Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Antigua





Which is pronounced with a hard "g" and silent "u" (anteega). It is home of 365 beaches. A beach for every day of the year. There were mangoes everywhere that grow wild. It was too early in the season, which Joe was bummed. He loves mangoes. It is a Brazilian thing from his mission.

It was cloudy through most of the cruise due to it being the week before the official hurricane season started. I was disappointed to not have a clearer day on Antigua. We hiked to the top of Signa Hill. They do not have tall mountains like us so they are very proud of their 1200 foot mountains. We got to the top and the view was unreal. On a clear day you can see several islands and a volcano that I forgot the name of, but have written down somewhere :O) It was about an hour and a half up the mountain. There are no mosquitoes on the mountains even though the humidity is unreal (you can almost feel the humidity throught the pictures) because there are no large mamals. There are only 2 kinds of snakes and one only comes out at night and the other is harmless. This was the hilight of our trip. We really like the hike. The guides were darling and so informative of their island. The guides treated us to a black pineapple that isn't really black. It is only on Antigua. It was better than any pineapple I had ever had. The rocks on the hike were mostly from volcanoes so you could pick the rocks up and break them with your hands. There was also lemon grass, also known as citronella grass, at the top of the mountains. What a waste of citronella if there are no moquitoes, but it smelled lemon fresh. I want to grow some at my house.

Tortola

This was Joe's favorite stop. It was beautiful. I am waiting for pictures from this port. We had to use disposable cameras for this place as well. Joe and I went Kayaking and Joe did more snorkeling. Such clear water trough the carribean. By this point of it, though, I had my share of the salt. I LOVED the kayaking. I had never been before and could have done it for hours. I think Joe's favorite thing was the snorkeling. The whole group was sipping fruit "juice" on the beach and Joe was still out watching the fish. He found a conch shell and took it back to the ship, but once I realized that it still had a conch in it I made him get rid of it and buy a shell from a store.

Nassau Bahamas



Our last stop on the cruise was Nassua Bahamas. We went and toured the Atlantis hotel that is well known for it's celebrities that stay there. At $75,000 per night with a 3 night minimum to sleep in the suite who else are you going to see there. In the pictures there is an arch that connects the hotel. That is the suite. Joe and I then went to the public beach because to use the hotels facilities without booking a room it was over $100 per person. We will save that for another trip :o)

Disney and the Epcot center






Yes, we went to Disney World without our kids. It may sound mean, but we had a great time. There was so much to see and do. It was terribly hot and humid. It was so hot there were little cooling stations with misters to cool us down. It was fun to just be silly on our own! I felt like we were newlyweds again!

I can honestly say this vacation was "practically perfect in every way"....


After spending time in Georgia with friends, the alligator swamps, cruising the Carribean and a trip to Disney World and The Epcot center I can honestly say that this vacation was "practically perfect in every way!"