Honeymoon!! Part I

I finally uploaded our honeymoon pictures from the camera, and had a moment of longing as I looked over them.  We had the best time on our honeymoon, and are currently plotting ways we can return.  Soon.  We stayed at the Hilton in Puerto Vallarta, and it exceeded our wildest expectations.  We're talking serious "lifestyles of the rich and famous".  As in, as soon as you laid down on your pool chair someone would come over and put a rolled towel behind your head, and then bring you delicious drinks and cold, lemon-scented washcloths on the half-hour.  You know, the type of stuff I thought I would only ever see on Gossip Girl.

What's more- the hotel had just opened; we were their second guests.  And for much of the week we were their only guests.  This led to an abnormally AMAZING amount of service.  The ratio of staff to guests was about 25 to 1, so pretty much all you had to do was THINK about wanting something and it would magically appear.  More importantly though, being some of the only guests allowed us to really talk to the staff and get to know them.  At the end of the week I was as sad to leave the wonderful people we had met, as I was paradise.

We are pretty sure we will never have a vacation this luxurious again.  But I guess it's not the worst thing in the world if your honeymoon is the best trip you ever take.  How did we score such an incredible vacation, so out of our league, you ask?  RJ found an amazing deal on bookit.com.  I'm not sure how much longer the Hilton will be on bookit, but my guess would be not much longer, so if you are looking for a relaxing and lavish getaway, I would move quickly.  RJ and I have also decided that we are going to become connoisseurs of hotels that are opening soon, and then we are going to book vacations during their opening week.  It's the way to go, let me tell you.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures, hope you enjoy! 

Starting the vacation off right!  They greeted us at the airport with shots of tequila. :)

Then they brought us fresh, tropical juice when we checked in.  I wish I had better pictures of the open-air lobby, it was so pretty.

Love swans!  So cute.

Bathroom area.  I want that tub for our next house.

The glorious room!

Honeymoon gift!  The first of many complimentary bottles of champagne given to us.  I guess when you are staying at an all-inclusive, everything (and technically nothing) is "complimentary", but the thought was appreciated. :)

Our balcony.  Not too shabby, eh?

View

Main pool

The chairs and cabanas where we spent 97% of our time lazing about.

BEACH TIME!

Our room was on the third floor in the middle.

Victoria's Secret called, they want their model back.

Playing in the water

Shut up.  I am such a diva right now.

Dinner night one

SO excited we have four more nights of this!

After dinner we moved down to one of the cabanas on the beach to watch the sunset.

Where we were promptly waited hand and foot on and brought a bottle of wine, and later, a tray of cheeses and sweets.  This place, I tell you what.  YOU SHOULD GO!  But be prepared to gain six pounds in five days.  Like I did.

Perfection.

Mornings were some of my favorite time of the whole trip.  Each day we would get up and get coffee (or sometimes Bloody Marys) and we would drink them on the balcony and talk.  It was the perfect start to the day.   

Breakfast.  Where we would gorge ourselves on meal #1 of 30 for the day.  I always tried to eat lightly at breakfast, but the food was INCREDIBLE.  All-inclusive + breakfast buffet = a dangerous beast.

Walks on the beach after breakfast.  Completely canceled out all the calories we ate.  That's how it works on your honeymoon.

Day 2.  We discover the INCREDIBLY delicious pina coladas.  And I proceed to drink about two a day.  And they were worth every pound.

Even RJ loved them, and he usually hates "frou frou" drinks.

After we took this picture, RJ flipped the camera around to look at it, and goes, "When did you get a mustache?"  So nice.

Pool time with delicious drinks, good books, and great company.  And a husband who acts like he's too cool for pictures.

Hanging out before dinner, watching the sunset on the balcony

RJ's filet from the wonderful (and fancy) French restaurant.

Scallops

The staff at the restaurant gave us and the other couple staying at the hotel a special champagne toast for being their first patrons.  The kindness of the people who worked at the hotel was really unbelievable.

Honeymooners!

More cabana lying around after dinner

"No pictures please"

View from the roof at night.  This picture is symbolic of what the staff of the rooftop lounge tried to do to us every night.  On this particular night they kept bringing us signature "honeymoon shots".  And they were delicious.  But even though I sipped mine, they were still quite powerful.  And the next morning RJ and I remembered why shots are ALWAYS a bad idea.  I think my camera was feeling the effects too.

Beating RJ in chess.  Fun fact- I was on the chess club in middle school.  Actually it was called the "Game Club", because we played cribbage and bridge too.  So this picture is for all you chess-loving middle school girls out there.  Keep at it, and don't quit, even if all the "cool" girls are in art club.  Your commitment will pay off.  Even if you have to wait until your honeymoon.

Mad that I won. :)

Making our daily move up to the rooftop pool for a delicious lunch of sushi and tapas.

I have more pictures that I will post later, but I can't promise we did anything too different.... :)  Other than a visit to the spa, and a jaunt into town, we spent most of our time lying by the pool (or in it), eating and drinking.  As my father put it- "Wow.  Even your grandparents take more exciting trips than the two of you."  But if you enjoy looking at photos of people lazing about in gluttony (like I do), check back later this week!

Click here for the rest of the photos!