Monday Postcards From Jamaica!

GREETINGS AGAIN FROM JAMAICA!

To our friends and family, we assure you we are having the time of our lives.  Yesterday we reveled in relaxation.  We spent some quiet hours talking and people/boat watching on the beach before a storm blew through.

This is what vacations should be.

At dinnertime, Jerry The Butler (quite handsome in his evening butler suit and white gloves, yup) came and escorted us to a beach-front Italian restaurant, Dino's.  He had the table ready for us with fresh flower petals and a fancy name card. 

We watched an awesome sunset as we ate. 

We designed and enjoyed a create-your-own-recipe pasta meal, accompanied by a tasty red wine punch.  Luckily we were able to coax the recipe out of our waiter:

Red Wine Punch

red wine

cherry-flavored brandy

club soda

(What we don't know are the proper proportions, so you are on your own for that.)

Dessert was a heavenly slice of Tiramisu.  Let me show it right here so Sarah (my youngest daughter) can drool a bit.  Your turn is coming, Sarah!

After dinner we took a stroll along the beach, thinking we'd walk just a bit beyond the end of the resort to see what's out there.  We found it interesting that Sandals security wanted our names  - they keep a tight check on their guests and are concerned when guests leave the property.  Honestly, the area seemed a little sketchy, and so it wasn't long before we turned around and went back to our resort.  Jamaica thrives on its tourism industry, but it is so obvious that there is a lot of poverty out there beyonds the resorts.

Later, at the resort's entertainment stage, we enjoyed a Jamaican Cultural  Evening, a showcase of the music and dance of Jamaica.  

Those guys can really play the rhythms on their djembe and other drums. They were drenched with sweat by the end of the program, and I am sure they went home and needed advil for their sore hands.  

And that brings us to this morning and my monuMENTAL accomplishment, with accent on the MENTAL.  I SNORKELED!  The husband/lover/best friend and I caught a boat out to a nearby reef area and snorkeled.  I say MENTAL because the idea of having my face in the water and breathing at the same time is meant for fish only a bit daunting, well, actually terrifying to me.  But after a mini panic attack, Bob assured me I could do it, and I did and enjoyed looking at that whole other world down there.  We plan to go out again in a day or two, possibly to another reef area.

So I will leave you with a bit of Jamaican wildlife, a little lizard that lives out on our pool deck.  Actually, we think his baby is living in our room too - there was a tiny one in there this morning.  

So, Good Evening, from the land of beautiful sunsets, and more adventures to come tomorrow.

P.S.  We just saw a hummingbird out on the flowers near our pool.  Exciting!