Tropical Tuesday: Tir na N'og

The beach at Tir na N'og

 

I have just come in from 10 minutes weeding in the front garden and I am SO COLD. It's 50 F out there and it's more than half way through JUNE. This is wrong. I have SOCKS on. And a sweater and long pants and I'm drinking a hot coffee (what else?) and I'm still freezing. And my son, God bless him, is off on a school field trip to an outdoor water park! Insanity.


In light of this unseasonably chilly Canadian weather, I feel the need to revisit Tropical Tuesday, so I thought I'd find somewhere warm and balmy that I could day dream about as I go about my daily adventures.

THIS PLACE.

Seriously. Ten acres of Bahamian tropical paradise, separate guest houses, pink sand beaches, tennis courts and a name like Tir na N'og? Yeah. Sign me up. I think this is the place for my next writer's retreat. Or family retreat. Or ladies week away. Or launch party...

The 'Main House'

I can almost feel my toes in the sand now. Wait a minute. That's the cat. Sigh.

Anyway, it's a steal at $6k a week, don't you think? Maybe the owner would cut me a deal. Do you feel warmer already?

Have a great day,

Brenda

Tropical Tuesday - Coconut Beach Club, Antigua

Another storm is inbound to my part of Canada, and it's supposed to bring up to 25cm (about a foot) of snow with it. Fun, eh?  So in my never-ending attempt to drive myself crazy with photos of warm, sunny, sandy beaches, I thought I'd look for a place I could pick my own coconut. Googling coconut beach found me this lovely place--I could go with a day on this beach!


Spend the day at this beach? Sign me up!

It's a couples place- no kids allowed except during the Christmas holidays, so just peace and quiet and time in a hammock. You can choose to go with their all-inclusive plan or go with room only, and the rates are reasonable.

Ahh, the sea breezes and a swaying hammock...

You can find out more about the Coconut Beach Club, Antigua here. Or follow them on twitter at @CBCantigua .

So while I warm up my shovel, and batten down the hatches, I'll be daydreaming of coconuts on the beach. How about you? Only three more months til summer!

Brenda

Note: My Tropical Tuesday posts are mostly daydreams. I've not been to Antigua before, so I can't guarantee a perfect vacation here. Photos are taken from Coconut Beach Club's website.



 

 

Tropical Tuesday- Paradise Beach

If you Google Search 'Paradise Beach', you'll get almost 60 million results. There are Paradise Beaches in Cozumel, Mykonos, Barbados, Thailand...just about anywhere you can find a beach you can find one that is called 'Paradise'. There's even a Paradise in Newfoundland, although I really wouldn't want to hang out there in the winter and it doesn't have a great beach. (Sorry guys, but this is a Tropical Tuesday blog!)

So I checked out a few of them. I've been to the one in Mykonos. Lovely, but not my choice for late February. And Barbados looks amazing, especially without a current huge conglomerate resort to take over the prime beach area (although there is one set to open soon...)

My favorite of all was this place: Paradise Beach Mauritius. (click on the link to see the apartment/villa resort)

Photo from Paradise Beach

Um, yeah.

Paradise Beach Apartments

Not bad. Not bad at all. I think another great choice for a writer's retreat! I didn't even look at how much it would cost to go there, but hey...getting to Paradise shouldn't be easy.

Have a great week!

Brenda

Tropical Tuesday - Tall Ships

I have always wanted to go on a tall ships adventure...what better place than the warm Caribbean islands?  I'd love to pack my bag and head off for a week of uncharted cruising. Like the Liberty Fleet of Tall Ships that take you here:

Photo from Liberty Fleet

 

 

Or (oooo...aaaaaah) the Star Clippers luxury clipper ships that take you places like this...

 

Photo from Star Clipper

 

 

I sailed a lot in my twenties, and have cruised in big cruise ships several times, but there's something relaxing and so wonderful about the thought of wind-powered travel on the warm oceans of the south. The sun, the sand, the salt air, the swaying deck and the snap of the sails. That plus a cool drink and a good book...heaven. Just the thing to think about when there are two feet of snow on the ground and three months til I break out the summer clothes.

Photo from Star Clipper

 

Yup. A girl can dream. Have you ever done a tall ships adventure? Was it fun? Where did you go? I'd love to hear your story.

 

Brenda



Tropical Tuesday

(L to R) Me, Yelena, Tina

What a great week I've had! Broadway plays, jazz clubs, shopping, visits...New York was a blast. Still thrilled to have met Jennifer and Fran, and also got to meet writer friends Tina Moss and Yelena Casale, as well as my amazing cousins Robin and Corey. So fun! My feet are still complaining, and I might have put on a few travel pounds sampling restaurants with my hubby (Spanish Tapas on the last night just about did me in), but I had a great time. Can't wait to go back again.



After an amazing, if somewhat chilly, trip to New York City, I've returned to even chillier Canada. It's COLD here. And Spring is months away, *sad face* so I've been day-dreaming and looking at more tropical beaches just for fun. I thought I'd post a wee Tropical Tuesday to tease you...and torment me!


 

Picture from Wikipedia

One of the most amazing places I've been fortunate enough to visit (other than New York City this past week...) was the tiny island of Rarotonga, in the warm and beautiful south Pacific. Part of the Cook Islands, it is almost completely surrounded by beaches, and at the time (a, ah-hem, few years ago) it was relatively unspoiled. We stayed in what was then called the Rarotongan Resort Hotel, but from what I can see, it's now called the Rarotongan Beach Resort and Spa. (click on the link for more pictures of the beaches and water...)It was a simple place, but the beaches were clean, clear and gorgeous. We ate octopus (ick), fresh coconut (yum) and explored the island on scooters.

Picture from Cook Islands Discovery Tours

And it was WARM. So amazingly warm. Wouldn't you like to go there? I think it has great potential for my next writer's retreat. Who's in? Maybe if we sign enough of us up, they'll give us a discount?

Brenda