On Thursday, Ryan and I took off at 500am for the airport - on our way to Jamaica! With all of Ryan's travels, he has several upgrades and his upgrades paid off and we got to fly First Class! There's no time change in Jamaica and we finally touched down in Montego Bay a little before 200p. It took until 330p to get through customs! Felt like forever...
Then, we got into a bus headed for Negril. At 500p, we finally pulled into the Grand Pineapple!
It had been a LONG day traveling, so we parked our stuff in the room and walked over to see the beautiful ocean! To our delight, it was close to sunset so we just sat and watched and started our night early at the bar! The sunset was absolutely indescribable. UNREAL. Simply, stunning.
We met a new friend - Carol there, who informed us it was her 8th time at that hotel and 10th time to Jamaica! She was scheduled to be there this trip for 2 1/2 weeks! Just a nice, quiet peaceful trip by herself. Bliss.
We went to sleep early that night and slept in the next day. We set off after breakfast for a walk down the beach to see what Jamaica was really all about.... We were told about the "locals" and to "stay away from them" and just say "no thanks" and "wave them off" - (all quotes from the security at the hotel). Ryan and I met a local - named Joovy - but it's actually spelled some other way.... Anyway, he was born and raised in Jamaica - one of the "locals" we were told to stay away from. Anyway, he walked with us the 2 mile stretch down the south end of 7 Mile Beach. We had a great talk with him and learned a lot... but more importantly, with him walking with us, everyone else left us alone! I felt this overwhelming urge to take pictures of the two of them walking ahead of me... It's just strange to think of the different backgrounds these two men have - the different experiences they have been part of and different childhoods and culture - and how the world had put them on that very same place at that very same time and they talked as if they were old friends. I found it quite amusing.
While they talked, I took pictures of everything! Jamaica is an amateur photographer's dream! I only wish I had a better lens - one that I could zoom in a lot better (mine is really really bad). But either way, I had fun snapping along our long walk! Jamaica has such a raw beauty....
This was our set up. We had chairs, nice company and a security guard chilling w/ us... (very fun people by the way!) and the beautiful ocean in front of us!
Our room...
This is Andrew - who makes AMAZING drinks.
Another spectacular sunset.
Our dinner - facing that sunset... The Grand Pineapple's food was GRAND!!!! :-)
Even breakfast included a special drink. :) And a special chair for Ryan.
This was the book I re-read on this trip. Not too exciting, but I highly recommend it to ANYONE who has a child or will have a child ages 18 mos - 3 years.
We met some great people during this trip! Makes us want to go back to this exact spot next time we're in Jamaica - these people are fantastic! This is Donovan, one of the security guards (and 50 cent look-alike) who kept watch of over us during our trip. Donovan loved my sunglasses so I gave them to him before we left and so he was pretty happy about it.
This is Patrick - another security guard who we loved! He was a more no-nonsense kind of man - he has eyes on all 4 sides of his head... Anyway - the beach is a tight ship when he was around. And he scored Ryan's sunglasses. :)
This is Melanie -she's from England and traveled here on her own too. She was a rockstar - but don't mess w/ her. She works for the transit in England and is very well traveled. She was HILARIOUS... I could listen to her sayings and her accent all day long. Never dull, darling. In this pic - we're inspecting our "bites."
Ronnie!! He was the designated "lifeguard" and "sports guy" - so if you want lessons on anything or a trip somewhere, he's your guy.... oh, and he's really fun to just sit and talk to. Love this guy.... so much so that I believe he's now friends w/ Ryan on facebook. :)
Sweet Carol. She reminded us so much of Ryan's mom - Carol. SO MUCH. But as I mentioned, she has been to Jamaica 10 times, so she knows her stuff. We had a good time talking to her!
These little lizards are everywhere in Jamaica... reminds me of Arizona actually!
I copied this pose from a friend of mine who is a photographer. Pretty sure hers is a thousand times better than mine, but it's a fun pic regardless.
Thanks Grand Pineapple - and thanks Jamaica....
We hope to see you again in the future. Thanks for treating us so well.
