A Trip To Paradise - Day 1

I am FINALLY able to start posting our trip to Paradise Island, Bahamas. I decided to post our trip by each day. We took so many pictures that I thought it wouldn't be as overwhelming if I posted them this way. I also thought you might actually enjoy viewing our trip better this way.

The morning we left, we got up at 4:15 am. That's not actually early for Darren and I. We are used to our alarms going off that early. Kaitlyn arrived at about 5:30 am. I went over a few things with her and then Dennis Maggi came and picked us up. Once we got checked in to the airport, we treated Dennis to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast as a thank you for being our taxi cab driver and saving us a ton of money by NOT having to park in the long term parking lot.

Darren and I felt so free, but we also felt like a part of us was missing. 3 parts of us were missing actually. LOL! I won't deny that it felt so wonderful to be without strollers, diaper bags, whining kids and to be with each other. Just focusing on US and our marriage.

We were a tad fooled to think that if our plane left Roanoke at 7:15 am, we would be laying out on the Bahamas beach by noon. It's quite a process to enter into a country that requires a passport. We had a connecting flight in Charlotte, but we barely made it to our connection (just enough time to grab my FIRST dessert .... a frappucchino at Starbucks). We landed in Nassau, Bahamas about 12:30 pm. It took us well over 2 hours to get our luggage, go through customs, find our prepaid shuttle and arrive at our hotel. The drive from the airport to the resort is about 35 minutes.

We arrived at the resort around 2:45 pm. I mentioned to the front desk clerk checking us in that it was our 10 year wedding anniversary and he immediately upgraded us to a much nicer room/view. Our room was already $495 per night, but we were upgraded to a $650 room. These are times I love my big mouth :) While waiting for our room, we grabbed a bite to eat because we were starved. After viewing our room and dropping off our bags we decided to tour the entire resort to see what changes have taken place and to reminisce on the week we spent there 10 years ago. We were in NO RUSH. We had no agenda, no responsibility, no pressures. It was a great feeling.

By the time we finished touring the resort, we were ready to shower and head to dinner. We took advantage of purchasing a meal plan in advance, which I HIGHLY recommend if ANYONE plans to stay at the Atlantis Resort. Our meal plan was close to $800 in advance, but had we NOT paid for it, we would have spent WAY more than that at the end of our trip. ANYTHING PURCHASED, food or retail or whatever you buy, automatically includes a 15% gratuity. Even your happy meal at Burger King includes gratuity. For our first meal in Paradise we chose to eat at Casa D'Angelo. Tuscan Entrees, Southern Italian Accents and Caribbean flavors meet as Chef Angelo Elia brings his award-winning Italian eatery to the Paradise Island Resort —all presented in grand style but offered in an intimate setting. It was DELICIOUS. Thanks to our meal plan, each meal included drinks (non-alcholic), an appetizer, a salad, an entree, nd a dessert. Every night our dinner ranged anywhere from $185 to our most expensive meal of $252.00. It was absolutely INSANE.

We finished the night walking the "dig" and hanging out in the casino. The REST, I will leave to your imagination. AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Enjoy the photos below. I also enclosed two youtube videos. The first video is of the inside of our hotel lobby. It's NOT our video. I snagged it from YouTube. Yea youtube. We do have a video coming though and it's awesome, but it's of our entire trip. Be on the look out for Big D's special video culmination of our 5 day trip. The second video is of the "dig" marine life. Well some of it. I understand if viewing the pictures alone are enough, but if you have time, the videos give you a clearer picture of how beautiful the resort is and how much fun/romance it offers.