A couple of weeks ago I was just hanging out at home when Ryan calls me. "Hey, so I just got an email from the CEO saying they have a spot open for my company's President's Club-the trip they send all the sales people on who met their goals for the year. They asked if we wanted to go?"
Talk about a random phone call! I asked the necessary questions:
When is it? In two weeks.
Where is it? Curacao (Insert where the heck is that face here!)
Why do they have spots? Because people are scared of Zika virus so people are backing out. What?!
After researching the risks of Zika virus and securing a babysitter (Thank you Mom for being so willing!) we decided to take a trip to Curacao last minute! And it was so much fun! Let me say, if you ever get the chance to go to an all expenses paid trip to tropical island to an all inclusive resort, say YES! We had so much fun relaxing and just spending time together.
Random fact of the trip--I bought Ryan a selfie stick as a semi-joke for the trip and it ended up being the best thing I bought for the trip! Even Ryan said, "I hate to say this, but that selfie stick may have been a great purchase." Score!! So be prepared for a lot of selfies...
The first thing that came to mind when Ryan mentioned the trip was, "Uh... Norah is only 11 months and I'm still nursing. What do I do?" Well, we decided I couldn't take her with me (no passport...) so she would have to be OK on the breast milk storage I had saved up. I wasn't ready to be done nursing her so I brought the pump and pumped every day to keep my supply. I wasn't sure how to do this on traveling days but, much to my surprise, in the Miami airport they have these nursing pods. I don't know what else to call them because it was seriously like this pod just stuck in the middle of the terminal. Nice surprise! haha!
Ryan didn't understand why I was so beat up about this but man, it was so hard to pour that breast milk down the drain every day! But alas, there was no other choice!
We arrived at the hotel, got checked in, and got dressed and ready for dinner. The resort was an all inclusive resort, which was amazing! They had like 3 different restaurants you could eat at and then a little shop with gelato, candy, snacks, etc. We were in heaven!
Here we are right outside our room. It was an amazing view of the beautiful ocean (and sunset every night).
All ready for dinner (I'm telling you, the selfie stick was a big hit!)
At dinner watching the sun set. It was so beautiful!
Wearing our matching robes. We love staying in hotels!
The view outside of our hotel room. So amazing!
Day 2 we had our snorkeling trip. After waking up, working out, and ordering room service for breakfast (my new favorite thing) we headed out to the boat.
Ready to explore Curacao on the water!
Ok so the other thing I thought of when Ryan told me we were going to Curacao was--hmmm that sounds like where The Bachelor has gone before. Sure enough, I looked it up and Emily Maynard's season went there. And they stayed at the Santa Barbara Resort (where we were staying!!). But they stayed at some Plantation on the property. Well on our cruise around the Spanish Waters, I was talking to the guide on the boat who grew up on the Island and she was telling me all about the different places we were seeing. Well she told me this building was part of the resort, actually a plantation. So I asked her if she ever heard of The Bachelor and is that where they stayed. She said yes and hey, I was pretty excited... haha!
After the boat took us around the Spanish Waters to see the beautiful scenery, we ended up at this spot to go snorkeling. Ryan asked the girl who worked on the boat what that building was above the place we were snorkeling. So she tells us in broken English that this was the building they brought the people who were really sick and then when they died, they would throw them off the cliff and the sharks would eat them. Ok, then, let's get in there and snorkel! That story was cracking us up!! It really made us want to dive in. Good thing we don't scare easy, because we did indeed jump in and even fed the fish with some bread they brought. It was pretty to see all those fish swarm the food.
Enjoying the sun and happiness that comes from it! haha! Another bachelor moment-this is the same boat that they took on the show. In that exact same spot I'm sitting! I know, I'm a dork!
Enjoying snorkeling and seeing the sites!
After snorkeling, we stopped just off this beach and had lunch on the boat. After lunch, we swam to the beach and did a little kayaking. It was just beautiful!
On our way back to resort--That's the hotel behind us there right on the water. Loved it there!
That night, we had Ryan's work dinner. They had a delicious buffet and they had a fun band and show.
The next day we decided to rent a car and drive into town. Town was a cool place to spend the day and enjoy a different side of Curacao.
On Queen Emma Bridge looking at the water. That bridge in the background was really cool to drive over. Short but really tall and a great view! (There's also a huge cruise ship there to give you some perspective.)
Here we are on Queen Emma Bridge. This bridge was amazing. When a boat comes by they "open" the bridge by swinging it out so the boat could go through.
Here's a picture of the bridge open. Amazing.
In the city! Some of the other things we did in town was shop for some shorts for Ryan (he forgot all of his shorts! So he was hot!), ate some ice cream, saw the floating market (boats that came from Venezuela with fruits and vegetables to sell here in Curacao), shopped for some souvenirs for the kids, and toured the fort there. It was a good way to spend the morning (granted it was so hot so we were ready to go back to the hotel to eat lunch and get cooled off!.
CURACAO!!
Ok, one more. On the way home we passed a turn off to the Santa Barbara Plantation so we drove up there. Here's the place the bachelor stayed. haha!
We went to the pool that afternoon and sat in this cabana, swam, and ordered food and delicious drinks. We absolutely loved those fruity drinks and just hanging out by the pool and reading books.
That night we had dinner at the fancy restaurant at the resort. We had the best table overlooking the sunset. It was a wonderful evening.
Most beautiful view!
The next day we ordered room service again for breakfast (we really loved having room service!) and then Ryan had his golf day. That left me alone for the day so I exercised at the hotel's gym and then went and hung out on the beach all day.
Spent the day sitting on the beach. I ordered a delicious drink and some food, and just read a book. It was a relaxing day for sure. I had my massage later that day which was amazing! After that I hung out by the pool for the rest of the day.
There were iguanas everywhere all over the resort. I even got to feed them!
We had dinner that night at one of the restaurants and then spent the night playing games with some of Ryan's friends from work. It was a good relaxing day.
Thursday was another relaxing day. I spent the morning by the pool, reading my book and enjoying the warmth, sun, and pool! Ryan had to do some work that morning so we met up for a late lunch at a different restaurant at the resort with some of Ryan's work friends. After lunch, we went back and got ready for Ryan's work's farewell cocktail party. We decided to make last minute reservations for a late dinner at the nice restaurant on the resort with Ryan's friends. We killed some time-Ryan working and watching movies and me working out at the gym. We had a late dinner and then fell into bed exhausted!
I don't have many pictures from that day, so here's a beautiful picture of my favorite spot at the resort. It's such a beautiful place and so peaceful.
A beautiful picture of the sunset reflected in the swimming pool.
Our last full day in Curacao we hung out in the cabana at the pool. We talked about what else we wanted to do and decided we wanted to take a sunset cruise. So we booked it for that night. Before we went, I went over and did some stand up paddle boarding. It was such a fun time. I did pretty well and didn't fall over at all, so that was a plus. I also wanted to go kayaking before we left so I pretty much forced Ryan to take me. He's a good sport at making me happy and giving me what I want. Love him. Anyway, we kayaked around the bay by the resort for a while and just explored.
A picture of the "beach" and the bay at the resort. A beautiful place to be!
We had our last excursion that night on the sunset cruise. We had to get a picture of Ryan in his awesome Caribbean clothes. He had to have some awesome white linen pants and a linen shirt. He was looking good (and he was comfortable which was his one requirement!)
On the boat
Watching the sunset over the water. It was gorgeous.
A picture-esque moment.
We had our last night eating at the fancy restaurant. (It was ok we ate at the same restaurant every night because it was delicious!) We packed that night and got ready to leave since we had to be on our way to the airport at 5 AM.
We had a long layover in Miami and decided to leave the airport and explore a little. We took an Uber to Miami beach and hopped on a boat for a Millionaire's Tour where they take you around and show you all the famous people's mansions right on the water. It was a fun little outing that helped pass the time. I decided we need to go back to explore the Miami area at some point, especially Key West. I would love to drive through that area!
It was an amazing trip-one that I will never forget. I loved spending time with this guy. We made some priceless memories together and I'll cherish it forever! So grateful for the opportunity to have this trip. It was needed and wonderful.
