Day 7/8 - Happy New Year!

Greetings and Happy New Year from Antigua! Sorry for the delay, we've really been enjoying doing nothing! We've had a very relaxing last few days. Yesterday we pulled a few chairs out to the beach and spent the early morning and early afternoon lounging in the sun and taking a dip in the ocean. I forgot how great the ocean water feels! After a few hours we ventured into Saint John's, which is the capital of Antigua and supposedly the most advanced city in the Caribbean. We found it to be just another typical Caribbean city, with dress and sandals shops, mostly catering to the cruisers. We spent some time walking through Heritage Quay and Redcliffe Quay, which is the main port of the city. Because it was New Year's Eve, the locals were out partying and enjoying the day. Some streets were even blocked off with large speakers and DJ's getting ready for the night! We were told that the Antiguans will party all night...that is AFTER they go to church at 10PM.  The island is mostly Anglican, based on their English history.  There was also a small cruise ship in port, The Crystal, so the town was full with some extra guests for the day!

Redcliffe Quay is one of the oldest parts of the city and was named in honor of the church of St Mary Redcliffe, situated in the English port city of Bristol. Today many of the old warehouses have been restored into present day boutiques, restaurants, and bars. The old boardwalk has also been restored. A lady at our hotel suggested that we check out a restaurant called the Bee Hive, so we did just that! They had THE BEST jerk stuffed burgers, which were handmade Angus patties stuffed with mango and pineapple! DELICIOUS!

After a few hours, we came back and got ready for dinner. We made reservations for 9PM at Ismay's, which is located on the resort property. It was so good - all NINE course, lol! We started with an amuse bouche of cucumber and zucchini salad over a piece of mahi mahi, then a cream of parsnip and scallop soup, followed by a wonderful truffle and parmesean rissotto. For the main course we both had the grilled lobster and shrimp au'gratin! We finished the night with a chocolate lava cake and baked Alaska....needless to say we were very full. It was also Jeff's first time having baked Alaska, so he got a kick out of how it was presented, flaming and all. The best part for him was that he immediately tasted the Sanbuca, which he loves, as well as the black licourice ice cream! The ambience was beautiful and it really was the perfect night to toast farewell to 2011 and to welcome 2012!

The most magical part of the night is that we literally watched the crescent moon desend over the Horizon. During dinner it was high in the sky and eventually, just after midnight, it dssappeared over the Caribbean sea. As we counted the clock down with the band, party hats and all, we were very thankful to all our family and friends who made 2011 such a wonderful year. We are looking forward to making 2012 even better - we even wrote out our resolutions!  Let's hope that next year at this time, we can look back and see that we stuck to a few of them! 

This will probably be our last journal entry for the trip. The next two days will be mostly the same: beach, sun, and relaxation. We head back to Chicago on January 3rd - landing around midnight. Real life starts again on the 4th! We've had a great trip.  It is exactly how we imagined it would be!  Antigua is a beautiful island, full of life.  If you're ever looking for a place just to get away and relax away from the hustle and bustle of life, this is the island to visit. 

Till Next Time!
XOXO
Jenn & Jeff

Day 6 - Galley Bay

Hello fellow readers (hehehe)... not much to report today, so I thought I'd give you the history of the steelpan (many refer to it as a steel drum).

Unfortunately, most of the Caribbean was a slave trading region.  Steelpan music all started in Trinidad, with their large poplulation of West Africans.  In 1797 when Trinidad became a British colony, the English feared that the slaves would transmit code from plantation to plantation via their animal skin drums.  The animal skin drums were an integral part of their African religion.  In an effort to "prevent riots" and to dissolve the African religous practices, both the slave owners and Catholic Church banned this instrument.

In 1834 when the slaves were freed, they were unable to celebrate using the skin drums, they reverted to hollowed-out bamboo trunks.  Eventually this too was outlawed.  Their entire faith, known as the Shango religion, was driven underground except in districts were people openly rebelled and kept drumming.  These people lived in extreme poverty and were not given the same resources as the rest of society, they were considered to be outcasts.  With  the keen curiosity to continue making music, the townspeople made due using materials found in everyday life - milk cans, paint cans, car hub caps, garbage can lids, and bisquit pans. The first steelpan (or drum) was found in a manufacturing plant where many of the townspeople worked.  This single drum changed the course of music history.  This group who were considered to be  underpriveledged and unfairly titled as "violent" youths used this music as an escape.  The social stigma remained with the music for many years, but eventually this became their outlet for self expression.  Today it is not just a sound, but it is a respected around the globe.  It is the Caribbean! 

Enjoy the pictures of the resort - tomorrow we will venture into St John's!

XOXO

Jenn & Jeff












Room View



Day 5 - Galley Bay

Hi there!  What a beautiful day in Antigua.  We spent the morning swimming in English Harbor and then moving over to Galley Bay around noon.  What a different hotel!  We loved The Inn for its quant and boutique- like feeling.  Galley Bay Resort is very different - much bigger, sitting on 40 acres, incuding 88 rooms.  It also sits directly on the sea, not within a harbor. 

The resort won Conde Nast "Most Excellent Eco Resort, Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific in 2010!  They have their own state of the art reverse osmosis water plant, which takes salt water from the sea through a purification process to produce fresh water.  The final product leaves us with water quality that is 50% better than what is required by U.S. standards!  In addition to this, the hotel has a long list of ways they remain sustainable and eco-friendly; including, local sourcing and recycling of oil from the kitchen (to the local farmer to fuel his vehicle), energy efficient light bulbs, recyling of food waste to local farmers to feed their animals, they also reuse large drums to store house liquor, which eliminates having to purchase plastic/non-disposable bottles!  We think this is very cool!  Everyone should do their part to keep our planet beautiful!   

Tonight is Antigua's barbeque night, so we will be joining the festivities.  The resort is also featuring a steel drum band!  We will definitely post pictures tomorrow and I will tell you the history about panning for steel.  It's actually quite facinating to hear how pan music spread throughout the Caribbean starting as far back as 1834! 

We have a feeling the rest of the week will be spent beachside at the hotel.  This place literally has everything we could ask for - bikes for rent, windsailing, paddle surfing, crocquet, bird watching (they have a bird sancturary on site) and tennis!  We may attempt surfing, but this will depend on the tides.  This beach is a surfers paradise!

Till tomorrow,
XOXO
Jenn & Jeff

Day 4 – Much about Nothing, Antigua

Not much to report today.  Today was an easy breezy day, full of a game of tennis and lunch at Catherine’s French Bistro, which was lovely.  I’m sitting here right now enjoying a delicious Banana daiquiri made especially for us at The Inn....definitely no complaints here! 

We are really loving the time to connect with each other and just spend time relaxing.  Tonight we plan on dining at Trappas’s , which is a local Caribbean restaurant.  The sailing couple from yesterday have been here for 2 weeks now and raved about how much they enjoyed the food.  We will report back tomorrow on how we liked it!  Thus far the food has been pretty good – spicy, just like I like it! 

Tonight is our last night at The English Harbor.  While we are sad to say our vacation is almost half over, we are excited to move to another part of the island.  We are heading northeast toward Galley bay tomorrow afternoon.  It is a quick 20 minute drive.  While this is still somewhat secluded, it is a little closer to the capital of St John (probably within 15 minutes).  We will break up the days by venturing into town to visit the open air markets, art galleries, and do a little shopping.  However, our hopes are that the next 6 days are pretty much the same - sun, beach, and frosty cocktails! 

Till tomorrow,

XOXO

Jeff & Jenn

Day 3 – Sailing the Antiguan waters!

Waking up to another day in paradise, we relaxed beachside until early afternoon, when we boarded our boat for a 4 hour sailing lesson.  A little hesitant, the concierge mis-booked the trip and while we thought we were just going to be castaways on this sailing lesson, the captain believed we were there to learn!  Never-the-less, we took it in stride and actually had a really great time playing the role of student!  We were on a 40’ sailboat with a couple from London who were getting their skipper’s certification and another woman from Norway who was starting her studies as “competent crew.”  The difference being that a skipper can charter their own boat, while the competent crew can work alongside the Captain handling the ropes and the sails.  And then there was Jeff and I, mostly watching and listening to how they sailed the boat.  Sailing is a whole different language, most the times foreign to us!  There is a LOT of work that goes into a sail, and after seeing it in action, we are fascinated by the skill and natural talent it takes to sail.  We sailed the Antiguan waters from English Harbor to Galley Bay, which is straight east.  We got to experience both upwind and downwind sailing, which is quite different.  I also took the role as Captain for 45 minutes!  The wheel is so sensitive, lierally a half inch to the right and we were heading towards Guadelope! 

During our sail, we were able to see beautiful Antigua from the sea, passing Rendezvous beach and other beautiful harbors around the island.  We were told that the reason Rendezvous is secluded is because it is a two hour trek (walking) through the rainforest to reach the sand.  No reason there were only boats there!  We also saw sea turtles and Eric Clapton’s house from afar! 

We finished the night with a beautiful dinner at “Papparazi” – which is a local Italian restaurant on the water.  The only access there is by boat, which was nice.  Today was a great day and we are looking forward to another beautiful day in Paradise tomorrow.

XOXO

Jenn & Jeff

Day 2 - English Harbor, Antigua

Today we slept in!  It felt so good after all those weeks of 5:15AM boot-camp wake up calls!  We did a whole lot of nothing today.  The weather turned out to be beautiful today, but again the weather is pretty much beautiful every day.  We were worried at first, as we woke up to some very dark clouds.  That soon passed and the entire day was full of sunshine and a refreshing breeze.   The islands weather is pretty consistent year round, generally between 75 and 85 degrees, with the occasional seasonal rainfall.   

As I mentioned yesterday, we are staying at The Inn at English Harbor.  There are only 6 rooms that sit on the beach and we are lucky enough to have one!  While the other rooms are beautiful and sit in a quant, English style courtyard, we get to wake up every day to the sand at our feet.  The Caribbean Sea is literally 30 steps from our back porch!  The hotel is owned and inspired by the many European tourists who visit here, which brings me to my next point.  We discovered why the island draws so many Europeans.  It was originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and was permanently settled as colony of the British Empire in 1692.  Antigua then became an independent state in 1981.  Today most of the 86,000 inhabitants are West African, with a mixture of British and Portuguese.  It is also a prime vacation spot for the English (similar to Florida for Americans).  We did hear that Antigua was Kate and Prince Williams second choice for their honeymoon!  Needless to say there is no shortage of tea and marmalade here! 

Our hotel provides free boat rides (well, jetty’s) over to Nelson’s Dockyard from 9 – 5PM every day.  Jeff and I had enough sun, so we boarded the dingy for a short 5 minute ride over to the Dockyard.  As mentioned yesterday, this is the home of Antigua’s sailing and yachting events, but it is most notably known for being one of the oldest and well preserved British naval bases in the Western hemisphere.  It was named after Admiral Horatio Nelson who lived here in the late 1700s and it dates back to 1671, when the first boat entered.  Antigua has done a great job of preserving this historical site.  You can walk through the dockyard and still see remains of the old sail loft, the blacksmith shop and the original home to the British naval officers.  The little island is also full of shops and restaurants that sit alongside the canal. 

Tomorrow we are renting a private boat to tour the island by sea!  We are very excited.  While Antigua is rather small, 108 square miles to be exact, its windy roads and numerous, natural harbors make it difficult to see it all by foot.  Till tomorrow, sleep tight.

XOXO

Jenn & Jeff

Day 1 - Merry Christmas from Antigua

After a wonderful two weeks of celebrating the Holiday season with family and friends, we decided to take a vacation in Antigua to celebrate the last weeks of 2011.  It's been a long and hard 2011 - work, school, and life has really taken its toll.  Jeff and I were looking forward to simply relaxing and just enjoying each other's company without the bother of email, phones, and other professional commitments.

Landing on Christmas day was bittersweet.  We were fortunate to spend time with both Jenn and Jeff's family, but vacation was in desperate need.  Landing in Antigua, we immediately noticed its lush, green, and beautiful landscape.  It is exactly how you would imagine a post card.  A warm, balmy 81 degrees, we immediately made our way to the pool. 

While Antigua is a destination for some Americans, it is more frequently visited by the British, who choose the island as a prime vacation spot year to year.  If you love a good beach and a frosty cocktail, Antigua is the place for you.

We are staying on the south western side of Antigua, in English Harbor.  English Harbor is most known for Nelson's Dockyard, which is the only continually working Georgian Shipyard in the world.  It still retains its eighteenth-century charm with original, restored buildings and it also serves as a world-class marina, hosting yachts from around the globe.

Our quaint hotel, The Inn by The Harbor, boasts 34 rooms, all distinct in design, but all holding the beatiful charm of an ocean side bed and breakfast.  The hotel is magnificent, small, and everything you could ask for when wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago.  This is exactly what the Dr ordered for us!  Our room sits direclty on the beach, two steps from the sand, boasting what will be a beautiful, Carribean sunrise.  We are looking forward to exploring this part of the country.

Tonight we visited Shirley Heights Lookout Restaurant.  Every year they host a reggae band and barbeque on the top of the hill for Christmas.  We arrived around 7pm and enjoyed the local beer, Wadadli, and concoction of Rum and coconut water, before feasting on the HUGE selection of Carribean barbeque.  As you know, we danced to Bob Marley at our wedding, so we were in heaven eating BBQ Chicken dancing to Bob!  It was a night we will never forget.

Tomorrow we plan to take it easy.  We may take the boat over to the Harbor and provide a little more history of the island, so don't miss out!

Till tomorrow.  Wishing all a Happy and Healthy 2012!
Jenn and Jeff
XOXO