Honeymoon at Hermitage (Warning...VERY Long Post!)
Since everyone has been asking us how are honeymoon went, I think it's appropriate to share our experience! We went to Hermitage Bay in Antigua. It's pronounced An-ti-GA...not An-ti-gwa. We were corrected many times while we were there. Something about it used to be pronounced An-ti-gwa, but then someone took over control of the island and they changed the name to be pronounced An-ti-Ga. It seemed like an important distinction to the locals, so we've started saying it differently.
Anyway - having both been to tropical islands before (O to the Caymans and me to St. John), we sort of knew what to expect, but I must say, we were not expecting the service we received from the staff at Hermitage. But first, let me warn you about flying to Antigua...
Apparently Delta has a straight flight from Atlanta to Antigua. But you have to fly on some obscure day, like a Tuesday, and I'm sure the times are limited. I wish we would've known that, because the flights were the only bad thing about our trip. Our trip there took 14 hours. 6 of them were spent in the San Juan airport. There's not much to do there. In case you're wondering. Owen read 3 books, I watched "27 Dresses" on my ipod, and we slept, played video games in the arcade (yes...there was an arcade). The trip back wasn't as bad. I think our layover in San Juan was only 2 or 3 hours. That was manageable. So if you go to Antigua and you leave from Atlanta, go on the obscure Tuesday at the odd time. You'll thank me later!
When we finally arrived in Antigua (at 10:30p) with a plane full of Sandals patrons, we were greeted by a lady dressed in a cute white with turquoise blue trim pants suit. She had a cold washcloth for us - to wipe off all the grime we acquired in the San Juan airport I guess - and a bottle of water. Everyone else was looking at us like...hey, where's our rag and water?!?! Apparently Sandals just loads you onto a bus with 800 other sweaty travelers. No thanks!
We were then escorted to a white Suburban, which Denley, our personal chauffeur, drove us to the resort. Antigua is a very poor island. And at night, it's rather scary looking. Especially when you drive by a giant sign that reads: "Rapist Information Center. If you have any information about THE RAPIST please contact xxx-xxx-xxx" That was a little disturbing. But we figured since there was only one, between the two of us, we could take him. As long as it wasn't Denley.
So we arrive at the resort and are escorted to the front desk...
I was confused because we were still outside. But we quickly checked in, and were escorted up a giant hill to our private cottage. Suite 32. It was probably a half mile hike straight up a hill. But once we got there, it was so worth the hike.
The first door of the cabin led you to the private plunge pool, sun deck and covered porch. Through another door was the air conditioned bedroom. Then through another door was the (non-a/c) bathroom - but it felt surprisingly good even though it was not air conditioned; and yet another door takes you to the outdoor shower - which you cannot use if it's windy. But there's a giant bathtub for that. It was a pretty big cabin. Waiting for us in our cabin (remember it was 11p by this point) was a plate of meats, fish, cheese and crackers....and a big bottle of Bubbly. Which we happily ate and drank all of before heading off to bed.
The next morning, we woke to this view... 
For the next 6 days, we woke to this view, sometimes after lying in bed listening to the rain on our tin roof - and 5 minutes later it would look like this.
For the next 6 days, we woke to this view, sometimes after lying in bed listening to the rain on our tin roof - and 5 minutes later it would look like this.
We would go down to breakfast (served from 6a to 10:30) and eat Antiguan Cinnamon Cashew Sandwich (fancy french toast) with Black Pineapples or Eggs Benedict with Potato Chop Up. There was fresh juice daily...stuff like watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple juice. All mixed together, totally fresh with no water added. It was like they took each one of those fruits and smashed them with a mortar & pestle. It was fabulous! Makes me want to buy one of those Ronco Juicers you see on infomercials in the middle of the night.
After breakfast we went to either the beach or pool every day. One day we went into St. Johns (the Capital) for some shopping and local entertainment...
She was dancing with the pineapple on her head for money. I think drugs are legal there.
One day we had a picnic on a private beach. Devon (the water sports guy) took us in his little boat over to "Queen's Beach." It is a beach that the Queen stopped at for a swim in the 1950's. It's very secluded, so that no one could watch her swim. Antigua is said to have 365 beaches. And we'd believe that. On the other side of Queen's Beach was another small beach that we walked over to.
Another day Devon took us on a tour of the side of the island that we were on. We went to Jolly Harbour and witnessed a sail boat race. The B-Mobile (local island cell phone company) boat won.
Lunch consisted of an appetizer (Owen got meat on a stick with excellent sauce almost every day), soup - which was totally smooth, but you could taste each ingredient perfectly. One day I had chilled watermelon and tarragon soup. One day it was cauliflower, sweet potato and plantain soup. Ahh...I can taste it now! Fabulous! And that's not even the main course of lunch. The best main course was the Deep Fried Sandwich. It was like a deluxe club sandwich, with breakfast ham, chicken, bacon, turkey and cheese. Battered and deep fried. Mmmm...heart attack on a stick, but we got it at least twice while we were there. 
After lunch we would go back to the beach or pool, where we were greeted with a drink as soon as we got comfortable. From 3-4:30 there was afternoon tea. Our new friends from south England (Waymouth) informed us that it's a giant misconception that the British have tea every afternoon. But I'll tell ya, after having our tea and mini sandwiches every afternoon, we came home and bought some! Owen liked the Earl Grey...me the Peppermint. After tea and more sun, we'd go to the room to the private plunge pool to watch the sunset. Often with our afternoon Mojitos...
After lunch we would go back to the beach or pool, where we were greeted with a drink as soon as we got comfortable. From 3-4:30 there was afternoon tea. Our new friends from south England (Waymouth) informed us that it's a giant misconception that the British have tea every afternoon. But I'll tell ya, after having our tea and mini sandwiches every afternoon, we came home and bought some! Owen liked the Earl Grey...me the Peppermint. After tea and more sun, we'd go to the room to the private plunge pool to watch the sunset. Often with our afternoon Mojitos...
Then there was dinner. Dinner was probably the highlight of the resort. Again, there was an appetizer, soup, salad, main course, dessert and after dinner drinks. You could have as much or as little of that as you chose. We had an appetizer (duck confit one night), soup, main and dessert every night. We probably gained 80 pounds between the two of us. Dinner was anything from fresh caught snapper or tuna, to duck or lamb. One night I asked our waitress for the chef's cookbook. Of course he doesn't have one...but I told her he should. The wait-staff was exceptional. Clearing the table between each course, bringing you anything you could imagine. On our last night there we asked for a piece of the menu that had wine quotes on it and she gladly gave it to us. Dessert was awesome too. Owen got the Chocolate Assiette every night. It was 2 chocolate truffles (one white and one dark), a chocolate shot/drink, and flourless chocolate cake. He never ate the white chocolate truffle, and by the 3rd night, they started putting 2 dark chocolate truffles on his plate instead. That's how great they were. They learned what you liked and didn't like, and accommodated you without your even asking.
On Sunday, Denley took us to Shirley Heights. Total tourist trap, but we had a blast with Mark and Sarah (our friends from Waymouth). It was on a cliff, and you go to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset, and there was local bar-b-que and very expensive drinks. The food was good, but we told Mark and Sarah they have to come to Birmingham for some Dreamland.
Monday came way too soon. We had to be at the front desk at 5:45a, and it was so hard to leave. Hermitage Bay was voted the 3rd best All-Inclusive in the world (by someone important) and we can see why. It was incredibly romantic, yet friendly enough to keep you comfortable. You could be around other couples if you wanted to, or you could be totally secluded if you wanted to be. It was the perfect combination of romance and comfort.
We have to give a big thank you and shameless plug to our travel agent, H.R. Ellis with All About Honeymoons. Without him we would not have been able to go to such a wonderful resort. He helped us out in a crunch and we were so incredibly pleased. We got travel updates every few weeks, and everything was booked and ready to go within a week or so of our booking.
Oh, I almost forgot! We got a free 30 minute couples massage too! That was beyond incredible! Although the resort could make a ton more money if right after the free massage they asked you if you wanted to continue a longer massage. They didn't...but they could've named any price and we would've paid it.
I could (OBVIOUSLY) go on for hours about our trip. Here's the rest of our pictures if you're still totally bored after reading this incredibly long post. Although we were sad to leave Antigua, we were so happy to come home to this sweet face...
(Tas, not the carrot!)
