No problem mon, it’s irie!

Well, we made it back. I must say that was the complete package…the all inclusive. It was relaxing, it was fun, it was everything a honeymoon/vacation should be.

First let me clear up why I call it a honeymoon/vacation. See Jace and I have both been married once before. Yeah, we’re sinners like that. The other reason is, we went with another couple, our good friends Mario and Leanne. We had time to ourselves without a problem, and we spent some very fun hours with the Guerrero couple. So that is why I call it what I call it…nothing hidden in between the slash so to speak.

We started off by meeting Mario’s mom. She was very nice. She would be staying at Mario and Leanne’s house taking care of Ethan. It was nice to meet some more of their family. Speaking of which, our next stop took us to the Big D. Dallas that is. We made a stop to visit Leanne’s family. They were freaking awesome. So I will write more about them…since we hung out all night. No disrespect to Mrs. Guerrero at all though.

First let me introduce Leanne’s dad, AKA the tattoo man, also known as Rickey. He was hilarious. He welcomed us in, as did the rest of the family, with out holding back. We pent several very funny hours just visiting, sharing stories, a beer or three, and a bunch of laughs. I really do not think I can remember laughing that much in one visit to anywhere. Fun loving family. They rocked.

I should say one more thing, since this blog is really for me to remember things… if you ever meet Rickey, don’t give him a gun. LOL He was going through a small crisis at the time we arrived. He shared all the details…read that again…all the details, with Mario and I. I just want to quote him once here …”Someone is gonna get slapped, or cut. If I had a gun…” Sorry it is kind of an inside joke. I am sure if Mario or Leanne read this it will bring a smile.

Leanne’s sister, can’t remember everyone’s name…been in Jamaica for a week…sorry…anyway….. Leanne’s sister took us to the hotel at the airport that night. We went to bed and I barely got any sleep. Jace and I had a room next to the pool. The pool was filled with a million and a half kids that never ran out of laughter. Needless to say, we were a bit tired the next morning.

We caught a shuttle to the airport the next morning. This was just the beginning of our adventure. The driver was doing 60 + in a 30 mph zone, and did not understand what STOP meant. He stated he was from India originally, which is where I take he learned to drive.

Fast forwarding a bit – we had a great flight – watched the movie “Astronaut Farmer”. Caught a small nap as well.

We land – at Montego Bay – get shuffled through a maze of windowless, run down hallways until we come to a room full of other people with the same look of confusion and curiosity on there faces. Jace and I did not have our immigration form filled out correctly, so we were shuffled to the side – then we jumped back in line.

Soon we were greeted by nice men in little uniforms who took or luggage as we checked in with the resort. We had a free drink and a much needed restroom break. (uhh was that a little too much info? LOL)

We then went out side where we were told more than twice that it was ok to tip the drivers and luggage guys. LOL This was fine because they did all the work and made the ride…lets use the description – “not boring”. The ride took roughly 2 hours from Motego Bay to Ocho Rios, with one stop for the restroom and a restock of drinks.

We get to the resort and meet Nikko. It was “No problem mon” with him. He took our luggage to the rooms, and that’s where it all started.

We got some things out of the way, like reservations for dinner nights, etc. Then we went to our room. We were in B-15 and the Guerrero’s were in B-10, which happened to be directly below ours. This was cool since we found that yelling at each other over the balcony and tossing things back and forth was better than climbing the stairs. LOL Hey you are allowed to be completely lazy on vacation – plus were Americans, which gives us a right to act like it in another country.

We waisted no time hitting the beach that evening. We kicked things off with a little fun of our own…if you are lucky you will get to see the pictures. If not, just imagine. Hehehehehe

Our first two days consisted of having mostly fun and sun. We slowed down just a small bit the 3rd day. Mario and I went to play a round of golf at a beautiful golf course owned by the Sandles resort. Jace and Leanne went for a 2 hour massage.

Maro and I had a caddy named Wayne. This guy was very funny and very, very good at his job. He played the last hole with us – well actually he was in a league of his own. Mario and I both scored a 95 on the course – call Wayne he’ll tell you the same.

Later that night we went to the beach party. Awesome! Had a fashion show – “Children of the drum”, dancers, a ‘Fire man’, and an awesome feast on the beach. Check out these two awesome photos of I took. Dang I rock!

Our forth day we caught some sun and fun then later that evening we had reservations for the Italian restaurant there at the resort. We had to get spiffied up a bit for this gig. So it was good bye to the flip-flops and shorts, and hello slacks, dress shoes, nice dresses etc. The food was awesome, the piano player great, the service second to none, and the wine…well it made us all pretty tired. LOL So the game plan of hitting the pool or beach after dinner was none the less canceled in favor of hitting the hot tub in our rooms and then bed.

The fifth day we canceled our reservations for the French restaurant in favor of having fun. We hung out at the beach, the pool, the bar, then things got a little crazy…we decided to head over to the Au Natural beach. We have some secret photos, but not sure if they’ll be posted – ever. LOL

That evening we went into Ocho Rios, the actual town, for a bit of shopping. It was nice, fun, but I did have bit of the Clark show up in me while at the market. I could not handle much of the people trying to sell you everything, and then trapping you in their little huts. LOL I won’t go into details, but I promise you had I stayed there much longer then I would be a resident of Jamaica – the jail. If my brother or uncle had been there…along with me…I am afraid we would have destroyed the entire beautiful country and everyone in it. LOL

Later that evening we met some folks from Indiana, Arkansas, and Virginia…which were all transplants to Arkansas. So as southerners they were naturally as loud as we were. We hung out in the hot tub with them, then we hit the pool. After being brought to life by our favorite waitresses (Leanne & Jace) – we decided we needed to play a game of pool volleyball.

Problem – it was late so there was no ball in the pool. I located the entertainment manager who was kind enough to stop eating and visiting with friends to go get us a ball. These people are awesome. In the states they would have told us all to shut up and go to bed.

Also, it was Jamaica..and they just had bags of grass laying around for people to smoke…I am serious…se the pic…

So, now that this has been a little long winded, even though it does not make a dent in our time there – I just want to say we had a wonderful time. The people, the country, everything was completely great. I want to mention names here, some just nick names, but I want to always remember these few people:

Belgum, Nikko, Omar, Dave, Wayne, 78, Navy, New York, Jimmy, California, and Manchester…as well as all their wives. You folks made it fun for us, we hope we did the same for you all.