Well sadly we’re back to the world of responsibility and 0 degree weather with a wind chill of negative frozen.

To say our honeymoon was perfect would be an understatement. We got to spend the week sailing around Abaco Island in The Bahamas on a 57’ Catamaran called Shearwater. Talk about an adventure! If you’re looking for an incredible vacation, that’s so different, full of adventure but very relaxing check out his website here, I can’t brag about Captain Bruce enough! (ok ok, I’ll be honest, Captain Bruce is one of my new Uncles, so I guess I am a little biased but he is still super duper crazy awesome and everyone and anyone loves him and his big beautiful boat and the trips he takes you on!). You see, Uncle Bruce called us sometime before the wedding and told us that he would like our wedding gift to be a trip down to spend the week on his boat with him. Who can deny that!?

 A Few Favorite Things about the Trip:

The obvious—I got to spend 7 uninterrupted days with my hubby!

Traveling with the hubby—this was our first time really traveling together. We’ve done little driving trips from MD to PA before but that’s been about it. So it was very exciting to see how we would do traveling a much further distance, on airplanes, through check-ins and security, customs and baggage claims. I’m happy to report we did it perfectly without stress or arguments 🙂

Nothing was required of me on the trip, which means, I got to relax! No running errands, doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, walking the dog in the freezing cold, getting up early to go to work. Just relaxation at it’s best.

I didn’t have to use my brain. My brain very much thanked me for it. I didn’t have to process a massive to-do list, or think about work or business. There was a moment while sitting on the boat, Nick was next to me and I was just staring off into space, no book in hand, no music playing, just looking out over the water. He looked at me and asked “What are you doing?” Which I replied, “Nothing.”

       “Is that a good nothing?”

       “Oh yes a very very good nothing”.

Because we were on an island in another country, our phones were roaming the entire trip. Which meant no phones calls in or out, no 3G network, no wireless connection. So we were completely Unplugged! I loved it!

One of my ultimate favorite things ever, is adventure & trying new things. We had plenty of both! Everyday we got to explore a brand new place: a little town, a beach, a lighthouse, a cave. I got to go sailing and kayaking for the first time in my life. We were constantly trying new foods(another favorite of mine): conch fritters, red snapper fish, grouper fish, avocado on salad, conch salad, Bahamian lobster, a Bahamian BBQ buffet.

So while you sit wrapped up in sweaters and blankets, holding that steaming cup of coffee in your hand trying to stay warm—sit back and try to picture yourself in The Bahamas!

The Galley

Our Room for the week (ignore the terrible cell phone quality)

Our first Sunset!

Good Morning! Talk about quite a view to wake up too.

Cooking up some “brekkie”

Spending the afternoon relaxing on the beach at Treasure Cay and looking for seashells.

Our next day started with a trip back to Marsh Harbor as we expected some storms to roll through.

And oh boy did it…fortunately we were safely on board and anchored. I found the storm very interesting. Storms can be crazy scary but strangely beautiful at the exact same time.

We enjoyed the stormy afternoon with a nap, phone games and reading.

Our evening ended with a car trip down to Little Harbor, where we explored some caves, the Foundry, and a fantastic dinner at Pete’s Pub.

 Friday as the water was still recovering from the rough storm, meaning choppy seas…the boys sailed the boat to Hope Town, getting wet and very wind blown in the process.

Isn’t Shearwater such a beauty!

Oh how I love love love Hope Town & Elbow Cay!

(for those of you who don’t know, one of our nicknames for our dog Jake is Giblet…which often gets shortened to Jib or even sometimes The Jib)

My “cookie monster” ice cream…a little surprised when I was handed it. Wasn’t expecting the literal “cookie monster”.

After we explored the town, we headed over to Elbow Reef Lighthouse, one of the last manual lighthouses in the world.

Seriously so in love with this view!

Headed back to the boat for some dinner 🙂

They say, kayaking is a true test of a relationship. Well we tested ours…we in fact did survive…with a few little bumps in the road I must be honest hahaha. It was still fun!

Some lunch was much needed after our trip across the ocean, so we headed over to Firefly on Elbow Cay! YUMMY!!

One of Uncle Bruce’s friends just bought this big beautiful all wooden boat, honestly I think it looks like a really awesome pirate ship. So when the opportunity arose for us to go and explore it, we were all in!

Liana(boat’s chef and masseuse), Riley (boat dog), Robbie (boat’s owner & Captain), Me, Nick & Trish

Bruce, Me, Nick & Trish

Our Saturday continued and ended with a stellar evening at Friends of the Environment‘s Benefit dinner. Bruce & Trish have a ton of friends who are involved with the organization and go to the dinner every year to support it. It just so happened that the dinner fell while we were there, so we got dressed up and enjoyed a wonderful evening of wining, dining, and dancing. It’s by far one of our favorite nights!

 Sunday was spent on Great Guana Cay , more specifically Nipper’s Beach Bar & Grill. All week when we told people we’d be headed there on Sunday and everyone always had a story about how crazy Nipper’s gets on Sundays during their “pig roast”(it’s not really a pig roast, it’s more of a bbq buffet, still good). Sadly though when we got there, it was a very low key Sunday and not totally crazy like everyone said it would be. But we very much enjoyed the big beautiful beach, the buffet, and the Frozen Nipper.

(the frozen nipper is on the right)

Our last day 🙁 was spent on Man-O-War–relaxing on one of Uncle Bruce’s friend’s private beaches and exploring the cute little town.

As they say…all good things must come to an end. Our week was perfect, but it was in fact time to head home!