Irie mon...
In Jamaica it's ALL good. Loved being there and just getting the "relaxed" feel from everyone and everything. Not just because it was a resort and we were there to be pampered, but because Jamaicans are really just like, "No problem mon... whatever." We were in quite a few taxis during the week for different excursions, and there were many times I thought, "Holy cow, if someone did that at home fingers would be flying and horns would be honking!" But they didn't care, that's the way they roll.
Thoroughly enjoyed having a pina colada with ALMOST EVERY meal, laying in the sun with my new hubby, and listening to the reggae beats. Let's see if I can remember the highlights...have you grabbed a snack yet?
Day 1: Monday the 28th
- Our flight left Cincinnati airport at 7am before the SUN was even out of bed. We woke up and got there at a time that's just TOO early for any human being to be hauling around luggage and comprehending the phrase, "Do you have any liquids in your carry-ons?" The hotel breakfast didn't start until 6am, but they were nice and let us choose some fruit and cereal to eat before taking the shuttle to the airport, so I at least had some sustenance.
- Upon landing at the Charlotte airport, as soon as the wheels hit the ground and the breaks were applied, we SWIFTLY turned to the left as if we were a race car in the Indy 500. Everyone was shoved to the right and the right wing must have been INCHES from the ground as we veered around the curve! The flight attendant came over the speakers to say that we had landed in Charlotte, yada yada yada, and she started laughing! She said something like, "There seem to be complaints from the cabin about the driving...please stay seated and we'll try to get everyone off the flight without whiplash." HAHA! Apparently our pilot was in training! As we were walking off the plane, the attendant said that no matter how long he's been flying he still thinks he's driving a car. Good thing we arrived safely, and found out that he was in training after we landed!
- We had bagel sandwiches for lunch in Charlotte, and I felt like I was eating at Bagel Cafe again. Memories of jobs passed...
- After arriving at the Montego Bay airport and making our way to the luggage belts, we were in for quite a treat. Since the conveyors were so small, whenever luggage would come in it was put in rows on the floor. Dan searched all over the place for our bags. After a while of searching we figured our luggage was lost and went to the service desk. As soon as Dan mentioned that our luggage didn't arrive, they pointed behind us and there were our bags! What the?! Long story short, our luggage came in on an earlier flight.
- We were offered drinks by the Couples representatives and took a shuttle for two hours to the resort. By the time we got there, I think Dan and I were the only ones who hadn't fallen asleep - there were three other couples on the shuttle.
- We checked in around 3pm and found our room with a garden view. We took pictures and made reservations for a few things during the week. Once dinner time rolled around, we headed out to the buffet and remembered what it was like to eat all the food we wanted! Oops, there went those Weight Watcher points...it's our honeymoon, who CARES! I think there were as many desserts displayed as all the dinner food combined. :)
- We caught up on SLEEP!
- We did the buffet for lunch (everyday because it's the only thing open for lunch), and only a couple hours passed before it started to storm. Man! It didn't last long, but the sun hid behind the clouds for the rest of the day. We talked to another couple and realized that it wasn't just us and our horrible luck with weather when we travel. Apparently it rains everyday in the afternoon. This was the beginning of a learning experience - if you want to do anything regarding the sun, you must get your lazy behind out of bed at SIX IN THE MORNING before the afternoon rains come along. Pish-ah, as IF! On vacation, let alone in the real world, six in the morning does not exist to me. Okay, so maybe on Wednesdays it does when I have to work early...but I digress.
- This may have been the day I discovered the free-flowing soft-serve ICE CREAM machine! Not like a fountain, since that would've been weird, but it was free just like everything else...the food, the pina coladas (and other drinks, but who cares about those), everything. Yummmm.
- We had reservations for the French restaurant, Le Gourmet, that night. It was odd to go to a restaurant and order five different courses without batting an eyelash about the price, or whether or not you could actually eat it all. It didn't matter. The appetizers were very cool because they were served how they SHOULD be served - small! Here in the good old US-of-A, when you order an appetizer you have to bring along four or five friends to eat it with you. But these appetizers were juuuuust right, single portions.
- Another day of sleeping in...oops. We took an hour snorkeling lesson around 11am and a boat left right after that to take us and other snorkelers out to the reefs. We were equipped with our waterproof camera, but didn't end up with very clear shots. Still VERY cool. Note to self: while snorkeling DO NOT turn your head to look at something to the side of you...inevitably, you will end up inhaling salt water.
- Even though we had some light afternoon showers after lunch, we took out a kayak. No problem! We learned to kayak in Maine and have been hooked since.
- My wedding manicured nails were chipping beyond belief, so we made an appointment for Dan and I to have pedicures together and I had another manicure. I was quite impressed that he wanted to have a pedicure and actually enjoyed it.
- We had reservations for the Italian restaurant that night, Bayside. Very good meal and equally delicious dessert. Beautiful view also, since the restaurant was literally ON the water looking toward the resort and ocean. Our photos didn't turn out too well since it was in the evening, but we managed to get some good ones.
- The one and only day that it didn't rain...that morning before lunch we took a sailing lesson and I let Dan be the captain. He rocked.
- Horseback riding on a plantation! I had never been on a horse on my life, so this was a new experience for me. Pretty fun, though kinda scary when my horse would lose its footing on a muddy hill, but no one fell! My horse's name was Easy King, and Dan's was Charlie. And we had a guide that looked like Snoop Dog. In the middle of the ride, they stopped us at a clearing and a guy climbed one of the coconut trees... a Jamaican monkey... and then told us about all different types of Jamaican fruits and flowers. In case you didn't know, for the men, coconut water will "put lead in your pencil." Who KNEW?!
- We tried the remaining restaurant at the resort because it didn't require reservations. Delicious as well! Loved the decor also, with fabric draped across the ceilings and everything in pink, red, and white.
- That afternoon we got to take a shopping trip into town. A taxi van dropped off a group of us and came back after a couple of hours. We were told to barter with the store people and to watch out for followers and drug dealers...awesome. We had a good experience overall, and I think
weDan bartered pretty well. We shopped in two different stores, only bought a little drum from one of them, and from the other store we got quite a few t-shirts and souvenirs for only $45. Go Dan! - At the end of the shopping trip it started POURING. We got into the van just in time. We were scheduled to have a Catamaran Cruise (why not just call it what it is - a booze cruise) around 3pm, but it was rescheduled because of the rain. Boo-hoo.
- Since we didn't know what else to do back at the resort, Dan went to the bar for a few to-go drinks, and we ran through the rain to take advantage of a forest hot tub. Good way to spend a rain shower - in a hot tub listening to the rain on the roof and trees.
- The Catamaran was rescheduled for 3pm this day, but was gosh-darn canceled for good because of a rain shower that didn't last very long! By 3:00 we could've been boarding the boat in the sunshine - with pina colada in hand.
- Instead, we just relaxed the day away laying on the beach and taking pictures.
- Dunn's River Falls. No need to say anymore, but I will. Our video guide for this was hi-LAR-ious! Also looking a little like Snoop Dog (I'm noticing a trend here), he called himself Big Poppa...or Big Papa, not sure. Anyway, he gave us a little pep talk beforehand, along the lines of "I'll be your camera man and I like it SPICY, YEA?! We are a TEAM! We hold hands and stick together! All for one and one for all! If somebody falls, what do you do? (Enter group here saying, 'We fall too!') HELL no! You let them GO!" We had regular guides for the
walkclimb UP the falls, and then we had Big Poppa following us around motioning for us to do different things on video because he liked it spicy. And every once in a while he'd look at a girl and touch his chest real quick to motion like her top had fallen down...just for good video measure. On the way back out to our taxi van we were able to check out some of the "shops." This was where we really got sucked in - people coming up to us from every direction telling us they had free things for us, or that they would follow us back to the resort if we didn't have money with us, etc. And when you would ask where the exit was, they were super sneaky in telling you the WRONG WAY! We finally found the exit and got our booties out of there... after we bought some cute dolls. - We also had a half-hour couple's massage since it was our last day. It was heeeeeavenly and complementary.
- After the massage we walked around the resort to take more pictures. When we were about done taking the shots we wanted, I remembered that we saw a Hard Rock on our way back from Dunn's River. Hard Rock means collectible bears and I really wanted one from Jamaica. I mentioned the idea to Dan and we went to guest services to see how much a cab would be. We also had them find the phone number for us to see how long the shop was open on a Sunday. It was about 5:20pm when we called and the shop was going to close at 6:00! We weren't going to make it if we had to wait for a cab to get there and take us. By some funny chance a van had just pulled up with new guests to the resort, and the guest services lady asked the driver if he would take us. She would call a cab to pick us up from Hard Rock. Awesome! We jumped in the van and were taken to get a precious collectible bear, along with some t-shirts and a pair of drumsticks for my rockin' little brother.
- Our nice, relaxing, reggae-filled vacation had come to an end. Again, had to be up way too early and have our bags outside the room door by 6am. Tried to eat some cereal before getting on the shuttle at 7am. Two hours and we were at the airport, going through security and checking the shops for last minute souvenirs and gifts - including some Jamaican Rum, can't leave without that.
- Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 11am, so we had an early lunch at Jimmy Buffet's airport restaurant. The flight to Charlotte was pretty good, but somehow we were delayed getting in and had to RUN to get our luggage and get through customs. We made it to the gate on time, with time to spare actually. Just a matter of time until we were back in good old Cincy. Or not. The pilot took us off the runway and said that a bad storm in Cincinnati wasn't letting planes fly in or out. And he would check back with us in a half-hour to give us an update. WHAT? A half-hour, water and bag of pretzels later...we get to wait another half-hour. Another half-hour later...we get to wait one more half-hour and see what Cincinnati says. Our flight was supposed to arrive at 7pm... and it arrived around 9pm instead. Never a dull moment!
- My dad waited for us the entire time. I told him in Charlotte to go home and we would get a cab. We only live five minutes from the airport anyway. But he refused. Tear-jerkingly sweet. It was good to see him when we got off the plane.
- Upon getting to our apartment and Dan trying to unlock the door, he dropped a bottle of Rum he was carrying in his arms. One down, three to go. Luckily they were still wrapped up and in a box somewhere. And we got our last whiff of Jamaica for the night, right outside our front door.
Photos are still up at photos.rye-designs.com!
P.S. Who's watching HGTV's new season of Design Star? Why did they put that long, blond-haired guy on there? (Todd?) Honestly. He's going to have Eiffel Towers and glitter all over the place, no contest with him!
