Our room was more than we expected. Winning a free trip you tend to expect to get a mediocre room. We had a King size bed (thankfully! since that's what we're used to at home), a big jacuzzi tub, somewhat of an ocean view, & a stocked fridge! It took us 3 days to figure out that we could drink anything in that fridge for FREE b/c it's an all inclusive resort! As much as pregnant Kelly wanted those little cans of orange juice late at night each night, I kept avoiding them b/c I figured they cost like $5 each! Once we talked with the folks across the hall from us they assured us that fridge was free for the taking. So..you better believe we drank up some bottled water & orange juice from then on out! Ryan enjoyed the balcony where he could read his Bible each morning as he waited for me to wake up. :)
This is the view from our room...the picture is a little foggy because my camera went from a cold a/c room to the balcony & the contrast in hot & cold fogged my lense. Didn't realize that until later.
Yes!...that is a VIRGIN Strawberry Daiquiri. All drinks, food, everything is included so we drank up those virgin drinks. Everytime I would ask for one the worker would then ask Ryan if he was sure he wanted his virgin too? They thought I just wasn't "drinking" b/c I was pregnant, but we soon informed them we just don't "drink" period. That was a little mind boggling for them! :)
We quickly realized the place to be was Sandals Cay Island. You could stay at the resort & swim in the "party" pool or the relaxing quiet pool or walk a few feet to the shoreline OR take the boat 5 minutes straight out from the resort to Sandals Cay Island. We road the boat over the first day to check it out. OH MY WORD...talk about heaven on earth! There was a pool if you wanted that, a restaurant, hammocks, tiki huts, & a never ending view of the ocean! We literally went over everyday to this island. The boat left the resort dock every hour. We would get up about 9am, throw our bathing suits on & head to our favorite, a breakfast buffet. Then we would be out to the pier by 10 or 11 to catch the boat over. We would stay on the island until the last boat returned at 4:45 each day. The island was so quiet & breezy....you could lay out & not even sweat! That's a big deal! (that's also how you get fried!) :) But we wore sunscreen so we didn't. Below is a view of the island if you are just laying out in a chair.
Me chillin' in a hammock on the Sandals Cay island. Our resort is straight behind me across the water. So you can see the island is not far from the actual resort.
This is one of the wooden hut thingy's you could lie under. If we were getting too much sun for one day we would relocate to one of these & play yahtzee or cards. :) Oh...or sleep..as Ryan is doing below. :)
The view from our "hut" thingy. :)
My Ryan is SO FINE! :) He is just so handsome here!
One of the many sunsets we saw...beautiful! Thank you God for that beautiful picture is what I always say.
A couple of nights they had a saxophone player. He would be out by the shore where those cool couch things were. So we would sit out there & listen to him play. It was so nice.
The Snorkel Queen :-)
This picture is after dinner one evening as the sun was setting. One cool feature this resort had were "photoshop" photographers walking around ready to take every couples picture. They would take the picture for free & give you a waterproof bracelet thing to hold on to. You would at the end of the day go by the "photoshope" to look at your pictures. You would then tell them your likes & dislikes. They would save a file of your photos & at the end of the trip you decide which ones you want to buy. So, $90 later, we got a CD of 8 pictures & the rights to print them. It was nice, because otherwise your holding out your camera (see pic above) trying to get a good picture. Or...you had to ask people constantly to take your pic.
One day I got a little too much sun on my back so we decided the next day would be a good day to take a journey to Atlantis. You could pay $19 one way via a taxi or take the #10 bus. There was a #10 bus pulled up every 7 minutes in front of our resort. So...we took the cheaper option of course. The bus had a/c & basically stopped along at each resort as it headed to downtown Nassau. So eventually we had a bus full of tourist all headed to the Straw Market or Atlantis. It took us about 30 minutes to get to downtown Nassua where you get off at the Straw Market. You walk through the Straw Market which we didn't really care about...it had knock off purses, t-shirts, bahamas souvenirs the locals had made et etc. So we just walked directly through it to get to the water where our ferry boat was. We paid about $12 for a roundtrip ticket for two on the ferry boat. The boat was run by locals who weren't on ANY kind of schedule! They were bound & determined to fit as many people on that boat before they left ($$$$$). SO..we sat on the boat sweltering until it was full. As we sit there I was dying of thirst & I look across the street & there was a STARBUCKS! I couldn't believe it! I didn't know the Bahamas had Starbucks! But...we were on the boat & couldn't get off...so my mouth just had to water. :( Once the ferry dropped us off down the water a ways..about a 15 minute ride, we got off & had to walk a couple blocks to actually get to Atlantis. I decided at this point we should have just taken the stinkin' taxi & paid $40 round trip! :) I wore my 100% cotton dress & flip flops on purpose since it was the coolest thing I owned. I later decided I should have just worn my bathing suit! Once we got closer to the hotel you have to stroll through a cute shopping village to get to the Atlantis. Well lo' & behold there was ANOTHER Starbucks! I high tailed it in there where I immediately plopped myself down to cool off. Ryan stood in line to buy me a water which I guzzled down! THEN the UNKNOWN happened!!! I heard a noise...I thought I recognize that sound...what IS THAT?! OH! It was a CELL PHONE! It had been only like 2 days with no phone service & it hit me then how wonderful that was! That cell phone ring made me cringe. You don't realize at home how everywhere you go you hear a phone ringing or someone is texting or checking FB or their email etc etc.... until you are away from it all. That's when the realization of technology sinks in...it has perks but it has it's downfalls too.
The below picture is a cool piece of art in the Atlantis lobby. That hotel is just neat in & of itself.
We really like snorkeling & I really like aquariums/water life in general I guess. I really wanted to go to the aquarium but it was outrageously priced of course...and then as we walked through the Atlantis we noticed it had it's own aquarium as decoration which was FREE! :) That suited us just fine! People were actually snorkeling in this tank...they had some really cool stuff in there.
I had decided we had too many "posed" smiling pictures...we needed something more light hearted...so here ya' go! :)
After we took ourselves on a tour of the hotel we left & were ready to eat lunch. We had intended to eat at The Atlantis until we asked at the desk & only people staying there are allowed. :( So..our only options were the places in the shopping village on our way out. So..Johnny Rockets it is! Honestly we were excited to eat at a chain restaurant, completely American. :) While eating our hamburger & fries the oldies music gets turned up real loud all of a sudden! It was R-E-S-P-E-C-T & the WHOLE STAFF, cooks & all, started a dancing routine! It was SO FUN! Some kids who were there stood up & started dancing in line with the workers..it was so cute! We were SO impressed with that! We asked the manager on the way out when they would do another one & he said, "oh! you want another? we'll do it right now!" SO...there they went again to a different oldies song & had a totally different routine! We couldn't believe it! They had to practice to all be n' sync how they were! We gave him props & told him we didn't think they did that in Alabama. But that they should if they don't!
After riding back over on the ferry this time we did go to that Starbucks to get a cool beverage... I was awfully sweaty at this point!
Ryan didn't know when he married me that I was a pool shark. :) We randomly decided to play one evening after dinner & I wooped him! We ended up playing a lot after that..we're both slightly competitive. So we had an ongoing competition. It started out with me in the lead 5 - 2! Ryan would scratch on the 8 ball & lose etc etc. :) THEN...as we continue to battle throughout the week he ends up winning overall, 7 -5! Yes, I ended up scratching on the 8 ball at one point too!
We also played ping-pong a lot...which we were neck in neck with that too..Ryan accredits my success to my long arms snagging the most random shots! :) In the end...he beat me overall AGAIN! When the pool tables or ping-pong tables were occupied we would play checkers...which I upfront admitted I was awful at!
Those lovely photographers practically did a whole maternity shoot this particular evening. We ended up buying a lot of these shots.
LIMBO KING! Ryan got called up to help the Limbo King in his show. Each night they had different entertainment you could go watch if you wanted...we thought this one was fun.
Do you see Limbo King on his stomach going under that pole with fire! Crazy!
This day the water was a little rough. We eventually got in to cool off but not for long!
Since the last boat came back from the island each day at 4:45 we weren't ready to go in since the sun was still shining. So..we would pick a pool to lay out at.
Waiting to get on the boat to head back to the resort...
One of the restaurants you could choose from was a Japanese Steakhouse...it was fun! We sat with 3 other couples who were all on their honeymoon. :) We were the 6 year veterans!
Reading in this comfy chair thing out on the island. The grayish spots on the side of my belly are from where I give my Lovenox(blood thinner) shots twice a day. Didn't want ya'll to think Colton is kicking me that hard! :-)
If you are standing our Sandals Cay Island & looked straight out then you would see these 2 itty bitty islands. That first one had 1 lonely tiki hut on it...we decided to swim over there one day. About half way there you could walk it was so shallow!
Another "photoshop" photography picture...
Look at that preggers belly!!!
Just a shot of one of the pool areas at night...really neat looking.
The "wet bar" literally! All the pools had these in them..you could swim right up & ask for a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri..how convenient!
We were taking pictures of one another while at the island :)
Pregnant Mama...
AHHHHH! Wasn't expecting that water to crash up on me like that! Thing is...Ryan saw it coming & was obviously awaiting this moment with the camera in hand! :)
Then, a sweet woman who I had seen lying out topless earlier in the day, yes topless, came over & offered to take our picture together. Thankfully...she had her top on! :)
The view of the Atlantis hotel from our island.
There was a pizzeria where you could just walk up from the pool & order your personal pizza, come back in 15 minutes & it would be ready. You are probably thinking all 3 of those are for Ryan...but NO 2 of the 3 were for ME! Since I can't eat wheat (get migraines) I can't eat that crust. SO...I ordered 2 pizzas since all I would be eating was the cheese & toppings! They were SOOOOO good too!
Surprise, surprise...I am reading again! This time, The 5 Love Languages! The BEST book EVER for your marriage or any struggling relationship! Ryan & I were sharing this book but he ended up with it most of the time. SO..I finally got my hands on it! That book is my new gift to all newlyweds now...and has already made a huge difference in our marriage! It's the simplest concept, but makes all the difference in the world when applied. Okay..enough on my commercial for that book. :)
Another cool fountain at the resort & statue thingy's...
This is what happens when you ask Ryan to do something silly with the lion statue...
A view of part of the resort from the 4th floor lobby where are room was.
Our last night at the resort...a little tanner than when we arrived I think :)
THANK YOU TO TAMMY, THE PRESIDENT OF PERFECT WEDDING GUIDE, WHO GOT THE SALES CONTEST GOING TO REWARD US SALES FOLKS AND MADE SURE THIS TRIP HAPPENDED! WE APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH! MY BOSS STEPHANIE KEITH-WHITAKER FOR #1 HIRING ME & #2 BEING AN AWESOME ENCOURAGER TO HELP ME WIN THAT CONTEST! MY CO-WORKER KATIE BURKS-CALHAN WHO IS A GREAT TEAMMATE & MAKES MY JOB EASIER BECAUSE OF HER HARD WORK! AMY WITH TRAVEL BY HORIZON WHO DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF HANDLING ALL OUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS WHICH MADE IT THAT MUCH MORE RELAXING! BROOKE WILLIAMS FOR TAKING US TO THE AIRPORT THAT EARLY!!! MORNING, THEN GOING HOME THINKING SHE CAN GO BACK TO BED...BUT NO, SHE JUST HAD TO GO BACK TO OUR HOUSE TO GET MY PASSPORT THAT WAS NOT EXPIRED & THEN HEADED BACK UP TO THE AIRPORT TO BRING IT TO ME! WHAT A FRIEND! AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...MY HUSBAND, RYAN. YOU CAN'T DO YOUR JOB WELL WITHOUT THE SUPPORT & ENCOURAGEMENT OF YOUR MATE. HE ALWAYS HAD POSITIVE WORDS TO GIVE! ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I LOVE HIM!
