Rum Therapy, Author at Rum Therapy

April 14, 2015May 29, 2019

A Fascination With Sandbars

I admit it. I’m fascinated with sandbars. I already have an affinity for gorgeous beaches, but sandbars; the ones with glistening white sand surrounded by shallow, clear, blue, blue water…ahhh…

I know, I know, they are simply areas of sand slightly higher than the shallow water around it and many just appear during low tide – for heavens sake they’re not even big enough to be called an island or cay, but something about them makes me want to go running, splashing and exploring. Or, to bring out a comfortable chair and veg among the sand and shallow sea. Or to have a picnic. Or to have a few rum drinks. I’m flexible.

Anyway, the prettiest sandbars we’ve had the chance to enjoy so far are the ones we’ve run across in the Bahamas (like the one pictured in The Abacos) and in Turks and Caicos – but we have many areas still to explore…

So tell us. Have you explored any particularly beautiful sandbars? Let us know where to find them!

Sandbar at low tide just off of Leeward Beach in Treasure Cay, Abaco

Find the Leeward Beach sandbar on our Bahamas Map

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

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Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

April 12, 2015June 6, 2019

Sunday Serenity: Hammock in Trellis Bay

Trellis Bay is a interesting little community on the beach on Beef Island, Tortola, close to the Beef Island Airport.

In addition to some unique shops and eateries (such as The Last Resort), Trellis Bay is the location of fun monthly Full Moon Parties featuring Fire Balls and Fire Sculptures designed by local resident Aragorn (be sure to visit his studio while in Trellis Bay). These sculptures are set ablaze in the bay waters during the Full Moon Parties and are spectacular to see as the image of the flames dance across the still water of the bay.

It’s also easy to take a day trip to Beef Island while staying on Tortola as Beef Island is connected to Tortola by the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. After leisurely shopping and perhaps enjoying some delicious conch fritters at De Loose Mongoose, you might want to spend some time in the largest hammock we’ve ever had the pleasure of relaxing in.

Find it close to Aragorn’s. With plenty of room, a sea breeze and some nice shade, you’re guaranteed to find yourself doing some true island limin’.

Read more about one of of our visits to Tortola here.

Find Beef Island on our Tortola Map

To see more posts on Tortola and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

April 10, 2015June 6, 2019

A Day Trip to Vieques

A few days after our day trip to Culebra (read “A Day Trip to Culebra” here), we headed back to Fajardo to board the ferry to the other main Spanish Virgin Island – Vieques. Vieques lies about 8 miles east of Puerto Rico, and is an easy ferry ride from the mainland. Although there were a few raindrops on our ride over, we were greeted with a full day of warm sunshine upon our arrival.

Wanting to explore as much of the island as we could in a day, we rented a Jeep from a small car rental agency just a few blocks away from the ferry.

So what did we do during our day on Vieques?

Vieques is known for its beautiful beaches, and our goal was to see as many on the south side as possible. We left Isabel Segunda and headed down island, entered the US Fish and Wildlife Reserve on the east side and took the road as far as we could. There are still some areas of Vieques off limits due to the cleanup of former military exercises (see a brief history here) and several of the beaches in this area were closed during our visit. It was a pretty, but bumpy ride through the Reserve and the area had an abundance of horses roaming around.

We got a chance to peek at several beaches, including Pata Prieta, Red Beach (or Caracas Beach), Navio Beach, Media Luna and Sun Bay. Our favorites that day?

Media Luna because it was shallow, sandy and calm…

And Sun Bay. A beautiful long expanse of tan sand with calm clear water. Sun Bay also had a small restaurant/bar/gift shop and a bunch of wild horses meandering the area around the beach.

After an hour or two in the surf and sun, we wandered into the small beachside town of Esparanza. The town was quiet and laid back – just the type of town we could see ourselves hanging around for a while. Thirsty, we stopped at a colorful place called Bananas for a beverage.

Rum Punches were the Happy Hour special, so we ordered a couple.

The drinks were delicious and the view across the street wasn’t bad either.

We could have stuck around Bananas enjoying a few more cocktails and chatting with the locals and other visitors, but we were determined to find the black sand beach – and headed west. We took a hike down to the beach on a dry river bed and spent a couple of minutes enjoying the contrast of colors with the sand and the cliffs.

The afternoon was flying by and we started back to Isabel Segunda to return the Jeep. We made a stop at Al’s Mar Azul (read more) to grab some dinner and a drink and enjoy a phenomenal sunset before heading back the the ferry for our ride back to the mainland.

As wonderful as our day on Vieques was, we just couldn’t squeeze everything we wanted to see into just one day, including more beach time, time to roam around some of the towns to check out the local shops, restaurants and bars, learn more about the history of the island, enjoy more wild horse sightings and take an evening excursion through the Bioluminescent Bay. Another visit of several days or more will remain on “our list”!

Have you been to Vieques? Tell us about it!

Find Vieques on our Puerto Rico Map

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

April 1, 2015June 24, 2021

5 Spring Rum Cocktails

Spring showers bring light, fruity and delicious rum cocktails?

If you’re like us, when the weather finally starts to warm and winter fades away, we lean towards cocktails that are a bit lighter, fruity and refreshing. Here’s a list of 5 that will add a little “Spring” to your rum drink list.

Light And Minty Cran Rum Recipe

Skinny Strawberry Rum & Lemonade Recipe

Mango Mojito Recipe

Caribbean Mist Recipe

And finally, the Caribbean Rum Punch! We love this drink because we can add whatever juices we have on hand and it always seems to taste great!

Caribbean Rum Punch

Cheers to Spring!

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Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 30, 2015June 6, 2019

Next Stop: Exuma Cays

Consisting of over 360 islands, or cays – many uninhabited, The Exuma chain spreads out over 130 miles of sparkling azure water just south of Nassau.

Although we’ve flown over the Out Islands of The Bahamas before and marveled at the brilliant blue water and unbelievably white sand beaches, we’ve never had the chance to visit The Exumas before now. We’ll be spending a few days soon in the Exuma Cays – the land of swimming pigs and beautiful shallow water dotted with cays and sandbars that go on for miles, a bar that Jimmy Buffet calls one of the 10 best bars in the Caribbean, sharks that let you pet them and endless picture taking opportunities.

So tell us. Have you vacationed in The Exumas? What were some of the highlights of your time there?

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

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Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 30, 2015June 6, 2019

A Day Trip to Culebra

17 miles off the northeast coast of Puerto Rico sits Culebra, one of the Spanish Virgin Islands. This quiet little island is a mere 12 square miles in size. Regardless of its relatively small stature, Culebra boasts several gorgeous beaches, one of which, Flamenco Beach, is frequently listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the Caribbean.

While spending some time in Puerto Rico, we wanted to experience a day trip to Culebra and arranged to take the ferry on a weekday morning to try and miss some of the local weekend traffic.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Fajardo at 7:30 am. We’d heard that the ferry to Culebra can fill up quickly and that if we wanted to be sure to get on the early ferry, we needed to be there ahead of time – in fact our hotel recommended up to 2 hours early. So, we set the alarm, rushed out the door of our resort in Rio Grande, battled a bit of rush hour traffic and arrived at about 7:30 for the 9:00 ferry. Thankfully, we were the first ones in line for tickets.

For $4.50, we each purchased a round trip ticket on a large and comfortable vessel with plenty of seating. We plugged in our iPod’s, settled in and enjoyed the smooth hour long transfer to Culebra. On the trip over, we were able to reserve a golf cart for the day and upon arrival were whisked to Carlos Jeep Rental to finish the transaction.

So what did we do during our day on Culebra?

We started out with a frozen mango – guava cone sold at a stand right off of the ferry dock.

Headed to Flamenco Beach where we spent a good part of the day walking from one end to the other in the beautiful white sand,

floating in the warm water enjoying the sunshine and scenery,

then washing down some tasty Pinchos with a cold Medalla.
(Read and see more pics from our Flamenco Beach post here)

Drove the golf cart to the other end of the island to see Zoni Beach, another spectacular stretch of sand on the islands east side.

Strolled through town to check out the shops, restaurants and bars

Then capped off the day sipping Bushwackers at the Dinghy Dock while watching huge groupers swim by the dock…

What did we miss? Quite a lot actually. We could have used at least one more full day to enjoy some of the islands best snorkeling at Melones Beach and Carlos Rosario Beach, some time to hike and enjoy the beautiful vistas and more time sipping a cold beverage while chatting with the locals and other visitors at the Dinghy Dock. Then, we would like yet another day to take a water taxi over to Culebrita, a little uninhabited cay off across from Zoni Beach to hike to the abandoned lighthouse, check out the beautiful, deserted beaches and to snorkel with the islands resident turtles.

Ok, if we had our way, we’d have to stay at least a week to totally take in the beauty and charm of this laid back island where you can really kinda feel yourself entering island from the moment you step ashore.

Have you been to Culebra? Tell us about it!

Find Culebra on our Puerto Rico Map

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

March 28, 2015May 29, 2019

Sunday Serenity: Morning in Green Turtle Cay

Recently we spent a week sailing the out islands of The Abacos, Bahamas. Well, actually it was more motoring than sailing as during our visit, the Sea of Abaco happened to be unusually calm.

One of the cays we were able to explore was Green Turtle Cay. About mid-way down the chain of cays that fringe the larger island of Abaco, Green Turtle Cay measures about 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. Exploring Green Turtle Cay is done easily by golf cart or bike.

During our sail, we’d awake each morning and snap a quick picture of the scenery through our porthole. The morning we awoke on Green Turtle Cay, the morning “porthole pic” was well, amazing! The water was so still that it created a perfect reflection of the colorful morning sky.

We’ll be writing more soon about our explorations on Green Turtle, but for now we’ll leave you with the Green Turtle Cay Morning Porthole Pic…

Have you explored Green Turtle Cay? Tell us about it!

Find Green Turtle Cay on our Bahamas Map

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

March 24, 2015November 7, 2020

Caribbean Mist

We recently ran across a picture of a beautiful blue rum drink called a Caribbean Mist on a website called Something Turquoise (picture of the drink). The hue of this drink was an amazing color, similar to the color of the water in say, The Bahamas, or Turks and Caicos. We needed to try it.

The recipe is simple and we had the ingredients on hand, so we mixed up a batch. The color was greener than pictured, so we tried one more time.

Now we’re certainly not rocket scientists, but pineapple juice is yellow and Blue Curacao is blue and when you mix yellow and blue you get…green. So – this is how the drink looked when we made it the second time.

The color was still not as blue as the beverage featured on the website, but it was pretty and had a wonderful light and fruity taste.

Pour it into a champagne glass and this beverage would work well for brunches or other nice occasions.

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Print Recipe

Caribbean Mist

Servings:

Ingredients

3 oz Mango Rum (we used Cruzan Mango)
3 oz Pineapple Juice
3 oz Soda water (approximately)
Dash Blue Curacao
Sugar (for glass rims)

Instructions

Lightly dip the rim of each champagne glass in lemon or lime juice, then into the sugar (sanding sugar if available).
Fill the glasses with crushed ice.
Pour the rum, pineapple juice and the dash of Blue Curacao in a shaker with ice and shake.
Pour the mixture in the glasses, then fill the rest of the glass with soda water.

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March 23, 2015April 12, 2015

Caribbean Life – Living on an Island

We don’t really watch a lot of TV. A few shows here and there, but we can normally take it or leave it. With the exception of one show lately. One show that we either look forward to watching every week or record. And if it’s a repeat…well, let’s just say that can spoil the whole evening.

What show is it? Caribbean Life. New episodes air every Sunday evening and we are glued to each one. Face it – the thought of selling everything and moving to a Caribbean island can be quite alluring – especially when the weather outside your current residence is decidedly less than tropical.

A mansion on St. Croix, a house in the jungle in Belize, a condo on the beach in Grand Cayman; all featuring steel drum music, beautiful beach scenes and, of course, delicious tropical drinks. Each new episode gets us thinking about what it would truly be like to live in the paradise that we can’t wait to vacation in.

But the reality of island life is not always pretty. Prices are high, power outages frequent and those darn tourists. I recently read an article entitled “You Might Be A Island Girl If…” on the blog Women Who Live On Rocks. It humorously outlines some of the realities of life in the tropics such as: 1. DEET is your new fragrance and 2. You’ve grown to rather enjoy a navy shower.

But still – could you take the island inconveniences to wake up every morning to warm weather, sunshine and beautiful water? Or, would you rather live where you are and look forward to escaping to paradise on vacation?

What do you think? Have you ever thought about relocating to paradise? What concerns would you have? Do you think you could adjust to life on an island? If you could – what island(s) do you dream of living on?

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

March 22, 2015June 6, 2019

Sunday Serenity: Why We’d Like to Re-Visit Cozumel

Although we’ve visited Cozumel a couple of times, we’ve not had the chance yet to stay on island…

Our last visit there was a fun adventure; four of us rented scooters and spent the afternoon touring the island. It was a great way to get around (insurance recommended!), see the beautiful beaches and attractions such as the Punta Moles Lighthouse and enjoy totally serene scenes such as this…

Why would we like to go back? Although you can see a lot of Cozumel in a day, we’d like to really get a feel for this laid back island just off the coast of Playa del Carmen – snorkeling Chankanaab, drinking ice cold cervezas and spending a few afternoons relaxing in a hammock in the white sand just like the one above…

Have you spent time in Cozumel? Tell us what you enjoyed about it!

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory