Okay I promise to get these moving a little faster (if for no other reason, so I don’t forget everything!). While life has certainly calmed down post-wedding, there has also been a lot of catching up to do, and many loose ends to deal with – no excuses though. I realize the honeymoon recaps are draaaaaagging along, but I can’t really do any wedding updates until I get my pictures back anyways, so you’ll have to wait regardless. In the meantime, you can read my lovely bridesmaid Mary Ann’s wedding recaps over on her blog. Moving along…

Day Four: St. Lucia

Each day started pretty much the same way – early wakeup, got dressed in some sort of new bathing suit and cover-up combo (did I mention how much honeymoon shopping I did?), and then off to the Horizon Buffet for a gigantic bowl of fruit, yogurt, prunes, and All Bran. Somehow we managed (every single day) to stay at the buffet juuuust long enough to end up having to race off the ship to meet our tour group.

Our tour for St. Lucia was called “Sea Kayak to Pigeon Island” so we had high hopes for this one. When choosing our adventures (man, I used to LOVE those books!), we tried to pick all of the “highly active” excursions. While we figured none of them would really be challenging or difficult, we thought we would at least try to stay active, rather than take air conditioned historical tours with all the grandparents. So sea kayaking in St. Lucia seemed like a great option!

We met our tour guide, Diane, who I loved. She was all sass and had a fabulous accent. I asked her if I had time to go to the bathroom before the tour started, to which she sighed and rolled her eyes and said “not really” – for some reason this made me love her more, so I accepted my fate and crossed my legs for the 45 minute drive to the beach – eeeek! When we got there, we hung out on the beach for a few minutes while we awaited kayaking instruction. A perfect opportunity to harass a stranger to take our picture!

Side note – it was hot as hell in the Caribbean in May, so I apologize in advance for the minimal amount of clothing worn in all the coming photos. To give you some perspective on the temperature, I even hiked to the top of the mountain in a bathing suit. Not the most flattering activity ever, but necessary for survival.

We finally got into our kayaks, and began the short trip over to Pigeon Island. While this activity was certainly fun and entertaining, it was not the “very active” excursion we were promised.

The highly anticipated kayaking, was basically making a large circle around an inlet, and then paddling to another beach about 100 yards away – laaaame. I didn’t really care though because St. Lucia was so incredibly beautiful. Neither one of us had been there before, and I will definitely be making a return trip to the island. After our highly physical (cough) kayaking adventure, our gracious tour guided provided us with some much needed nourishment (cough).

While it was totally unnecessary, I welcomed the delicious treats we were given! Fresh mango, bananas, and coconut – and I might add I ate about 75% of that coconut dish. No one else was eating it, I swear, and I didn’t want it to go to waste! Always thinking of others, right? The shortcake cookies were scary and made of pure lard, so we stuck to fresh local fruits for our morning snack.

Once we re-fueled, we were given the option to lay out at the beach OR hike up a very steep incline to an overlook with an amazing view – option two, please! Diane grudgingly led us up the hill (sighing and eye-rolling the whole way), where we were greeted with spectacular views of the Pitons, and neighboring island, Martinique. It was still early, so it was a little cloudy, but the scenery was still amazing.

Requisite forced couples picture.

The red roofed cluster of buildings on the right side was the Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa & Beach Resort.

Requisite picture of Emily standing in front of a sign (taken in every port!).

When our kayaking “adventure” was over, we thanked Diane and continued on to explore the town. We wandered through a few craft and merchandise markets…

…and also explored the fruit and farmers’ markets. I picked up a coconut in the market, and after an old lady sneered at me, Casey explained that people don’t want you to touch the merchandise. Geez!

The farmers’ market got our appetites going, so we wandered around a bit to find a good, local place to eat. As another side note, and topic to be addressed in detail in a future post, Casey and I are trying out a big of a vegetarian-ish diet. We are still eating fish, but no other meat-like products, hence my hesitation to use a label. I only mention this now because finding non-meat dining options in the islands was quite a challenge. Shredded pork and rotisserie chickens galore. Tofu – not so much. At least there was plenty of good fish, although finding it un-breaded and not deep-fryed was just as challenging. I digress… We did find a local spot eventually, and ordered the “steamed fish lunch plate”…

I don’t know what it was, but it was good! After lunch, we headed back to the boat to finish out our day relaxing and reading by the pool, and enjoying the beautiful view as we sailed out of St. Lucia…

Bon voyage, St. Lucia! I will be back!