Yea Mon, Jamaica!

Sometimes good things happen. In this case it came in the form of a gift. Karen listens to a particular radio station most days, and when they said call now, she did. Well she just happened to be the right caller and won an all expenses paid trip for two to Jamaica! How sweet is that? The trip included airfare, 3 nights hotel at the Holiday Inn Sunspree, and all food and drinks. The only thing we were responsible for (which we found out later-more on that soon) were transfers to and from the airport.

We decided to go in early May, since that was after spring break and before hurricane season. It turns out it was a perfect time to go. The resort was not too busy so we were able to relax and enjoy it without too big of a crowd, yet it wasn't too crazy at night either. We actually left Tuesday evening and stayed at the Sheraton next to JFK in New York. We weren't there but 5 minutes, and the building fire alarm went off! Not a great way to start the trip. New York's finest showed up in quick order, and it was determined that it was a faulty sensor in the panel (it went off another 10 times over the next few hours). Fortunately the problem was fixed before bedtime.
We settled in for the evening, and the room was quite nice. A very spacious area with a huge bath area. Afterwards we wandered upstairs to the Preferred Guest Lounge-after all-Membership has its privilege! There we were able to snack on various goodies, and had a nice view of the stacked parking.
The next morning we were up very early-with the regulations for out of country flights check in was 2 hours before the flight. We checked in and waited. And waited. Finally we were boarding, and soon we were in the air for the flight to Jamaica! The snacks were definitely Jamaican too. After a few hours we were on the ground and herded into customs. After the obligatory grilling, our passports were stamped (my first!) and we were allowed to enter the country.

And now-the taxi ride. The nice part about an all-inclusive trip is everything is included. The bad part is if you skim over what is included, and not really read every word, you missed the fact that transportation to and from the airports is not included. After speaking to several people, it was determined that transportation for our particular hotel was not included. We tried to get our cell phone working, and of course it was trying to connect to a local carrier, instead of the proper roaming, so rather than get stuck with an expensive out of country charge we canned that. Going to the payphones, we saw they were conveniently out of order. Now the various taxi drivers were coming up to us and we were being bombarded with "Hey Mon" by everyone. We stepped off to a quiet corner and regrouped, finally deciding to approach them and negotiate a price. After several attempts, we found one driver that accepted our counter-offer, and off we went.


Driving toward the resort, once away from the airport, it was apparent how impoverished Jamaica really is. It was sad to see some of the conditions. As we drove by the various resorts, the quality of the area increased ten-fold. Finally we saw the sign for our resort, and we watched our driver pass our resort. The hair on the back of my neck started to rise momentarily, until I realized, because of the fact they drive on the wrong side of the road(to us at least) he had to maneuver to a proper turn around to get into the resort.
We checked in and the whole resort was very open-a large open air lobby, with a beautiful atrium and lots of color. Since we left early, we had a light breakfast, and when we arrived it was still early and breakfast was still being served, so we stopped in to grab a snack.
We walked to our unit, and while not the most lavish of accommodations, was certainly adequate. I had read some mixed reviews about this place in the preceding months, some as recent as a week or two prior to our departure. Some were glowing and others downright insulting. I was pleasantly surprised both with the accommodations and the staff.
After settling in and unpacking, we stepped outside. The view from our balcony was perfect-palm trees, water and blue sky. We headed to the beach, exploring along the way. First stop was the jerk chicken shack. They had not opened yet, so we would have to come back. Next we went to the pool area, and looked at the little atoll the resort had created. There were palm frond umbrellas and beach chairs aplenty-the perfect place to sit and sun. We explored the rest of the beach area and we were just enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Usually when you go on vacation, you try and cram in so many activities, you need a vacation from vacation. This time we decided not to do much at all just relax, and enjoy.
So the afternoon it was basically to chill, and snack. There was a hut near the "island"that had burgers and dogs on one side, and bar on the other. We grabbed something and sat enjoying the view.

From the perch we had a great view of the island and the ocean. After laying out for a short time, I burned up pretty good. I even ended up with a few blisters on the top of my head. Darn my Irish complexion. Moving to the shade, we watched the boat people come in. We called them the boat people, but they were locals with older paddle boats loaded with all sorts of local wares. They are not allowed on property, so they walk along the shore and set up in the shallows. Then the tourist/resort guests walk out and check out what they have. And they had a little bit of everything! Carvings, mugs, T Shirts, and so much more. We sat in the water in the lounge chairs for a bit and strolled around, stopping by the gazebo, and then the beach, where one of the staff members snapped our photo. Although sunny, it was very breezy, which helped make it feel a little cooler than the 91 degrees it got up to. We decided to walk to the lobby area, with the inside bar. There they were serving the standard fare, Pina Colada, Daiquiris, Cervaza's, and the Bob Marley, an interesting combination of Creme de Menthe, Banana Liqueur, 151 rum, and Grenadine. The results were colorful, and I am sure quite potent. Beauty was all over the resort, from the flower beds to the palms, to white sand. Peaceful and serene were the keywords to describe the feelings we had. It isn't often you can relax as much as we did. No need to go anywhere that wasn't within walking distance. We had a light dinner and decided to call it an early evening and relax in our room. Tomorrow we would perhaps venture beyond the resort walls. We rose early the next morning, partly because the early night, partly because we were technically an hour behind even though we were still in the same time zone. Apparently Daylight Savings Time is not used in Jamaica. We took advantage of the early hour to walk around the resort, and not a soul was stirring, yet people had been out working through the night to turn everything back to pristine shape. The drink cups and towels were picked up, the chairs were lined back up, and even the sand was raked smooth. It was very peaceful to walk along the beach, leaving first tracks in the sand. The early dawn light and the waves crashing along the shore were spectacular. We felt alone on a desert island. Exploring the entire resort, we looked at the various places without interruption-from the snack areas, to the restaurants, to the balconies overlooking the pool and shore. Paradise indeed.
Further down the beach the crabs had been out and and now the lower tide were exposing their holes in the sand. They were elusive for pictures however.... As we wandering back towards the resort proper, a quick little rain squall hit. We took refuge under a gazebo at the end of a dock. The waves were hypnotic and peaceful. Raindrops fell all around us yet off in the distance the sky had blue spots meaning the rain was short lived. After the spot storm subsided, we went back anxious for breakfast. There was a fairly modern fare, with fresh local fruits, breads, eggs, and some various local dishes. Unfortunately, I waited too long to update the blog, and the names escape me. But we tried to taste some of the local dishes every day, to broaden our palates a bit. We were even joined at the table by someone from the island, though they didn't really talk all that much. He had a pretty good appetite though. After breakfast, there was a bus trip to the local duty free shopping. We decided we would go check it out. It was basically a strip type mall with more jewelry and watch shoppes than I have ever seen before in my life. We walked through the various shops, but didn't really see anything that caught our eye enough to say "wow". At the end of the shopping mall was a unique waterwheel and water garden.When we returned to the resort, we opted to cool off in the pool. It was very relaxing but hard to find the shade. There was always something happening next to the pool, as the resort staff tried to provide a little something for kids and adults to do, and also sharing there culture, whether through dance or song. They even had a character to help with the fun. He had the moves too, as was witnessed by his dancing around, though I cannot imagine how hot it must have been inside .
Later on we returned for dinner and the evening entertainment. Included in the dinner were a abundant choice of local dishes, American standards, and a myriad of pastries.

Later that night we were entertained by the local people with the standard calypso dance and ultimately the limbo. The girls were very good but the one man did the lowest limbo and under the flames as well! Our last day was quiet and all to soon it was time to head home. We arranged for a taxi to get us there in plenty of time to make it through the long lines. We had time to relax before our flight, and wandered about the small airport. Soon it was time to leave. As we flew home, to end our trip on another strange note, the passenger 1 row across from us developed chest pains. It was apparently severe enough to ask for a doctor over the intercom. After a quick exam, he was put on oxygen and when we landed, New York's finest sprung into action again, and boarded the plane and examined him, then took him off on a stretcher. All in all a great trip for us- a little drama at the beginning and end, but "cool runnings" in between. I hope we get back someday. If the wife asks me to go back my answer will for sure be "Yea Mon!"