ST-MARTIN / ST MAARTEN

www.loteriefarm.com

In early April, I was blessed with the opportunity to join my husband on a work trip to the island of St. Martin.  This is a yearly trip he makes and I've been fortunate enough to tag along a handful of times.  Although it doesn't top my list of favorite places to vacation (due to everything being pricey, congested roadways, and lots of litter in non-touristy areas), I certainly enjoy relaxing poolside with an ocean view while catching up on a little leisure reading.  Ain't nothing wrong with that!

If your geography is as bad as mine, here is a little help in locating the island.

And here's a little evidence to prove that much of my time on the island was spent with my hiney firmly planted in a lounge chair with a frozen, virgin drink in one hand and my ebook in the other.  I seriously polished off 3 novels on this 4 day trip and loved every second of it!

Soaking up some sun at The Westin - Dawn Beach

But, I can only stay vegged out on my rear end for so long, so the hubby and I did take one little adventure on this trip.  We braved the local traffic and headed over to the French side of the island (the island is divided between France and the Netherlands) to Loterie Farm for our first ever zip-line adventure!

Arriving at Loterie Farm we kind of felt like we had stepped onto a whole other island.  The landscaping was well groomed.  The vegetation was lush and green. There was no trash littering our view.  And we loved watching several large iguanas cruise around the property like they owned the place.

Isn't he a doll?

Loterie Farm not only offers zip-lining, self-guided hiking adventures, and a luxurious pool with cabanas situated near a flowing stream, but also features a bar with lounge area and restaurant.  It really had a trendy, treehouse kinda vibe and we enjoyed hanging out here until it was our turn to zip.  

Walkway leading up to the bar and lounge area

Inside the lounge

We had done plenty of lounging prior to this point, so we only stayed long enough to indulge in a piece of blueberry pie (and then a fruit plate to make ourselves feel better about the pie).  And then it was time to get down to business...

All suited up and ready to fly!

I was getting pretty nervous at this point and still trying to figure out why our tour is called FlyZone EXTREME.  I wasn't so sure I wanted my first zip-lining experience to be extreme.  But at this point there was no time for being a sissy, so after a few safety instructions, I clipped on, took a brave jump off the platform and enjoyed the ride...

...and I LOVED it!  Soaring high above this lush canopy of protected forest with a view of the Caribbean Ocean to the right was spectacular!!

Here goes hubby soaring over the tropical forest.

It didn't take long for us to figure out the meaning of extreme on this tour.  Between zip-lines we had to navigate a series of interconnected obstacles snaking through the trees.  This really added to the adventure and made us earn our free ride along the zip lines.  Here's just a couple of pictures of the obstacles...

Along the tour we had a great experience with our guide who was very knowledgable, extremely helpful and patient, and always looking out for our safety.  We never felt rushed and were allowed to move at our own pace.

After an hour and a half of high flying fun and a short hike, we arrived back at Loterie Farm a little bit sweaty and a whole lot wind-blown, but with big smiles to prove our first ever zip-line experience was an awesome success!!

Have you ever zip-lined and where?  Would you do it again?

360 BLUE PROPERTIES - FLORIDA

www.360blueproperties.com

When my mom received the 50th wedding anniversary invitation, to be held in Seaside, Florida, for her brother-in-law she immediately started planning.  After much internet surfing, she landed upon the website of 360 Blue Properties and, being the neat freak that she is, just fell in love with the immaculate properties advertised on their site.  Not only were their homes spectacular, but so was the costumer service as they helped to find just the right property for her. 

So here are a few pictures from our home-away-home during our stay in Seagrove.  (Of course you can check out the website here which features much more professional pictures.)

Entry way - notice all the hooks for beach towels and bins for sandy shoes

 2nd floor Living Room - big, comfy couch in front of big, flat screen tv

Kitchen - It's not huge but it had everything we needed and then some.

3rd Floor Bedroom w/attached bath

3rd floor bedroom w/attached bath

Spacious attached bath

Bunk room w/trundle and additional double sleeper sofa

3rd floor wrap-around balcony w/ a little ocean view

Nice, right?!  I just wanted to share my pictures because I know I often wonder if a website's photos are as real as they look.  You know, sometimes they have a way of making a place look nicer or bigger than it really is.  I have no photography skills what-so-ever so what you see is the real deal.

Along with the calming, beachy decor, here are a few other things we loved about this property:

PROS

     -keyless entry to the house

     -4 out of the 5 rooms had their own, attached bathroom (only the bunk room doesn't) and 3 of those 

      rooms had king beds while the other was a queen

     -rooms were spacious with great closet space (my room actually had two closets)

     -every room had a tv, even the bunk room

     -free wifi which we had no trouble connecting to (drives me nuts when they say it's free but it costs 

      me 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get connected)

     -wii gaming console (be sure to bring your own games!)

     -my kiddos discovered a few toddler toys in the bunk room and were thrilled since we only brought

      along a few

     -kitchen not only was stocked with all appliances and cookware but also had a large selection of 

      plastic kids cups, bowls, plates, and utensils

     -4 free beach chairs and 2 beach umbrellas which were set-up by the beach boy and left up during

      our entire stay with a reserved sign on them

     -two great restaurants located just across the street for easy dining

     -customer service was excellent!  We had a small issue with the dishwasher not starting and it was 

     fixed within a few hours of our call

     

     -And here's my favorite:

     -this boardwalk is just 50 yards from the front door of the house and leads directly to the beach

And of course no place is absolutely perfect, so here are a few things we weren't too crazy about:

CONS 

     -there was no door on the bunk room.  Just kind of weird since that's where the kids were staying.

     -there were no games with the wii system.  Thankfully we had games to bring but could be a 

      bummer if you don't already have these.

     -our ocean view was limited.  This wasn't a problem for us, but if you're looking to have breakfast

      with a view, you may want to look for a different property.

     -although this wasn't a problem for our family, this is a 3 story property with lots of stairs (only one 

      bedroom on the first floor, but all other living spaces are upstairs).

     -unfortunately, some previous guests had done some significant damage to the property just a few

      weeks before we arrived (hence the dishwasher not working).  Even though 360 Blue did a great

      job replacing broken items and cleaning up their mess, we still never found the ipod docking station

      that was advertised (but that's really just being a little nit-picky).

360 Blue has properties throughout the South Walton area (which spans from Destin to Panama).  I think by now it's obvious, but I'll say it anyway, I would totally recommend 360 Blue for your next beach home vacation rental!  

SEAGROVE, FLORIDA

www.visitsouthwalton.com/seagrove

I've never really considered myself to be a "beach lover".  I'm more of a "hike along a river in the mountains" kinda girl.  And road-tripping over more than 5 hours really isn't my cup of tea.  But once arriving in the beach front town of Seagrove, Florida, I realized it was well worth the 10 hours of back-aching travel in the car AND I decided I just might be a fan of the beach after all.  Besides, just after a few minutes of relaxing on the white sands of Santa Rosa beach while watching my children giddily jump wave after wave after wave, I somehow didn't care that the wind was whipping my hair in my face or that a little sand had creeped its way into my swimsuit.  My toes were dug into the powdery soft sand, my skin was soaking up some vitamin D, and any stress I had brought along was all drifting out to sea.  

Oh Florida...I think I might be in love with you.

Maybe it was the time of year we traveled (late April after all the spring-breakers had left to sober up at home and the weather wasn't too hot yet).  Or maybe it was our beautiful accommodations (I'll write a separate post all about it).  Whatever it was, I know I want to go back.  And here's why...

SISTERLY LOVE - they had so much fun there was no time to bicker or fight (at least while we were on the beach). 

SAND CASTLE BUILDING

Even Grandma couldn't help herself from joining in on the fun.

WAVE JUMPING

WILDLIFE FINDING

My step-neices with my two kiddos.

Grandma gettin' crabby.

FAMILY BONDING

Me and my little beach bums

My munchkins with my mom and stepdad

 

Me and my mom just before the storm rolled in 

And, I can't end this post without a little shout out to these two...

my step-uncle and his lovely bride

They are the reason we made this fun little trip to Florida as it was their 50th wedding anniversary.  Congratulations Uncle Raul & Aunt Judy!! 

(If only I had pictures of them re-enacting their very first dance together.  Or of Aunt Judy as she led our conga-line around the beach house...priceless.)

So which do you prefer...smelling the salty ocean breeze or fresh mountain air?  And what is your favorite beach?