Swiping Left on the Cold

We have arrived safely in beautiful and warm St. Lucia.  I cannot begin to describe how cold it was at JFK this morning.  We literally ran from the car to the airtrain platform.

No problems with the flight or getting to the villa.  The villa is absolutely beautiful. I'll send pictures tomorrow.

We went down to the Marigot Bay village for some food, groceries and the best Pina Colada ever.

Charlene and I walked the 20 flights of stairs back up from the village to the villa.

Had a quick swim in the infinity pool and are just resting up for tomorrow.  We will most likely hit the beaches tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

On the loose

The group who brought you the Barbados Bacchanal is heading off on another adventure. Follow along as we are turned Loose in St. Lucia.  

For the faithful readers who remember last year's YOLO-double-dog-dare-you leap off the cliff into the angry sea, we are including a fitness challenge on this trip: a hike up Gros Piton.  It's a challenging 5 hr round trip hike to the peak and back.  For someone whose last two trips have included a hike up Wayna Picchu and cycling across Portugal, I suspect I will make it to the top.  It remains to be seen who will be at my side.

An update on the 50-by-50 quest...

St. Lucia will be country #25 on the quest.  Or will it?  There is some controversy about how I've counted the first 24.  Surprisingly, it was not the inclusion of Palestine as a country but the inclusion of the USA and the omission of Hong Kong and Macao.  I've been told that the USA does not count since I was born there and did not visit there. I rejected this argument as sheer lunacy.  The argument to include Hong Kong and Macao is, while they are part of China, they do have their own immigration and currency.  For now, I'm keeping Hong Kong and Macao off the list but we will see if I change my tune as the deadline approaches.  

Stay tuned as all your questions will be answered... Will Lindsay "Charlene" Lohan make an appearance?  Will Oprah give us all cars for being the happiest people alive or will she have us thrown off the island for being the "happiest" people alive? Are all hot dogs in the Caribbean inedible mush?  Banks or Piton? Will Butch get Dengue fever? Any many, many more...