Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday November 10, 2009
We woke around 6:30AM boiling hot. We should make a note that Shawn tried to turn the air down to a comfortable 21C- however once the air conditioning got around 23 degrees or cooler, it would make a terrible popping noise but the second we informed VH, they fixed it immediately. In fact, they sent someone to fix it that second. We cannot say enough about the staff here. Jeremiah, our server for breakfast, was so great. After we finished an amazing breakfast of Chilaquiles for Jilly and fresh fruit/yogurt for me - he walked around with us and answered everyquestion we had about the wildlife in Belize...what a great kid.
Monday November 9, 2009
American Airlines should never get a gold metal in customer service. Mom got up around 4:00 AM to pick us up at our apartment propmtly at 4:55AM. A short jaunt to Hartsfield Jackson William Sonoma Regional/Internationial airport and we arrived at the short line facing the American Airline ticket counter. With 9 personal Kiosoks to our left full of people and just 3 people in line waiting the ticket agents we both desided to just wait in line since we did not yet possess a phyical ticket. My God were we stupid. We waited and waited until finally the people in front of us where taken care of, all of a sudden a small rotund, almost hobbit looking, redheaded wench approached from behind the ticket agents. "If you dont have not used the Kiosks yet, you have to do that now". 'Ohh! You have to be kidding me' we exclaimed just now waking up from our slumber. As she repeated this over and over again we knew we would have to leave our spot and let the 30 some people behind us take our space. So I mumbled, "this is just silly. The agents should be able to do this", to which Bilbo Baggens exclaimed in a condescending tone, "If you would have read the sign you would have known this!" Boy did I look silly- Plain as day - in size 10 Times New Roman font mixed in with the 19 other TSA warnings about liquids the possible imprisonment that will result from carrying on anyone elses luggage was written: "Use kiosk before waiting in line for an agent". Needless to say we used the kiosk to check in and amazingly, went back to being the next people in line to check bags. Repeat, all we needed to do was check our luggage...20 minutes later, the task was done. It's amazing how freaking slow and incompetent American Airlines emp0loyees can be.
After that we met with Rick and Vikki for breakfast before we all departed Atlanta. Our silly Bride and Groom shirts didn't get us first class but did get us an entire exit row from Miami to Belize. We arrived at Belize Int'l airport early, surprisingly enough, and promptly met all 13 employees. Customs was a breeze and hailing a cab was just as simple. Pablo drove us to the water taxi in the same 1982 Lincoln Towncar that Grand-daddy Humber had and Shawn proceeded to take 12,000 pictures through a window that wouldn't open more than 3 inches. Again, it was easy. We got to the water taxi, bought our $15 round trip tickets and hopped on with the locals that were returning to Ambergris Caye after a long 4 hours of work (we arrived before noon). From there we grabbed a cab and made our way to Victoria House (the cab was $5US- SWEET).
Ok, just so you know, all the magazine ads, reviews, and articles on Victoria House list it as paradise. An oasis, heaven...IT'S ALL CORRECT. The place is beautiful. FREAKING BEAUTIFUL. We were informed by Fernanda (very sweet woman) that the only issue will be the mosquitoes. She was right. Because the hurricane just went by, the suckers are out and feasting on our flesh. Bug spray and citronella work wonders. After we settled in, we decided to hit the bar at the resort for a late lunch. Shortly before our food arrived the only other couple in the place decided to leave and the lovely woman (Jessica) offered to pick up some bug spray for us and in exchange, we offered to buy them a round of Belikin (the local beer). The guy (Chris) came in looking for something (can't remember what) and we offered him a seat at our table. Shortly after that, Jessica came back with a can of Off for us. The four of us sat there drinking beer and tequila for HOURS. We watched to sunset, 2 giant eels meander through a crate on the ocean floor, and a random puppy came barreling down the pier toward us. We befriended to barkeep, Shelby, and had a blast...UNTIL Jessica came back with the dead tarantula she saw on the side of the road. No one believe that she saw it so she went back, paid some kid $5 to put it in a ziploc bag, and she brought it in the bar...JILLIAN FREAKED OUT!!! Shawn took pictures. $200 later, we left the bar and got ready for dinner at the 4 star restaurant on site. They cracked open the complementary bottle of Australian merlot for us. Shawn had this amazing seafood soup while Jillian had a Belizean style caesar. We opted for the meal plan before we arrived and what a good idea that was!!! Eating in Belize is cheap unless you're eating at Victoria House...because of this, Shawn has the lobster, which was cooked to perfection while Jillian's snapper was a great Belizean twist on Veracruz style. Since our plan includes dinner, Shawn ordered the chocolate lava cake and our fantastic server, Justin, brought us the heavenly mound of warm, melty chocolate goodness. To finish the evening, we took a dip in one of the 3 pools on site. It was heavenly.
Oddly, there are no waves. They break at the reef so the water at the beach is as still as a lake and clear as glass. The fish are incredible, so colorful and are everywhere.
After that we met with Rick and Vikki for breakfast before we all departed Atlanta. Our silly Bride and Groom shirts didn't get us first class but did get us an entire exit row from Miami to Belize. We arrived at Belize Int'l airport early, surprisingly enough, and promptly met all 13 employees. Customs was a breeze and hailing a cab was just as simple. Pablo drove us to the water taxi in the same 1982 Lincoln Towncar that Grand-daddy Humber had and Shawn proceeded to take 12,000 pictures through a window that wouldn't open more than 3 inches. Again, it was easy. We got to the water taxi, bought our $15 round trip tickets and hopped on with the locals that were returning to Ambergris Caye after a long 4 hours of work (we arrived before noon). From there we grabbed a cab and made our way to Victoria House (the cab was $5US- SWEET).
Ok, just so you know, all the magazine ads, reviews, and articles on Victoria House list it as paradise. An oasis, heaven...IT'S ALL CORRECT. The place is beautiful. FREAKING BEAUTIFUL. We were informed by Fernanda (very sweet woman) that the only issue will be the mosquitoes. She was right. Because the hurricane just went by, the suckers are out and feasting on our flesh. Bug spray and citronella work wonders. After we settled in, we decided to hit the bar at the resort for a late lunch. Shortly before our food arrived the only other couple in the place decided to leave and the lovely woman (Jessica) offered to pick up some bug spray for us and in exchange, we offered to buy them a round of Belikin (the local beer). The guy (Chris) came in looking for something (can't remember what) and we offered him a seat at our table. Shortly after that, Jessica came back with a can of Off for us. The four of us sat there drinking beer and tequila for HOURS. We watched to sunset, 2 giant eels meander through a crate on the ocean floor, and a random puppy came barreling down the pier toward us. We befriended to barkeep, Shelby, and had a blast...UNTIL Jessica came back with the dead tarantula she saw on the side of the road. No one believe that she saw it so she went back, paid some kid $5 to put it in a ziploc bag, and she brought it in the bar...JILLIAN FREAKED OUT!!! Shawn took pictures. $200 later, we left the bar and got ready for dinner at the 4 star restaurant on site. They cracked open the complementary bottle of Australian merlot for us. Shawn had this amazing seafood soup while Jillian had a Belizean style caesar. We opted for the meal plan before we arrived and what a good idea that was!!! Eating in Belize is cheap unless you're eating at Victoria House...because of this, Shawn has the lobster, which was cooked to perfection while Jillian's snapper was a great Belizean twist on Veracruz style. Since our plan includes dinner, Shawn ordered the chocolate lava cake and our fantastic server, Justin, brought us the heavenly mound of warm, melty chocolate goodness. To finish the evening, we took a dip in one of the 3 pools on site. It was heavenly.
Oddly, there are no waves. They break at the reef so the water at the beach is as still as a lake and clear as glass. The fish are incredible, so colorful and are everywhere.
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