Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Honeymoon Recap!

Happy Tuesday, Bloggies!

For a day that started out with me spilling my coffee all over the counter (thank heavens I didn't spill it on the cat... I suppose things could have been worse).. the day has redeemed itself quite nicely :) I am now cocooned in my favorite fuzzy blanket on the couch, with a full tummy (a yummy re-run of Saturday's pumpkin chili!)-- content as can be! (I may or may not be enjoying a fabulous glass of cabernet, as well ;)


Today has been a busy, productive, and fulfilling day. I got some necessary errands done at lunch time, and snuck (is this a word?!) in a lovely (read: tough but very rewarding!) 6 miler when I got home from work. Now I am blogging and otherwise organizing my life (it is definitely time to re-group and make a new"goal list"!)... and looking forward to a BATH later before bed (I'm putting off the bath until the very last thing, bc the combination of wine+bath always knocks me out cold, haha...)


Anyway.. on to the real reason for the post (I'm not just a tease :)... I promise!)


Honeymoon Recap:

This is just a picture that I love. Taken while we were sitting at the beach one day.

** Argh. Quick side note: after a whopping 1 blog entry with his "new name", I am going back to referring to my husband as J-- not only is Mr. R. hard to remember... but it's a whole 2 letters longer! ....and it's my blog, so my preference, right?! ;)


To begin with, I can tell you that J and I spent our honeymoon on Martha's Vineyard (or the majority of it, anyway: we took 2 weeks off--spent 10 days away and the remaining time relaxing at home and getting used to living together:) My Aunt and Uncle own a cottage up there, and generously let us honeymoon there as a wedding present! When I was little (read "teeny-tiny" up until I was 11) my family used to go up and spend a week there during the summer. I was very excited to go back-- and J. had never been there-- so I was excited to go with him; to share some pieces of my childhood and to discover new things with him.

Anyway. After the wedding was over, J and I were positively exhausted (as you should be after any good wedding, or so I've heard!) My sister and her boyfriend had volunteered to drive us to our airport hotel (thanks again!!), and we arrived around 8:30ish (holy-moley.... I actually have no idea what time it was... I was pretty pooped by then....)-- which was after a fun, relaxed "double-dinner-date" (remember... J and I got hardly anything to eat at the reception-- we were to busy having fun with our guests!) at Arby's.

Woah. This hotel was nice! (It was a "Hilton Family" chain-- and I've always been impressed with them in the past :) We had a huge, super soft king size bed (which I was ready to pass out on the minute we arrived...), and a jacuzzi tub. A girl could get used to that ...


The next morning, bright and early (5am-ish I believe) J and I woke, showered (omg... I had the worst time trying to get the pounds of hairspray out of my hair! I loved the "wedding hair" though... so I'll keep my complaints to a minimum:) and headed downstairs to catch the shuttle to the airport (a definite perk-- and one of the reasons we stayed where we did.)


*Now, as a cute side note: this was J's FIRST PLANE TRIP! Ever. Yes, the man is 25 years old :) I am happy to say that everything went really well!* We flew out of C-bus at 8am, took a connecting flight in NY, and arrived on Martha's Vineyard around 1pm. Perfect! One of the coolest things about the trip was that since our flight to MV was so small, we took a tiny plane-- by small, I mean we had about 15 people on the plane going to the island (and about half that coming back!)-- and we didn't even fill up half of it :) Being on a small flight has lots of advantages: including (but, I'm sure not limited to!) flying closer to the ground (= great views!!), more talkative people, and more attentive flight attendants. Because he had never flown before, I made sure I gave J the window seats-- and I am pleased to tell you that J's first flying experience was a success. (Sorry no pictures from the air... just trust me though... it was really, really beautiful-- it was clear morning, and it was so neat to get an aerial view of the island as we flew in. Although we were both exhausted, neither J nor I slept on the flight to MV.)


When we arrived at "The Little House" (via taxi), we were warmly greeted by Mrs.P-- who I remembered from when I was little, but hadn't seen in years. She hugged us, congratulated us profusely, and told us that she would be around for "whatever we might need..."

And, thus began the honeymoon :) Now I won't bore you with all the details, but I will touch on some highlights:

1. If you know us at all, you will know that J and I are very laid back. Very much "go with the flow" people (heh... as I write this, I know that Laurie is out there somewhere rolling her eyes and thinking..." well, at least J is...." So, let me clarify: Eh hem: J. and I are laid back vacationers.) We may not have done all the "touristy" things... but we had a wonderful time reading, napping, and strolling along the beach together. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and so most days, we just wandered around Oak Bluffs and explored!

(Top to bottom: J and me at Town Beach; "the harbor"; the sky on a particularly rainy day (we ventured out on a walk while it was still dry, but then ended up in Dockside eating ice cream until the storm ended!); Town Beach (and the ferry in the background); East Chop Lighthouse.)

2. However, the Saturday that we were there (Sept. 26) marked our 7th "dating anniversary"-- so we did something special: a day trip (via the VTA buses) to Edgartown and Vineyard Haven.

We walked to the Edgartown lighthouse:



Shopped in some "super cute" (and super $$$) island shops:


And visited the Martha's Vineyard Museum:

In Vineyard Haven we shopped some more, and then sat by the harbor and watched the boats:


Then later we ate dinner at "The Black Dog Tavern"-- and it was worth every bit of hype! The food was fabulous! (no pics... sorry :(... This is why I would never make it as a food blogger...) J and I both started with the Quahog chowder (divine! this was basically the best clam chowder I've ever had: rich and creamy with lots of clams and potato chunks, served in a mug and topped with perfectly crispy croutons). Then I moved on to the Marinated Ahi Tuna Steak:
"lemongrass & coconut marinated tuna steak with wasabi & crystallized ginger mashed potatoes & wakami seaweed salad"
and J got the Garlic Crusted Codfish:
"fresh caught George’s Bank codfish, oven roasted and topped with garlic bread crumbs, served with citrus beurre blanc, with homestyle mashed potatoes & sauteed spinach"

"Holy Yum":)

3. And finally, we enjoyed every moment we spent walking around the campground:




Needless to say, we had a wonderful time:) It was extremely bittersweet to have to come home (to clarify: the sweet part was dreaming about setting up my home with J once we got back! Perhaps I'll give a "home tour" in a future blog?! Let me know what you think!!)

Well, I hope you enjoyed the recap (and pictures!) Have a lovely Tuesday evening, bloggies! I'm off to a bath and sweet, sweet sleep!


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