The Perfect Day
What started with an hours long flight delay ended up being the perfect day. I woke up to roosters crowing and departed St. Vincent at 4:30am. My driver was really nice and interested in what I was doing. I flew from St. Vincent to Bridgetown, Barbados where I was supposed to transfer onto a flight to Martinique. It took about an hour for our plane to arrive, but eventually we boarded. While going through the flight safety precautions the pilot came over the intercom to let us know that an important instrument was malfunctioning, and that we would have to disembark the plane because he had no idea how long it would take to fix. I was disappointed because St. Lucia, my final destination for the day, was definitely one of the places I was most excited to visit before even beginning the trip.
The Bridgetown airport was not an ideal place to be stranded. After exiting the airplane, we had to go back through security, which was definitely annoying. The wifi was spotty and they wanted to charge $3USD for a tiny bag of Cheetos, so there are definitely better places to have a flight delay. After about three hours and much confusion over which gate the plane was now departing from (the signs in the airport said the wrong gate) I was very excited to be on the plane. The even better news was that now the plane was going straight to St. Lucia without the short stop in Martinique.
After the short thirty-minute flight I went through immigration and customs with no problems and met my driver arranged by my hotel. He could not comprehend what I was doing and thought it was crazy, but he was excited for me! The ride to my hotel was about ten to fifteen minutes, but cost $25. Note: St. Lucia taxis are VERY expensive. From what I could gather they apparently have a union and use it to charge incredibly high prices.
One of the most exciting things for me upon arriving in St. Lucia was that for the first time in about ten days I was not the only tourist! While I don’t love being in super touristy places, the past ten days it was only me, so seeing others was a welcome relief after being on such high alert recently!
We pulled into my resort, East Winds, and I could immediately tell that my stay was going to be amazing. The drive in to reception was like driving through a botanical garden. It was so beautiful. I walked into reception, where I was greeted with a wet washcloth and local St. Lucian juice. I met the wonderful Glinda who had helped communicate with me beforehand, as well as others in the office. They were all so nice and it was so great to meet them! I also cannot thank everyone at East Winds enough for sponsoring this night of my stay. It is one that I will never forget and I already cannot wait to come back.
I left my bags there to be delivered to my room and proceeded to go on a tour of the grounds. It was a fantastic tour, showing me where literally everything was and giving me information on every amenity available. From water sports to yoga, running trails to a swim up bar, beachside drink service, and everything in between, I was immediately enamored with East Winds. I met so many of the people who worked there on my tour, and they were all so nice! I met the general manager, Judith, on my tour as well, and she was so nice and welcoming!
After my tour I went to my own cottage – it was incredible! There is seating outside, and when you walk in you’re greeted by a nice open room with an amazingly comfortable bed, complimentary champagne and chocolates, a fully stocked complimentary mini-bar, and more I’m sure I am forgetting. It was just incredible. After taking tons of pictures because I just could not believe how nice my room was, I set out to order lunch and hit the beach.
I ordered a panini for lunch, as well as a Screwdriver and Strawberry Daiquiri. Did I mention that literally everything was included? It was amazing. I ate with a bird attempting to steal my fries every time I turned my head, and then I walked a few steps to the beach. I then Facetimed my parents because they had to see this view. Feet from the water with palm trees surrounding me, it was literal paradise. After a little while I fell asleep on the beach for an hour or so – it was fantastic.
After a few hours well spent on the beach I headed back to my room to get ready for dinner. Friday nights feature a special dinner where it is cooked on the grill in front of you, so I was excited! I had spaghetti and bread for an appetizer, then steak, corn on the cob, and potatoes for my main course, followed by rum cake for dessert. There was a live local St. Lucian band playing throughout the night. It was so cool! Thanks to Armin for the incredible service at dinner – it was great meeting you!
After dinner I headed back to my room where I worked for a little while and watched the Vanderbilt baseball game. For the first time in ten days, I finally had great wifi! I took advantage and downloaded so many shows to Netflix that I should be set for quite some time. I had no problem going to sleep as the bed was very comfy.
I could not possibly say enough good things about East Winds. It was literally paradise and the absolute greatest day after having run from country to country non-stop for the past ten days. My mom always jokes when we go somewhere cool that I should get married there – so I made sure to call and tell her that I would have no problem getting married in St. Lucia! It was just so beautiful. I didn’t have enough time to really venture off of the resort, so St. Lucia is definitely high on my list of places to go back to after my trip.
Thank you again to everyone at East Winds. This was the most incredible hotel stay I have ever had, and I don’t say that lightly. I can’t wait to come back some day!
8 countries down, 188 to go.
To learn more about East Winds click here.
