Honeymoon June 26, 2022 – July 2, 2022

For our honeymoon, we wanted to go someplace where neither of us had ever been. Upon the recommendation of a friend, we chose Hermitage Bay in Antigua. The luxury resort is located in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

The front page of the website says it is, “A luxury boutique resort nestled on the hillside of a hidden sandy bay…”  It is that and much more.

With five-star service and impeccable attention to details, it is easy to see why Hermitage Bay draws so many honeymooners and those celebrating anniversaries.

My biggest concern with the travel arrangements were the transfers from the airport to the resort. I exchanged a number of emails with staff to make sure all of the details were covered. They assured me that everything would go smoothly.

We left Raleigh from RDU airport on Sunday morning the 26^th of June. At this point, we were still celebrating every hour of being married. (My daughter Shannon has said that we are the “cheesiest couple” she knows). We landed in Miami with enough time to get a bite to eat and make our gate for the next flight.

We landed in Antigua 30 minutes early which was a pleasant surprise. Kudos to American Airlines for that one. By flying first class, we were two of the first people off of the plane. We were met by a tall slim young lady with a sign that said, “Hermitage Bay.”

She led us through the entry to the country which took less than 10 minutes because we had prepared all of our paperwork. The resort sent all of the paperwork via email in advance so we already had it in hand while others on the plane were scrambling to find a pen or pencil and fill out the forms.

After a quick pit stop to the bathroom, we headed to baggage claim. It took a few minutes for our bags to get there. Once retrieved, we went through customs with no difficulty. Again, we were prepared with our Covid 19 vaccine cards, passports and declaration page. Make sure you keep the bottom of the declaration page they give you for departure from the island.

The hostess led us out to the transportation area. Again, we were greeted by yet another representative of Hermitage Bay who was very nice. After a quick photo in front of the airport, our car arrived. It took me a moment to notice that the driver was on the right side of the car. After a giggle at our “Americans traveling abroad” moment, we struck up a conversation with the driver.

Be prepared that the roads in Antiqua are not what we are used to in the US. Thin roads, often dirt, weave through the entire island. After about a 25-minute drive, we turned down the final path. Upon arrival at the gate to Hermitage Bay, it was clear the entire property was secure. The security guard came out to confirm who we were and then opened the gate manually for us to enter. We continued to weave through the property about 200 more yard and came upon the lobby.

Upon arrival, we stepped out under an arbor and walked up the steps into the lobby. It was lined with high end wicker furniture, comfy cushions and artwork depicting the music of Bob Marley as well as a few tropical paintings.

We were greeted and led to the bar area by Symone who immediately handed us a “virgin mojito” while we waited for check in paperwork. The forms were simple to fill out and we were given an overview of the daily schedule.

Breakfast was served from 7:30am-9:00am. Lunch from 12:00noon until 2:00pm and dinner from 7:00pm-9:00pm. After dinner each night, there would be live entertainment and the bar stayed open until everyone was ready to go back to their villas.

All of the food and beverages at Hermitage Bay Antigua are included in the cost and that makes it nice not having to carry a wallet or money clip with you at all times.

With our orientation complete, we had a bottle of prosecco sent to the room for Kirke and we boarded the golf cart with our luggage for our jaunt up to the villa. The golf cart is the only way to get around the resort unless you choose to walk. We walked down the hillside a few times but never took on the challenge of walking uphill. Based on my weight gain when we returned, I should have walked up the hill every day!

The gentlemen that drive the golf carts all of tons of personality and interact very well with guests. They make the trip comfortable and we enjoyed getting to know each of them. Marc was our favorite as he always had a “no worries” attitude.

Our golf cart trip concluded at the top of the hillside when we were dropped off at Villa 36, which was ours for the week. We opened the gate to the villa and found an infinity pool with a covered deck beside it, a wraparound porch overlooking the bay with a choice of sofas, loveseats, a chaise lounge and two Adirondack chairs. Then we unlocked the door to the interior. We were blown away! There was a gorgeous four post canopy bed, two large closets with areas for hanging clothes and shelves for storage of shoes.

Walking further into the room, we entered the large bathroom. It had dual vanities, a makeup table and a large, deep tub large enough for two. Then we found the outdoor shower, something that we were both looking forward to having grown up at the beach.

Marc brought our luggage in and showed us the fully stocked refrigerator and snack bar. Again, these are included in the price. There are no surprises at check out with a massive bill from the honor bar.

I reached into the refrigerator for a Wadadli beer. Wadadli is what the locals call Antigua and the beer is named after the nation. It was in a smaller bottle than you would find in the US. To be honest, I am not a beer drinker. The taste is not something I enjoy. Wadadli tasted similar to a Michelob Ultra to me and although it wasn’t great, I am glad I at least tried it.

Kirke on the other hand, started drinking the bottle of prosecco that had been delivered from the bar.

With a drink in hand, she posed for a couple of photos to capture the first moments while the sun started to set in the background. The view was gorgeous as the sun started its downward path. However, because of all of the clouds in the distance, we never actually saw the sun go below the horizon. It is one of those things that we just accepted after attempting to see a couple of sunsets.

There was still some time before we had to get dinner as we were waiting a little later. At this point, we had only slept 4 hours in the last 48 hours so we were both tired and running on pure adrenaline.

We decided to go to the bar and get a drink and I would take a look at their cigar collection. I ordered an amoretto sour and Kirke had another glass of prosecco. I then went to look for a cigar.

This was the only disappointment of the trip for me. I was told there was a selection of “fine cigars.” Their top of the line was Cohiba and other than that, it was mostly just the popular brands. I found myself longing for my Rodriguez Cigars that Danny sends me from Key West. If I had it to do over, I would have taken a box of them with me. I ended up choosing a Partagas and the bartender, Koshene, handed me some matches.

Lighting the cigar with matches in an outdoor setting in the Caribbean is a challenge. The wind is ALWAYS blowing. Luckily for me, we struck up a conversation with Felicia (In Antigua, they pronounce every letter so it was pronounced “Fel-EE-see-yah”) who was part of the custodial staff. She let me step into her closet (see photo) to light my cigar. Perfect!

As we continued to speak to her, she taught me how to say, “This is my beautiful wife,” in Spanish. It took me a bit to learn the proper pronunciation and I wouldn’t dare try to spell it. Ask me about it when you see me and I can say it.

We sat down at a private table with an umbrella overlooking the beach and relaxed. The drinks were great, the cigar was dry. It was not a surprise since the humidor sat behind the bar in an area with 90 degree weather in the shade. No biggie so we finished up and headed to our first dinner.

The dinners at Hermitage Bay Antigua are amazing! There was always a seafood, meat and a vegetarian option. Portions were a little smaller than the all you can eat buffet in the US. The presentation was always on point with the colors and the different textures always complimented each other. There were so many different flavors we tried; I could not begin to name them all.

After dinner, there was a reggae group performing. This happens every night but Friday night was the biggest night. The female singer was phenomenal and everyone danced. The staff members loved seeing us shag dance to the reggae music all week long.

On Monday, Kirke had a facial at the spa on site, and we had a couple’s massage scheduled for Wednesday. After her facial, she decided I needed to have one too and scheduled it for after our couple’s massage. I’ll get to that in a bit.

While she was getting a massage, I decided to give the cigars another try. I chose a Cohiba this time and it was good but it was still a bit dry. It came in a case and when I went back up to the bar with the tube it had come in, I struck up a conversation with George who was serving drinks. He asked if he could have the cigar tube. I told him he could and then said, “I use the tubes sometimes to put my cash in on vacation to hide it in the room.”

George responded, “I’m from Jamaica, mon, we use the tubes for something else!” He followed his statement with a big smile and a raise of his eyebrows and I about fell out of my chair laughing.

I finished my cigar and ordered lunch to be delivered to the villa. As luck would have it, the lunch arrived right behind Kirke as she came back from her facial. She RAVED about the facial while we had lunch.

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day in and out of the infinity pool in the villa. Some of the villas don’t have a pool so there is a public pool down by the bar at the bottom of the hill.

We swam and read and had more prosecco delivered to the room (remember, it was included in the cost!). We decided to do dinner right at 7 as we were both still a little tired from the wedding on Saturday and the travel the day before. That night, we ate dinner and came back to the villa to sit on the porch and watch the clouds go past with the stars in the background. It is an extremely peaceful setting at night.

While at dinner, we heard the staff members discussing the storm that was coming. Apparently, there was a tropical depression forming near Turks and Caicos and it looked like it would head our direction. As a weather geek, I was hoping we would get a taste of it without it causing any damage to our the island of our new friends.

Tuesday morning, the wind was blowing hard. We had breakfast (highly recommend the french toast) and headed to the shed for water sports. The resort helped me rent some jet skis and they were being delivered at 11am. I did not realize I would need cash to pay for the jet skis so I was able to get cash from the resort and charge it to my room.

The jet skis were a challenge. The wind was howling and the water was churning. We finally figured out that we could stand up on the jet skis and make progress into the wind. It took us almost 30 minutes going into the wind to go around the side of the island. It was worth it as the views were beautiful, but the trip out had taken a toll on us so we decided to head back in. Coming back WITH the wind was awesome. Full speed ahead bouncing across the top of the breakers and zooming back in to the beach. We both agreed that it would have been awesome in the smooth water a few days later.

Tuesday afternoon, we took the complimentary boat tour of the island resorts. The captain takes you in and out of the different coves and gives you a history of the island and shows some of the beautiful real estate down there. When he found out I was in real estate, we made a couple of extra stops to see some incredible homes.

All of the homes are built on top of limestone, which is how the island was made. The engineering it takes for these homes to stay on the side of the mountain without sliding into the water is incredible.

Dinner on Tuesday night was a special treat. I had reserved an intimate dining experience on the beach. We sat at the bar and watched the staff set up the table, torches and everything else needed for the dinner. A staff member came to us to escort us to the table. It was windy and it sprinkled a little bit on us, but we didn’t care. After an awesome spa day and relaxing at the pool, I couldn’t think of a better place to be on earth than looking at Kirke in her new dress that was half way between Carolina blue and navy blue. She looked gorgeous in the light of the moon and the torches and it was an amazing evening.

Wednesday morning, we woke up and Kirke was finishing up getting dressed for the day. I surprised her by opening up the doors in the villa to expose an open wall overlooking the Adirondack chairs and the bay. She came out and her face lit up as yet another gorgeous view came to us. We decided to sit on the porch and read a bit between breakfast and lunch so we did.

Wednesday was also spa day as we had our appointments for the couple’s massage and afterwards, my facial Kirke had decided I need to try.

We arrived at the spa and it was very cozy. If you are expecting one of the grand spas on a cruise ship or at a luxury hotel, you may be disappointed at first glance. It was only 4 rooms plus an open-air yoga studio.

We filled out our paperwork and then were greeted by Elizabeth and Janelle who would be responsible for us. Elizabeth had done Kirke’s facial on Monday so we decided she would do my massage and Janelle would do Kirke’s.

This was the first time I had ever had a massage anywhere but a cruise ship so I was a little curious as to how I would enjoy the experience. We went to the changing rooms and changed into our robes, then went to our respective tables which were close but not side by side.

Soft music began to play and Elizabeth began to massage my back. To be honest, I don’t remember much after that because I fell asleep through the rest of the one hour massage and the 30 minute facial. According to Kirke, the three ladies were laughing at me because I was snoring throughout the entire process.

When I woke up, they had placed Kirke’s hand in mine and it was nice to wake up next to my bride! Kirke said, “I guess you liked it?” I responded, “I’m not sure but I certainly am as relaxed as I have been in a long time.”

Thursday, the storm finally came through. Luckily, we did not get the brunt of the storm but the winds were easily gale forced. You could see the sheets of rain coming down from the clouds in the air and the water disappeared into the thick tropical island plants and trees. Surprisingly, it was quite relaxing listening to the water land on the leaves outside of the villa. We spent most of the day watching the weather and reading.

Friday was our last day at the resort and I surprised Kirke with reservations at the spa for a couple’s facial for one hour. Needless to say, I fell asleep and once again woke up to everyone in the room, including Kirke, laughing at me and my snoring. What can I say?  It was VERY relaxing.

Saturday morning we woke up and had a champagne breakfast in the room at 8am, took one more dip in the infinity pool and got ready for the trip home.

Our transfer was a large Lexus SUV and the driver arrived at the airport 2.5 hours ahead of our scheduled flight time.

Check in took a little longer than I expected and then we had to wait about 30 minutes in the customs line leaving the island. This is where you will need that declaration page that I spoke of at the beginning in our arrival discussion.

Once through the line, we still had time to get a bite to eat for lunch before getting on the flight for Miami.

We arrived in Miami early again (thanks American Airlines!) and then had to deal with the customs situation in Miami. Make note that if you return from out of the country to Miami, you have to get your luggage, take it out of the international baggage claim area, take it to the domestic check in area and then go through the customs line before going to your next flight. This was the most frustrating part as it took almost 45 minutes to get our luggage from the international baggage claim.

Once through customs, we went back to the same restaurant where we had eaten on the way down and then caught our flight home to Raleigh. Again, we arrived early into Raleigh on a weekend when over 1,300 flights were cancelled or delayed. Gotta give credit where it is due.