fun in the sun

Our trip to Jamaica was celebratory in nature and, oh, what a party it was! We spent our days soaking up the sun and our nights being fêted and fed–there’s almost nothing I enjoy more than being at the beach.

Negril

The weather was perfect in Negril, sunny and mid-80’s every day, with just an occasional sprinkle in the afternoon. The beaches there are just beautiful–long expanses of fine, white sand framing turquoise blue water. 

We had some fun in that water: snorkeling and sailing (G mastered the art of commandeering a Hobie Cat), floating on the waves, a sunset Catamaran cruise along the cliffs of Negril.

Jamaicans love their music and we were frequently serenaded on this trip: while soaking up the rays on the sand, roving musicians would come by and play a song or two (or three) for a few dollars;

at night, we were dazzled by soulful singers and an awesome mostly women steel band that rocked the house.

While I spent hours with my head buried in a good book, G enjoyed several contentious matches of beach volleyball with some very impressive players and is proud to say he won more than he lost!

During the day, there was light fare and tropical snacks (along with a few tropical drinks)…

…in the evenings, we looked forward to chowing down on local specialties like snapper and snook, curried goat, and jerk chicken. Jamaicans like their food spicy and so did we. We found that their seafood was incomparably fresh and the meat and poultry were unusually gamey and tasty–a quality we really enjoyed.

And then there were the sunsets! There was this one on our very first night in Jamaica…

this one from the Catamaran cruise…

…and then this one from the cliffs of the infamous Rick’s Cafe.

All this wonderfulness was capped by a lovely celebration at a fine restaurant on our last night in Jamaica–happy birthday to my loving hubby! This vacation is one we will not soon forget…but now, back to reality.