I don't go on vacation very often, but I was lucky enough to go two times at the end of 2011. The first trip was to an all-inclusive resort, Sandals St. Lucia, with my family and some friends. I've been meaning to share some photos for a while now, so here they are!
Alright, to start off, here's the crew. From left to right we have Luke (with his Movember moustache), Jody, Alana (Luke's girlfriend), my mom, Daniel (my brother), me, Katie, my dad, and Michelle (my sister). After looking at this photo, I laughed because it reminds me of old school 90210 with all the bright colours.
I have so many beautiful pictures I wanted to share from St. Lucia, so keep reading after the jump to check out the rest of them!
The first night we had dinner outside. It rained and was dark so we couldn't really see what we were eating, but at least I grabbed a nice shot of Daniel with my parents. By the way, the whole trip everyone kept thinking that my brother and mom were married.... yuck.
We did an excursion called the Land and Sea or something like that. It was the whole day and it was great! We took a bus trip around the island, had a catamaran ride, and did some snorkling along the west coast of the island.
We stopped at a banana field. It was very cool to see how they grow close up.
We stopped at the Botanical Garden. It was beautiful! There were tons of birds, plants, waterfalls... and of course a gift shop at the end :P
Michelle, Jody, Katie, and Daniel eating lunch with an incredible view
The weather was so crazy there though. I think it rained most days or at least would get seriously cloudy like this. The clouds would come on suddenly then disappear just as fast.
We also visited a sulphuric volcano. And let me tell you, it STUNK. *Cough cough* Rotten eggs! So gross!! I kept thinking I'd get used to the smell, but then a new cloud of steam would come wafting by. While it was super nasty smelling, there were pools of water all around that were full-on bubbling... bubbling like a kettle right before it turns off. Madness!
By the way, I love family photos! My siblings and I are like carbon copies of each other, so it makes me laugh to see us all together.
I got in a few night shots of the exterior of the main building and the fountain. I was a geek and brought my tripod!
Michelle and me. The resort was very couple-y so I spent most of my time with Michelle.
We did another excursion - ziplining! I think I was the only one in the group who had done it before. If you haven't done it before, give it a go! It's really fun! Although, oddly, we had to wear hairnets for "sanitary" purposes... I'm not sure how much cleanliness a hairnet adds....
Right beside our resort was a national park. I can't remember the name, but it had two peaks that you could climb. The one on the left had trails and was considered the "easy" one, but there were quite a few older/out-of-shape people who couldn't quite cut it and stopped at the bottom. The one on the right had no trail and we really had to be careful not to fall. At some points we were climbing straight up huge rocks. My dad didn't make it to the top lol Actually come to think of it, I'm not sure my mom did either.
The "easy" peak.
Looking at the "hard" peak
There was a weird dungeon thingy at the top of the first peak, so obviously I climbed down into it and made a silly face!
At the top of the second, more challenging, peak.
Michelle and Daniel (with odd sweat patterns on his chest) being geeks
Looking down on the smaller peak
We also visited another Sandals resort to do a little water tubing. They only had extra small and large life jackets so I'm smooshed into an extra small. Daniel's friend called it a "cleavage-enhancing" life jacket because I had some crazy cleavage popping out the top! Whatever, I'd rather have it too tight than too loose!
There were a few horses around this resort, but they all looked so sad. At least this guy got to cool down in the water
And lastly, because this blog is first and foremost about design etc. I took a few shots of some of the pretty things I saw around the resort.
This is the moulding on our ceiling in the room. The dark colour made it look very rich and luxe. And there was a huge four-poster bed. We practically needed a stool to get in and out of that thing because it was so high off the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture :(
This is from inside one of the bathrooms in the foyer. Yes, I felt like a creeper taking this shot, but I loved the grass cloth!
My favourite decor was in the restaurant, Toscanini's. The following photos are from the bar, just outside the restaurant section.
These lights look very Bouclair-ish, don't they? I love the driftwood mirror and the wall bar idea, but the bar isn't executed very well. The stools are too high or the bar is too low - something's gotta give.
Here is the main bar area inside Toscanini's. The wine bottle chandeliers were cool. I think I was the only one who liked them though.
Alright, to start off, here's the crew. From left to right we have Luke (with his Movember moustache), Jody, Alana (Luke's girlfriend), my mom, Daniel (my brother), me, Katie, my dad, and Michelle (my sister). After looking at this photo, I laughed because it reminds me of old school 90210 with all the bright colours.
I have so many beautiful pictures I wanted to share from St. Lucia, so keep reading after the jump to check out the rest of them!
The first night we had dinner outside. It rained and was dark so we couldn't really see what we were eating, but at least I grabbed a nice shot of Daniel with my parents. By the way, the whole trip everyone kept thinking that my brother and mom were married.... yuck.
We did an excursion called the Land and Sea or something like that. It was the whole day and it was great! We took a bus trip around the island, had a catamaran ride, and did some snorkling along the west coast of the island.
We stopped at a banana field. It was very cool to see how they grow close up.
This one is a bit more juvenile than the photo above. The tour guide said there is a layer of bananas under each purple leaf layer. So that's a lotta bananas from one pod!
We stopped at the Botanical Garden. It was beautiful! There were tons of birds, plants, waterfalls... and of course a gift shop at the end :P
I think these were coffee beans, but I'm not sure. Correct me if I'm wrong!
Daniel, me, and Michelle at the waterfall in the Botanical Garden
We had lunch in this restaurant that overlooked this incredible view. It was beautiful! In the distance, you can see the two peaks side-by-side - those are The Pitons. They have a local beer named after those peaks.
Michelle, Jody, Katie, and Daniel eating lunch with an incredible view
The weather was so crazy there though. I think it rained most days or at least would get seriously cloudy like this. The clouds would come on suddenly then disappear just as fast.
We also visited a sulphuric volcano. And let me tell you, it STUNK. *Cough cough* Rotten eggs! So gross!! I kept thinking I'd get used to the smell, but then a new cloud of steam would come wafting by. While it was super nasty smelling, there were pools of water all around that were full-on bubbling... bubbling like a kettle right before it turns off. Madness!
By the way, I love family photos! My siblings and I are like carbon copies of each other, so it makes me laugh to see us all together.
I got in a few night shots of the exterior of the main building and the fountain. I was a geek and brought my tripod!
Michelle and me. The resort was very couple-y so I spent most of my time with Michelle.
We did another excursion - ziplining! I think I was the only one in the group who had done it before. If you haven't done it before, give it a go! It's really fun! Although, oddly, we had to wear hairnets for "sanitary" purposes... I'm not sure how much cleanliness a hairnet adds....
Right beside our resort was a national park. I can't remember the name, but it had two peaks that you could climb. The one on the left had trails and was considered the "easy" one, but there were quite a few older/out-of-shape people who couldn't quite cut it and stopped at the bottom. The one on the right had no trail and we really had to be careful not to fall. At some points we were climbing straight up huge rocks. My dad didn't make it to the top lol Actually come to think of it, I'm not sure my mom did either.
The "easy" peak.
Looking at the "hard" peak
There was a weird dungeon thingy at the top of the first peak, so obviously I climbed down into it and made a silly face!
At the top of the second, more challenging, peak.
Me and Michelle
Michelle and Daniel (with odd sweat patterns on his chest) being geeks
Looking down on the smaller peak
We also visited another Sandals resort to do a little water tubing. They only had extra small and large life jackets so I'm smooshed into an extra small. Daniel's friend called it a "cleavage-enhancing" life jacket because I had some crazy cleavage popping out the top! Whatever, I'd rather have it too tight than too loose!
There were a few horses around this resort, but they all looked so sad. At least this guy got to cool down in the water
And lastly, because this blog is first and foremost about design etc. I took a few shots of some of the pretty things I saw around the resort.
This is the moulding on our ceiling in the room. The dark colour made it look very rich and luxe. And there was a huge four-poster bed. We practically needed a stool to get in and out of that thing because it was so high off the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture :(
This is from inside one of the bathrooms in the foyer. Yes, I felt like a creeper taking this shot, but I loved the grass cloth!
My favourite decor was in the restaurant, Toscanini's. The following photos are from the bar, just outside the restaurant section.
These lights look very Bouclair-ish, don't they? I love the driftwood mirror and the wall bar idea, but the bar isn't executed very well. The stools are too high or the bar is too low - something's gotta give.
Here is the main bar area inside Toscanini's. The wine bottle chandeliers were cool. I think I was the only one who liked them though.
And I really liked the stringed glittery beads in the doorway. Yes, it might be a tad tacky, but this is a resort after all. I think it brought it a bit of sparkle and reflected the light off the window very nicely.
There were orchids everywhere. Very beautiful. They probably thrive in a tropical environment because it's so warm and humid.
All in all, it was a good vacation. The food was great and service was excellent. I can't stress that enough. But at the end of day, I don't know if it's worth the cost. Sandals is SUPER expensive for a resort, so I don't know if I'd go there again.
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