Fantasy Island

As I swelter in the heat of this 4th of July, suffering through my first period in three months, I'm wondering why I have to have a period at all. I'm doing research on this topic that will end up being another post soon.

In the meantime I'll write about my vacation plans (since I know you are all dying to know what they are). Unfortunately we won't be making it to Ireland this year, but we definitely have a trip in the works.

In August we are driving down to Pasadena for five days to attend the Drum Corps International championships. Despite the fact that I've lived in California for almost 20 years, I still consider myself to be a weather wimp. Temperatures over 90 make me wilt. So, why, you ask, would you go on holiday to southern California in August? We scored tickets in a box suite at the Rose Bowl for all three days of competition, so I'll not only be in the shade, I'll have someone bring me food and drinks as well. Now, that's how to watch a drum corps show!

More exciting than Pasadena in August, our big vacation this year will be spending the first week of December on the beautiful island of St. Lucia (pronounced Loo-sha, which wasn't my first try either).





Click to enlarge maps.







We used the same travel auction site that we used to book our trip to Belize in 2003, and saved about 40% over the retail price, based on the website of the resort. If you want the name of the travel site, email me or ask in the comments, since it wouldn't be hard to figure out which resort we're going to and for some reason that makes me a little nervous. This will be our first all-inclusive, couples-only resort, but it isn't one of the Big Name companies. When I went to the site I wasn't looking for that specifically, or even St. Lucia specifically, but for some reason this package called to me. I really had no idea it was so far south: 1,500 miles from Miami and only 500 miles from Caracas, Venezuela.

If any of you have any good tips or stories about St. Lucia, I'd love to hear them; if you have a horror story I'd rather be kept in the dark. When I told a co-worker we were going to this island she was very excited and said, "Oh! My daughter's college roommate worked for the peace corps there! She loved it..."

pause

"...until..."

longer pause

"...she was attacked and raped on her way back from a party one night."

WHO THE HELL SAYS SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO SOMEONE GOING THERE ON VACATION?? Geez. Then, my mother tells me my late brother and his second wife (who I hate more than him, if that's possible), went there and it was "their favorite island". Right there I knew she was lying, as there is no fricking way they've been to more than one Caribbean island, let alone the one speck of land that we've chosen. It really pissed me off for a few days, thinking I would have the thought that he had been there the whole trip, but I've mostly gotten over it. My mother is an evil genius when it comes to knowing just what to say to inflict the most damage, delivered with a spoonful of sugar, of course.

My first question after we booked the trip was, do they have horses on the island? As it turns out, they do, mostly creole horses, and you can ride them from the hillside right down to the beach and even into the water. Here's a short video if you want to check it out.

I hope all my American friends had a great 4th!