Vieques Honeymoon: Wrap up

Really, I just want to show you pictures of these little guys.

Listen to this 20 second clip of coquis singing while you read on.  Here that high pitched chirp that sounds like "coqui?"  That's them!

Vieques Honeymoon: The Beaches and the Jungle

There isn't tons to do on Vieques.  There aren't any clubs or movie theaters or anything like that.  There are plenty of beaches, though, each a little different from the others.  And there is the jungle.  It's not a rainforest, mind you, but there are trees and iguanas and mongooses and vines and huge wasp nests.

I didn't get a chance to dig very deep into the jungle, but we did find some sugar mill ruins among the trees.  If you take the roads to the western side of the radar, park right where the road splits to the radar and goes into the woods.  In the triangle section of the Y, beyond a few trees, you'll find paths that wind around remarkable tree trunks and that weave between vines like hair.  There are ruins there, great concrete structures that look like they were once important.  Caleb and I arrived just at dusk, and we didn't have much time before we could hardly see anything.  The canopy is so thick and the vines are so everywhere that not much light gets through to where we were at the ruins.  If you can make it during the day, you'll have a great adventure.  Don't forget the bug spray!

See all the vines hanging down?  It was so cool!  And about halfway into the picture, you can see some stone pillars from the ruins.

Vieques Honeymoon: The Bioluminescent Bay

There's a bay on Vieques that's different from most in the world.  It is home to bioluminescent creatures called dinoflagellates.  They glow at night when they move.  We took a nighttime kayak tour to the bay and got to see the magic in action.

Caleb tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out at all.  In lieu of original content, let me show you these pictures of a similar phenomenon in the Maldives.

Photography by Will Ho via Colossal

Vieques Honeymoon: The Ceiba Tree

When looking up things to do on Vieques, I learned of this huge, old, magnificent tree.  There weren't great directions anywhere, so I was worried that we wouldn't find it, but it was actually hard to miss it!  Driving toward the pier from the airport, it's right on your right after a while in a field.  There is a little hut with informational signs nearby, and then there is the tree.  No fence, wild horses nearby, and The Tree.

Vieques Honeymoon: The Restaurants

After getting an overview of the selections on Vieques, Caleb and I decided to forgo snorkeling trips and other paid tours to make our dinners our splurge.  From my first step off the plane, I was craving seafood the whole time, and we were in the right place to get it.  We got our fill of deliciousness, by golly.

See where we ate (and my reviews) after the jump...

Vieques Honeymoon: Prequel

Caleb and I got married in September when we had just gotten jobs and just started getting money in our bank accounts.  Given the options of a honeymoon within our state directly after the wedding and a honeymoon in Puerto Rico two months later, we saved for the splurge.  And it was worth it.

So I don't overwhelm one post with all my pictures and information, I'm going to be breaking things up so they'll be easier to digest for the curious.  To give you an overview, I've made a short teaser video and a brief summary of the highlights.

Highlights include: seeing my old home from the airplane, taking a nighttime kayak trip to the bioluminescent bay, meeting a barracuda while snorkeling, being the only ones on the beach for most of our beach trips, laughing with and trying to understand the pool maintenance guy who made fun of my Spanish, a full day of reading at our house, making 4 trips to the street food stand selling garlic BBQ pinchos, and having a mountaintop two-building house with a private pool and a view of the island all to ourselves.

Click below to see my other posts and recommendations for traveling Vieques:

Where we stayed
Where we ate
 The Ceiba Tree
The Bioluminescent Bay
The Beaches and the Jungle
The Coquis

I've Been Away. Here's a quick update!

November ended up being much busier than I anticipated.  For one thing, when you're leaving work for a week, the preparation leading up to your vacation can be intense.  I hardly got to take any time for myself that week, but it was completely worth it when Caleb and I found ourselves on the island of Vieques for a week.

This was our house!

Technically, those are pictures of the back and front yard, but they do the trick.

Caleb and I rented a house called Casa dos Cuervos.  I'll write more about it later, but this is a quick update, so I need to keep moving.  For now, I can tell you it was amazing and you would love it.  I promise.

When we returned, Caleb and I had a week and a half of work before leaving again for his family's Thanksgiving in Florida.  The milder weather was very welcome, the folks were friendly and funny, and the food was just right.  I made my mom's dressing and it got great reviews, mostly because it includes bacon.

Now I've got Christmas on the brain, and I'm very glad to see myself excited about it.  Last year's season was very difficult and frustrating because I wasn't ready to be back in America and I felt like Christmas in general was just an ugly display of consumerism and superficiality.  2013 brings our first Christmas as a married couple, our first small tree, getting to pick which new traditions to start, and for-real branching out as a new family.  I'm excited, and, frankly, I'm glad I have Caleb as my husband this year.

Next on my docket:

Buying Christmas presents

Figuring out what to take for a party appetizer

A wintery date to include picking a tree and possibly a Snuggler

Seeing The Hobbit with my sister

Hosting a Christmas dinner for the young adults in our combined families

Figuring out what to have for Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas!!

What do you have going on these days?  Did you have a great November?