St Lucia - Chocolate Making & Beach Day

The second half of our St. Lucia family vacation started with a lazy morning and breakfast at the Mango Tree Restaurant. Breakfast was included with our stay and was very hearty (pancakes or french toast, assorted breads/muffins, fruit, fresh juice, etc). It was a nice way to start each morning.

Can't beat these morning views!

There were lots of fruit trees at the resort, here's a banana.

A cat that hung around the restaurant.

Breakfast time!

Great morning views.

For later that morning, we had booked an 11:30am chocolate making class at the nearby Hotel Chocolate/Project Chocolate. St Lucia has a few large cocoa farms and there were also tours that took you back into the jungle on an hour hike to look through the plantation... we opted to just make the chocolate bars. 😉 The class was fun and pretty short. We learned how to grind the cocoa beans, add the cocoa butter and sweeten to taste. Afterwards, we put them in a mold and our instructor took the bars off to chill for a while so we could easily take them on our way.

After the class, we wandered around the Project Chocolate grounds overlooking the farms. They had a pretty newly renovated "food hall" of a few quick service vendors selling lunch foods, drinks and deserts as well as a bar. Many of these featured cocoa or chocolate in some way or another.

Paul and Betsy emulsifying their chocolate.

Views from the chocolate tent.

David grinding the nibs.

Everybody hard at work.

Family chocolate time!

Paul is shocked by the variety and quality of lunch at the Chocolate Project.

Back at the hotel, we opted to just hang out at the resort for the rest of the day while Paul's family went on an ATV tour of the south part of the island. We took advantage of some pool time and took a little stroll around the grounds, and also to the nearby UNESCO viewpoint and back to the Soufriere viewpoint. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

Afternoon pool break.

The view of Petit Piton from the viewpoint just up the road from our hotel.

Later that evening, the resort had a "Caribbean buffet" planned for dinner, so we made our way down to the restaurant to check that out. The cost was a bit of a surprise at $50/person, but it was a good experience and it was nice to try lots of different small dishes. 

Which is it, resort pool? No Diving or Dive at your Own Risk?!

Sunset vibes from the Mango Tree Restaurant.

Not a bad way to end the day.

For our last full day in St Lucia, we again grabbed breakfast from the resort restaurant and then opted for a trip down to the nearby beach (Malgretoute Beach, AKA Paradise Beach). The little spit of sand was just about a quarter mile from our resort, but on a very steep road with no sidewalks, so we had to have a car take us. The beach itself was nice, if a little rocky. The water was warm and very clear. We probably should have brought or borrowed some snorkeling gear, but maybe another time.

After hanging out by the water for a bit, we wandered over to the beachside bar for a drink and lunch. Apparently, our resort has a deal with the bar and they were able to just charge everything to our hotel up the hill. It was here that Chad discovered how literal some St Lucians can be when he asked for a "cheeseburger with just lettuce, mustard and tomato" and received no meat. It was easy enough to sort out, but was a funny experience.

Morning dew with the Piton in the background.

Malgretoute Beach on a nice sunny day.

David chilling in the Caribbean.

We saw a number of shells on the rocky beach.

Tropical vibes.

Daquiri #[insert large number]

After the beach be went back to our villa, and of course the pool again. Later that afternoon we made our way back to the Mango Tree Restaurant for snacks and a drink before heading back to the villa for the evening. All-in-all a couple of chill/relaxing days.

Beer and views.

Beer from the Chocolate Hotel on our patio.

Fine, we'll have another drink.

David is too cool.

Sunset time.

The following morning we got up, grabbed our last breakfast and started packing/prepping for our return to Atlanta. Our transfer to the airport was planned at noon. On the drive we were able to see the nearby St Vincent (the next major island in the Caribbean chain to the south) about 90 miles away, which was pretty cool.

Little hand to help up the hill.

The resorts little shop.

Flowers for days around here.

St Lucia is a pretty solid vacation destination. You don't have to go the resort route, either. We ran into a family (from Michigan no less) that had rented a car and was staying at an Airbnb, so that's definitely a possibility here. If we had rented a car, we likely would have driven around and seen more of the island, including a trip up to the capital city of Castries... but that would have been logistically difficult with five people. We'd recommend if you're looking for a lounge-around trip that the area of St Lucia we stayed at (near Soufriere) is a good option. It's just about 45 minutes from the airport and easy to access. There were lots of other resorts/hotels either on the coast or up in the mountains and a variety of tours/excursions to keep you busy in-between relaxation time. At only a few hours from Atlanta by air, we've probably been slouching on the Caribbean, so maybe we'll be back to visit some of the other islands in the coming years!

Family Trip to St Lucia - Volcanoes & Waterfalls

We love traveling with just the two of us, but every once in a while we're lucky enough to get some family or friends to come along, so we were happy when Paul's sister, Betsy, was interested in taking a short international trip with us. She had a short list of things she hoped to do, and after some research, the Caribbean island of St Lucia was the preferred location. In total, Betsy, her husband Chad and Paul's Mom Maggie joined us for this little excursion to the tropics. You may remember this motley crew from our family trip to Italy back in 2017.

We arrived in St Lucia on a Tuesday afternoon and departed on Saturday afternoon, leaving about 4 days total of exploration and relaxation time. We stayed at a small locally-owned resort (Stonefield Villa Resort), with about 17 villas, nestled a couple hundred feet above the Caribbean Sea near the iconic Piton mountains of St Lucia's west coast near Soufriere town. This was our first time staying in a resort like this and it comes with some pros and cons we'll be sure to point out as we go through the post - but overall it was a great experience!

Here we are in St Lucia! Looking all adorbs. 

Upon arrival, we checked into our resort in the late afternoon and were just in awe at how beautiful the resort grounds were, with lush vegetation, tons of fruit trees and amazing views of the sea and mountains. Our villa had three bedrooms with a shared living/dining room/kitchen and two bathrooms. The bedrooms were air conditioned, but the rest of the space was cooled by the Caribbean breezes. Overall, we tend to avoid hot places in our traveling, but this trip really showed us how when buildings are well planned even warm places can be incredibly comfortable.

Our villa!

We had private outdoor showers.

The incredible view from our deck.

The hotel grounds were lush and beautiful.

A panoramic view from our villa.

Our villa was called "Lime Mill" and some remains of the old mill were in our yard.

The main room of our villa.

And the best part... this was our private pool view towards the Pitons.

After getting settled in, it was getting close to dinner time so Paul and the family headed out to the nearby town of Soufriere to get some dinner and bring back some groceries. David opted to just hang out by the pool (he had a bit of headache from the flight/windy road through the mountains to the resort). Here we come across problem numero uno about resorts, Soufriere is not far away (20 mins by foot), but since we're up in the hills and there's only one road to town... with no sidewalks... arranging a car was essential for everything we did off the resort grounds. The resort was great about doing this for us anytime we asked within 15 minutes notice, but it definitely adds up in terms of cost. Dinner was at Belle Vue restaurant, which was on the second floor of a seafront building, with nice views of the sunset. The fam brought back some pizza for David (spoiler - it was not great, but even bad pizza is pizza!) That evening we relaxed in our pool and villa. 

Belle Vue restaurant.

Goat curry!

View of the bay and Petit Peton from Soufriere .

The streets of Soufriere.

The next day, we arranged a trip to the nearby Sulfur Springs and the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens. The tour started at 9:30am and lasted about 2 hours. St. Lucia is unique because it has active geothermal features, similar to Yellowstone or Iceland. We could occasionally smell sulfur from our villa when the wind was blowing the right direction. The town of Soufriere got its name from these features, as in French it means "sulfur mine." The area is part of the UNESCO world heritage site. We had a short guided tour overlooking the steam vents and bubbling mud pots. Just downhill from the geothermal area, the muddy stream is cool enough to enter. Tourists can wade in the warm water and rub the mud on their skin in a series of pools.    

Overview of the geothermal field.

Steam rising from the ground.

Taking our guided tour.

Maggie with mud!

It got a little bit busy. :)

Paul and Maggie wetting their feet in the hot springs.

Paul sporting mud on his legs.

After rinsing all the mud off, our next stop on the morning tour was just down the street to the botanical gardens. This was a very pleasant, lush gardens with a nice waterfall at the end. A claim to fame is that several movies have had scenes filmed here, including Superman 2 and Romancing the Stone. While the gardens weren't too crowded, there were, oddly enough, two large German-speaking tour groups.

The gardens were essentially like a lush jungle.

Main path through the Botanical Gardens

Diamond Falls at the back of the Botanical Gardens.

Betsy and Chad at the falls

Don't trip!

One of the German tourist groups.

Some beautiful flowers.

Baby bananas!

This bird really wanted some snacks and landed on our backpack.

After the excursion we returned to the hotel and went down to the restaurant (The Mango Tree) for lunch. Here we run into issue number two about staying in a resort. You're a bit limited in what you can find to eat unless you want to pay for a ride into town. The restaurant was very beautiful and the staff were very pleasant, but the dishes were a bit hit or miss and on the expensive side. Many of produce in their dishes were grown on site (from either the fruit trees all over the grounds or the small garden they have). Overall, we think it worked out well, but this wouldn't compare to a culinary adventure in Italy or Korea for sure.

The first, but not the only, tropical beverage of the trip.

The main pool, next to the restaurant. Amazing weather and views!

Lunch - curried chicken with local root vegetables.

David with his drink!

After lunch, we hung around the villa and in the pool. We walked to the nearby overlook of Soufriere town, which was just a few hundred feet down the road from our resort... about the only distance we felt safe walking without sidewalks. We also walked on the short "petroglyphs trail" and viewed the petroglyphs within the resort grounds. We really couldn't find too much info about these, including who exactly made them and how old they are. Eventually made our way back to the restaurant for a free happy hour with Hors d’Oeuvres, and got some dinner to go. 

Late afternoon relaxation on the villa deck.

Soufriere Overlook

A big bunch of bananas growing near our villa.

We couldn't get enough of the amazing views at Stonefield Resort.

We even found a little pineapple!

The petroglyphs.

David and Maggie!

Spectacular sunset views.

Sunset and a mango tree.

Piton beer... and Petit Piton!

Before turning in, we noticed it was pretty windy and we would occasionally hear a crashing noise as something was hitting the metal roof of the villa. Turns out, there's a huge mango tree fruiting and the wind was knocking down the occasional mango onto our roof. It was worth a good laugh and no real annoyance for the rest of the trip.