Flashback Friday…

We decided to really splurge on ourselves to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in 2016. Looking into all-inclusives, because we really wanted to be spoiled. Also looked at places that offered scuba diving, because in preparation, Todd got his certification. Something he had always wanted to do and immediately loved it (which we knew he would). The diving certainly narrowed down the options and we chose the Sandals brand of resorts. Then began looking at destinations and chose St. Lucia. Someplace tropical, fairly small and in our same time zone.

The island had 2 resorts, we chose Sandals Grande St. Lucian, the more luxurious and larger of the two. And, in the spirit of spoiling ourselves, we chose to reserve what they call a Rondoval Suite. A free-standing suite, bungalow-type, that was circular in shape, complete with a private patio and plunge pool with loungers and a hammock. Additional bonus was to be on ground level. The suite came with butler service, which we didn’t really care about.

We arranged for a private car for airport transfer. Boy, did we make the right decision! Our driver greeted us as we exited the airport, car at the perfect temperature, with a cooler stocked with water and local beer. The roads were crazy. They drive on the opposite side of the road, and hairpin turns everywhere. We chatted easily with him, as we learned so much about the St. Lucian people, government and lifestyle. He stopped at various scenic spots and described the fishing villages, major city and other things of interest. As we entered another small town, he pulled the car to the side of the road and told us he’d be right back. Across the road was a little shack, with a brick oven inside and locals everywhere. We couldn’t even imagine what was going on.

Our driver came back with something wrapped in a paper napkin and handed it back to us. Warm, freshly baked bread. Roughly the size of a sub roll, but a bit thinner. Sliced down the center, cheese inside. O. M. G. Heavenly. Like I needed to know of this genius idea…no, I have never attempted to replicate at home–no need to. I’d rather savor it as the sweet memory it is.

Remember how I said we didn’t really care much about having the butler service at the resort? Yeah, well…that changed when we checked in. We were greeted at the entrance–did not even have to go to the front desk–with a valet to collect our luggage, a warm, scented, moist towel to freshen up with and a drink and instructed to take a seat and our butler would be along shortly. We watched as the Sandals shuttle dropped off a group of about 10 people, all GREEN from riding in a shuttle bus through the twists and turns of the roads, bouncing up and down. All herded over to a small area to direct them to check in at the desk after getting a glass of champagne and a group toast. Less than a few minutes later, Amos arrived with a warm greeting and brought us straight to our room, as he told us we would complete our check in there…where the most beautiful welcome awaited.

I mean, seriously. So lovely. Amos handed me a trifold, the one you see to the left of the fruit plate. This contained all of our dinner reservations, all arranged. All we had to do was show up. And if we wanted to switch anything, he’d be happy to do it for us. Completed our check in process on an iPad, and the last thing he did before leaving us was to hand me a cell phone. If we needed anything at all, just press send and it was a direct line to him. Um…. He said he was on until 5 pm, and then another butler, Sabi, would be on until 11pm and would be by to introduce herself at some point in the evening. He wished us well and went on his way.

Of course, I can never relax until I’ve unpacked. So away I went, getting everything hung up and put away. We were staying for 2 full weeks (I told you we splurged on ourselves) and got our home set up while snacking and sipping on champagne. By then, it was time to get ready for dinner, our reservation was for 6:30 and we wanted to be able to go out and walk around a bit to get the lay of the land. Just before we were ready to leave the room, Sabi stopped in. White-glove donned, formal evening attire, she greeted us warmly and offered to bring us to the restaurant. We declined, told her we were happy to wander about a bit on our own. However, we did ask that the room be stocked with a few extra items. Todd was planning on getting up early each day while I slept in to do a few miles of walking–would it be possible to have some fresh bananas and juice brought to the room tonight. She answered with a resounding yes, of course, absolutely, it would be her pleasure.

We made our way on to dinner and walked around the resort. The grounds are immaculately kept, gorgeous flowers and tall palm trees everywhere. The restaurant was lovely, fairly quiet and the food and drink were delicious. We made our way down to the far end of the resort and out onto the long dock where the wedding chapel sat out at the end. But halfway to the chapel, there was a nice little covered sitting deck, with lights shining down into the water perfect for fish spotting. All kinds of fish and sting rays. Made our way back to the room, and it was so hot and muggy that we decided to make use of our private plunge pool. It was heavenly and luxurious and worth every penny we spent.

All in all, a great first day. Oh, but wait. There’s more. For every night, there was also turn down service. And each time we returned back to our room, we were surprised with wonderful towel creations and sweet treats. And the fruit Todd requested to fuel his early morning walks.

I asked Sabi one day, do you pluck the flowers from the grounds, or do the gardeners save you drops to use? She looked at me with a huge grin on her face, put her pointer finger up to her lips and said, “no, they hate it, but we pluck them right off the bushes so they’re nice and fresh–they yell at us when they catch us!” I also asked her about the gorgeous scent in the air at night time around the resort. Night-blooming jasmine. She said it is thought to ward away evil spirits and so it is planted all throughout the resort grounds.

We had decided we’d spend the next day over on the beach. There were nice lounge chairs under umbrellas where we could just laze the day away. We had a delicious buffet breakfast, the spread was incredible. Anything and everything. I had iced coffee each morning, with a stick of fresh sugar cane. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then on to the beach. Sabi was working the day shift, and stopped by to offer us drinks or snacks or to get us virtually anything we could possibly want. Todd went to the dive center to check on dives available for the week. And so it would seem we had settled into a routine of sorts. The next day, we decided on the pool. We had walked by that first morning and noticed the chairs were already all taken up at breakfast time. Sabi told us we could have them reserve our seats for us, just let her know where we wanted to be. And so our routine was definitely set. The next morning, I was at the lounge chairs, but trying to figure out which ones were ours. My back to the pool, the cell phone Amos had given me rang. I answered, and it was Amos. “I see you found your chairs…” I whipped around–how is he doing this??? Then I saw him on the far side of the pool, waving. He told me I guessed right, the chairs I was in front of were ours. And so my seat for the day was set. Todd was due to go on a dive, and I sat and awaited the pool bar to open.

Not a bad way to spend the day. I would sit on my lounger, read, soak in the sun and people watch. The quiet that surrounded the pool before the day really got going was so serene. At 10 am, the swim up bar opened, so I would wade in and start with a pina colada. Breakfast of Champions. And every couple of hours, in I would go, to get a drink. Met some very nice people, and would find myself engaged in great banter and conversations–and it was generally how Todd would find me when he returned from his dives.

And almost every day, a sweet groundskeeper, Francis, would be walking around the pool with a giant laundry cart, full of coconuts that had been picked from the surrounding palm trees, and would offer to cut one open. Expertly carved a hole, and placed a straw and flower inside. Fresh coconut water. “The Fountain of Youth” he promised. I didn’t care. It was delicious and refreshing. And look how pretty!!!

One of my favorite memories of my days at the pool was an afternoon where a couple came along and took the seats beside us. The wife and I chatted easily, she was completely jealous that we had the Rondoval suite. The four of us got along really well, talked about life back home, kids, etc. The time came to go get ready for dinner. We parted ways, never having exchanged names. That night, dinner was at the Japanese steakhouse, hibachi style. We were seated at our table along with 2 other couples already seated. Another couple came in, we chatted easily with them. Then who walks in to be the last couple at our table, but our friends we had made at the pool that afternoon! What were the odds? The six of us had a great time, and chose to keep the good times going by moving out to the bar just outside the restaurant. There, we came upon another couple they had met earlier in the day. We were fast friends, and chatted and joked easily. And of course, a commemorative photo was taken.

We quickly friended one another on Facebook and have kept in touch ever since. Who knows, a reunion vacation may be in our future one day.

Another of my favorite memories was one particular bartender, Peter. I quickly replaced my morning Pina coladas with his signature drink. Think boozy smoothie. All kinds of fresh fruit, ice and rum. Breakfast of Champions for sure. One of my later morning trips to the pool bar, Peter had a small nip bottle of St. Lucian rum sitting out. Told us “everyone getting a drink from me needs to do a shot”. One couple was all in. A couple of guys choked down theirs, and made all kinds of ruckus about it. Step aside, boys, lemme show ya how it’s done. I drained my vodka and cranberry and told Peter to hit me. Shot it down, feeling the vapors hit my sinuses as I brought the glass up to my mouth. Whew! But it was smooth as silk going down. And…WOW. So, we went about our day, the couple and I reuniting at the bar as we needed our thirsts quenched. I was noticing that the drinks were hitting me a bit heavier than they had been. Fast forward to the next day. {I told you we had settled into a routine} The couple was there and informed Peter that they had been on a tour of the distillery the afternoon before, and told the guide of our shots at the pool. To which she responded that THAT rum is NOT to be taken straight, only mixed. (That explains a lot.) Peter simply shrugged his shoulders and said, you’re alright, aren’t you? (And of course in my head, “but did you DIE??”)

And quite possibly, my favorite poolside memory is that of meeting a fire fighter that was there on 9/11. He was humble and kind and it was his wife that proudly proclaimed what a hero he was. As we spoke of that fateful day, it was apparent that it seemed as though no time had passed, that it was all still very vivid (and having been the 15th anniversary year, the press coverage had brought it back in all of our minds) I was in complete and utter awe of him and his calm nature.

During his morning walks, Todd would go outside of the resort, around the neighborhood streets. There were private taxis outside the resort, ready to bring people where ever they may want to go. Todd chatted with one of the drivers quite a bit, and learned that every Friday, in town, they shut down a few blocks of the streets, people line the streets with food, drink and wares, they have a DJ and have a great, big, giant block party. They call it the Street Party, and locals and tourists alike join in. So, he arranged for us to do that our first Friday night. All of the resort staff we told said they were so excited we were going and maybe they’d see us there. Of course, we didn’t, because the streets were packed. I mean NYC streets packed. But the sounds, the smells and the tastes were all amazing. Such a treat to experience a bit of true local culture. Only regret: so much going on, I didn’t get ANY pictures!!

All of the restaurants at the resort were great. And, as I said, the reservations were all made for us, so we didn’t have to do anything other than choose what we were wearing and what we were ordering from the menu once we were there. We had our first sushi experience there. The waitress was so sweet–we told her we didn’t know what we were doing. She asked us what we liked and what we didn’t like and made recommendations. And she was spot on. The Japanese hibachi was not only delicious, but fun–the chefs made an effort for everyone seated together to get to know one another a little bit. All of the restaurants did a great job presenting beautifully arranged plates, perfectly portioned and the flavors of everything were fantastic.

And Todd got some pretty interesting questions asked of him. We hung out at the smaller pool near our suite one day, and a couple of couples that had done some of the diving excursions with him were there. One of the husbands asked “hey, Todd, can I ask you a question? You 5-0?” If you knew my husband, you would know just how hysterically hard I laughed at that. While out on a diving excursion, one of the guys running the show asked while out on the boat, “Mr. Jackson, are you a reverend?” Again, same reaction from me. And from that day onward, as that dude passed by us on the resort, he’d point and call out “Reverend Jack-sonnnnnn!!” More hilarity. But he had the absolute best time out on those dives. And made himself a girlfriend. Natalie, one of the diving instructors, would go out as his buddy, since everyone else was coupled off. Sweet as can be, when I met her on our last day, she wanted to know when I would be coming diving with her. Um, yeah, that would be NEVER. But I thanked her for taking such great care of my husband.

This place was truly what dreams are made of. It was so beautiful and relaxing, and of course, the service was top-notch. We may just have to return for our 30th…maybe I can get him to marry me again??