Compared to the start of other vacations (especially last year's trip to St. Maarten), this one was relatively uneventful.  We made it to Philadelphia International Airport with two hours to spare and got through the check-in line relatively quickly.  We had been optimistic about meeting up with our friends, the Williamsons (who were scheduled to leave PHL for Jamaica forty-five minutes prior to our departure), but then we made it up the escalator to see the security line that awaited us - it stretched across the pedestrian bridge to the parking garage!  Ugh!  By the time we got through it, the Williamsons' plane was pulling back from the gate and we were looking at a minimal amount of time to grab a bite to eat and some food for the flight.

Contrary to many people's experience with US Airways, the flight down was as smooth and quick as one could hope.  We pulled out of PHL about three minutes late (for US Airways, this could be classified as early!) and dropped out of the clouds over the volcanic mountains of St Lucia right on time!  I'm not sure if it was just our timing (I'm pretty sure we were the last flight to come in from North America or the U.K. for the day), but the only delay we had clearing immigration/customs was the time required to fill out the immigration cards.  Shortly after, we were in our extremely silly-looking van, heading north up the east side of St. Lucia to our resort on Rodney Bay.

For those who haven't been to St. Lucia before, there is essentially one major road circling the island.  If you're looking to go from the airport to the north end (about 30 miles), you DEFINITELY want to take the east route (90 minutes instead of three hours!).  The drive north through Micoud and Dennery was a beautiful drive, going along the Atlantic on one side of the road and rain forests on the other.  Aside from making sure that I drove on the left side of the road like in Britain, the only challenge was the road which was nice for a stretch of about five miles, but otherwise was pock-marked full of holes the other twenty-five miles!

We made it to our hotel north of the capital of Castries on Choc Bay with minimal problems and were greeted with the kind of surprise everyone hopes for.  We checked in and were quite excited with the beauty and friendliness of our hotel, the Windjammer Landing (online profiles available at Fodor's, Frommers, and TripAdvisor).  The fifty-five acre resort sprawls across the steep slopes of a small mount, requiring you to take a shuttle bus up to your rooms.  When we got to our room, our collective jaws hit the floor!  We were all expecting a two-bedroom suite with a living room connecting them that was overlooking the ocean.  How can I describe this place?  Well, Kelley and Victoria are in the bottom floor in a room with two twin beds and their own bath, an indoor sitting area and a patio. The bedroom that Kathie and I are sharing is upstairs and has its own bathroom, a patio area right outside and a private deck up on the roof.  On the middle floor is a full kitchen, dining area, living room, an outside sitting area, an additional patio, and our own private pool (four feet deep and about 8' X 8'.  The ironic thing is that I was a little concerned that we were going to have problems drawing Victoria out of the resort to go see some sites.  Now, I'm concerned that I won't be able to draw her out of the room!  (NOTE--for the full review of the resort, click here).

After settling in, we headed down to dinner in one of the resort's restaurants, the Upper Deck, a very picturesque restaurant that looked right onto the Caribbean, had a delicious menu that offered a good variety of creative options and very friendly, prompt service.  Over the course of the evening, we struck up a conversation with Bruce and Anne, a couple from London who had arrived the night before for the beginning of their two week trip to St. Lucia and Barbados.  We ran into them again and again over the course of the week and always had a good time with them.

Tomorrow is looking to be a quiet day as we explore our resort, enjoy our rooms, and make some plans for the rest of the week. 

Tomorrow: Our new home on St. Lucia