This is a bad sign of things to come, our flight is 1.5 hours late.
This meant that we were going to miss Brian Shadrick’s wedding.
Our connecting flight to St. Lucia was waiting on the runway to take off when we landed, so Air Jamaica put us up in a Holiday Inn.
It was an all inclusive, but not exactly what we had in mind.
We spent the next hour trying to call Brian and let him know we weren’t going to make the wedding.
We tried to relax and enjoy ourselves, but….
We felt like we were trapped in a mental institution.
We went to dinner, and drank our sorrows away.
The Next day, our journey to see Brian continued with the rest of the people Air Jamaica screwed.
This picture was taken roughly about the time Brian was getting married.
Congrats Brian and Erin, sorry we couldn’t make it.
This is Mark Pritchett, Managing Director of the Jamaica Observer, and my neighbor on the flight.
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Robert Shadrick!!!!
Airport to Resort, and Kelli wonders if we’ll be able to find them.
Our resort to their resort, is this ever going to end?
6 hours and 45 minutes after they’re married, and Brian is clearly surprised to finally see us.
We were the only ones who were late to the party.
His mom and sister.
Dave starts to ramble on about something…
And I think he crossed the line with something he said…..
But it was a good toast as best man.
Hey guys, get a room.
Erin’s bridesmaid gives her toast.
Kelli and Dave enjoy the alcohol.
Erin’s parent’s, and Brian’s sister.
Did I tell you Brian is from West Virginia?
Brian acknowledges my last comment.
The pictures are fuzzy because the auto focus has a hard time in low light.
Hey Brian, your wife is on your left.
It’s not what he’s doing, as much as it is where he is and the shoes he’s wearing.
Kelli stops by the men’s room for a visit.
At the time, I thought it would be funny to have the toilet paper hanging around my neck.
Brian and his mom.
Before we headed out, Kelli stops to enjoy the other reason she came on the vacation.
A Squirrelfish.
A shortfin pipefish.
A feather duster.
A pair of sergeant majors.
The sun was setting….
And it was getting cold….
So back to the room , and Kelli gets ready for dinner…
And seeing I am too….
We set out in search of a place where Kelli could steal my dessert.
The next day, and Kelli lays out while waiting to go on our ONLY dive.
Divemaster for the trip, Lawrence.
Ah, another spotting of the rare and beautiful Kelli fish.
A little fish hanging out on some brain coral.
That’ll be one dollar, please.
Swimming with a school.
What are you looking at?
A crab hides in a sponge.
A good shot of a damselfish.
The visibility was about 40-50 feet.
Another sergeant major.
A good shot of a tang.
The color is just explosive here.
An angel fish.
A pair of harlequin bass.
Everyone’s favorite, the moray eel. He was about 2-3 feet long.
Some colorful sponge.
Kelli is quick to mention all the cool fish she saw.
SCUBA, a very cool sport!!!
A nice relaxing ride back on the boat.
Brian’s and Erin’s resort.
Kelli and I got out of gear, and headed out. (our room is above the left side of the hammock).
While she laid out…
I walked around and took pictures.
Old school security.
I guess I’ll use this time to give you some raw data for the trip….
The pictures will serve as a nice background….
To an otherwise not so great trip.
Read the first two lines under rough seas.
Looking down the pier.
A nice shot from the pier.
Things could have gone a little better.
The St. Lucian flag.
Of the 111 hours from door to door…..
59 were spent on the resort….
And the other 52 were spent getting to it.
The SCUBA gear was 30 pounds per person….
Lugged down for one dive (they only do one dive on the one day we could dive)….
That lasted 31 minutes….
That’s one pound per minute worth of effort.
We went to the spa twice for a total of 120 minutes.
And here zero times.
20 of ours gets you 53 of theirs.
There was one missed wedding….
Hundreds of these lights….
Looking like one phallic symbol….
2 pool tables we never used….
And $100 dollars in phone calls that travel insurance will be paying for.
At the end of the peninsula, there was a nice little park.
It cost me $5 to get in….
But it was very pretty, and nice to walk around.
Lots of cool paths going this way and that….
But I was heading for the fort.
You wouldn’t have known that I was in the sun the past few days.
Looking across to my next objective.
But first I must go back down.
Ever wonder how they get cannons to the top?
The picture says it all.
It was a long hike across in the blazing heat….
But with the top so close…..
I made the last surge to the top.
Find Kelli.
Looking back with the 12x optical zoom to the fort.
The resort without the zoom.
The fort without the zoom.
Coming down, another view of the resort.
I thought this tree looked cool.
Arriving back at the pool, I found Kelli, still laying out.
Later that night, and Kelli and I relax before dinner.
She’s an “A” on my list.
A nice sunset.
My mermaid (not the statue).
Time for the sunburnt people to go out into the night.
Brian’s father and step-mother were staying at the same resort we were in an effort to give the newlyweds some privacy.
Dinner that night was stir-fried veggies….
With a side of bananas.
Like a good diver, filling out my log book.
Kelli ordered some ice cream for us to have as a late night snack.
Last day and time to leave.
A shot of the room…..
And a last look of the resort. Hope you enjoyed!!!!
This picture and the next two somehow missed the St Lucia group.
Getting on the plane to come home.
The airport in St. Lucia.