The weather was amazing and we had such a fun group on the boat with us. For those not familiar with what we did, we were living on a sailboat and sailing around the BVIs. There were three couples and then our crew, Paulina and Jason. Jason was the captain and Paulina was the chef/first mate. It was seriously.....fabulous. Not much else can describe it!
It is a VERY non-glamorous trip. We wore bathing suits and t-shirts/cover ups the entire time. So much so that I packed everything (including sunscreen and shampoo) for the week in this duffle bag:
...and at the end of the trip, I had a big stack of clean clothes that were never worn. It really is VERY low key.
Some days we showered, some we didn't. We never wore make up. We sometimes would brush our hair. Mostly we just tied it up.
We left Friday morning SUPER early. We were scheduled to fly out from Raleigh to Philly, but Philly was about to be hit by the super snow storm, and given my luck with traveling, we called US Air asking to re-route us. They switched our flight to leave at 5:30am through Charlotte instead. It worked out perfectly.
It was C-O-L-D leaving Chapel Hill on Friday, but we were heading to the warmer weather....
After Charlotte, we flew to San Juan where we got on one of these little planes. If you know Eddie, you know this was a BIG deal.
That head over my shoulder? That is the captain. We were literally touching him. On the way home, Eddie actually sat in the co-pilot's seat. Teeeeeny tiny plane, that is for sure!
I know this is shocking, but our bags didn't make it. I seriously have the WORST luck traveling! Luckily, I threw a bathing suit in my carry on bag and Eddie borrowed on of Cam's suits.
We got to the marina and to our boat Friday and immediately had some rum punches :) People were asking what the boat looked like so I tried to take pictures to show it all....
This was the main galley-- the kitchen area is just to the right of where I am standing, and to the right of Paulina is their bunk. There were two bunks on each side-- a bunk had a bathroom and a bed-- not much else!
On the back of the boat, they kept these coolers fully stocked! And under the benches in the galley up above, they stocked up with extra liquor/beverages.
Up on the front of the boat, there were six cushions we could sit on.
We would wake up and Paulina would make some fabulous breakfast. After eating, we would set sail to another spot-- sometimes we would stay there through lunch and then sail on to the next spot, and sometimes we would stay there the entire day-- it depended on the location and the weather.
I apologize for all of the bathing suit shots. We literally lived in suits the entire time we were there. I put on real clothes ones and they got soaked on the dinghy ride.
We swam into the Baths, which is a really neat area of HUGE rocks that form caves. Our friends took their camera in there, so hopefully I will be adding more pictures from there once we see those pictures. This was taken from the screen on the back of their camera.
Playing around on the back of the boat is my favorite thing to do. Our boat had a paddle board and two double kayaks. Allyson was a natural on the paddle board. (also, can I just mention that this woman has a 5 year old boy at home....AND TRIPLETS. Yes, TRIPLETS--just a little older than Andy. All boys. Doesn't that just make her even cooler? I seriously love Allyson--super laid back and easy to get along with! I think you have to be with all those boys in your house!)
Eddie asked me to put sunscreen on him. I was drinking. This was funny to me. I have a weird sense of humor, I think.
We got to White Bay early to get a good spot and we got a perfect one! Eddie immediately jumped into the kayak to try to surf some of the waves in. Eddie is a very active person and he never had a chance to get bored on this trip!
Jason and Paulina again... they are engaged and just about the sweetest couple ever. She is NOT a sailor and never spent much time on a boat. Jason talked her into this "adventure" together so she is learning to love it. They totally made our trip even more fun. Super laid back and funny-- how can you not love them?!
We did a whole lot of swimming, sunning, talking, LAUGHING, and drinking...oh, and eating. Paulina might not be a pro sailor, but she could cook the most amazing meals. Pretty sure I gained 50 pounds this week. We would eat breakfast, sail to a spot and then she would put out snacks, then we would eat lunch, then swim a bit, then she would put out snacks, then we would eat a huge dinner with a dessert. NON-STOP eating.
I can't really write about what's going on in the background of this picture, but I can say I have not seen Eddie laugh this hard in probably...well, ever. My abs literally hurt the next morning from laughing so hard.
These pics are out of order-- sorry! This was before swimming in to White Bay, home of Soggy Dollar and the amazing Painkiller! We also walked over to Ivan's where Kenny Chesney shot his video for "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem." We love both of these bars and had the best day on the beach there.
The next day, I took a little snooze on the paddle board...
And once again, Eddie got to get some of his energy out. Jason pulled Eddie behind the dinghy! He knee boarded and then surfed. This little place was Jason and Paulina's favorite spot in the BVIs. It was a lot like a lake-- very private and calm and very very amazing.
It is really hard to find the words to describe the water down there, and I find that pictures just don't do it justice...
This is one of my most favorite ones from the trip. He looks so happy and the water looks so pretty...
There will be a second post coming with more pictures once we get them!
We flew home on Friday, and (shockingly) missed our connecting flight in San Juan. Seriously. Y'all this streak has GOT to end. But, it worked out okay, because they flew us through Charlotte again instead of Philly-- totally not a big deal.
The trip was incredible and the people on our boat were all wonderful. You certainly wouldn't want to do this trip with high maintenance people. The other couple was friends with Cam and Allyson so we knew they would be fun too. I didn't get many pictures with all of us, but they are on the other camera so you will see them more.
We were ready to see our boys when we got home. Friday I was in a bathing suit and Saturday is was SNOWING. Sheesh!
Being back in reality has been pretty much a slap in the face. Cal was up a ton in the night on Sunday and every time I got up to deal with him, Hank would get up and pace behind me-- which he never does. We woke up Monday morning to find he needed to go number two. Badly. So he went on the floor of Cal's room. And it was not small. At all. In fact, it was larger than a large cat. And also, Cal soaked through his diaper and soaked his sheets. And also, Andy has decided he's obsessed with the potty and wants to (pretend) to go all the time. He pulled off his diaper to "go" and when he didn't go, I went to get a diaper. He then peed all over the floor. I bent down to clean it and didn't see phase two of his pee and put my hand directly in it. That's a lot of bodily fluid for one morning. Welcome to the real world.
Back to dreaming of warm weather....
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