We're Off To: Amsterdam

'Hallo' and Happy (early) Thanksgiving! We are so thankful to Southwest to be doing what we love best - spending time together and traveling.

We are currently enroute to Amsterdam and will arrive bright and early on Thanksgiving morning. We will be meeting up with the Linebergers and have even rented out an adorable canal house for our stay. I'm especially looking forward to catching up with them and exploring the Christmas markets.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! Look for our recap when we get back and tot ziens!

- Christy & Jason

Cruise: St. Lucia

Continuing on with our Southern Caribbean cruise recap (before we leave for our *Surprise Trip*)...our next stop was St. Lucia!

Our excursion here was similar to the one we did in Barbados - we took a catamaran out and did a coastal tour. Our first stop was Margot Bay, where we stopped at a little beach. We drank Piton beer and swam around here. I'm not the biggest water person, but this water was stunning and impossible to dislike.

 

Hot dogs or legs?

 

We had fun drinking and dancing on our boat as we navigated along the coast. The focal point of our tour was seeing the famous Pitons. Apparently it's pretty common for people to try climb to the top of these. This may be something we attempt if we ever go back here!

 

We got to know the boat captain during our cruise and he offered to take us to their docking point in Rodney Bay after everyone from the tour disembarked. This was amazing as we ended up getting a tour that was basically 2 extra hours just for talking to the crew.

Once we got off, we grabbed lunch at a little local place and caught a "bus" back to the docks. This is generous as it was basically a van with a bunch of removable seats. It was a nice way to meet some locals and way cheaper than a taxi.

That night, we got to eat dinner as we sailed along to our next port - St. Maarten!

Lawrence, KS

My cousin got married this past weekend, so we took a short flight up to Kansas City to celebrate in Lawrence, Kansas - where they first met.

It's been the first travel Jason and I have done together since Vancouver WAY back in May. It was a little interesting getting there as Jason and I got separated and had to take 2 separate flights. I got in early, but Jason arrived right in time for the rehearsal dinner.

We all got a chance to catch up and eat some yummy Italian food at Maceli's. As always, seeing my family was a blast, so much fun was had.

The next morning, we walked around the University of Kansas's campus. It was really beautiful as all the leaves were changing colors and the weather was just perfect.

 

We walked along Massachusetts Street and grabbed a quick lunch at Wheatfields. They had delicious looking desserts, but we stuck with the sandwiches. We had a fun afternoon just exploring this little college town.

We got to watch the Aggies BTHO Mississippi State and then went straight to the wedding. Their venue was the Cider Gallery, a renovated cider vinegar warehouse - turned art gallery. I loved the original hardwood flooring, wood beams and stone and brick walls. It was the perfect setting for their wedding.

 

Congrats to Jenna and Doyle - the wedding was perfect! Seriously though, what a great couple.

Also, I have to say that Jason is the luckiest guy around. Dallas HQ was having a giveaway of Rapid Rewards points and guess who won? Those points will definitely not be wasted by us!

Next up: We have a trip planned that will let us celebrate Thanksgiving in a different country with some good friends! Wish us luck as standby around the holidays is usually nuts.

Cruise: At Sea & Barbados

We knew we would have 3 days to explore San Juan after our cruise, so when we arrived at SJU, we went straight to the boat and settled in. Our boat was Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas and the itinerary for our Southern Caribbean Cruise was:

Day 1 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Day 2 - Day at Sea

Day 3 - Bridgetown, Barbados

Day 4 - Castries, St. Lucia

Day 5 - St. John's, Antigua

Day 6 - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten

Day 7 - St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

Day 8 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Honestly, the schedule was a little too packed for me. It would have been nice to have that "at sea" day later on in the trip, but it worked out alright. The first day, we were able to lay out on deck, explore the ship and enjoy our meals at a leisurely pace. It was a formal night, so we took lots of pictures. The welcome reception included free drinks, so you can bet we attended that as well!

The next morning, we arrived at our first stop - Barbados. We did a tour that was organized through Royal Caribbean - the Tiami Five Star Catamaran & Turtles. We took a catamaran out and were given snorkels to swim with wild green sea turtles.

This was honestly my favorite experience of the entire cruise. We were so close to the turtles - I even got "slapped" in the face by the fins of one. We anchored up later along a beach and were able to lay out and swim some more. The water here was absolutely stunning!

After we got back to the ship, we had time to get ready for dinner, grab some drinks and enjoy some of the entertainment on board. What a good start to our vacation!

Next up: Our day in St. Lucia!