During my however long blogging hiatus, we also managed to get away on our Surprise Honeymoon! I honestly had no idea where we were going until we showed up at the airport. I can’t believe it actually remained a secret considering he told everyone; I mean bellhops in Chicago, servers in Dallas, and pretty much anyone else who might have asked got let in on the secret. I was the most excited person in the Kansas City airport that morning when I found out we would be spending an entire week in St. Lucia!
We spent our week going on snorkeling trips, island excursions, making new friends, tasting rum punch, and spending lazy days by the pool. I miss it already. The island motto was “Good vibes” and that’s definitely what we left with! 
Here are a few of our favorite pictures. One of the best things about Sandals Grande is that they send a photographer on all of their excursions. The pictures cost an arm and a leg, but they were so worth it. Instead of keeping my camera out all day, they were there to capture all the major moments of our vacation!
One of my favorite things was waking up to this view and enjoying breakfast on the balcony. 
A few sites from around the resort!
Snorkeling was awesome! Waves were a little intimidating but we saw turtles, colorful fish, and sea horses!
One one of our excursions, we stopped for a nice, warm, mud bath. The sulfur in the mud “supposedly” makes you look ten years younger.
We rinsed the mud off in this refreshingly cold waterfall. 
Us in front of the Pitons! Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was filmed in this cove! 
Some of our new friends!
One of the oldest churches in St. Lucia.
I had the time of my life in St. Lucia. If you get a chance to go, I would highly recommend it. Don’t forget to ask for Skinny as your tour guide! Also, pack tons of swimsuits, 2 nice outfits (i.e khaki pants or slacks for the men and a dress for the women), super strong sunblock, and plenty of snacks. The ones for purchase at the hotel are exorbitantly overpriced.
As a little bonus: a recipe for rum punch can be found here. This was the closest recipe I could find to what they actually serve on the island.
Cheers!
+ view comments . . .