By Marietta Holmes

Escaping from the frigid Alabama winter (at least during this year's rare occasion of snow), we boarded a plane bound for "Sunny St. Lucia," as I had been calling it for months. I had been daydreaming of turquoise water, 80-degree weather and spending some quality time in a hammock. Excitedly, I had packed bathing suits, flip flops and an assortment of breezy cotton items.

As soon as the plane door opened and the hot, humid air hit my body, I was glad we were finally on island time.
 

We had chosen St. Lucia because of the direct flight there from Atlanta, affordability compared to other Caribbean island and honestly because the online photos looked so nice. A little more research and we happened upon a small resort, Ti Kaye Village, which means "little house" in the Creole language. A bustling, all-inclusive resort wasn't for us; we were sold on their private cottages.

Arranging for airport transfers through the hotel ahead of time was well worth it. We simply emailed Ti Kaye with our flight itinerary, and as soon as we got through customs we saw our driver, holding a sign for us. Traveling down the island's main highway, which seemed to have more curves than straight-aways, was an experience soon forgotten once we arrived at our new vacation hideaway.

Our welcome drink in St. Lucia was fresh coconut milk drunk straight out of the shell, a suggestion from Pilgrim, the resort's bartender. Shortly afterwards, George showed us to our French-Creole style cottage, "Awa," overlooking the water.

Its four-poster king bed draped with mosquito netting and decorated with native flowers won us over. We opted to leave the air conditioning off and slept with the windows and doors open, lulled to sleep by the faint sound of crashing waves. It was the best rest I had gotten in years.

At Ti Kaye, we tried to balance our reading-books-on-the-beach time with several planned excursions. A few of our favorite moments came in the form of drinking rum punch on the starboard side of a sailboat just before sunset; biking to a rainforest waterfall; and riding horses bareback in the waves. The hotel could arrange plenty of activities, and other guests might enjoy scuba diving, sightseeing, fishing or zipline canopy tours. Of course, it was nice to be able to snorkel right off our beach, the premier spot in the area, or take a kayak around the cove whenever we wanted.

Simple entertainment came in the form of learning the ar

Another perk to our stay was the resort's food, which had earned positive reviews from previous guests. The open-air dining room set a romantic mood with its dark hardwoods, billowy white curtains and madras tablecloths. It was there that we discovered the nuances of Caribbean cuisine: hot sauce that would give the Cajuns a run for their money (eaten for breakfast, over fried eggs, of course), pumpkin ginger soup and banana ketchup. Surf and turf was represented quite well on the dinner menu, and we went through entres of Mahi Mahi, duck, conch, shrimp and beef by candlelight.
 

We did take one fine dining excursion to Rainforest Hideaway, recommended by both friends and Fodor's, in nearby Marigot Bay. (Ti Kaye arranged a taxi both ways.) Before our dinner reservation we perused the swanky ships docked in the harbor, from as far away as Bikini, Marshall Islands. We were impressed throughout the six-course meal, which began with tuna carpaccio and ended with mint chocolate creme brulee.   

Adding to our overall vacation experience, the friendliness of Ti Kaye's staff was unmatched by any hotel I've ever patronized--either in the States or abroad. They were quick to make a joke, lend a hand and make a guest's stay at Ti Kaye as pleasant as possible. "No problem" was their answer to most of our requests. 
 

But perhaps the best part of our trip was that I never knew what time it was in St. Lucia. We woke when we pleased, ate when we were hungry and napped during rainstorms. Losing track of time for five days was the ultimate luxury we enjoyed on our Caribbean honeymoon.