When Jimbo and I first started talking about where we would go on our honeymoon, we were a little opposed to the all-inclusive resort idea. Our first thought was actually to plan a trip to Ireland. But, we soon realized that it would be very cold in November. So, we decided to go the tropical route instead, and ended up booking a trip to Sandals in Antigua. I'm so glad we did, because the warm, relaxing atmosphere was exactly what we needed. After the wedding was over, I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life! We would still love to pay a visit to Europe one day in the future, but I would like to go at a time when we are well-rested and prepared for plenty of site-seeing. We spent our entire trip to Antigua sleeping, eating, soaking up the sun, and spending plenty of quality time together. There were a couple of "bumps in the road", which including getting stuck on a 2-day layover in Miami on the way there and struggling for hours to get through airport security when we arrived back in the U.S. All in all, we had a fabulous time and the small amount of trouble was completely worth it!
After
We got settled in around 2 PM, and were so worn out that we fell fast asleep until time for dinner! Dinner the first night was at an outdoor, beachfront restaurant called Barefoot By the Sea. Afterwards, we spent a little time walking around the resort and discovered that there were several areas of chaise lounges set up around fire pits at the edge of the sand. Ahhh, heavenly! For the first time in 6 months, I started to unwind. Such a relief to put all of the wedding planning stress behind me! After a good night's rest, we woke up and ordered room service...
After breakfast, I had to keep at least one Thanksgiving tradition and turn on the Macy's parade for a few minutes...
That night, we had "Thanksgiving dinner" at Bayside Restaurant. The filet was out of this world!
Like I said before, the rest of our days were spent relaxing by the pool and enjoying the gorgeous scenery...
On our 3rd night, we decided to try the Japanese restaurant called Kimono's.
The food was good, but the best part about this dinner was that we met some new friends...
The couple in the middle are Fabio and Katya from Rome, Italy, and the couple on the right are Nick and Christina from NYC. Everyone was newly married, so it was fun reminiscing about our recent weddings and talking about our plans for the future. Who knows, maybe our paths will cross again one day!
The next night, we had dinner at Mario's Italian Restaurant.
For those of you who don't live in Alabama, this was a very big night for SEC football... The Iron Bowl (or Alabama/Auburn game). We are both big Alabama fans, but decided we weren't going to watch it. We didn't want to spend our honeymoon disappointed if Alabama lost. I really believe that Jimbo would've stuck to our resolution not to watch it, but curiosity got the best of me during dinner and I started checking Facebook to see what our friends were saying about the game. Well, as the saying goes, that was all she wrote. The next thing I knew, we were back up in our room watching the game. It was a close one, but thank goodness we pulled it out in the end. Definitely an Iron Bowl experience we'll never forget. Roll Tide Roll!!
On our last night, we had a little sunset photo session with one of the photographers at the resort...
We had late reservations at Eleanor's Caribbean Cuisine, so we decided to have dessert first...
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| The crepes at Cafe de Paris were delicious! |
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| Dinner wasn't half-bad either! ;) |
Sadly, we had to pack up and leave the next day, but we'll always have a special place in our hearts for Antigua.
When we arrived home, we still had a few days off work together. It was so nice to be able to relax at home, organize our gifts, and go shopping with some of the gift cards from our (very generous) friends and family. Someone was on cloud 9 after one purchase in particular...
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| Goodness, I love him!! |
Needless to say, it was an amazing week and the perfect start to our "happily ever after". I can hardly wait to see what other new adventures are in store... :)
