Friday morning, last day

So, no posts the last couple of days so I'm catching up a bit here.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

Pool day today, got set up with three lounges and the pool area seemed quite a bit less busy. Played some ping pong and wrapped up with large chess. Karen was very helpful to Matthew. Had a 50 minute run first thing followed by a short visit to the fitness center for some resistance work. Breakfast at Miranda Hill, lunch at Aunt Ruby.

We had dinner reservation at Aunt Ruby Steak House (8:30 pm) which was very good. Matthew and I had Rib Eye and Karen had Beef Plate (which I think is Beef Skirt). Enjoyed the meal and ordered a bottle of wine, which proved to be quite an undertaking as the selection was quite limited and the waiter didn’t know what was available. Wound up getting a bottle that wasn’t even on the list (actually, picked from two that weren’t on the list), a Robert Mondavi Merlot that was not that good, but considerably better than the house wine. Karen and I have decided that the lousy house wine is a blessing in disguise. Mostly an uneventful and restful day. Booze cruise to Montego Bay Thursday.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Montego Bay Trip.

Got up in time to have a leisurely breakfast at Little River Café on the veranda. Off to the dive center for a 9:00 am departure. Got fitted for fins and snorkels and boarded Ding Dong’s boat with Jack as our guide. Sight seeing trip along the shore passing the various resorts. Sandals was quite large, including an island section (which is clothing optional apparently). Other resorts looked pretty nice, golf course at the Hilton. Arrived in the bay and anchored over the reef. No problem feeding the tropical fish, and there were plenty. Matthew and I really enjoyed the snorkeling and got lots of pictures. The snorkelling gear provided by the dive centre was OK, would have preferred my own,

but not sure it would have been worth the trouble to haul it along. There were only two other families on the excursion, one Dad and Daughter, the other Couple with Daughter and friend. After snorkeling, we went to Cornwall Beach, which is a public beach with full service (restaurant, showers, bar). The swimming area had an inflatable ice berg which you climb and jump/slide off. It took me a couple of tries to climb but I eventually made it to the top and jumped in (one bounce). Matthew had way less trouble with the climbing but couldn’t muster the courage to jump (had to slide). Everyone on the boat climbed up the wall. Also had a trampoline which neither of us got on. Lunch was Jerk Chicken plate that was quite good. Afterwards, off we sailed for the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville bar/restaurant on the Hip Strip. They had a three story water slide which I had to try. Lots of salt water up the nose today (in fact, my sinuses were still leaking salt water late at night). Found souvineers on the Hip Strip so our shopping was almost completed. Re-boarded the boat for a faster run back to the resort,

punctuated with a few Red Stripe beers. Once back there, we took a trip over to the fishing village, and tracked down Mike who found us a really beautiful Queen Conch which I was quite happy to overpay for. Also picked up a macramé bracelet, but should have gotten a couple more for the price. Then we went to get cleaned up and Matthew & I sampled the smoke we picked up in Mo Bay. Some rain moved in at dusk and we got one of those cleansing tropical rains for about an hour. Then it was off to dinner at Miranda Hill, followed by an early turn in. Matthew’s stomach was unhappy, but seems no worse for wear the next day. Must have been the Pina Colada at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.

Friday, April 13, 2012

So our last day at the Rose Hall Suites. We were able to arrange to keep our room until midnight which really is a bonus. If we had been required to check out at 11:00 am and cool our heals till midnight it would have been uncomfortable. As it was, we had a nice relaxing day around the pool and beach complete with the three squares we have become used to. It was a bit windier but very sunny and hot. Finished my second reading project for the week, The Omnivore's Dilemma. Very interesting read that I'm going to try to get Karen and the boys to read. Matthew and I had one last game of chess, in three games he has really picked up on the concept. Also played some more ping pong, and worked on some ball handling drills with two water volleyballs. We had intended to bring a rugby ball with us to practice, but both of us forgot. The other item forgotten that I really missed was swimming goggles. Although, swimming in the ocean doesn't really bother my eyes too much, it would have been nice to have them. After dinner at Little River Cafe (where we sampled some different house wine) we went back to the room to pack up and grab a nap before midnight departure.

Received a call at around 11:00 pm that the flight would be late and so our transfer pick up was postponed till 01:50 am. That news was well received since it allowed for a couple more hours of viewing Storage Wars (I must have watched twenty episodes this week). Other than being 75 minutes late, the flight home was good and we arrived at around 11:00 am.

All in all, a very successful trip, meeting our stated objective of a purely restful, sunny vacation. Obviously, we didn't really get to see much of Jamaica, but we will probably go back with a more adventurous agenda.