and watch the sunset on the beach at the end of the day. 

If your resort has any of these amenities, services or activities and if they are complimentary, then why not get what you paid for and utilize them! Will and I got an all-inclusive package when we stayed at Cap Maison so we were able to dine at the two restaurants on the property DAILY, and spent a few days afternoons snorkeling, kayaking and learning to paddle board.

2. Check out the island and take part in a land or sea excursion.

Will and I aren't individuals that are satisfied with laying on the beach all day. Don't get me wrong, we love relaxing and having nothing to do, but we get bored easily just laying around for hours at a time. Will and I knew we wanted to spend a day seeing the rest of the island, and cruising along the Caribbean ocean sounded like fun so that's were the Sunlink Catamaran Cruise came into the picture.

Imagine spending a whole day, half on land and half on sea, learning all about a new place, trying new things and making new friends. Sounds great right? That's exactly what we did on our Catamaran Cruise! We departed bright and early one morning and headed by bus to Rodney Bay from Gros Islet where Cap Maison is located. From Rodney Bay, we hopped on the Catamaran and found a nice spot near the front of the boat and prepared for our journey to Soufriere (on the west coast side of the island) with rum punch in hand. Besides the beautiful views from the boat, one of the highlights was being able to see The Pitons up close and personal. The Pitons are two large volcanic plugs and one of St. Lucia's most well-known attractions. They are also the islands most photographic landmark and it's easy to see why...they are HUGE.

When we arrived at the dock in Soufriere our land excursion began. I'll share more about that in a bit. After a few hours passed by, our land excursion ended and we headed back to the catamaran, but not before we stopped to play some soccer with a group of school kids! We saw them playing and we spontaneously joined them and I have to say that it was one of the best parts of our day for sure. When we finally got back on board, we set sail, and made our way to a nearby beach to go swimming and snorkel before making our way to Marigot Bay for a quick pass through and heading back "home".

3. Visit the Diamond Botanical Gardens, Mineral Baths and Waterfalls in Soufriere.

On our land excursion, we were able to visit the Diamond Botanical Gardens which is part of the Soufriere Estate. Our guide was amazing, very informative and the flowers were so beautiful. It was a very peaceful tour to say the least. Near the gardens there are mineral baths and hot springs that are fed from the Soufriere Volcano, which is said to be the only drive-in volcano in the world and is locally known as the Sulpher Springs. At the springs, we were able to stand underneath a waterfall and take a mud bath which was something I wasn't sure I would do because I hate getting dirty and the sulpher smells like rotten eggs. I'm glad I did it though because my skin felt so smooth afterwards and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I'll have memories about for years to come!

4. Visit Pigeon Island National Park and go for a hike.

Pigeon Island is a historic site that consists of a number of forts and in the 18th century, the British built a fort that they named Fort Rodney (hence the name of the nearby Rodney Bay area) that was used to spy on French ships that were coming in from Martinique. There are also two small beaches, a restaurant, and picnic areas scattered across the grounds. While exploring the island, you can see ruins of military buildings that were used during the battles between the French and British along with catching some breathtaking views of the Northwest coastline. It was so much fun getting a bit of a history lesson while visiting this national landmark with Will and also turned out to be a good workout climbing to the top of the forts!

5. Go shopping at Castries Market and Point Seraphine.

Heaps of fresh produce, hand-crafted souvenirs, and bright colored fabrics are some of the most popular items you can get at Castries Market. We've heard that the market is most lively on Saturday mornings when locals bring their produce and spices into town. Pointe Seraphine on the other hand is a duty-free shopping complex on the north side of Castries Harbour and has more than 20 shops in the complex. I wasn't aware of what duty-free meant before coming to St. Lucia but for those who don't know, it means they do not apply local or national taxes on purchases you make. It's also a popular place and conveniently located near the cruise ship ports, so many travelers can easily fit in a few hours of shopping when visiting St. Lucia! Point Seraphine is where we got most of our souvenirs but Castries Market is a must just for the experience itself...especially if you want to engage in a conversation with some locals!

A St. Lucia Honeymoon

If you've been following along recently, you already know that Will and I spent a week honeymooning in St. Lucia and it was an absolute dream! Before we ventured overseas, I wrote a blog post offering an inside peek into the resort we would be staying at. And let me just say that I was quite 'photo-happy' while Will and I were in St. Lucia, trying to capture all of the colorful buildings, the architectural details and all of mother nature's goodness...especially everything at our resort; Cap Maison. Because we were in St. Lucia for a week, I have tons of photos and information I could share but don't want to overwhelm anyone so I'll do my best to keep my St. Lucia posts as brief as possible, while still giving lot's of details and helpful information!

Two weeks ago on a Monday morning, Will and I woke up excited like little kids on Christmas morning, boarded our plane at the Charlotte International Airport and made the four hour trip overseas to our beautiful destination. We landed at the Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort, went through customs and then waited for a van to pick us up and take us to the "heli-pad" where we took a helicopter to the George F.L. Charles Airport in Castries.

There are only two airports on the island, the main one (Hewanorra) being on the South side and our resort on the far north. They are pretty much on opposite ends of each other which meant Will and I had two options. We could take a taxi from Hewanorra to our resort which would be about an hour and fourty-five minute drive OR we could take a fifteen minute helicopter trip to the second airport and catch a taxi that would take us to our resort. We looked at the pros and cons of both options and decided to go with the helicopter for our arrival and a taxi on our last day. That way we got to see all of Saint Lucia from both land and air on our trip. Plus, we wanted to ride along with a local to learn more about the island and it's history which is something Will and I both are fascinated with.

But back to the story...neither of us had flown in a helicopter, and knew it would be a neat experience and would get us to our resort much faster. The only downfall was that the weather when we arrived was rainy and cloudy and made seeing everything a bit difficult and kind of scary. It was so worth it though and we would be willing to do it again, on a more clear and sunny day.

After all of our traveling, we finally made it to Cap Maison and were in awe of what we saw. As soon as we were dropped off, we were greeted by staff and offered refreshments and a cold cloth to use to cool down from the humidity that the afternoon's storm had brought in. Once checked in, we were taken to our room. We stayed in Room 8 which was a Junior Suite and just what we were looking for. If you ever have the opportunity to visit St. Lucia and decide to stay at this resort, we highly recommend Room 8 because of the ocean views, the specious balcony and cozy interior. From the balcony we could see the resorts main pool area, and the main restaurant. It was really nice being located so close to everything and was perfect for people watching!

After about an hour or so of unpacking our bags and relaxing, the weather started to clear up and we were able to venture out and explore the property. One of the things I personally loved most about the property was the Spanish Caribbean design and the fact the resort had it's own private beach and beach bar called The Naked Fishermen. 

After leisurely strolling around the resort and checking everything out, we made reservations and enjoyed our first of MANY delicious meals at The Cliff at Cap Restaurant. We watched the sunset, popped a bottle of champagne and toasted to a week in paradise before calling it a night. Our first day was a success and we were a happily married couple.

Later this week I'll be sharing more photos and recaps from our honeymoon and I'm really excited to tell you about my favorite things that we did. You can expect my next honeymoon post to be focused on all of the land and sea activities that we took part in. Until next time...orevwa (which is goodbye in Creole and one of the many words we learned on our trip)!

Cap Maison

Y'all, it's Friday and I'm getting MARRIED tomorrow! Eek! I can't believe our big day is finally here and the countdown is over. To say we are excited for our life as one to begin would be an understatement. And what better way for us to enjoy being newlyweds then to travel to a destination that neither of us have yet to experience, and to celebrate our first days of marriage as just the two of us, savoring all of the blissful and relaxing moments that we have been dreaming about for months?!

So welcome to Cap Maison friends! The place Will and I will call "home away from home" for a full week following our wedding day. I mean....did you look at those pictures above?! All of the photos came from Cap Maison's website and I can't help but sit here and daydream about how amazing this place will be when we see it in person. We will be staying in an 'ocean view' Junior Suite that has it's own private veranda and even a minibar. Y'all, I can't wait to wake up early, have breakfast in bed some mornings, and some days even outside, and spend our days exploring the property and all of St. Lucia. 

For most of you, you know that I'm a planner, but when it came to planning our honeymoon, we wanted to leave our schedule pretty open. Of course we have a list of things we want to do, but we want our time to be spent relaxing, going with the flow and being as flexible as possible. Something we both struggle with doing and thought would be the perfect time to practice while on vacation. Even though we don't have much set-in-stone, we are looking forward to our helicopter ride from the airport to our hotel once we arrive, going snorkeling, visiting La Soufriere Volcano and the Sulfur Springs Park in Soufriere, checking out the Castries Market and eating lots of yummy food.

I'll be documenting my time in St. Lucia periodically via Instagram (@mmackvick) and Snapchat (@mscheek) so be sure to follow along over the next week and when I get back I'll be doing a few recap posts. Have a great weekend, y'all! Can't wait to catch up when I get back!