Honeymooning in St. Lucia

I'm finally caught up to post about our honeymoon!

We left Hilton Head on Sunday after the wedding to drive up to Atlanta and spent the night at my parent's house while they stayed in HHI for an extra day. We got to visit with the pups for a night before heading to the airport first thing in the morning. It was actually pretty smooth getting through security and we thought we could try for an upgrade to first-class but it turned out everyone was on their honeymoon and the flight was packed so no such luck. We also ended up getting delayed because one couple felt the need to bring their dog on the trip but it got lost in a luggage room somewhere in the airport. When they finally got the dog loaded below, we were off.
We touched down in St. Lucia on the lower end of the island and Ryan tried to surprise me by arranging a helicopter ride to the hotel. However, the wait was just as long as the van ride so we decided to hold off and take the resort van on the hour and a half ride. It was very scenic and our driver pointed out all sorts of sights and facts about the island, like how bananas grow - they are St. Lucia's biggest export and grow everywhere!
We got to the resort and they gathered us into the concierge lounge to check-in while the sun set outside. We finally got to our room late in the evening and settled in a bit before heading down to dinner. Once we ate and toured around in the dark, it was time for bed - which turned out to be the story for much of the week! I am not sure if it was the wedding being over or the sun and abundant food (and drinks) but we went to bed really early each night. Other couples toward the end of the week said they experienced the same thing so we joked that they drugged the food.
The only day it rained was Tuesday, but that was fine because we still braved the weather and hung out at the pool bar before heading inside for a nap all afternoon. It was nice to have so much downtime! Wednesday we laid out all morning and got massages in the afternoon. They were nice but my lady was convinced that my skin was severly dehydrated and that I needed to come back for a scrub. I politely declined and decided to exfoliate when I got home (which I still haven't done yet).
We ventured out that night and took the van to one of the sister properties on the island for dinner. It was there that we got to hear Cowboy Eddie sing country music while we ate delicious fajitas. It was just so funny for the restaurant to have entertainment like that, being a tropical island! I was dying to go up and request "Friends in Low Places" to see if he would do it.

On Thursday we went ziplining, which was amazing! We took a van to the rain forest and got suited up in harnesses and helmets. Then we hiked up a bunch of platforms before letting go and zipping through the trees to the next platform. I was terrified at first and thought way too hard before letting go on the first one, but I got the hang of it and really enjoyed the views. The last line was 150' off the ground and was the best one, by far.
Once we got home, we met up with some couples we had befriended at the pool bar and hung out until the sun set. Then we all went to eat at the beach restaurant, still in our bathing suits and cover-ups. I am pretty sure the waitstaff and other tables hated us, because we were quite silly and caused some comotion (some of the boys had been enjoying mimosas all day long). We had fun, though! We then went on to watch the resort entertainment for the evening...fire dancers, breathers and limbo-ers. It was really cool to watch! After they were done we stuck around for some dancing in the lobby (don't worry - there was a band and it was organized) before hitting the sack.Friday had more laying out and then an evening sunset cruise down the southern coast of the island. I loved it and could have stayed out there all night staring at the stars and rocking on the waves. We had dinner with another group that night, at the English Pub that the resort tried to recreate.
We found a nice secluded pool on Saturday and stole some floats from abandoned lounge chairs to read and float in the water. Then, as silly as it sounds, we headed back to the room to watch some afternoon football games. It was actually nice to relax in the room and cheer on our teams. We spent our last night at dinner just the two of us, and went for our second time to the Italian restaurant on-site.
For one last excursion, we decided to wake up early on Sunday and hike up Pigeon Island, a nearby mountain and historical site. The views were stunning and even though we huffed and puffed the whole way up, it was totally worth it! We only had so much time before we had to go back down again and get ready to go. We finished packing up and took a van back to the airport to catch our plane to Atlanta, and then Orlando. We didn't land until about 12:30 am Monday morning, and thankfully Ryan's mom picked us up from the airport so we didn't have to take a cab.
We were very thankful to have been able to take such an amazing trip. St. Lucia was incredible and definitely the perfect end to a wonderful wedding week! And we are trying our best not to let the honeymoon be over, even though we are back to work and back at home. So far it's great being a newlywed!