Jamaica, Mon

Jason and I celebrated our TWENTIETH Anniversary in Jamaica. Can you honestly believe that it has been TWENTY years?!?  I feel like we met just yesterday. Even with a grown child out of the house! 

We went for a week, while the boys were away at camp. We flew out so early on Mon June 27. A 8:00 flight sounded wonderful- then we realized that we’d have to wake up at 3:30 AM to get there on time. We landed at noon, were met by Club Mobay, and within an hour we were in our private transfer car beginning our 2 hour drive to the Couples Tower Isle Resort. 

Jamaica was shockingly poor and unkept. I kept expecting to drive through a “nice” area. Every once in a while, the driver would point out a celebrity’s big fancy home. Even they were surrounded by poverty. 

When we arrived, I just couldn’t believe how pretty the resort was. I’ve never stayed in a place like that. I’ve only seen them in movies. But… there we were! The breeze through the lobby was just perfect. So relaxing. Our room was number 4502… building 4, 5th floor. The hallway there was less than stellar and I got nervous that we had made a huge mistake. The room was pleasant, but underwhelming- except for the view! I was immediately impressed with the food! We had a few drinks, walked around the resort and then went to one of the fancier restaurants (The Veranda) for dinner. I finally got to wear the dress Jaylee got me in Brazil! 

Unfortunately, most of our photos now are only of me. We lost my phone on our last day there, so we only have the photos from Jason’s phone:( Luckily, he took 1,000 x’s the photos he usually takes! 

On Tuesday, we both woke around 0500. We started drinking at breakfast! Our fruit smoothie was so delicious, we decided to add the breakfast vodka. We explored the resort again, got to float in the ocean, watched a couple being saved after their little sailboat capsized, hung out at the pool bar for a while and eventually ended up over on The Island. We weren’t there more than an hour, before a huge storm blew in… literally within 15/20 mins. Eventually we got dressed up for our fancy dinner out over the water (Bayside Restaurant). Jason picked my dress for the evening… his favorite, my “Greek Goddess” dress. I was pretty darn exhausted at dinner, but rallied enough to go to the karaoke party at the dance club that night. Neither of us sang. 

Wednesday morning we left the resort on a stagecoach bus at 0900. Dunns River Falls were so cool! We started in the ocean and over the hour, we climbed 960 feet UP the Falls. I laughed because so many spots were literally dangerous- and never would have been allowed in the USA. Our tour guide and assigned group photographer took around our group of 20. Starting out, we were told that we all, literally, had to hold hands and form a chain. Awkward! The chain only lasted about 45 feet up. The water was SO cold! The photo below is Jason getting his tummy wet for the first time.  At one point, we slid down a rock slide into a deeper spot. Another time, Jason and I did a “trust fall” straight back into another deeper spot. There were so many great photo spots- but all of those pictures are in my phone, at the bottom of the Caribbean:( Luckily I had sent one photo and one video to Jaylee. We returned to the resort by 1300, grabbed some lunch and hit the beach. I was exhausted after everything. We eventually grabbed dinner, watched a fire show, and then listened to a steel drum band on our way to bed- nice and early. 

Thursday we were up early and drinking for breakfast again! At 0930, we got to go on a guided Nature Walk around the resort- it was so cool! We ate fresh star fruit, papayas, nibbled on a few fresh herbs, and even tasted aloe- I don’t suggest it, it is very bitter. We found a white plumeria bush. (My favorite smell in the world, and thank you Lord Jesus that I could smell it! I was worried about that.) The guide let the resorts’ three McCaws out of their cage to stroll around the garden a little bit. When he called out to them “go inside, go inside, go inside!” they each returned to the cage straight away!!! We even found a Cardboard Plant- that’s it’s real name! And now Jason wants one for his office. 

Then we made our way around the resort for the afternoon, with drinks in hand. We each got a lot of sun that day, but neither of us ever burned! I was amazed- Jason just got tan! Looking back through Jason’s photos, it seems we made our way around the resort doing photo shoots, lol! Luckily everyone at the resort was constantly taking photos, so it wasn’t weird. The resort has so many cool little nooks- just for photos. 

We had dinner at Eight Rivers that night. It was their fanciest restaurant. They have the best soups there! I know how silly that sounds, especially since we were on a 90’ island. My favorite was Pumpkin. They poured it out of a fancy tea pot. Then we went up onto the rooftop patio for a Martini and Melody party. I had heard such great things about lychee martinis. Mine was so awful that I couldn’t drink it! Oh well. 

Friday was pretty much like every other day. At 1000, we took a Beginner’s Massage Class- which Jason loved.  At mid day we got VERY relaxed and then had to just chill for most of the day. We even ended up scheduling a couples massage for the next day:) We spent a lot of the afternoon just floating on the orange “couples floats” that they had in the ocean. We were supposed to go on a snorkeling trip mid afternoon, but the water had been “rough” the past 2 days, so the trip was cancelled for “poor water visibility”. I never even used my snorkel stuff at all this vaca- I was too busy relaxing! 

We had another impromptu photo shoot before dinner.  Jason looked so hot!!

Saturday came so quickly! Too quickly. We were up early on Saturday, because our scuba class was supposed to start at 0745. We hit up the coffee shop for the first time, since breakfast wasn’t served until 0730. We inhaled breakfast, zipped down to the Dive Shop,  and sat waiting for 45 mins before our class instructor was ready to go. “Island Time” is a real thing. It can be frustrating for someone who is very organized, efficient, and always on time. But we were so relaxed all vacation, that it didn’t bother me as much as you would think. 

The private class began with a 20 minute video and quiz. That was easy. The whole “going completely underwater while breathing a small amount of air” part was too hard for me. After trying it for 20 minutes, I threw in the towel. I knew I couldn’t safely go out in the ocean water, so I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time. Jason loved it, but insisted that he had no interest in doing it without me- since “seeing cool new things” was “my thing”, not his. The guy was nice enough to not charge us the money, so we tipped him generously. 

We got to FaceTime the boys since they had just gotten home from camp! Then we went back to relaxing, drinking and making our way around the resort for hours. I snapped a photo of the seashell salesman that just floated in on a surf board every afternoon. Our massages were at 1600. It was very relaxing. Jason loves massages. Then we got dolled up for a sunset dinner. Dinner was an International Feast, with all of the tables moved under the stars. There was dinner music and then there was a cool band. 

While the band got started, we sat by the beach and took ourselves back to our fun nights 20 years ago. Eventually, the two of us had our own little dance party right on the beach.  The band was good! Then we must have walked 4 miles, constantly refilling out water bottles. We laughed, talked non-stop, reminisced, sang along outside of the piano bar since it was packed,  and eventually made it to the dance club. What Fun!! I haven’t been to a club since pre-COVID. I forgot how much I love to dance! Jason’s so fun on the dance floor. Before the night ended, we were renewing our vows and snapping photos of us on a dock (20 years later). My favorite photo of the night is Jason laying on the recliner, out on the dock, in the middle of the night, sweaty from dancing, cooling off in the breeze:) Saturday Night in Jamaica will be a hard night to beat! 

Sunday Funday! I don’t think we slept in once this vacation- Sunday we got up around 0830, 5 hours after getting to bed. That’s the latest we ever slept. We decided to take the bus over to the other Couple’s Resort in Ochos Rios. The bus left at 1100, so we had to start drinking at 1015 again, lol. Going to an Au Natural Beach sober was not an option for me. We went to Couple’s San Souci’s Sunset Beach. I’m so glad we went- it was beautiful! Each couple had their own “palm tree thatched little canopy” for shade. So cute… again I’ve only seen them in movies. There was an actual beach and a pool/pool bar. Lunch was brought in for everyone- hamburgers and jerk chicken. Unfortunately, right in front of us the water was rocky-  more like 20 yards of stones- to get out to the waves. We found out 1 hour before the beach closed that if we had walked down to where the river came out to the ocean, there was a wide clear path out to the waves. Whoops! Jason was awesome- once we got out there, he kept making the runs into the pool bar to refill our drinks. His feet were bruised badly. My hero! At the beginning of our time in the water, Jason kept getting hit in the butt heels by a large fish… time and time again! It even got me one time.  Towards the end of our day, Jason was retrieving drinks, sunglasses and a phone for music… as he was handing you to me, a big wave knocked me off the float. Luckily, I saved our drinks. I PROBABLY should have saved my $1200 paid off phone- the one with ALL of my vaca photos. Oy vey!! 

The bus picked us up at 1700. I was beyond exhausted again, so I took a caffeine pill to help me rally, since it was our last night. 

Since I don’t drink caffeine anymore at all, I was really awake! We went to dinner at sunset, got seats inside the piano bar for a sing-along, and ended up at the dance club again!! (And eventually the wedding/vow site again.) We had a blast!! We weren’t ready for bed until 0330 and had to wake up at 0530, so I wasn’t able to sleep, worried that we’d sleep through the alarm. It was ok though… I finally got to see a sun rise:) 

Monday, July 4. The resort was already beautifully decorated for the holiday when we handed in our luggage in the lobby at 0615. We got to sit around, rock and relax for an hour before our van shuttled us to the airport. We were with 4 other couples this time. We had paid for Club Mobay again, but it wasn’t necessary. The lines were not long. And the good they offered was not good. After 90 mins going through the USA Customs, we were on the road. Unfortunately Pizza Party in Brookhaven was closed. Coco’s Pizza in Aston tasted nothing like what I remember from 30 years ago. 

I was excited to see the kids, but Jenni was at a 4th party and the boys decided to sleep at their friends house. So… we got some great sleep!!

This was a trip of a lifetime. We fell in love all over again- just like we did 20 years ago.