Nevis Day Three: Who could have guessed what would be!

Day three was a great day...and by great, I mean GREAT! Coco and Nance had scheduled a catamaran ride for us all and lunch before that at a nice little place called Golden Rock, which was another neat little inn being remodeled that had really cook hotel suites built into sugar mills.

We ate lunch on their newly remodeled patio


and then toured the grounds...

Then it was time to board the catamaran to float our way to sea for some snorkeling...

Some back story: Reed carried a backpack with some sweaters, which I thought was odd since it was really warm out...and he wouldn't let me go in it!

Stacy and Nancy boarding the boat...and all of us taking out seats for a fun little voyage.

Stacy is sitting in the spot where she would be proposed to in less than an hour. Dave made sure to tell us that we should grab those seats because they are the most popular. Reed stood just to the right of the little boy when he saw the cue to start filming.

Reed and Julie sailing out to sea.

Even if there wasn't a proposal involved, it would have been an amazing day. Reed and I looked at each other while we the boat set sail and agreed how lucky we are.

Sipping Carib and Rum Punch, lucky indeed.

I think that Stacy was thinking the same thing...little did she know what was about to happen.

So, the boat stopped in this beautiful cove near St. Kitts...and we all grabbed snorkel gear

and hopped into the water...except for Nancy. She hates water and even told us that if she ever drowned to do an autopsy.

The snorkeling was pretty darn great. We saw tons of big colorful fish, stingrays, squid, puffer fish, etc. But I was super surprised when Reed got out of the water. I thought I would have to drag him out of there...

Instead, we looked up and it was only Stacy and I left in the water!

Well, and Coco too :)

Then we all got out...Stacy and I were drying off and wanting to take a picture in our polka-dot bikinis (it's a sister thing) when all of a sudden Coco walked over with a treasure box that he "found in the rocks." In it was a ring box...and the rest is history.

Stacy and David are engaged!

Now it was time to celebrate!!
And call and tell everyone!

I couldn't be happier, we really love Dave.

Stacy and her new in-laws.

Then it was back to the house...where the Hoffman's had planned a lovely dinner on the Nisbet porch.

With a bottle of Veuve to celebrate!!

Opened by family friend, Kaddy. You may recognize him from the dog sounds on the "I wanna be a puppy" video :)

Cheers!

Doesn't that look like a happy girl??

And a happy boy?? And happy parents??

We were so lucky to have been there for this amazing occasion. I am overjoyed to have been there to see it happen.

After a delicious meal, it was time for some singing and dancing. Dan and Kaddy had several more really funny songs...but unfortunately, they are not PG rated, so I cannot share. But trust me, hysterical.

There was also several celebratory drinks :)

GOODNIGHT!

Then, we walked home...dipped our feet in the pool and went to bed. What an exciting day!

West Indies Day 2: Absolutely Nothing to Do.

I'm not going to lie, after our island dance party the night before waking up to go to church with Coco at 7am did not sound like a great idea to us...but we were so glad we went because it was this adorable little chapel mixed with islanders and ex-pats and a very foreign priest who talked veeeery slowly. At the end, they asked it was any one's first time there and Reed and I looked around realized they were talking about us and so we stood up and they started singing to us about how they love us, love us, love us, yes they do. It was really cute.

For the rest of the day, we headed back to Nisbet, had a lovely lunch at the beach and spent the rest of the day enjoying paradise.

It was pretty rough.

We were serenaded by steel drum bands.

It was absolute torture!

But we did go inside long enough to watch the Cardinals kick the Bears butts!! Dave grew up in Chicago and is a huge bears and cubs fan, in case you didn't see the shout out on the proposal video. Don't forget Hoffmans, you lost a bet! We, Kiefer Cardinal fans still expect payment!!

For dinner we headed to anther plantation called Hermitage where the oldest wooden structure in the Caribbean, the house, stands. It was really cute and a very yummy meal.

Apparently, it was pattern night :)

That night we had a little room switcheroo into a cooler room in order to make our lovely hostess, Nancy, happy. So we joked the ENTIRE trip about making Nance happy. :) She's great!

Dinner was delicious...amazing deserts!

It was a great night. Little did we know what surprises the next day held...

Paradise: Day one was oh so fun

After two flights and a surprisingly good night of sleep, we arrived at the airport on St. Kitts. And to our surprise, look who we found waiting for us! Stacy and Dave took a boat over to meet us so we wouldn't have to navigate the ferry system by ourselves.

Instead, we took a taxi (on the wrong side of the road-scary!) to Reggae Beach where we saw Wilbur, the largest boar on the island who apparently has quite a following:

Then we hopped a boat just before the sun came down and drank our first Carib of the trip...So excited to be in paradise with my sister. AHHHH.

Dave's dad, whom we call "Coco" picked us up at Ouali Beach (pronounced o-oli) where the boat dropped us and our luggage off and took us to their gorgeous house on Nisbet Plantation right on the Atlantic Ocean side of the island. Words cannot express what amazing hosts Nancy and Ken/Coco were. They were like a whole other set of parents/friends for the week. They have been going to Nevis for so long that they know all the ins and outs of island and pretty much everyone on it...so they were like built-in tour guides too! As soon as we could put down our suitcases we quickly ran down as quick as we could to put our feet in the sand before dinner.

Then while we were all getting ready for dindin, the power went off in our house, which was actually quite funny and a realization that were were in an exotic foreign place! It quickly came back on...and off we went to dinner at the Galipot for the most amazing seafood we have ever had.

Reed seriously raved about his mahi all week! Stacy, Dave, and I all had lobsters-without claws :)

Then we hopped around to a few spots on the way home.

And we already knew this was going to be a great week.

Especially when Reed bragged about taking the best picture ever and without a word, we all simultaneously did this:

Then we headed back to Nisbet, checked out the cannon...which we called "the canyon" all week.

And then grabbed a few drinks at the main house.

But then we lost both Coco and Nance and some of the lovely Nevision fellows, Dan and Dave, who literally watched Dave grow up, took us out to show us the town...

After a lesson on island time (it was a very long, slow car ride around the island) they finally found a place to take us ex-pats out island style. The bar we walked into had a red light and no sign...which should have been an instant indication of its shadiness. Apparently it was a "Mexican" bar for which I can't remember any other reason than the few mariachi songs they played before it changed over to hip hop and reggae. We had a lot of fun dancing with each other

and with some of the local islanders. They were really entertaining...

and I am pretty sure we entertained them too.

Then we decided it was time to head back home, where we jumped in our pool to cool off and went to bed with reggae songs planted in our heads for the rest of the week, only to wake up to 7 more days in paradise.

Nevis In a Nutshell

Reed and I are officially home from our wonderful trip to the West Indies. It was breathtakingly (sure, that's a word) beautiful and such an exciting week, complete with a proposal! I have a TON of pictures to post, so I am going to stretch it out this week. Starting with some fun facts about Nevis and St. Kitts:

Nevis and St. Kitts (or St. Christopher's) were "discovered" by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Mt. Nevis is really high and is always covered by clouds. Senor Columbus thought that they were covered with snow and he named the island Nevis, the old Spanish word for snow. Either way, we learned from a crazy rasta cab driver that Kittians aren't really fans of the Senor anyway.

The islands are now one nation though they still have a lot of British influences, including driving on the left side of the road and on the right side of the car!

Nevis is a round little island and it's greatest source of economy is the Four Seasons Resort there which is currently closed due to damages from a hurricane last year. That was the THIRD hurricane to destroy that poor property. It should re-open in the summer which is great for the large percentage percentage of Nevisions who are currently out of work. They even shut down their airport until it reopens. We flew into St. Kitts.

The island is covered with monkeys, goats, mongooses, boars, and cows.

People from Nevis are called Nevisions (rhymes with division) and People from St. Kitts are called Kittians (rhymes with petitions)...they are one nation, but if you ask, they don't really love each other.

The island is covered with old sugar mills and plantations and has it's own rum called CSR which is best served with the island soda called Ting which is a lot like fresca. The drink is called a Ting with a Sting.

They also have their own beer called Carib.

The Lobsters in the Caribbean don't have claws! Okay, so that isn't as scientific or historical as the rest of the facts, but I thought it was pretty neat!

Now, for a music Monday contribution a la Tay. We literally sang this song ALL week. The Hoffmans have been going to the same plantation on Nevis for nearly 25 years has really wonderful staff...and they sing too! Check out, "I wanna be a puppy" by Dan and Kaddy.

Excuse the poor film quality...Reed was on filming duty! Enjoy!

Many, Many Nevis Pictures to come! :)

BIG NEWS FROM NEVIS!!!

My sister and her boyfriend, David Hoffman are officially engaged to be married. Stacy and David met while working at the Montage Laguna Beach and have been dating for two years. We have been anxiously awaiting this day for a little while now! And, it's all caught on film!

Just to set up this clip: We rode a catamaran from Nevis to a bay near St. Kitts for some snorkeling and had just gotten out of the water. Reed is filming, and that is me asking, "why are you filming" because Dave had just asked me to stand there next to them and I wanted to take a picture! Dave's mom, Nancy, is in the green dress to the left of the shot and neither of us had any idea!! I realized what was happening when Dave's father, Ken, brought over the treasure box....he also had just gotten done snorkeling and he said he "found it in the rocks." The Hoffman family are a bunch of big jokesters, which is why Stacy is a little skeptical at first...



We had the darnedest time uploading the video since it's pretty long, so if it gives you trouble, click here.

Reed and I are overjoyed and honored to be a part of this big moment in their lives. It was a very special moment which brought tears to my eyes. We love Dave and are so happy to have him as a part of our family.

Congratulations, Stacy and Dave. We love you. Let the celebration in Nevis resume!

Greetings From Nevis, West Indies

Ahhhhhh.

Bon Voyage.

As this is posted, I will officially be landing on the island of St. Kitts. Then we will take a little ferry ride to our final destination-the island of Nevis. Most people I have told about our lovely vacation to the West Indies have responded with an immediate, "huh?" So here is the best explanation I can find :)

What are the Lesser Antillies?

See you when we get back. But for now, I see a lot of beautiful, peaceful beach time in our future, not to mention some much needed quality time with this girl and her boyfriend (and his family too :))

Many fun times to be enjoyed and photos to be shared in the future.

Over and Out.