Honeymoon Day 4 and 5

More Honeymoon...

This is Dan and I on our way to dinner. Unfortunately this is the last picture we had of our second night. When we got to dinner I noticed the camera sounded different and after turning it off once, the lens wouldn't open the next time I tried. I was sick about this, but tried to stay positive. The resort has digital cameras that can be rented by guests, but alas they were all checked out. So our third day on LDB was without a camera. We bought a disposable camera and will hopefully develop those images shortly. On Wednesday, we went to the spa. It was amazing. We had a couples massage and then spent most of the day relaxing on the mountainside. We could climb down to a private beach and lounge at the infinity pool. It was wonderful!

Then on Thursday morning I tried to start the camera again and IT WORKED! This was Dan showing some "enthusiasm" when I found out we had a camera again :)

The above pictures are from our dinner on Thursday night. We had dinner at the Sugar Mill and as you can see by the clean dessert plate, we ate every last bite. YUM!

These pictures are from Norman Island. We took a day trip there to enjoy more snorkeling and a Caribbean cookout. It was such a fun day. We explored and swam and then enjoyed so much food. The resort set up umbrellas for us and then had a limbo contest and cooked us all the food we could eat. It was another fun day. So hard to believe that it was Thursday. Time is going too fast!

These pictures are from the end of our day. We enjoyed some time together lounging on the beach and enjoying the Beach Grill at the resort. It was another beautiful day at LDB. Here are our married hands! Pretty rings :)

Honeymoon Day 2 and 3

Oh, to wake up to this again this morning. Beautiful!

This is Dan and I at the resort before leaving for our excursion. The resort does beach drop-offs at various locations around the island. For our first full day, we decided to visit the Baths. You have to strategically plan when to visit this spot of the BVI because tourists from all over come to this location. On somedays cruise ships drop off hundreds of people and it definitely would kill the atmosphere and snorkeling if there were so many people in this location. 

The resort packed us a beach picnic for lunch and they give you snorkel gear for the duration of your stay. They go ahead of you as well and set up umbrellas to give you shade throughout the day. They think of everything to make your day so enjoyable.

The water was so blue and clear. The snorkeling was absolutely fabulous. I have been to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia and truly this was up there in comparison of wildlife. Of course, the reefs were exquisite in Australia, but the fish and sea creatures here were so comfortable they would swim right next to you.

It is such a natural wonder. There are rocks and boulders everywhere creating tunnels and passageways around the island. Dan and I loved exploring. Supposedly, Kenny Chesney took several pictures for different albums at this location. He loves the Caribbean and now we can see why...

We also met a couple named, Dan and Shannon, that became our beach buddies. Dan is a doctor and Shannon is a nurse from North Carolina. We traded off taking pictures for each other during the day. We later found out we had the same package and so we ended up spending some part of every day with them so that made for even better pictures and more fun for everyone.

After our excursion, we went back to the beach for a while and later in the afternoon Dan and I decided to venture into town. We walked to the city center near Spanish Town which was about a ten minute walk. It isn't an island like St. John or St. Thomas with several shops and tourist spots. This island is hardly affected by the resort-which I liked. Everything was natural and real and the people were living their daily lives.  We went to a grocery store and discovered that prices in the BVIs are a little less than America. Dan ended up purchasing a few things and then we (Dan) carried them back to the resort on our umbrella :)

That night we decided to try the other restaurant called The Pavilion. This night happened to be their Caribbean feast. This was ONE of the stations to eat from.  I think there were about eight total. It was unbelievable and all fresh.

That concluded our first full day. Don't we look very tropical in our attire? :)

On Tuesday, we scheduled an excursion to Norman Island. The resort took us out at 10:00am and then brought us back to the resort around 4:30pm. They took us to several different spots to snorkel and to explore the other islands.

The above picture is at our first stop. There were so many caves. 

The bottom picture is from a location called the Three Indians. This spot had the best snorkeling of the day. I almost didn't want to snorkel because it got a little cooler and the clouds covered the sun, but I am so thankful we got out. The wildlife was truly incredible. There were sting rays, turtles, fish of all kinds and a whole lot of reef.

Around lunch time the sun came back out and it was a perfect time to stop and eat. We docked at a floating restaurant and bar called William Thornton's (aka Willie T's). It is a little different crowd at night (we'll just say the guests wear a little less clothing than their bathing suit), but during the day we enjoyed ourselves and the meal-clothes intact :) 

We stopped at Peter Island for a while and we enjoyed this time to look around this island to see if we made the right choice about our honeymoon. We also looked into this resort, but were so glad we chose LDB when we left. The place is gorgeous and I'm sure very luxurious, but it looks more commercial. It does not have the same vibe as LBD and so we were happy with our choice.

Really though with landscapes like this and water this blue, you can't go wrong with the BVIs. 

Honeymoon: the resort

Welcome to the British Virgin Islands...

Dan and I left Atlanta around 8:30am Sunday morning headed towards to San Juan, Puerto Rico. After we landed, we boarded another airplane-we'll just say it was a little smaller and by that I mean there was room for eight! But I must say that the views were breathtaking as we flew a few feet above the ground in our crop duster :)

The picture above is of our ferry from the island of Tortola to the island Virgin Gorda. We stayed at a Rosewood resort called Little Dix Bay. It is definitely a place to go if you never want to lift a finger. Dan and I felt like royalty as all the staff learned our names and immediately called us "Mr. and Mrs. Fowler." We discovered Little Dix by searching for quiet, secluded Caribbean and also because my brother and his wife, Lynlee, went there for their honeymoon eight years ago. Hard to believe it's almost a decade for them, but they have made a wonderful life in Homewood, AL and two beautiful children since their wedding in July 2003.

As we boarded the boat, we were welcomed with the drink of choice, Rum Punch. We learned that different captains made the drink differently and some a little stronger than others, but nonetheless it was very tropical and something we looked forward to on our excursions. 

This is not the best picture because it was a little overcast when we first arrived, but this is the first shot of the resort from our boat. The main building in the picture is where we spent most of our nights eating and eating and eating. We'll get to that...

This is what we saw when we arrived. Ahh...relaxation. 

When we stepped off the dock, the staff immediately took our bags and delivered them to our room. We were escorted to our suite for the week. Ah-mazing!

This was our first view. You wash your feet in the basin at the foot of the steps to remove any sand. Then you can see Dan's shirt at the top of the stairs-Room 43 for the week!

This is the side and the front is below.

This is the view from our porch-literally about 20-25 steps and you're in the water.

This was our room for the week. They put different flowers on the bed every day. I liked to work them into my outfits every day-see picture below. They also placed a gift on our bed our first day and last day. For our welcome gift we got a pretty picture frame from the resort that we plan to display in our house. 

This is the view after you walk in and take a left. This is our bathroom!

Sooooo hard to come home to a one bathroom house after we shared this amazing place for a week. It had double vanities and sinks, a separate bathroom, a garden tub, an indoor and outdoor shower. Dan has a plumbing background growing up with his dad so he was definitely impressed with our room.

We were also pleasantly surprised with a bottle of Caribbean rum and Champagne. They were both ready for our arrival and enjoyed during the trip. 

Dan enjoyed our porch almost immediately after we arrived. This boy can sleep anywhere-anytime. Doesn't he look tropical in his outfit? I was very impressed that he picked it out himself for the special occasion. 

I was too excited to sleep and wanted to see every part of the island. The bay is not that large and is filled entirely of the resort. We were acclimated to everything and thoroughly impressed. 

This is the beautiful pool that we never stepped foot in-crazy, I know! It had a hot tub and another level that isn't seen in the picture. We were only twenty steps or so from the beach, though, so our days were spent there. Then one day we stayed poolside, but that was at the spa. The pool there was just as amazing and it was at the top of the mountain so the views were incredible.

This is the view from one of the restaurants. Again, it was a little overcast on our arrival day so this picture does not do justice to the colors of the landscape and water in the Caribbean. So bright and beautiful.

Our first day flew by and it was time for dinner before we knew it. We ate at the fancy restaurant called the Sugar Mill. We purchased a package with our room and that included unlimited food. Oh my goodness. It was so good and we didn't even indulge ourselves the first night. We thought we could only get one entree and one dessert, but little did we know that dinner can also consists of four appetizers and three entrees and as many desserts as you can stand. Like I said, we didn't know this the first night, but quickly discovered it and it changed our dining experience from there on out. Oh, writing this makes me miss being there. My stomach is glad to be back in America where I can only eat what I can afford on a newlywed budget-left overs :)

Happy Happy Honeymoon! Where did you go on yours?