Smile for Your Satellite Picture

Last night was a romantic evening to say the least.  It deserves a blog of it’s own, but with a lack of time tonight, I shall skip most of it.  I will say it was amazing learning that the moving lights I saw far off were satellites.  Brandon is so smart.  It reminded me of one of my favorite sayings … “Every now and then I like to step outside, look up at the sky, and smile for my satellite picture.”

Today started with  an attempt at watching a sunrise over the Caribbean Sea.  We left the room a little before 5:30 a.m. and headed to the pier.  The clouds really did not want to cooperate, but we were still able to see the sun peak through for a moment.  I didn’t realize it was the sun.  I pointed it out as, “Orange-ish smoke in the distance.”  That’s when Brandon told me it was the sun peaking through the clouds.  We also watched a kayak with two men take off for what we assume was a fishing trip.  Finally, we got to watch a man raise the flags of the different countries represented at the resort up – and I snapped a photo as the flag of the USA was raised.

Following our sunrise moment, we headed back to bed until our wake-up call a little after 8:00.  Then we got up and got ready for our first excursion of our trip.  Our first stop was breakfast at the elegant breakfast restaurant on the resort, where I enjoyed a delicious egg omelet, and Brandon was a bit surprised over the really spicy sausage links that accompanied his fried eggs.

A bit later we boarded a bus for Dunn’s River Falls.  The experience was truly beautiful, and probably the 2nd best highlight of this trip thus far.  Our guides were wonderful, and Brandon and I were lucky enough to hold hands right behind the guide, K.C.  He was a wonderful man, and he shared a lot of details of his life with us.  He’s been working at the falls for the last 5 years.  His partner, Noah, has been working there for over 20.  Noah took photos of us throughout the trip, so we didn’t have to worry about losing our camera in the water.  (A major plus — since we’d attempted to water proof it with plastic Ziploc bags).

We truly enjoyed the falls.  We were able to experience the natural water slide, do a back plunge into a refreshing pool of cold water, get a natural back massage from the cascading falls, and just enjoy the beauty that is Jamaica.  It was a little over an hours hike.

During the tour we met up with two nice people from Kentucky, Michelle and Jamie.  We were able to share a locker with them, saving us about $4.  That’s a plus, since I forgot to pack water shoes.  I ended up spending $17 at the start of the trip on a pair of those — guess what my souvenir for myself is!  🙂

Speaking of souvenirs, at the end of the tour, we came to the craft market.  Brandon and I both thought we’d make it out without purchasing anything, but in the end, they got our last $20, and we were able to get a beautiful souvenir for Brandon’s mom.  It has a lot of personality…and is just too cute!!

In the market place, everyone wants to sell you something.  If you don’t have money, NO PROBLEM!  They will give you one for free, and then “your husband/boyfriend can leave me something at the hotel for the other one.  You just put ‘my’ name on the envelope.”  Lucky for us, we didn’t get anything.  But they truly try to encourage you to spend spend spend!  Talk about not being afraid to sell.

When we returned to the resort, we headed out for lunch at the buffet.  We both are in agreement – the food here is amazing.  We feel like it’s Thanksgiving everyday.  Of course, that only means trouble for our waist lines.  But right now, NO PROBLEM!!  :-/

We took some bread for the fish, but we didn’t have a lot of luck seeing them.  The boats had the water too stirred up.  So then we headed out to the sea for an afternoon of swimming.  Michelle and Jamie joined us, and we learned she was a graphic design artist who now works with him in ac/heater sales.

After relaxing a bit on the sand (where we took in too much sun without sunscreen, we ended up a bit burned), relaxing in the hot tub, and taking a swim in the pool, we headed to find out about purchasing a photo shoot on the property.  We were a bit in shock to learn the photo session was free, but photos were $8+ each.  We decided it just wasn’t worth the expense for that.  So now we’re using the 10-Second timer on my camera, or we’re trying to find someone willing to snap our photos at the places we want.

After leaving the photo hut (“Flash”), Brandon stopped by the gift shop, where he got his souvenir: goggles and a snorkel.  I think that was the best investment of the trip.  He spent the next 2 hours snorkeling, finding shells.  The highlight of his adventure was swimming with both a blow-fish and a stingray.  He found some neat shells that we’re now calling Jamaican Donuts.  While he was snorkeling, I took time to read a book and listen to the waves.  It amazes me the number of people here who are reading.  I guess there is something to success and literacy.

Brandon finished snorkeling about the time for sunset, and we were able to take in a partial sunset.  Most of it was hidden behind the big purple buildings of the resort next store.  Tomorrow night we shall attempt to view it from a different angle.

Dinner tonight was at Moonlight, the romantic Italian restaurant on the resort.  Delicious was an understatement – a 5 course meal.  Truly awesome.  Dessert, a ricotta cheese cheesecake with walnuts, was my favorite.  I told Brandon if we go back, I shall only order that!!  🙂

Now we’re each taking a bit of time to blog before heading to the shows downstairs for a bit.  We just missed the house band, but they play every night.  So hopefully we can catch them tomorrow.  The cabaret show starts in about 3 minutes, so I’d better wrap this up.

We love Jamaica, and the thing we love the most … the people.  My new life motto: “No Problem” … for truly, life is no problem … we just opt to create it into one!!