OMG! At the risk of sounding like a cliche or like Janet Jackson, it’s funny how time flies when you’re having fun. From the time we stepped aboard our JetBlue flight to St. Lucia until the time we returned, everything was picture perfect.
To begin, I was happily surprised to find JetBlue’s aircraft to be roomy with wide seats, extra leg room and overhead compartments. It made me wonder what took me so long to take flight with this airline. And if that wasn’t enough, I saw two great movies for free: “Happy New Year,” among whose many featured stars was Halle Berry, whom I adore, and “The Descendents,” which I really enjoyed. Even if we did have to purchase our own snack (of which there wasn’t much variety), I would definitely fly JetBlue again.
Immediately upon arrival, we began to encounter the warmth–both literally and figuratively–of the island. I don’t think the St. Lucians know what the word “stress” is, as they are patient, accommodating and pleasant beyond compare.
The all-inclusive Coconut Bay Resort and Spa was, in a word, beautiful. Spread out along the beach with families on one side and adults only on the other, we were free to partake of everything the resort had to offer and so much more. This included the Kids Klub, which had daily supervised activities for all of the children.
Julia made friends super fast and together they played mini tennis, swam in the pool and went horseback riding on the beach. This gave us adults time to chill out. Having a child has changed my whole beachgoing experience; no matter how relaxed I try to get, one eye is always on Julia. Now that she loves going in the ocean, well, forgetaboutit; I’ve learned to stand seaside until my ankles turn purple. Fortunately, on this trip, that was not the case.
Now that we’ve lathered on the sunscreen, slept on various parts of the beach and by the pool, floated down the lazy river on an inner tube, screamed in fright dashing down the water slide, indulged ourselves with manicures, pedicures, mud wraps and massage at the spa–which also included a steam room, sauna and time out in the meditation room what else is there to do all day–eat, eat, eat, drink, drink, drink, then eat some more and drink some more.
Fortunately, the food was all so good. From breakfast, lunch and dinner to endless snacks in between, everything tasted so delicious. The main staple was chicken, prepared in so many different ways that even I, a chicken-loving fool, didn’t realize it could be made to taste so good.
However, what they did with rice and peas with kingfish and coleslaw on the side was so good it should be illegal. I refused to have a second helping, as I didn’t want to overindulge, but let me tell you, talk about restraint. OK, so I followed up with dessert, which–I swear Grandma must have been in the kitchen whipping it up from scratch; no preprocessed artificial this or that served here.
As hard as it was, we had to tear ourselves away to explore the island, which meant taking some day trips. St. Lucia, a French-influenced island, is known for its still active volcanoes the Pitons. Though the last eruption was quite some time ago, a trip to the crater at the bottom of the volcano revealed pools of bubbling hot water sprouting across the crater floor.
As part of the tour, a stop at the food shack for a piece of fried fish and chicken (of course) and a Piton beer to wash it all down prepared us for the next stop, which was the mud bath. Into the mud we slithered as the temperature was more than bath-water warm–it was hot, naturally heated by the waters emanating from the within the volcano, which is heated from the core of the Earth. Is this like science fiction or what? No, I’m here to tell you, it’s real and it’s real good.
Our second trip was equally adventurous, as we were off to go zip-line riding. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard of before. You’re led to platforms perched amongst the trees and then harnessed to a cable, whereupon you leap off the platform and zip across the forest to the next platform. Each platform is a little bit higher than the next, and each cable is a little bit longer than the previous one, until you are 85 feet above ground and zipping at the speed of light–or at least it seems as though you are.
It was a thrilling experience that Charles didn’t particularly enjoy, as he’s more of a “feet planted solidly on the ground” kind of guy. As for myself, a chance to fly through the air as though I had wings with the wind on my cheeks was something I’d love to do again. Here again we had a delicious lunch, served with tamarind juice, which I couldn’t get enough of. It was so refreshing after a hard day of zipping.
Back at the resort, there was entertainment every night. Sometimes, the Kids Klub gathered the wee ones together for dinner and a show, which they loved. This gave us time to dine alone. However, we all met afterward to sit in the seductively lit lobby, tastefully decorated with comfy loveseats, intimately positioned, where we would stretch out as we listened to the sultry, soulful songstress accompanied by a solo musician who together lulled us into a light trance.
We weren’t on the island long enough to partake of the other scenic tours, but that leaves us a reason to return. The beauty of nature is amazing–it’s no wonder the people are so calm, as they are surrounded and immersed in the lush foliage consisting of banana trees, a variety of plants, flowers, cashew trees, fresh nutmeg for the picking, mango trees, cacao beans and ground provisions. Can you ask for anything more?
Until next week…kisses.