TravelStream™ news feed for member emlymama on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/emlymama en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:09:52 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1187744880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1187744880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1187744880/tpod.html Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:09:52 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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Carrollton, Texas, United States

If you want video and some great stills of Sandals - check out this Harlequin site. On the bus from the airport to the resort on 7/21st - we met this wonderful couple who were the grand prize winners in the Harlequin contest - they were there the whole week doing a photo shoot for a book cover coming out in February. See more info below. "our book cover image is just being released on the whacky news wires. If you want to see it, follow this link. There's a little video. Notice how it doesn't speak of construction. LOL! http://www.sys-con.com/read/417878.htm"
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185673860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185673860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185673860/tpod.html Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:10:02 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda

Let me start by saying - I apologize for the delay in posting - we came home on Sat 28th to no A/C (with out of state family in town) were home for three days before taking our girls to the mountains - just returning this afternoon.

Probably should have flip flopped the trips - my hubby kept saying - this is just not Antigua - hmm....14 family members in a condo with kids - yep - he was right!!!

Back to Antigua - Thursday was our anniversary....Started with a surprise.....baby turtles - SERIOUSLY....there was a cry on the beach "the turtles are hatching" - literally over 100 baby turtles started climbing out of this hole in the sand (making clear why that area had been marked off with yellow construction tape). No pictures yet (camera was back in room) - friends had their camera and are to send us some pictures.

We tried the catamarans for the first time - too cool - I would highly suggest trying.

We reserved a dinner on the beach but were not impressed - our 'private' dining was one of five, not white gloved, wrong menu (we did get lobster though), and photographer missed sunset although we did get a 5 x 7 picture.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185373560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185373560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185373560/tpod.html Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:37:40 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda


Wed - Scuba dive certified.

We began the day in the pool at 8:30 doing some confined water skills - we had to take our masks off and stay underwater (breathing normally) for one minute and then put it back on (Caroline did eyes closed due to contacts) and clear the mask (remove the water) all underwater. We also practiced switching back and forth between our regulator and snorkel (at the surface) and we also unhooked our direct system underwater and manually inflated our BCD. Most unnerving was forcing our regulator to be free flowing and hold it near (not in) our mouth with our head tilted (underwater) and figure out how to breath the air between all the water bubbles - that took a couple of tries to get my brain to try to breath through all that. We also practiced helping a tired diver and cramp alleviation.

We had a quick break before heading onto the boat for our 11 am dive - this time Caroline wore her full body suit - protection against any jelly fish and was very pleased.

This time Caroline had no trouble with her ears - think partly due to going down the anchor line (which is slanted and felt more gradual) versus the dive line which is straight down. I cleared my ears on each breath out and didn't wait till I felt discomfort. Much better than on Monday when I would feel pain and then try to relieve it without a whole lot of success.

All the skills were practiced in the ocean and we saw some incredible fish! We saw some crazy kind of underwater spider that the divemaster held in her hands and then handed to Caroline and also two barracudas. Thankfully I didn't know what the 'huge fish' we saw were until we were back safely on the boat - otherwise I might have paniced a bit. We saw them at 15 feet while we were doing a required 3 minute safety stop so our pictures weren't as good as we were all clumped together holding the anchor line so lots of bubbles from our regulators got in the way of great pictures.

Natalie (the dive master) said we did very well considering Jeff had a camera in hand the whole time. She said some very experienced great divers would go out with a camera and forget all essentials regarding body form (swimming horizontally) and controlling buoyancy while using all their attention on the camera getting a good shot. Doesn't help that the entire time it is trying to float back to the surface!

We finished the dive, showered and ate at the new pizzeria for lunch - a little slow in clearing the previous table, getting us water or drinks and we waited at the table and then finally went up to the window to order our pizza - think all the kinks haven't quite been worked out on the game plan yet. Our friends ordered a custom pizza and they put anchovies vs artichokes on the pizza by mistake so it had to be reordered and then they just put regular mozzarella vs gorgonzola cheese on. My suggestion is to hang out and watch them make it so there are no surprises but the taste was good (and I'm usually particular - don't like homemade pasty bake at home pizzas).

At 3 pm we met back up with our divemaster and took the test on the 175 pages (three chapters) needed to qualify as scuba diver (vs open water which also covers chapters 4-5). Jeff missed one, and Caroline missed two but we both passed!! We will pick up our temporary cards tomorrow and official ones from PADI will be mailed to us.

We went back - and got ready for our Signature Guest Dinner - Best dinner yet so if you are a returning guest be sure and go on Wed night when you are invited. We had appetizers, a group picture of our table, and great conversation. We sat next to Cletus the hotel manager and learned that 80 of the 180 med rooms are opened and occupied and they have great plans for the resort. Barefoot by the sea when it opens - we will dine with our feet in the sand - looks nice and will be our first thing we try when we come back next year. Il Palio will eventually convert to Caribbean fare with Marios being a full fledged menu driven Italian restaurant (right now it is buffet style only).

They also plan to enclose the current gym - have new equipment including elipticals in boxes ready to go but it has been pushed to the back burner as far as construction until the Med Village stuff gets completed (which is understandable). So next year we plan to bring our tennis shoes, try out the new gym, the Rainforest zip line, and maybe even a couple of the power walks on the beach.

Our dinner was very leisurely (3 hours) - there was a staff and guest talent show going on in the courtyard - we watched briefly and then headed back to Med village. On our way back we saw a huge (what I thought was lightening) and heard a big pop (sounded like fireworks) and then all on the Med village side went totally dark. A Transformer tripped and the back up generators were a little slow getting back on line. We walked up to our 3rd floor room - our card key worked - and just as we were finding things in the dark the power came back on - maybe down for about 15 minutes. Not too bad.

Tomorrow is our 10 year anniversary - we made dinner plans to eat on the beach so should be able to give a great update once we are home...Our three day wireless pass ends Thursday night so we might be able to get back online to update.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185284160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185284160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185284160/tpod.html Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:09:52 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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St, John's, Antigua and Barbuda

Tuesday: We started the morning earning points for two sandals necklaces - to be souvenirs for our girls....

We met for Aquacize at 10:30 and learned some fun moves that we can try in our shallow pool at home - for some reason I always thought I needed a deep end or the ability/space to tread water - but I was wrong - Jeff and I both commented that we felt the workout in our legs throughout the day so we must have burned some calories.

We stayed at the old swim up pool bar and met Marcia for her specialty - so far our favorite and then joined a game of water volleyball at 11:30 - we won both games - amazingly enough the other team didn't find the weakest link (me) consistently enough.

We ate lunch at bayside and then stayed in the courtyard at for a putting contest at 1:30 - this was very laughable - empty tennis cans taped on the tile floor - sheer luck. An obvious newlywed bride was the first to knock one in.....after about an hour the playmakers moved the starting line up and a couple of tennis cans in closer together. When all was said and done - I think we finished fourth - they gave sandals necklaces to the top 3 finishers! Caroline and Jeff both hit a 100 spot (highest point value).

Naptime then we showered and got ready for our 6:15 dinner at Kimonos - we had SUGAR!!! Highly recommend requesting this server - he was very friendly, took pictures of us, and put on a great show (not to mention the food was fabulous). I was completely stuffed after soup, salad, shrimp, mahi-mahi, veggies, beef, and chicken with ice cream and green tea for dessert.

Stayed up till 11 pm for the chocolate bar - beforehand watched a very amusing version of the newlywed game with questions, and a should have been videoed balloon popping.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185282720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185282720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185282720/tpod.html Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:39:39 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda

Friday - a dress I wore 10 years ago on my honeymoon lacked just a little in fitting perfect. Ester our tailor worked miracles and fixed it up for me. I decided to wear it to a wedding we were attending - just as I was getting dressed I realized the zipper was broken. (I was very glad I had not waited to wear the dress in Antigua). Rush back to Esther, she fixed me up and we are set!

Saturday - leave for airport. We are leaving from the new International terminal so we get there a little early and eat lunch at Cool River. Left way too much on the plate (we should have split). Our plane into San Juan, Puerto Rico was uneventful - watched Wild Hogs. Our flight from there to Antigua was an hour and a half delayed so it was midnight when we were checking in. A couple we met on the shuttle had a great idea - they stayed at Trade Winds for one night and arrived at Sandals the next morning after breakfast - paid a couple hundred vs the 6 that we spent just to sleep (ie we didn't arrive in time to eat, drink, dive, etc). We did get champagne upon arrival but no one was in any big hurry to get us to our room and actually the key card didn't work so we were left standing outside our door while he went back to cut another one. Interesting thing is our room number is the same as our old address (the house we lived in for 9 years).

Sunday - rained at least eight times on and off all day. Rough sleeping - a dog was barking (actually sounded like one that was trapped in a pin or kennel) both at midnight when we checked in and again at 5 am the next morning. We finally got some good views of the hotel and walked down to the end of the beach and back. We went to the orientation and we got a couples massage in the Red Lane Spa. Adjusting to the late times to eat - we were ready for lunch at 11 but lunch didn't begin till 12:30. We had dinner at Il Palio and were pleased. Met up with another couple we met on the shuttle to play some pool - they are at Sandals on a trip promotion - won a Harlequin romance contast and are doing a big photo shoot for a book that will come out around valentines day.

Monday - we did the resort certification for diving, just as we were about to go out on our 11 am dive - Sandals realized an experienced group was headed out - too many on the boat so our dive was delayed till 1 pm. We grabbed a bite to eat and were headed back to the room when we decided to join in on some water volleyball (motivated by earning points to get a Sandals necklace as a souvenir). This started on island time (scheduled at 11:30 - we went to the pool - no sign of game - headed back to events desk - they confirmed yes - it is on - back to the pool - 11:45 we see a playmaker bringing in a net - we played for 45 minutes, ran back to the room to reapply sunscreen and off for our 1 pm dive. The boat had not yet returned so our island time dive actually left at 1:45 - took some good underwater pictures but quickly realized Caroline cannot stay buoyancy neutral and take pictures - was rising quickly every time I tried to snap. Jeff worked his tail off staying down and when we dive again on Wednesday we plan to dive with more weights (both on us and on the camera). Our evening ended with a beach party - Caroline did the limbo and the fire limbo man was shortlived by a rainstorm. On our walk back to the Mediterranean village we saw our pool friends trying out the snookers tables in the English pub - after a long game with a table that definitely had a bit of a slant - they won. We have already scouted out another location by the old swim up pool bar for a rematch before the end of the week.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185038220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185038220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1185038220/tpod.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:19:19 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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Dallas, Texas, United States

The day has finally arrived. At DFW airport awaiting our 1:15 flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico and then on to Antigua.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184810880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184810880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184810880/tpod.html Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:23:26 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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Carrollton, Texas, United States

The suitcases (and sandals) have been purchased and clothing has been set out. Lists are being made (I'm sure I'll still forget something). Search is on for travel size sunscreen and bug repellent (I attract every living mosquito in a 100 mile radius). Purchased a rash guard shirt (for when we are diving or if we have just had a little too much sun for the day) and received some instruction on how to travel with our underwater camera casing. I was in a dilemma (book says not to leave in locked position when not in use but was quite cumbersome and bulky with the case open). The person at the dive shop showed me how to remove the seal, wrap and coil it inside the underwater casing for flight, etc.

I'm lucky to have a wonderful husband who loves to spoil me and thankfully does not care (too much) what things cost. I quickly realized that clothes etc would go in the main bag but I would be searching for places for my sandals to go. We went back and got the weekender bag (which I was planning on saving for a Christmas or birthday wish item). Three days and counting!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184587200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184587200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184587200/tpod.html Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:37:20 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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Carrollton, Texas, United States

Well, wouldn't you know it - my daughter nose dived (literally) into the corner of the coffee table as we were leaving for a baseball game so we had to get liquid stitches on her nose. No swimming for 5-10 days! I'm hoping that it is closer to the 5 side as we leave in 5 days for Antigua and would hate to take away a long time favorite pasttime activity from my inlaws as an entertainment option.

She woke up this morning with her eyes really swollen so I'm hoping the swelling starts to go down really quickly.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184518800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184518800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184518800/tpod.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:55:55 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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Carrollton, Texas, United States

Well, we got a call last night from Sandals. We are due to arrive on the 21st. Alva - advise you so there will be no surprise there will still be construction taking place in some of our common areas - minor incoveniences - we are happily replacing your full 7 night trip to come back and stay with us within a year - letter to be mailed upon our return - no airfare. Have a great stay with us.

Not sure if we will be in the new part or old, or if the credit is for any Sandals or just Antigua but we will try to make a reservation (arrange miles/airfare for next year) while we are out there. Considering the price for two weeks vacation we will just enjoy ourselves and make the best no matter what. :)

I did see that Sandals has removed the 50% discount so we need to make sure we compare apples to apples (and not oranges) if we get moved - of course - lots is soothed knowing we can come back next year for free (or we paid 1/2 of a 1/2) this year depending on which way you look at it.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184268600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184268600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emlymama/antigua-2007/1184268600/tpod.html Fri, 13 Jul 2007 10:10:04 -0400 Our 10 year Anniversary Trip - to the New 5 Star Mediterranean Village - due to open July 15, 2007

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Carrollton, Texas, United States

Our new underwater casing for our camera arrived so we had to test it out. Of course, we don't have many colorful tropical fish here so we had to be creative on our test subjects. Luckily some fishies cooperated by putting their face in the water .

Some would smile for the camera .

It even takes good action shots - this fish was in active motion. .




We then took the camera over to a deeper pool to see the clarity in seven foot water. Here is an example .

Some fish just have to have shades. .

Hope the fish in Antigua are just as nice..
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