St. Kitts , an island in the West Indies that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea was spotted by Christopher Columbus in 1493.  Nicknamed the “Sugar City” because of its sugar cane industry, the area has now focused for at least the last ten years on making this the tourist destination of choice.

As I’ve mentioned, a few weeks ago, I was happy to attend a press trip to visit this destination’s  St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Resort Casino.

After solving the problem of how to travel to JFK from the Albany, New York area, the rest of the trip was pretty easy. My direct flight on American Airlines to St. Kitts took a little less than 4 hours, and I could see that there were quite a few senior and boomer travelers as well as younger families on the flight.

After I grabbed my bags and made it through the customs and immigration areas of the small airport, another member of my travel group, Michelle Jersen, and I traveled about 4 miles south by beautiful lush scenery.

 

Our driver tried to describe our location in  terms of what he believed we Americans would better understand. St. Kitts, he said, was shaped like a Kentucky Fried Chicken leg while its close partner in this two island nation, Nevis, resembled a chicken nugget.

 

After checking in to the St. Kitts Marriott, I explored the  resort, strolled some of its 4 mile beach that borders the Atlantic Ocean, and found that the great reviews were accurate. The place was beautiful and elegant, but also had a casual and fun loving air to it. It also boasted the largest casino in the Caribbean, an 18 hole golf course, and the only swim-up bar on the island.

 

At the resort’s steakhouse, the Royal Grille, Michelle and I later met up with the rest of our group- Lisa Schwartz of Diamond PR, Laverne Stevens, the PR Manager of the resort, and two travel writers from Toronto, Alyssa Schwartz and Jessica Padykula.

It was then time to rest up. Tomorrow we would be spending the day exploring the area.

Next: Organic Rasta Farm, Basseterre, fun at the Shiggidy Shack