Remember that trip I won earlier this year?   Round trip airfare for two and reservations an all-inclusive resort on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.  Well I finally went, and I brought my Dad along. 

It’s not every day you win a trip, so at first I was a bit skeptical.  In fact, I remained skeptical up until I received the plane tickets and hotel reservations in the mail.  But it turned out to be legit, and now I’m sitting on a deck surrounded by palm trees, sun-burnt from head to toe.

The trip from Hartford to Martinique was a long one. Out flight left the airport at 730 in the morning and landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We had about 7 hours to kill before our transfer left the airport so we decided to take a taxi into old San Juan, where we checked out a few shops and the Fort San Felipe del Morro, walked around, and visited some shops.

Then it was back to the airport where we boarded our rickety two-propeller flight bound for Martinique.    I’ll post more later as I’m tight on time at the moment, but for now here’s a few pics from San Juan.

Thanks to everyone who voted for my story in the Color Me Martinique contest!  I’m really impressed with all of the help I received.  Everyone really pulled through on this one and helped me gather an incredible amount of votes.  Still no official word on who the winners are yet but at this point it’s looking pretty good.  The big announcement comes Monday.  Good luck to all of you.  Remember… you might have a vacation coming your way!

UPDATE:  I wont the trip mentioned below.  It was an incredible week and you can read about my experiences and check out photos here.

I have a very simple request for everyone who reads this. I'd like for you go and enter a contest to win a trip to the French island of Martinique.  All you need to do is vote for my story "Getting Lost on the Appalachian Trail", and you could find yourself spending 7 days relaxing on Caribbean island.  Pretty easy right? 

I ask this of you because if I'm the blogger who receives the most votes, I'll be winning a trip of my own to the island.  I was asked to participate in this contest along with 24 other bloggers by the French Government Tourist
Office.  I had never thought about going to Martinique before, but after doing some research it actually looks like an interesting place to visit.  There's a volcano on the island as well as some mountains that offer spectacular views for hikers.  It seems like it would be a great place to do some kayaking as well. 

So please go ahead and vote, and ask your friends to do the same.  But make sure they vote for my story!  I'll greatly appreciate it.  You can win, I can win, and we'll all be happy.

One way you could really help me out is by posting a bulletin on MySpace or Facebook that asks your friends to go vote as well!  To post on Facebook,

simply click this link.  Or if you have a blog, maybe mention it there?  I mean who wouldn't want to win a trip?

Terms and Conditions | Color Me Martinique Contest

It turns out that the Color Me Martinique contest that I recently mentioned hasn’t been officially launched yet.   So unfortunately the 127 votes that I’ve already received will not count.  If your one of those who have already voted – thank you.  I’ll announce when the contest is officially up and running so everyone can go back and try it again.  That’s really an impressive number of votes!  Thanks again!

I need your help!  The French Government Tourist Office has included a story of mine in a contest they’re running, and I’d like to have your vote.  There’s only 19 people being included in this contest and the person who has the most votes by March 1st will win a trip to Martinique!  My story is called "Getting Lost on the Appalachian Trail" and you can find it here.  Simply vote with a valid email address and you’re done! 

If my gratitude isn’t enough here’s one more incentive for you to help.  By simply voting you will be automatically entered to win a 7 night stay for two at the luxury Sofitel Bakoua in Martinique!  So go do it!  Just click HERE.