When he eventually did wake up, we had breakfast in the hotel's dining room, then headed back upstairs to shower and get packed. It took no less than ten minutes to wash all the wedding-day hairspray and curls out of my hair, and longer still to figure out how to neatly package up the wedding dress and get it to the car without incident.
We had planned a lunch for our immediate families that day, since we weren't flying out for our honeymoon until that evening. We were running a tad early, so we headed to Walmart for a few last minute honeymoon essentials: sunscreen, umbrellas, bug spray, etc. We got a few funny looks as we drove through the Walmart parking lot in our car emblazoned with "Just Married" and hearts everywhere. Finally, we headed to the pizza place where our families were waiting for us.
I have to say, having a day-after lunch with our families was one of the best decisions we made. My family all flew in from out of town, and since I so rarely get to see them it meant the world to me to have time with them to actually talk and catch up, and to hear all about the wedding from their perspectives. We lingered a long time over pizza and root beer, but at long last had to end it so that everyone could catch their return flights home. Jeff's parents had collected a lot of the wedding supplies in their car after Jeff's and my exit the previous night, so we took some time to load it all into ours before heading home to finish packing.
The few hours we had at home were jam-packed with frantic activity. We had to finish packing our suitcases because we'd run out of time before the wedding. We had opened our wedding cards the night before at the hotel, so Jeff made a quick run to the bank to deposit the checks so we could use some of the money on our honeymoon. We opened as many presents as we could (Jeff seriously couldn't wait the two weeks until we got back), and tried to restore some small amount of order to our apartment before my parents came to pick us up and take us to the airport. They arrived around four-thirty with leftover wedding cake, which we all happily devoured rather than saving it for our one-year anniversary. I'm not a big fan of stale cake, anyway.
We got to the airport at eight o'clock and had just enough time for a quick dinner (with margaritas) from Chile's Too before boarding. I wanted desperately to play the honeymoon card and ask for a seat upgrade, but Jeff didn't think it was fair to the other passengers, so I reluctantly gave up on my first-class dreams. The idea was to sleep during our five-hour flight into Miami, and Jeff did manage some shut-eye. But I was in the middle seat with a total armrest-hogging guy on the aisle next to me. No matter which way I tried to lean against Jeff or back into my seat, I just couldn't get comfortable and spent most of the night staring at the complete darkness outside the window. When we finally landed in Miami, we were greeted with an hour and a half delay for our connecting flight, resulting in a four and a half hour layover. We were too wired to sleep, but it was too early to drink or eat a real meal, so we just sat at our terminal, taking turns using the laptop to access the airport's WiFi. It was then that I saw the first wedding pictures our guests uploaded to our photo sharing site: pictures of the ceremony, of our first kiss, of the tables and reception decor. I clapped at each one, and even Jeff seemed excited to see all of the pictures so soon.
This time I ignored Jeff's pleas and asked outright for a seat upgrade. I was certain that with my "Just Married" tee shirt and the desperate look of exhaustion in my eyes I would be greeted with sympathy and bumped up to first class. But alas, it was a no-go: the equally tired-looking woman at the desk informed me that the plane was full to capacity and please return to my seat to wait. I grumpily acquiesced, but believe me when I say I gave more than one dirty look to the passengers in first class when we finally boarded.
This flight was a relatively short three hours and I was able to read on the plane while Jeff napped some more. When we got low enough to see land, Jeff and I crowded at the tiny window to watch the trees, beaches, and mountains glide by. We passed over the canal, lowered down over dense forests and circled a surprisingly large city before our plane touched down on the short, rough runway. We exited the plane and made it through customs without incident. We found our way to the sidewalk outside and were greeted by a shuttle driver holding a sign for our hotel. We got on along with an older American couple who kept loudly complaining that the driver didn't speak English. I was just grateful that the driver couldn't understand them, and tried to enjoy the countryside as we drove past. The drive was two hours, first through crowded city streets that make LA traffic look tame, and finally along winding country roads with views of hills and forests. At the end of our incredibly long night, around 2pm, we looked like this:
but we were so happy to have arrived. When we got out of the shuttle a very friendly porter came up to take our bags and directed us through the open-air lobby to the front desk. This was the view we drooled over as we waited to check in:
A uniformed waiter greeted us and asked what we would like to drink. We asked for just water, we were so exhausted and dehydrated from our night of travel. He promptly returned with two tall hurricane glasses of ice water on a tray and Jeff and I looked at each other and nearly swooned with happiness. After check-in, another porter came to take our bags and show us to our room. This is the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows in our massive resort room:
We were starving, so Jeff ran downstairs to grab snacks from the poolside cabana while I changed into a long sundress and slathered myself in sunscreen. I blasted the A/C and collapsed onto the bed, happy to be done with our long travels, but even more excited to start our paradise adventure.
