Jamaican Me Crazy - Take I

I had warned Jay in 2014 that we had better do something spectacular for our 20th wedding anniversary in 2015.  Jay had a big turnaround at work from June-October and was unable to take off during that time.  We knew that in advance and last February booked a trip to Jamaica for a week in December.  We figured the weather here would be cruddy - what better time to be on a beach?

As luck would have it, it was in the mid 60's the Saturday we left.  I talked Jay into sticking around for the Christmas Light Parade in town and we left (before the fireworks, dang it) from there and went to Indy to spend the night and do the sleep, park and fly deal at a hotel there.  Our hotel room there was awesome - nice surprise since I had slim pickings when making the reservation.  We had a wakeup call scheduled for 3:30 a.m., our time, so that we could be at the airport three hours in advance of our flight - travel agent's orders.

I hopped out of bed at 3:30 a.m., showered, got Jay up and off we went.  The weather was still fairly mild and it was nice not to have to bundle up to go to the airport.  We left our coats in the car for the week.  Yee-Haw.

We checked our bags, coasted through a very unfriendly customs process and settled in at our gate...alone.  Seems no one else takes the 3-hour-prior-to-flight rule as seriously as we did.  I began knitting, Jay walked around, we were pumped.  Pretty soon others started to mosey in and sit down.  As we were neared our boarding time, we noticed the flight board showed a change to our flight to Charlotte, NC.  DELAYED.  Of course, it was.  No worries.  It happens.

Then the announcement comes - "Due to fog in Charlotte, they are not accepting any flights into the airport.  We'll call your name if this effects your connecting flight."  And one-by-one they went in alphabetical order calling names...

They got down to the end of the alphabet and quit calling names.  Next announcement - "If your final destination is Jamaica, please come to the counter."  That would be us and one other couple...with their ukuleles in tow.

I listen in to what the gal is telling the ukulele fellow and it does not sound hopeful.  They move on and we bump up in line to hear the same information.  I'm not a crier, but at this point, I want to cry so bad.  At one point I tell the agent, "You know, I kept telling Jay I cannot believe we're actually doing this...and we aren't." I knew it wasn't her fault, and I wasn't trying to make her feel bad, but it was an awful letdown to an adrenaline-packed morning.

And fog for crying out loud...In December, I could foresee snow, ice, etc...but FOG?!

After making a plan and revamping it a couple times, we decided this:  We'd avoid Charlotte because they could have fog again the next morning, and we had never been to Miami...so Miami later that night it was.  Jay got on the phone and made a hotel reservation while I called the travel insurance people.  The silver lining - our travel insurance would cover everything extra.  (For once, insurance does what it's supposed to.)

We had to then get new tickets printed and go through the whole process over, but at least we had a plan and at least we were departing the Midwest.  Oh, the other perk - they booked us First Class to Miami (that was nice).

Our flight wasn't until the evening and it was mid-morning so we decided to call the hotel and get a ride back to the car.  We went and found a Mexican restaurant for lunch, went back to the hotel, parked and relaxed in the car.  We had a few hours to kill and Jay was not in the mood to shop (bummer).  Jay slept while I watched Netflix on the iPad and did some knitting.

As a sidenote - we were in line at Customs with Michael Waltrip, the NASCAR driver.  I was so excited. Jay begged me not to bother him in Customs and I didn't.  We then ended up at the same little bar watching football and I didn't have the nerve to bother him there because I was afraid he would think I was stalking him. I know he saw me staring at him in line earlier. Later on, we thought we spotted him sitting near a gate facing the window.  I grabbed a pen and paper and headed over to him to get an autograph.  I got ready to tap his shoulder, he turned his head and it wasn't him!  Thankfully, he didn't notice I was about to touch him!  I should have just asked him at the little bar.  After he left the bar, Jay leaned over to the lady who had been sitting next to him and asked her if she knew who he was.  Nope, not at all.  Though after he told her, she knew who he was.  Funny.

We made it to Miami that evening and, boy, is that a different world.  Honestly, the Miami airport felt more foreign to me than the Jamaican airport.  It was kind of neat though, when you exited the plane, you were outside and walked along a covered walkway into the airport building.  I guess with their weather, you don't need to be indoors.  We were definitely the minority and were thankful that although almost everything was in Spanish, they did still display signs in English as well.

We had a nice stay at the hotel in Miami. Our flight to Jamaica wasn't until around noon, so after a hot breakfast, I made Jay take a walk with me around the hotel a few blocks...just so we could say we had been to Miami!  He thought it was silly, I thought...why not?

All smiles now!

Our flight to Jamaica was uneventful.  We weren't in First Class, but we were in the Exit aisle which is almost as good as far as legroom.  Our flight was short and in no time, we had landed at our destination.

The Jamaican airport was definitely a treat.  Again, we exited the plane and walked outside down a ramp into this customs area.  As soon as we got within earshot of the building, we could hear fire alarms blaring.  Hmm.  We were ushered down this winding ramp into a very full waiting area with the zigzag maze line.  It looked like it would be a very long time in line.  Fire alarms still blaring.  No custom agents at any of the kiosks.  Tons of travelers crammed in area.  To our surprise, they opened up the closed-off area with the zigzag lines and directed us into that waiting area...which took us right to the front.  This is good because we are both dying to use the restroom!  Alarms still sounding.

I tell Jay that I bet the custom agents have been directed to a safe area because of the alarms and nothing is going to happen until the alarms are silenced.   I was right.  About 30 seconds after they stopped, the agents appeared ready to work. (We never did hear why the alarms were sounding.) Once they got going, it was very quick...but they wouldn't let us use the nice big bathroom in the waiting area - we had to go on through to the baggage claim and use the one-hole.  Finding our bags took forever, we took turns going to the one-hole and were on our way.  We immediately found our travel company and were put on a huge bus with many other excited tourists.

We had made it!  A day late, but we didn't care at this point. We were in Jamaica and the sun was shining.  Our trip to the resort was uneventful for the most part.  The only thing that caused me concern was when it was just Jay and I left on the once-full bus.  I asked the guy if that was a good thing or a bad thing, "Oh, no, it's a good thing.  The Iberostar Grand is very nice!"  Hmm, apparently we had made a good decision!

The next thing out of his mouth was: "Did you come to smoke weed?"  Uh-oh.

Our resort was inside a compound so-to-speak along with two sister resorts.  All three resorts shared a stretch of beach.  We could go to all three resorts, but only the guests of the Iberostar could be there.  It was an adults-only resort; the other two were family friendly.  We did visit the other resorts, which were also very nice, but decided this:  We didn't bring our kids and certainly didn't want to be around other people's kids...or their annoying parents.  We had made the right choice.

The Iberostar had five restaurants, one of which was a grand buffet, the Cornwall.  We had breakfast every morning at the Cornwall and I fell in love the first day with the banana waffles and ate them every single morning.  They were delicious.  You were encouraged to have reservations for supper so we had our butler (yes, we had a day butler and a night butler) make reservations for the week at each of the restaurants.

My knitting spot.

My day would begin on the balcony knitting while watching Netflix, and letting Jay sleep in.  (I'm an early riser no matter what.)  Awesome perk with Netflix is that in Jamaica you have a different selection of shows, one of which was Modern Family.  I had a great time watching that hilarious show the whole week!

After breakfast at the Cornwall, we would change into our swimsuits, grab our books and sunglasses and head to the pool area.  There were lots and lots of lounge chairs, beds and cabanas to choose from.  Some were in the shade, some were not, some were shaded various parts of the day.  We'd pick a sunny spot and settle in for the day.  Three mornings I attended the yoga or stretching class located next to the pool area.  It was very relaxing, for the most part, and I felt like I was doing something productive - to counteract all the banana waffles and bacon I was eating!

What our day at the pool looked like.

I conned Jay into going with me one morning, but that was it.  And honestly, after the yoga class I went to - obviously an advanced yoga class - I didn't go back.  Three out of six mornings isn't horrible, right?  I was clearly the youngest at every class, and not necessarily the most flexible.  Pitiful...

View from balcony - pool area

There were always activities going on throughout the day around the pool and beach area.  I played beach volleyball one day and have to say I think I surprised them with my serving ability (I surprised myself as well).

The Entertainment Staff was a very personable group of about five or six young Jamaican's.  They were so friendly and were constantly interacting and striking up conversation with you or anyone around.  I'm sure that's what they're told to do, but it was nice.  One day we were lounging on this bed by the pool and I thought something was in my hair.  I kept grabbing at it, only to find nothing.  I would continue reading and feel that strange whatever in my hair.  Turns out it was Stella from the Entertainment Staff.  She was picking on me...and asking us to join in on a game of beer pong...only it wasn't with beer.  That's how they would announce it too - "Beer Pong. Anyone want to play Beer Pong without the beer?"  We played and didn't win, but it was fun anyway.

The kinds of things the Entertainment Staff would do included stretching, yoga, water aerobics, volleyball, Zumba, dance class, volleyball, bocce ball, soccer, cooking class, and other activities throughout the day.  In the evening, they were part of the nightly shows.  They would dress in their costumes and mingle in the bar/lounge area before the 8:45 shows and some would try to get you to go to the Discoteque after the nightly show.  Jay and I went once...and that was it.  We are old, I guess!

We attended all the nightly shows except for one...that night we were so tired, we started watching the Discovery channel after supper and just crashed!  Exciting night life.  We would eat supper around 6 and then have to wait around until 8:45 for the shows...It was hard to stay pumped up and awake that long.  Two evenings we came back and took naps in between!  We decided next time, we should have our supper reservations a little later than 6:00 or 6:30.

Alex, middle, was an awesome dancer.  Look at those costumes!

The nightly shows were held in a theater just off the lobby.  They were great.  Our favorite was Boogie Nights.  It was a show full of 70s themed music and dancing.  We loved it.  Their costumes were neat too.  They changed costumes several times throughout the show.  One night we went to a sister resort to watch the Wizard, a magician.  He had walked around the pool area in the afternoon and hooked me.  We enjoyed his show...but not being around all the little kids!  Ahh, we kept saying, we love our own kids, but really don't want to be around someone else's.  Needless to say, we didn't last the entire show.

Our resort was all-inclusive so the entertainment, food, drinks, etc. was free so-to-speak.  We did a lot of tipping, but didn't really mind it.  We had great service.  I am guessing the shows we watched would've been in the neighborhood of $35+ per person had we paid.  It was quality entertainment without "stars."

 Stay tuned for part II...