Today was the day we had all been waiting for … Caitlin & Mike were finally going to get married!!!
While Caitlin was getting ready, Mike wanted to go check out Maho Bay so we came along to check out this beach that our hotel owner had mentioned before. Maho Bay is very different from Trunk Bay in that it is less of a tourist attraction, less people, more space, and more quiet. The only thing that was a negative about the beach was that certain parts of the beach were rocky which made it uncomfortable to walk along the shoreline. Other than that, I loved it. Since this beach is known for having sea turtles (the bed of the bay is very grassy and is what the turtles feed on) we scouted the water hoping to catch a glimpse of them… We didn’t see them underwater since we didn’t have goggles but we could see them coming up for air. It was awesome to see so many turtles in one spot. We stayed at the beach for a couple hours before heading back to Cruz Bay when the clouds rolled in for what looked like a rainshower.
On our way back the taxi driver was nice and stopped at the lookpoint for Trunk Bay and Cruz Bay so we could take pictures.
Trunk Bay
Cruz Bay from up top! Kind of cloudy but it would clear up later for the evening celebrations.
Since Charles
and I would be leaving tomorrow afternoon, I was determined to finding
some local food. After speaking with the agent in the Visitor’s Kiosk at
Wharfside Village, he suggested I check out Shela’s Pot. He said a
local islander, Shela, sets up an outdoor tent and cooks yummy food
right outside on the weekends … And we found her!!! For $10, I got the
biggest platter ever of homemade cooking. My platter was made up of
Curried Chicken, Potato Salad, Rice, Pasta Salad and something sweet
akin to mashed sweet potatoes or yams (not quite sure what it was).
Charles had the same platter except he got Shrimp & sauteed Onions
instead of Curried Chicken.
and I would be leaving tomorrow afternoon, I was determined to finding
some local food. After speaking with the agent in the Visitor’s Kiosk at
Wharfside Village, he suggested I check out Shela’s Pot. He said a
local islander, Shela, sets up an outdoor tent and cooks yummy food
right outside on the weekends … And we found her!!! For $10, I got the
biggest platter ever of homemade cooking. My platter was made up of
Curried Chicken, Potato Salad, Rice, Pasta Salad and something sweet
akin to mashed sweet potatoes or yams (not quite sure what it was).
Charles had the same platter except he got Shrimp & sauteed Onions
instead of Curried Chicken.
It was super yummy!!!
After eating, we showered and got ready for the wedding. Complimentary taxis picked us up from our hotels around 4:30 and we headed to Trunk Bay for Caitlin & Mike’s wedding. Everyone in our taxi was dressed beachy cute & casual and ready to share in all “love” festivities of the evening. Trunk Bay in the early evening was beautifully quiet and serene. It was the perfect setting for the wedding. Although there were random passerbys during the wedding ceremony, nothing could take away from the love in Mike’s eyes as Caitlin walked down the sandy aisle…
Let the Wedding Begin ..
Here comes the bride …
Mike and Caitlin were announced as Mr. Mrs. McPartland as the sun began
to set and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect than at this
moment :)
to set and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect than at this
moment :)
After taking family & friend photos with the couple, everyone hopped into the taxis (I felt like a professional taxi rider at this point in the trip) and headed back to Cruz Bay for the reception at ZoZo’s Restaurant. The reception on the restarant’s top floor had an amazing view of the sunset. All the guests were welcomed with steel drum music, drinks and island-tastic hors d’oeuvres (I like to pronounce this word “whores-de-vores” ;). After Caitlin & Mike danced their first dance, we headed to the main floor for dinner.
Above: Veggie Pasta
Below: Beef Tenderloins
#nomnomnomnom
I would like to call the last part of this post “An Ode to Hangover 2 …”
If anyone has seen Hangover 2, you know the ending scene where Stu and Lauren, along with their wedding guests, light paper lanterns and the lanterns float off effortlessly towards the night sky … Well we did that … Minus the effortlessness hehe …During the reception dinner, guests wrote their blessings for the newlyweds on the paper lanterns and after dinner, we headed outside to let them fly…With the best intentions, the wedding guests were given the lanterns, told to light them with the matches we had received, flip them over and let them float. Sounds easy right? Wrong!
I think everyone understood how to light the lanterns but getting them to float in the sky was slightly hazardous but at the same, overwhelmingly entertaining to watch. One the lanterns fell back down to the ground and lit a patch of grass on fire (a little irish jig step to put the fire out). One of the lanterns got caught in a tree but some of them just kept falling back to the ground. However everyone was determined to get all the wishes in the sky and eventually, they all did. The sight of all the lanterns afloat was beautiful and filled the night with a sense of beautiful hope.
Here a little video clip I took while as we were lighting the lanterns. Try not to listen to me talk .. I don’t like how my voice sounds. Enjoy!
After the lighting ceremony, we came back and partied the night away. And then after the party, we had an afterparty in the streets of Cruz Bay, lost the groom, sent out a search party, and then sent out another search party to go after the first search party … Needless to say we found the groom and continued the party for a little bit more (yes, we party hardy). The night ended with hugs, well wishes and goodbyes since Charles and I would be leaving the next day … I didn’t want to end the night but all’s well that ends well and this evening ended superbly.
—
xo, Setarra
