Oh, The Places You'll Go - Part 1

Good Morning Everyone! I hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend and that everyone watched the very exciting Super Bowl last night. Though I'm not a huge football fan, I'm always up for a party and so E and I headed over to Mama H's last night for some beer and amazing home cooked Chilli and Paella. T may have won the pool, but since I was rooting for the Giants, I was happy in the end.

With Spring Break fast approaching, I have decided that every day this week I will do a feature post on a place that we have gone to down south over the past few years. Since we first started vacation down south, I often get friends and co-workers asking my advice on which islands to go to, where they should stay, eat, party and relax and what activities are worth doing. We have been to many different islands and stayed in many different resorts, so I can definitely compile a pretty accurate and detailed review. I know how blessed I am to have had the opportunity to visit all these places, so I've decided to share my reviews and post them here for anyone who is looking to get away and needs advice.

Part 1 of S's Travel Reviews: Barbados

T and I went to Barbados two years ago with our Grandparents for a last minute trip away. It was a cold winter and, even though we had just returned home from St-Lucia a few weeks earlier, we decided to go with my Grandparents anyway. Oh the joy of being a real estate broker! While there, we stayed at the Almond Village which, despite needing a few updates in the room, was beautiful. The restaurants, especially the Italian one, were delicious, the grounds were meticulously maintained, the staff was friendly and helpful, there was enough going on to keep you entertained but no one pushed you into participating when you didn't want to, and the pools were gorgeous. On top of that, you could visit any of the four Almond Resorts in Barbados which made fun to explore and see the other beaches. We also did a few activities, mainly to keep my Grandfather entertained :). One was a visit to Harrison's Cave in the morning and ended with a tour of the island, which was so much fun. 

My grandfather, being the curious man he is, asked a local who works near the sugar canes to teach us about how they were harvested. The man was the kindest person and showed us all how they cut down the cane and how they cut it open. He then gave us each a piece to try. It was very cool. 

Our second activity was 'swimming' with the sea turtles. I use the term swimming very loosely here because we didn't do much swimming. I wasn't scared of the turtles, but more of the dead fish pieces they were throwing in the water. If they attract that many turtles, then who knows what else they could attract! I have to say, they were actually the cutest little animals and I kind of regret not going further in. Though we did both swim away from the boat... for a minute. 

Because our trip overlapped my Grandma's birthday, we decided to do something special and headed to the Cliff Restaurant in St-James. I had heard that it was a beautiful restaurant, with a breathtaking view... but I don't think we were prepared for just how beautiful it was going to be.

Towards the end of our trip, we were informed that they had begun to renovate the rooms and that they would be completed within the year. My grandmother and T got to go see one of the completed rooms, and said they were beautiful. Though I found ours were nice and clean, they were making changes to include granite in the bathroom and a few more upgrades. I would most definitely go back to Barbados in a second. The people in the town were so friendly. We would walk around and go into the small shops... T and my grandfather even went to church while we were there. They have a lot of higher end restaurants and stores in you want to venture out of your hotel, and the beaches are beautiful. I think it would be better for an adult only vacation rather than a family vacation, but I hear there are a lot of activities for families as well. 

Now that I've made you all jealous with the pictures of a place much hotter than here, enjoy the rest of your day. Tomorrow's vacation post will be all about St-Lucia. 

With Love,

Sara