Thunder and Lightning and Friends

It's Monday morning in Paradise and the skies are blue and the sun is shining. Each evening has been filled with thunder and lightning. Tremendous "booms" that shake the building with light shows to rival Disney. They are fabulous. Most of the time there is very little rain as the storms circle the island. Last night I sat on the veranda and watched the show for hours. We met Simon and his wife Margaret and their daughters Zoe and Mia for dinner last night. Fun fun evening. I may join them on the swimming beach today. The beach in front of our place is not a swimming beach, but you can wade out for quite awhile. Just lots of rock and seaweed. Most of the folks for Milos Forum are arriving today so I will probably run in to some old friends and make some new one. I am looking forward to it.

You can dress 'em up.......

Last evening we went to dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant here at the resort. As we were leaving this amazing outdoor area scattered with twinkle lights and people dressed in their fancy eatin' clothes....my skirt began to fall off. Really.It was too big to begin with, with an elastic waist, but my wardrobe is not condusive to a new dress for dinner every evening. (One does NOT wear shorts or capris to dinner in the Caribbean). But, I digress, as I was trying to hike my skirt up nonchalantly while still holding on to my doggy bag, I turned my ankle. It was quite the spectacle. Today my ankle has a bump on it the size of an egg, and I have a very pronounced limp. I can hardly wait for dinner tonight to see what will happen next. Good grief.

Montego Bay Jamaica October 2011

This is our second full day at Half Moon Resort and other than a few posts on Facebook, I have been too busy to post...and by too busy, I mean laying on the beach or by the pool. Our flights out were uneventful which is a very good thing. We spent our first night in Dallas and had a really nice upgraded room. The exterior wall was floor to ceiling windows, with a lovely night view of the parking garage. Ah haha. It was actually a very nice room.
Two flights later we arrived in Jamaica at Montego Bay airport. Milo tells me this is far preferable than going to Kingston. After a long but efficient line at customs, we zipped through immigration and our baggage was waiting for us. The baggage area is surrounded by little waiting rooms labeled with each of the resort names. I felt ours was the nicest, but I could be partial. We signed in and were made comfortable in overstuffed chairs and sofa. And, by golly, I looked up and there was Elmo. Yes THE ELMO. Evidently he moonlights for one of the other resorts who specialize in family entertainment. Who would have though we would run into Elmo in Jamaica?
The Half Moon Resort had a van pick us up. It was just us and another couple with 3 small children. They were delightful children and it turns out they are staying just a few doors down from us so we see them often. They fill us in on their adventures so that we know what to do next. So cute.
Once we were checked in, in the oppulent open air lobby with an amazing view of the ocean, we were taken by golf cart to our "room". I should mention that the entire resort is very British Colonial and huge. (400 acres)We have a private enclosed entrance with a spiral staircase. When the door to the room was opened, Milo and I were in shock. The girls who made our reservations had us upgraded and wanted it to be a surprise. It was one heck of a surprise. It is truly an apartment, except for the kitchen which is just a galley type kitchen. The bedroom and bathroom are larger than ours at home and are elevated from the living room. We need stairs to climb into the BED! The entire front room is made up of window paned doors that open to the veranda. The veranda is just above the most amazing view of the Caribbean Sea we have ever seen. UNBELIEVABLE. We are still pinching ourselves. Just outside the back door is the swimming pool (one of 52 on the property). It is small and available to only 5 or 6 of the villas so we are basically alone. Same with the beach. It is not a swimming beach, that is just down the road a piece, but it is fairly private. Today I was the only one there all day.

Last Day

It's our last full day in St. Lucia and I am certainly not ready to go home. I suppose I should be catching you all up on what we have done for the last few days, so here it is.....lay on the beach, go to dinner. That about sums it up. Dinner here ( as well as any other meal or service) takes at least three hours. Really,it's just the way things are done here. When making 7 pm dinner reservations, have a snack before you leave and prepare to enjoy the company of others. I have been included in all of the dinners with Milos board and it has been fun. Even though most of the conversation is about island politics, insurance or hurricanes, I find them all interesting and entertaining. They are all pleasant and always include me.
The weather has been unbelievably windy and mostly cloudy. Remember, one can still burn like a French fry with the overcast skies. The wind and shade has kept the humidity down. When it rains it pours, then goes away as quickly as it came.
I am enjoying it all. I can sum up this trip in three words. WINDY - LAZY - BEAUTIFUL.

I have never had a vacation where i did nothing..it is hard to adjust to, but I am managing. :) Milo has joined me on the beach today, had to drag him down here, he is already worried about airport delays tomorrow and Monday...trying to teach him to enjoy the journey, his biggest joy in life is being home.

Back to the wind and beach ahhhhhhhh.

Just another day in Paradise

Another beautiful day in paradise. The wind is still blowing harder than is usual, so I'm told, but it's a nice sunny day with quite a rough surf. It knocked me over yesterday, then again as I was trying to get back up. Being the graceful person that I am, my legs were thrown in every direction and I came up laughing so hard, that I only drew more attention to myself. Milo was mortified. Most of the people, but not all of them, are our age or older (like Milo LOL). I think they were jealous that I was even out in those waves.
Last night we met one of Milos coworkers, Desiree. She is a delightful woman with a quick smile. She lives in Barbados and works with all of the governments of the eastern Caribbean in some capacity. I will get more info about her later. Today they are at a meeting with another coworker, Simon, and are visiting the offices of the Eastern Caribbean states. I have several hours to myself so of course, i am reading on the beach. The iPad is the greatest travel instrument ever. I have 6 books downloaded and just waiting for me. Facebook, email, Internet all at my finger tips.
I almost forgot, let me tell you about our dinner experience last night. We went to the high end restaurant with Desiree last night, here at the hotel. We were given a sofa and chairs vignette in the waiting area. Complimentary glass of champagne ( a weakness of mine) and the menu were presented. We chose a first course from one side of the menu and an entree from the other. Milo asked me to pick the wine. We stayed in that little area, which was so comfy and pretty, until Our meal was ready. We were escorted to a table surrounded by fun art and sheer white curtains on red walls. Very nice. Our dinner was truly superb, wine was excellent and when all was said and done, we were there for 3 hours. We were told that is their practice, to make a full evening of it. There were only 2 other tables of diners so they wanted us to take our time. Milo says it was a unique dining experience that we will remember forever. I think it was nice that Desiree was with us, or we would have run out of things to talk about for 3hours. Yes, it is possible,that i could run out of things to talk about.
We are still unable to send emails, but we are receiving them.
Well, I really need to get back to doing nothing. I am the luckiest person right now and wish all my family and friends were here with me.

We're here

Finally sitting on the beach in St Lucia. So, let's get all of the complaining (minor as it it's) out of the way so I can enjoy the rest of vacation. Our flight to Dallas was uneventful which is always a good thing. unfortunately, we had to pick up our luggage, go outside and take a long ride back to another terminal to go back inside to our hotel because of security.if we had checked out luggage all the way, we could have gone directly there. The hotel in the Dallas airport was beautiful as always, but we woke up to no hot water. Bit on the grumbly side there, but a quick wash, a ponytail and away we go.
Our flight leaving Dallas was an hour late, no big deal, but we had to scramble to catch our Miami to St. Lucia flight. We made it without too much stress but forgot to active the global phone before leaving the country.
The flight to st. Lucia was really pretty and I photographed a few islands from the air. We wisked through customs, luggage was there and had a pleasant one and a half hour cab ride (Lexus SUV) through the rain forest. The contrast of amazing scenery and raw poverty was indescribable. (but I am sure I will find plenty of words later).
we arrived at the hotel after dark and had a quick bite to eat. I actually drank a beer (Peton of course). I think we're in trouble because I really liked it.
We slept like rocks and woke late, for us. It took me quite sometime to get the global phone connected while Milo got his computer up and sorta running. We can send, but are not receiving emails.
The leaking toilet should be fixed by the end of the day, so here we are. On the windy beach with my I pad, sunscreen and a view to knock your flip flops off!
Please excuse typos since I am posting from the iPad. I may be able to load a few photos from Milos computer later on. The vacation is officially ON.

On our way

Just a quick note while we sit in the admirals club in Dallas. Beautiful flight over the snow covered Rockies yesterday. Breathtaking. Just a few bumps as we approached Dallas. We had a nice room at the Grand Hyatt in Dallas, although next time we check our bags all the way through. We had to go outside after baggage claim and take a bus to the hotel. The hotel is actually in the airport and would have been easier to go straight from our arrival gate to the lobby.
this morning we woke up to no hot water. They promised to make it up to is on our return stay...we'll see. However the bellman from the hotel took us down to the check in and checked our bags for us. He was very attentive.
Right now in the admirals club watching the early flights take off with a cup of coffee in hand. Heading to our gate to begin our next leg of journey now. Catch you on the flip side :)