This week has definitely been a relaxation week. Lots of laying on the beach, lots of reading, lots of watching tennis (GO RAFA!!!), lots of not doing too much of anything. I was feeling like I needed to spread my wings a bit though, so I did some exploration of the island during a few of the days. I visited two beaches I haven't been to before, I took a hike along this designated nature trail which identifies all of your surroundings - plants, animals, insects, etc., I went snorkeling and saw some huge Tarpon, and I explored some of the ruins here on the island.
Relaxation...
Watching tennis is a huge part of my life; in a few words... I adore it. My favorite player is Rafael Nadal and he just won the US Open, which gave him a career grand slam (only the seventh man in the history of tennis to do that). What an amazing tournament. It was so much fun to make sure I was home on certain days to catch different, highly anticipated matches. It was also fun staying in the entire day purely watching tennis. I know some would disagree with this, but the sport is riveting and I feel blessed to be watching some of the players that are on the circuit right now. Watching the tournament honestly took up a lot of my last two weeks. In the midst of this however, I still managed to make it to the beach almost every day even if it was just two minutes down the road to The Westin (yes, I am still a guest there). I finished the book that I was reading, "Eat Pray Love," and I have since started on my next book "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which I am already having trouble putting down like a little boy and his nintendo game, "Come on mom, just one more minute." The final note that truly shows how much relaxation I've endured... my landlord today said that my tan was looking really good, that I'm starting to look like an islander - mission accomplished.
Exploration...
I found out that I'm not that great of a swimmer. Bummer. I found this out because I decided I should start swimming to get a little exercise and because I have this humongous thing called the ocean in my backyard (don't exactly have that in Colorado), so I wanted to take advantage. I walked into Trunk Bay, put my goggles on so that I could make sure I wasn't swimming with a sting ray, and took off. At first, things were going great even though it was exhausting. Shortly into my swim I realized I was swallowing salt water and sucking it up my nose; not the greatest feeling. So I am actually a fine swimmer, I just don't have the whole breathing thing down. I'm determined to work on it though and get better while I'm here and have the opportunity. A few days before I had sucked in all that salt water, I went on a few hikes exploring some of the ruins. They were amazing. One of the places I went was Peace Hill (I drove past the sign, slammed on my brakes and turned around thinking "I need some peace today"). At the top of the hill you can see multiple different beaches in all directions as well as other islands. There was also an enormous stone windmill that was no longer in use. It had been used during the time of the sugar plantations. It had beautifully cut out windows and doors and seemed to have been built impeccably. My next stop was the ruins across from Cinnamon Bay. This included a home, oven, the structure where the sugar cane was pressed, a graveyard, etc. It was neat to see these because many places around the United States, there isn't the history that there is of, say, Europe. We tend to tear things down to build something newer and better. It was nice to see that these have been preserved and are treated as pieces of art. I also visited Caneel Bay, a resort that is beautiful but is shut down for September and October due to hurricane season (shocking, I didn't think they actually got hit by those that badly here). It was very nice to wander around the lawns of the resort, at least until I started to get in trouble for wandering off the path towards the beach. I was called ma'am a few too many times for my liking, though I did still enjoy my day and got some wonderful pictures. I enjoyed many random adventures through my exploration during the week but it all came together with a bee sting, a frog in my cottage (and another one the size of my palm while writing this), a four foot Tarpon, and a humongous black spider (that resembled a tarantula) crawling underneath my bed as I stood on top of it holding a broom in my hand awaiting the kill.
Up Next...
The upcoming week and a half is going to be a blast because my mom is coming to visit! She has ever been here before so we are going to live it up going to different beaches, snorkeling, hiking, exploring the ruins, traveling to the British Virgin Islands, eating at fun restaurants, shopping, etc. etc. etc., all while staying in a lovely villa. I cannot wait to show her around this island that I've started to feel at home on.
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