Summer 2012 Vacation - British Virgin Islands

For our vacation, we decided to go with our friends Will and Katie, and we went to Virgin Gorda. It is a small island located in the BVI. We stayed at a cute 2bed/2bath house that we found through VRBO.com.  The house was part of a resort, so we had access to the amenities of the resort, but we were in our own little world.  We had our own kitchen, our own pool, a big balcony off the kitchen, individual balconies off each bedroom.  The shower was outdoors, which took a little getting used to, but it was kind of cool to be showering in nature :)

On Saturday, June 9, 2012 we flew into the Caribbean.  We took the red-eye on Friday night from LAX to Philadelphia, then a flight from Philadelphia to St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands).  We then took a ferry from St. Thomas to Virgin Gorda, picked up our rental car, and met up with Will and Katie (they flew in from Houston, so we just met in VG).  We checked in to our super cute house (pictures above), then went to dinner at the resort restaurant, called Sugarcane Restaurant.  I had grilled tuna with avocado salsa; Brian had grilled swordfish with mango chutney.  Then we went to the grocery store to pick up food for breakfast and lunch and snack, and drinks.

On Sunday, we went snorkeling at Mountain Trunk Bay, which is part of the resort.  Then we drove down to Leverick Bay, snorkeled, had lunch at Leverick Bay Restaurant.  I had fish and chips, Brian had a native specialty called Roti.  There is one main road on Virgin Gorda.  You fly into the South End, we stayed in the middle, and you could go to the North End.  So after lunch we drove around the island and looked at Long Bay and Savannah Bay.  We made dinner at home tonight (grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, and carrots), and relaxed in our personal pool.

Monday we drove down to the Southern Tip and explored the Baths.  We had lunch at Mad Dog (turkey wrap; turkey club sandwich), then walked through the water caves to end up at Devil's Bay.  We snorkled for a while, and had dinner at Bath and Turtle.  I had jerk chicken pizza, Brian had ribs.  We went back to the house and played games.

On Tuesday we decided to go to Tortola (another BVI Island).  We took the ferry over, went shopping, went to a specialty spice store.  Then we drove down to the South end, to Sopras Wharf.  We had lunch at Pussers Pub (I had a jerk chicken wrap, Brian had a mahi mahi sandwich), then went and toured a rum distellary.  We snorkled at Smugglers Cove, and had dinner at VIllage Cafe (chicken with guava rum glaze, seafood pasta).  We had dessert at Sugarcane Restaurant.

Wednesday was another special day.  We decided to do a snorkeling trip to Anageda, wihch is an Atoll Reef.  We snorkled at Lolobolly Bay, and saw some really cool things: Sting Ray, Barricuda, Giant Fish, Needle Nose Fish.  We had lunch at Big Bamboo Cafe (conch fritters, grilled grouper).  We took the boat home, swam, and made dinner at home again (jerk chicken, rolls, corn).

Thursday was a busy day.  We drove to Little Bay and Gun Creek, took a ferry to Biras Creek, had lunch at Fat Virgin Cafe (grouper sandwich, ham and brie sandwich), walked to Bitter End, took the ferry to Saba Rock.  Then we went back to our resort to swim at the swim-up bar.  We had dinner at the Mine Shaft Cafe (grilled mahi mahi with pineapple, fried plantains, grouper creole).

On Friday we just wanted to relax, so we snorkleed at Savannah Bay, ate lunch at home, swam at home.  Katie and I went for a walk on Nail Bay and found some really cool sea glass.  We went up north to Leverick Bay for a big BBQ dinner that they had.

Saturday was the end of vacation.  Will and Katie went to Tortola for another night, and Brian and I took the ferry to St. Thomas, had lunch at Gladys Cafe (jerk mahi mahi sandwich, curried goat), walked around Charlotte Amalie, then flew home to LAX (via Philadelphia).

It was a wonderful and relaxing vacation.  Gorgeous weather, beautiful views, and a great time with our best friends.  Super quiet, not a lot of tourists, and beaches to ourselves.  We will happily go back in a heart beat, and we recommend it to everyone!

Belated Honeymoon - Kauai, September 2011

Brian and I went to Kauai (Hawaii) for our belated honeymoon.  It was ALMOST within our first year of marriage.  I guess it was technically our "honeymooniversary".  Needless to say, we had a wonderful time, and it was a much needed vacation for both of us.

We flew out, non-stop from LAX to Lihue, on Monday morning.  Brian had worked the Emmy's party on Sunday night, and then started strike, so he was working from 5pm Sunday to 7am Monday.  He came home, picked me up, and we went to the airport.  The flight was uneventful.  Brian slept and I watched a tiny, hard-to-hear version of Pirates of the Caribbean 4.  We stayed up in Princeville (the north side of the island) at the Wyndham Makai Club (my parents gave us a timeshare week to use, thanks Mom and Dad!).  Monday night was just getting settled, driving around, and relaxing.

Views from our Condo

Tuesday morning we drove to Tunnels Beach, aka Makua Beach (next to Haena State Park) and snorkeled.  The first thing we saw was 2 Moray Eels playing with each other in the coral!  We also saw lots of different fish.  Unfortunately, I don't have an underwater camera, so you will have to take my word for it!  We went to lunch in Hanalei (Puff the Magic Dragon?), then we went snorkeling at Hideaways Beach.  This time we happened to go swimming with a 3.5' Sea Turtle.  I'm not joking.  It was about 4' away from us.  We hung with it for almost 5 minutes, just watching it swim along, eating coral.  It was so neat.  We also swung by the local farmers market to pick up some fresh fruit.

Waipa Beach, with Hanalei Bay in the background

 
Wednesday morning we went snorkeling at Anini Beach.  There wasn't as much to see, as the surf was a little rougher, but we did see 3 rays swimming along.  They were each about 3' long.  That was cool.

 

We drove , and went to Opaekaa Falls and Wailua Falls.

Opaekaa Falls

 
 

Wailua Falls

Wailua Falls

Wednesday afternoon we went on a helicopter ride around the island.  That was cool, as I had never been on a helicopter before.  It was so neat to see everything from a birds-eye view, as well as see how different the island looks on all the different sides.

We swung by the Kilauea Light House on our way back to our condo.

 

Morning Rainbow from our Condo

Thursday we went to Ka'a Beach.  We wanted to snorkel for a bit in the morning, but the surf was too rough and the lifeguards weren't allowing snorkeling.  So instead we went for a hike.  We hiked 2 miles on a moderate trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach.  It was a really cool beach, with some neat caves that we could get into (it was lower tide).

On the hike, looking at Ke'e Beach

 

 

Cool Tree Roots

Weird spider with red spiny things

Beach - 2 mile break :)

We went ahead and decided to do the additional 2 miles (on a pretty strenuous trail) to Hanakapi'ai Falls.  It is a beautiful waterfall that is over 100' tall, and it ends in a pool that you can swim in.  So, Brian and I went for a BRIEF swim under the waterfall and back.  It was brief, because the water temperature was about 33degrees F (at least, it felt that cold to me!).  But, it was an amazing adventure.

Lots of bamboo groves in the middle of the hike

Huge Bamboo!  My hand is wrapped around the back!

We swam in the pool, all the way under the waterfall

 
We then hiked the 4 miles back to Ka'a Beach and had lunch (we were starving by that point!).  That puts us at an 8-mile round-trip, pretty strenuous hike.  Unfortunately, the surf hadn't gone down at Ke'e Beach, so we couldn't snorkel there, but we were pretty tired from the hike, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

We did go check out the Wet Cave (Waikanaloa) which was kind of neat, but gross water that you can't (nor would you want to) swim in.

 
On Friday we headed down south.  We went to Waimea Canyon, and drove around.

Cool bridge with neat trees that we really liked.  They were like canopy trees!

We did a little 3 mile round-trip hike to the middle of part of the canyon, which was really pretty.  We were aiming for a waterfall, but apparently it was too dry for the waterfall to be running. 

We then drove up to the Kalalau Lookout.  It was a gorgeous view.  We couldn't tell where the ocean ended and the sky began. 

 

 

Friday afternoon/evening we went on a Sunset Boat Tour of the Na Pali Coast.  That was really cool, to see the coastline, then watch the sun set.  So beautiful.  Friday night we spent in Lihue (a little too crowded for us, but for 1 night it was ok).

Na Pali Coast

 

Just for Betsy - the arch from Pirates 4

The arch that Captain Jack Sparrow walks through in Pirates #4

On Saturday morning we headed down to Poipu.  We drove along Tree Tunnels Road, which is made up of eucalyptus trees that canopy the road for about a mile.

We went snorkeling down at Poipu Beach Park.  We saw lots of fish, and this time we were actually surrounded by schools of fish.  It was really cool to have the fish swimming around us.

We also drove down to the Spouting Horn to check that out.  Then, we unfortunately had to go to the airport to board our flight home.

It was an amazing vacation, and Kauai is such a beautiful place.  We can't wait to go back, and do the rest of the things that we didn't get a chance to do.

Here is a link to my snapfish album that has all of the pictures from the trip.  You can also view as a slideshow. http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4724965015/a=8015572_8015572/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/