Holiday Sun-Wed Jan16-19

With Kory laid up we were sticking pretty close to home, mind you this trip was pretty laid back already and I was loving it. Magic coffee and a book 1st thing in the am while Bren fed the resort kitties.



A sashay out somewhere to have/get/pick up breakfast. A dip in the ocean, some beach time and then back to the rooms for a nuncheon - usually wraps from our forays at the local HiLo. A visit from Doc &/or Brent, a trip to town if supplies were needed (read beer, rum cream or cell minutes).



Some patio time with the brother, an afternoon siesta to avoid the worst heat of the day and any chance of sunburn;)and up again in time for some more ocean or a visit to the beach bar before foraging for supper. I would recommend this to anyone.

More specifically, Fri and Sunday nites were usually spent at least partly at Traveller's doing Jamaican Karaoke. Several shopping trips with Doc - awandering in order to figure out what we were bringing back with us. A visit or two to the local Cambio to exchange money. Making friends with the locals - some of the people staying in the condos have families that have been coming here for decades. What a cast of characters!

I had the chance to discover some local "not tourist" attractions - little teeny restaurants where they serve "real" food, rice & peas, plantains, dumplings, curried goat, oxtail, yams, callaloo, brown chicken, jerk everything from fish to beef and even on salad, coco bread, saltfish & Ackee, grilled lobster all at half the cost of the bigger restaurants - and my god the portions. I don't think there was one meal that I could completely finish. The flavours and seasoning to die for, and the joy of watching some of your meal being prepared right in front of you. Of course there was also the pattie man just down the road - always a treat, and I like the beef ones best. The plethora of small roadside bars is amazing, and I didn't find a single one that didn't have ice cold guinness for less than $3. Every time I went to a new place and ordered guinness it was an experience, since it is apparently rare for women in Jamaica to drink it. It's considered a "tonic", mind you the foreign export is 6.5%. But it is soooo good. The bonus was that once I'd been to one place, every time I went back they knew what I wanted.

And music music everywhere - The horn language of the cars, taxi rados, shop stereos, boom boxes, restaurants, all the bars roadside or beach, I swear Jamaica must have the highest number of speakers per capita in all the world. It was fantastic. People breaking into song at random moments, dancing along the verge of the road or on the beach and if I knew the tune I was singing too - not well perhaps but always enthusiastically. Whether they enjoyed my additions or were just amused by the crazy lady didn't even matter cause we all just laughed and kept on along ...

Kerry & Beffie landed at the RIU on Sunday. Brent P had to leave us on Monday, Asquith on Tuesday, but we knew that Thursday the Rowleys, Ray Ray and Charlie would arrive so there was some balance. I was just glad that I could park my generous seating capacity on the beach and not even consider winter.

Pants? Mittens? Coats? What the hell are those?