Jamaica!!

Brian and I did a New Year's Trip again. Its just so much easier since he already has that week off at work, and the kids have no school. It works out so much better that he doesn't have to take another week off. We had the BEST time. We seriously LOVE Jamaica! The country is beautiful, they speak English and the food is delicious! We stayed in Ocho Rios, at the Jewel Paradise Cove. December 28, 2015 - January 4, 2016

one of 3 pools (the one we were at the most is the one by the Ocean, and the Beach Grill.)

The down side to the resort was the lack of beach. Brian and I love to walk the beach everyday. And we only had a tiny cove. Instead, there was this boardwalk which was beautiful and so fun to watch the waves splash up, but just not quite the same as walking the long stretch of beautiful sandy beaches. Negril has the famous 7 mile beaches, but no excersions. We had lots to do, but not the beaches. Its a trade off, and I'm so glad we did Ocho Rios so we could do the fun tours!

We ate jerk chicken everyday at the ocean grill. So gorgeous!

I have no pictures of these waterfalls-- but this is from the Dunn's River Falls. Its the #1 tourist spot in Jamaica. Its a HUGE waterfall that you climb UP. It empties into the ocean. you can play in the waterfalls, climb them and also have the ocean to go play at. Local hot spot, and tourist trap. It was pretty and very neat, but I'm glad we went here first. We would've been disappointed to go here after the waterfalls we saw later...but still very cool and a must do in Jamaica.

Happy New Year!

Biking at Blue Mountain - the famous coffee mountain. It was so beautiful! Its crazy how people live up in these mountains and live only off the land! They walk down every single day to the "town" thats about half way up. They eat what they grow, and hardly ever go to the city!

At the end was a beautiful waterfall. I think that was my favourite part of Jamaica - all the waterfalls!!

Then we went to the Blue Hole. Its not a registered "tour", more of a local spot and not as commercialized as the other tours. Which means it was WAY less busy!!!! We hired a taxi driver by talking to a worker at the hotel. He came with us for the day, and we had our own guide at the Blue Hole, with just the 2 of us!! He took us climbing in the neatest places. We even got to go in a cave BEHIND the waterfall!! It was amazing.

Swinging like Tarzan!! so FUN!

the ones with the brightest blue water is the actual Blue Hole. The water gets the color from the limestone rocks.

then our taxi driver took us to Scotchies. Apparrently you haven't had Jerk Chicken until you've had it there and since we LOVED it at our resort, we knew we had to try it! It was FANTASTIC!! We had it with their traditional sides - "rice and peas" (which is actually a bean, they just call it peas. Its red like a kidney bean but softer and a bit sweeter.) and a festival (kind of like a fried bread dough) both were insanely good! We loved it! Brian liked watching them cook the chicken. They BBQ it with tree branches and metal. It takes 3 hours.

the other downside to the resort (the first being the beach) was the lack of nightlife. Brian and I love to go dancing every night and no one was ever at the disco! We did go to the piano bar a couple times and I sang Karaoke, but that was it for the evening entertainment. No shows, no dancing :(
But we would totally go back to Jamaica! LOVED it!! and I just love spending a whole week away from the cold, schedules, kids, making beds, cooking, work and cleaning not to mention having Brian to myself for a whole week! Other things we did - played tennis, lots of ping pong, went paddle boarding, snorkeling, went on the waterslides at the hotel (with a bunch of couples we became friends with!), played beach volleyball, pool volleyball, ate lots, slept lots, read lots, went for walks, sat in the hot tub talking with new people (once in the pouring rain for an hour!) and enjoyed the hot sun.  Fabulous trip.