Travel Day and Our First day in "Mo Bay"

  Travel days are always stressful, but the good kind of stress where this a sunny bright light at the end of the tunnel!  Make and I awoke at 4:45 to shower, fine tune our packing, and head to the airport.  My mom met us at 5:30, and we were quickly on our way; leaving  our cute fur ball behind ;(

DON"T LEAVE ME!!! I LOVE THE BEACH!

  Last night, Mark and I had dinner and drinks with Katie and Andrew, and Katie graciously offered to drive us to the airport.  Typically, we drive in and leave a car, so we can head right home after the trip; but Katie’s taxi service saved us over $200!!!! .. Score more $$ for fun in Jamaica.  Last night was also super fun.  We ventured off to a bar that Katie and I frequented in college, but has since changed ownership.  Emmas’s downtown is pretty basic, but we brought the party by playing keno,  picking all the juke box songs, and enjoying the inexpensive draft brewskis!

Good Times with Great Friends!

  Arriving at the airport was quick and painless, and then the lines began.  Being a teacher for the past six years has taught me many things, and getting to your travel spot early on school vacation week is one of them.  We let  two full ours before our flight of “wiggle room” and walked up to the gate ten minutes before our scheduled boarding time!  It was crazy how long the lines were, and how many people were headed off to fun vacations.  Surprisingly, I didn’t run into a any of my students, but my mom did run into one of the doctors that works for the same hospital group as she does. Small world!

  We are slotted to arrive in “Mo Bay” at noon, since we got a bit of a late start.  The weather forcast is 85 and sunny, and I can’t wait to get my feet in the sand.  I also can’t want to try the jerk chicken at our hotel.  Everyone who has written a review has RAVED about the chicken hut on the beach, and I have a feeling this may be our daily lunch ritual.

Hopefully the next two hours run smooth.

Welcome to Paradise!

Arrival and check in were relatively seamless, although were were hungry and eager to get in that sun!  My mom and I had lunch while Mark  finagled his way into rooms in the same building and nightly dinner reservations.  Lunch was a bit hodge podge yesterday, I will be honest.  I was VERY eager to get to the beach or by the pool, but I knew I should eat lunch.  This created a sort of off variety on my plate.  I tried a bit of the jerk chicken everyone has been raving about.  It reminds me a lot of barbecue , and I was excited to see they had white breast chicken as well as chicken on the bone.  It is also served with a spoonful of seasoned brown rice and beans.  I  also dappled with some cut fruit, which was exquisite. The melons, both cantaloupe and honey dew, are perfectly ripe.  Mark  had some fries that I tried a few of, as well as some guacamole and  homemade salsa.  On the whole, these are more  a series of snacks, but it did the trick.  Sorry for the lack of photo; I was at my whits end at this point: GET ME IN THE SUN!.

  We sent the rest of the afternoon in the sun by the beach and by the pool.  The pool has these great chairs that are made of mosaic tiles inside the water, which I'm sure I will frequent daily!  They RIU Montego Bay also boasts a great pool bar area, and they are correct!  The pool bar not only has bar stools in the water, but also bar tables with benches and stools that surround the bar.  Each little cubby, as my mom has been referring to them as, has jets to massage your back while you sit, drink and soak in the rays.  SCORE!

Part of the pool at dusk.  You can see the chair backs of the pool chairs in this picture!

   We were slotted to have dinner at the Mo Bay Steakhouse last night, one of the on-site restaurants.  Before we headed over for our 7:30 reservation, Mark and I tried to get a feel for the place.  We talked to some locals about our trip to Seven Mile Beach, and finalized plans for our fishing charter.  We also checked out the gym and sports bar.

Holy Cardio!  I can't wait to do my typical " Spastic vacation circuit" in here!

 I am so impressed with both!  The sports bar has many TVs , snacks pools tables, video games and they host bingo every night at 6.  The gym was also a gem, and one of the better gyms I have seen in a caribbean hotel.  I am actually off to use the gym now and get ready for our first full day here.  

Xoxo,

Jeanie