We recently flew to Antigua for my brother in-law's destination wedding, and if you're wondering where the heck that is, it's in the heart of the Caribbean right beside St. Kitts (see map). Being our first tropical holiday in a while, we were super stoked for palm trees, beautiful, blue water and some non-Canadian sun... which, we regretted not 24 hours after we landed as we burnt various random parts (armpit, kneecap, lower calves and belly rolls to name a few).

The island was lush with tropical forest and surrounded by beautiful beaches. And, as we found out when we landed, contained an impressive mountain range. We already knew about the mountains (my husband definitely does his research), but we were impressed with how big they actually were. The largest mountain on the island, Mount Obama (yes, the name was changed once he became president), stands 402 meters high or just over 1300 feet, which is nothing compared to the Rockies, but still offered one fabulous vista.

We spent our first three nights at a hotel called Sugar Ridge, just outside Jolly Harbour. The wedding was being held on the other side of the island, but we thought we'd get some quieter time in before we met up with everyone for the wedding. But then, the 4 o'clock club came along and quiet time was a distant memory.

Our first order of business when travelling is always to go exploring. And by exploring, we mean head to the pool bar. We became fast friends with everyone there and the 4 o'clock club was born, which basically means you know you'll see the same group of people, at the bar, around 4 o'clock. Makes sense, right?

On our last day at Sugar Ridge, we decided to go on a hike with the group. A local gentleman by the name of Vonn, offered to take us through his village which he did - for 3 hours. For 3 hours we walked (and sweat) our way through parts of Antigua you may not normally see. We visited his family home, various gardens where he taught us about the plants, fruits and vegetables that grew there - mango, lime, okra, tamarind, carob, the black pineapple (which is indigenous to Antigua) and a few more I can't remember the name of - and even a local boy getting his hair cut, who I'm pretty sure didn't appreciate all eight of us cramming in to watch.