No Valentine’s Day here…
The Valentine’s Day holiday (?) is on the horizon. What are your thoughts on this? I may have a surprise for you. We really don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day here. Its true. While I enjoy trying to be romantic, from a creative point of view, I find lots of times it can catch Mom off guard and so the exercise is wasted. She never wants anything (allergic to flowers and trying to swear offf of the Christmas chocolates) would rather save some money, and so we don’t indulge.
This family tradition started off when I was a restaurant manager years ago and, of course, I had to work that day, one of the busiest of the year. Folks, don’t go out to dinner on Valentine’s Day looking for a special night. With all those other lovers out there, a romantic experience is just too hard to pull off, from a restaurant perspective. And who wants to wait that long for a table anyway? Go the day for before or the day after.
So we may do some cards, but we even decided against that this year, based on the price of cards for a piece of cardboard. Being unemployed has made us thrifty!
We have gotten in the habit of of traveling to some place warm for Valentine’s Day however, trying to escape some of the winter blues. This is our gift to each other. With both of us getting 2 paaid vacations each year we enjoy taking the nice vacay to escape the cold. Valentines Day seems like th eperfect time. The rates in the Caribbean are affordable this time of year. The water is still plenty warm to swim in and you really don’t have to work too hard to get a tan or a burn.
Our routine is to find an all-inclusive somewhere so we don’t have to worry about money or finding places for meals. We started this ‘family tradition’ a few years back when we went to Jamaica. I have an entire story about that trip. Mainly, the point is beware, although we did have a very romantic Valentines sail! But after our nice trip back to Jamaica this past fall we have reconsidered.
We also traveled to the island of Curacao, close to the equator. Hard to get any warmer than the equator! We enjoyed our trips there, going back 3 times. I actually ‘re-proposed’ one year in Curacao (on one knee and everything), being able to afford a slightly larger diamond this time. Bam! Caught her off guard again. (see first paragraph above).
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
Most recently we ventured down to St. Lucia, one of the British Virgin Islands. We stayed at a wonderful Sandals resort. The island actually had 3 Sandals resorts. We were able to spend time, eat and indulge in any one of them. Advertised as a ‘luxury included’ resort (yet still an all-inclusive – kind of a contradiction in terms), the resort was great. The food and restaurants were even greater! I actually tried caviar and escargot for the first time…at an all-inclusive (!).
We had a chance to do zip lining for the first time and even took a day trip on a sailboat to a live volcano and some Botanical Gardens in the heart of the tropical rainforest. On a funny note, if you haven’t ever been to an active volcano, think twice! The intense sulfur fumes emitted by the volcano actually makes it hard to get close enough to see the real thing. It took some courage and your Dad in the privy has nothing on a volcano!
Possibly the most thrilling part of the vacation however was the bus ride to the resort, on the other side of the island from the airport. The resort bus had to navigate around two tall mountains (the huge Pitons..really, that was their name ~ you’ll see) on a narrow road with hair pin turns and steep, steep drop offs. I wouldn’t go faster than 15 mph on some of these roads in my car, clutching the steering wheel the whole time. This old, air conditioned school bus, that can hardly make it up the one side, had us swaying and rocking and really looking forward to that first drink at the resort. We laughed about it as it was the only thing we could do. The lap of luxury!
Which brings me back to today’s blog. I was thinking about our Valentine’s Day trips this weekend. We can’t make one this year as we are squirrelling away our time and dollars for the big move later this year. So it left me with thoughts on Jamaica, Curacao, St. Lucia and Costa Rica.
Mom wants to visit Costa Rica later this year for our next trip. If any of you have been there you are welcome to offer any advice or tips.
But for those of you that are stuck in some place cold right now with snow piled up to the windows and would love to be some place warm, I offer a quick, fun picture video of our St. Lucia trip (especially if you are sitting in 6 feet of snow right now). Grab something tropical to drink, rub some suntan lotion on for that tropical smell, click ‘play’, kick back, relax and come on along with us.
I hope you all have a happy and wonderful Valentine’s Day.
We’re going to try to stay warm this year!
How about you?
What are your favorite Valentine’s Day traditions or experiences?
OUR LIFE IN 3D 
Chocolate covered veggies? Yea, no warm sunshine for us either this year. Maybe next year, huh? I’m like you, I like being thoughtful and creative for this holiday. I am sure your’s will be special this year. Please try to eat something that you enjoy this one meal, OK skinny? Have a great V day Kelly!
Have to admit.. I still enjoy the effort on V day and I’m not single this year! Unfortunately no plans for tropical sunshine but certainly plans for dinner , unfortunately ill be the one drinking water and eating veggies.
Her allergies are too bad for roses! So its just chocolate and some quality time. Plan on a trip to some place warm! You can cuddle anywhere! I hope you have a special night!
Aw so romantic =P
Never been anywhere warm during winter and never been to a beach vacation, except for Thailand. Must be niiiice.
I totally agree with no cards and dinner is not necessary. I think getting a rose is still nice though 🙂 But tonight, I just want to be with the one I love watching PVR’d TV shows. Nothing more =P
So you see the value of getting away on V-Day? The vacation is so nice in the dead of winter. Check back late tomorrow for a warm, yet ill-fated trip to Jamaica, mon. Sorry I have been a distant reader lately. I found employment and my time has been cut to almost zero for blogging, both writing and reading. I hope to stop by your (new) place this weekend Victoria. I hope you are doing great! Have a warm & lovely Valentine’s Day yourself!
I’m jealous of you getting away to the sun, it’s freezing here! Have a lovely Valentine’s!
My next blog will be about our trip to Jamaica. It is still vivid in my mind. You sound a lot like my wife. She would rather have it nice year round than make a fuss for one night. I hope you have a nice Valentine’s Day….and he saves you some wings!
Just finish reading and watching the video. Too too funny. You started it with saying don’t pass or never pass but ask your wife later if you should pass, lol. I was cracking up and then when she said go straight and turn. I also laugh. It felt like me and my hubby in the car. It is good to see this with other couple and know this is normal. I have a few marriage couple who are weird we hang around with. They tend to think it is weird for couples to disagree or fuss. Therefore, it was a nice to see normality. Also I thought the 6 and 12 was the lane names until your wife explain the clock position. Than I got it.
May I ask what is or was wrong with Jamaica? I am wishing you and your beautiful wife a Happy Valentine day tomorrow. Hubby and I never really do something. He tries, bless his heart, but I always fuss of why must he follow an industry money consumer tradition. Why not show me love everyday and not make a big fuss about it because everyone else is. So far 9 1/2 years together he has learn do nothing, lol, and I am happy with it.
Way to go, Andy! (pun intended!) Nice tradition you have. Good for you! Had a very similar unforgettable ride from the airport to the resort in Jamaica.
I Love that pic of the 2 of you. Your love for each other is almost tangible in it! We talked about going to dinner but child care is always an issue & I hate dealing with the crowds. Take advantage of those winter vacations while you can, once the kids get in school makes that hard. We use to hit FL for a long weekend around this time of year, I so miss it.
I think you should surprise her otherwise if you tell her you have a plan (given your track record), she will be expecting diamonds or plane tickets. I think it’s important to just show the person you love that she is worth planning something for, and I think most women would love a picnic dinner and home movies (especially your wife who seems like a really sweet person).
However, my husband let me know that he bought me a card because he knew I would feel horrible if I didn’t get him one (I’m with you on the cost of cards). That is true love (really). 🙂
So ????
She knows I am making this meal, so no real surprise. She appreciates it. I have a meeting on Tuesday, so who knows when I will get home. Maybe Wednesday. A movie does tend to be the thing to do these days. It works well. Also, the only time we ever go out to eat now is when we are on vacation— at least with all the kids. It is too much work and no longer enjoyable. When they are older, then maybe. The summer here is nice because of all the take out type sea food places– you know, the tourist hang outs.
I like it. Yea, I can’t imagine taking 4 kids to a restaurant. Two is so very much a challenge to me /us. Now, do you surprise her with the meal you prepare? Get the kids to bed early that night so you two can enjoy a quiet movie. I hope you have a great one Derek!
You mention chocolate and I will probably get her some. I guess that is kinda our norm. But it makes me wonder….they had Strawberries on sale today at the grocery store, Buy one Get one Free. Hmmmmm? Kinda makes you wonder about them with the chocolate. What do you think? If its some self love you might as well treat you right! Have a great holiday!
I LIKE your idea! Thanks! Do you think I should ask her about the idea first or just surprise her? We actually did one of those things that couples shouldn’t do on vacation in St. Lucia….we entered a couples contest version of the dating game. One question they asked us had no ‘winnable’ answer and I was in the dog house again.
I saw your post on Thailand and that might have had me thinking about our get aways. You must live on the west coast. It looked beautiful and now have to add yet another stop to the bucket list. Thanks WW!
We don’t do much for Valentine’s Day mainly because we can’t afford to go out to eat and get a sitter to watch 4 kids. Forget it. Instead I have a meeting that night. I will make my wife dinner this week, which I actually do every night. The only difference is I will make a dish she really likes. I also tend to buy some small chocolate item, even though every year I say we really don’t need to get anything. As a side note, I would never go out on the day itself. That is just crazy.
I don’t really have any Valentine’s day traditions….well no that’s not true. Does eating chocolate count??? I mean i eat it every day, but I make sure to have just a little bit extra on valentine’s day. Self-love ya know
You’re such a cute couple. I confess I only watched half of each video, but it definitely looks like a beautiful place to visit and a dangerous place to drive.
I have a Valentine’s Day idea for you. Make a nice “tropical” dinner – maybe some steak kabobs with pineapple and terriaki sauce, a couple of mai tais, put a blanket on the floor in front of the TV, and have a picnic while you watch home movies of your previous vacations.