DAY TWO - Mark

I awoke Sunday early (go figure), to the sound of waves crashing and some birds singing and roosters crowing.  While the sun still rises in the East, it does not rise on the bedroom-side of the villa.  About 5:30am, though, everything starts to slowly illuminate.  Beautiful... 

Trying not to wake my beautiful wife,  I slowly crawled out of bed, grabbed some basic lounge clothes, and quietly shut the door.  I fixed a Malibu Rum and orange juice, which is actually very good: part refreshing, part "I'm a bad-ass on a beach vacation." 

I decided to grab the camera and stroll the yard for the first time (we arrived Saturday in the dark).  I snapped pictures of some gorgeous flowers, trees, landscaping, oh, and of a brown frog we shall call "Grumpy."  He was big, blended into the soil, and wasn't very happy to get attention.

After the yard, I decided to swim.  As I jumped in (okay, waded-in) the pool, I reached for the thermometer I saw hiding and it read 80 degrees.  Not bad for a pool in a tropical paradise!  I swam a lap or two and thought better of my shorts - so off they went.  FREEDOM!!!

After a refreshing swim, I washed and dried our dishes from the night before, had another drink, and decided to explore the yard, etc. more.  

Amy awoke a bit later, as I had jumped in the pool again, and we both swam a bit before before making a great breakfast at about noon.  We both did dishes afterwards, walked around the yard, and Amy took a nap on the hammock (jealous!).

  

When she awoke, she swam again, and then decided we should take the "jeep" for a ride.  We only had a couple of daylight hours left, so we casually drove south, taking a random right, then a left, "watch out for the goat," and then another right.  

It turns out that we had made our way down to a part of the island devastated by the volcano, and we actually drove across Belham's Valley where a beautiful golf course used to be.  Now, it's simply a grey abyss, with only tree-tops and roofs to prove something ever used to lay under the ash that now blankets the valley.  And by "blanket," I mean probably 15-20 feet of ash.  

It also holds a great view of the volcano, still smoldering, and a variety of different pieces of evidence of what history remembers. 

When we found home again, we made another nice dinner, took a nice shower - el-fresco, and retired to bed. 

So happy to be here with my Amy Sue! 

DAY ONE - Mark

Amy and I are lucky - so lucky! Who really knows what to expect when starting a honeymoon? I knew that we'd be on an exotic island, in the middle of the Caribbean, at a beautiful "villa," and really nothing more. For example, I didn't know what flight schedules were, how we'd get from airport to villa, or what kind of currency we needed to function (Amy Edit: Eastern Caribbean Currency at a $2.7 to $1 U.S. rate exchange).

We arrived at Montserrat via a 7-seat plane that never got above 2,000 feet over the 31-mile flight from Antigua.

Antigua, by the way, was hot and muggy, compared to Montserrat's warm temp but reasonable humidity. We landed at a very short one-runway airport where every worker had more than one job. Our immigration officer also issued my driver's license at opposite ends of the building!

George Christian was waiting with his minivan to give us a ride to the villa. The roads were narrow, usually one-lane wide paved with asphalt that winded up and down the steep hillsides with no hint of modern traffic standards.

Beautiful country, with beautiful villas and very small, almost shack-like businesses, etc. We got some groceries at Ram's (pronounced "Rum's" by the locals) and made it to the villa just after dark. Upon finding the gate, brick walkway and luscious plants/trees/flowers, we finally found the right key to get in. Just an adorable place, with all the "essentials."

Amy and I put groceries away and I unpacked. I'm writing this 24 hours after arriving and Amy still hasn't unpacked the beast of a (Amy Edit: CARRY-ON, thankyouverymuch) suitcase she made me (Another Amy Edit - HA! Made him, my arse!) lug around North America. Funny how that works, huh guys?!

We made a quick dinner and listened to some music, had some wine, and just settled in to the fact that we have no phones, no emails, and no real responsibility. It's an uneasy feeling at first, but definitely one worth waiting for!

We went to sleep under a mosquito net to the wide open windows letting in Mother Nature's orchestra. We can't wait to look around a bit come daylight!