Party of Nine in Antigua
Traveling with a big family to a beautiful island
I’m extremely thankful that I was able to travel to Antigua with my family over Christmas. Not only did we have Christmas and New Years to celebrate, but we had so many other reasons, including Nanny’s 80th birthday, Grammy’s almost 90th birthday, new career journeys, marriage anniversaries, and healthy minds and bodies.
Traveling out of the country with a group of nine may have been a bit ambitious, especially around the holidays and given Nanny and Grammy’s ages, but that wasn’t going to stop us. We began planning this trip a year in advance and were beyond excited to spend Christmas in a caribbean paradise. Even though we had a few bumps in the road (like having to drive to NYC from Boston at 2 a.m. to catch our flight from JFK, rather than Logan) we arrived safe and sound and were ready to soak in our vacation and enjoy each other’s company. We stayed at the beautiful Galley Bay Resort and Spa. We instantly fell in love with the staff and were quickly known as the “party of nine.”
Here are some highlights from our trip.
Christmas Sailing with Captain Sean: On Christmas day we set up a sailing adventure with Captain Sean aboard "Beats Working." Captain Sean was so accommodating for us, helping Nanny and Grammy be comfortable on the sailboat. We sipped his famous rum punches while enjoying sailing around the island. Along the way, we passed so many yachts and I noticed one was Tommy Hilfiger's! The scenery was gorgeous. At times, the ocean had shades of blues that appeared as a blue rainbow, ranging from cobalt blue to turquoise. The mountain ranges were lush and green and we even saw wild goats climbing the steep cliffs. We later sailed to a beautiful reef where we jumped off and snorkled, swimming with schools of fish, sting rays, and sea turtles. As a PADI certified diver, I was very impressed with the visibility available snorkeling. It was a very shallow reef, so we could easily see so much detail and sealife. On the way way to our resort, Captain Sean served us his homemade local caribbean style dinner that was out of this world! On the menu, he made caribbean style jerk chicken, potato salad, steamed cabbage and broccoli, with a side of Susie’s hot sauce. We cranked up the carribean Christmas tunes and sailed into the sunset.
Shipwreck Snorkeling: Close to our resort was a shipwreck from what I believe was the early 1900s. I was told that everyone survived the shipwreck. I would love to learn more about the history of the shipwreck. Matt and I kayaked out to the shipwreck from our resort and spent about an hour snorkeling around the area.
Bike and Hike to Fort Barrington: One morning, we biked to Fort Barrington, which was about 2 miles from our resort. We got caught in a little rain shower, or what the locals like to call “liquid sunshine.” When we arrived at the foot of the small mountain where the fort is, we locked up our bikes and hiked up to Fort Barrington. The hike was very short. It probably took us about 5 minutes to get to the top. When we did get to the top, the views were gorgeous. It was fun to wander the fort, which was was was built in 1779 and served as a military defense post.
Practiced Seaside Rainbow Yoga: Our resort offered yoga classes in their yoga pavilion right on the beach. Mum, Jen, and I liked going to the yoga classes first thing in the morning before breakfast. Our yoga instructor, Mckenzie was amazing. Every class, there would be a light rain shower at the beginning of the class and then a rainbow would appear. It was magical.
Sporty on the Water: We took full advantage of the many water sports available, like kayaking, paddleboarding, and taking the hobie cat out for a sail around the bay. My dad loved learning how to sail the hobie cat and soon became a pro, taking it out at least 3 times a day!
Local Food and Drink: We enjoyed eating local fruit every morning for breakfast, especially the passion fruit and coconut. I discovered the local dish, roti, and ordered it every chance I could because it was so delicious! My favorite roti was with curried goat and banana chutney. And of course we indulged in some late nights at the rum shack, where we got to sample local rums from all over the caribbean.
Swam with Stingrays: During our last day in Antigua, we squeezed in a swim with stingrays at Stingray City. We took a motor boat out to a shallow area of the ocean where we docked and jumped into the water. Swimming all around us were stingrays! At first, we were timid, but we quickly warmed up to these friendly and beautiful sea creatures. The sting rays would rub up on our sides as the swam by us, asking for attention (and food) We fed them some squid and they sucked it from our fingers like a vacuum. We later got to hold sting rays, keeping them in the water of course. They are very heavy! I held one female stingray for about 15 minutes.
Danced to Local Music: The music in the caribbean just makes you want to dance. We ventured out to Shirley Heights for a caribbean bbq and danced as the sun went down to steel drums. At the resort, we danced well into the nights. My favorite night was dancing to the rhythm and beats of two local Antiguan female singers.