Tuesday
Another day on the beach. We set up our towels under our favorite palapa and watched the skiers while I worked up the nerve to try wakeboarding in front of an audience. Finally I was ready. I fell down on the first try but made it up the second try. The boat driver was great and went just the right speed, but he took me so far down the beach that by the time the boat turned around, my legs were shaking. I didn’t know if I was going to make it back to Sandals. But I did! I was proud of myself since the water had been too cold at home to practice before the trip.
When ski time was over, the water sports guys brought out the water tube, “Great Big Mable”. A couple from Utah, Jim and Angie, invited us to go tubing with them. We agreed and climbed on. It was a blast! The driver whipped us over the waves and we all hung on for dear life, with me screaming most of the way. I know I was a foot off the seat a few times. When we got back to the beach, the water sports guys asked us who was screaming and Ron said it was him. :-)
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
That afternoon we were scheduled for the Island Routes catamaran cruise that we’d received as part of our vacation package. But after lunch, clouds started to build and by 3:15 when we were supposed to meet for the tour, it was pouring rain. Everyone was milling around the tour desk waiting to hear if the tour would be cancelled when the skies began to clear. The cruise was on! It was still drizzling a little as we motored our way down the coastline. Negril is truly a unique place, made up of seven miles of white sand beach on the eastern end and five miles of rocky, black cliffs on the west end - a town with two very different personalities. When we got to Rick’s Café, the catamaran anchored so that people could swim ashore and jump from the cliffs. I’d planned to jump from one of the lower cliffs like I had on our last trip, but when Ron and I saw how big and rough the waves were, we opted to stay on the boat and watch. A lot of people on our tour did swim in though.
By the time everyone was back onboard, the sun was finally breaking through the clouds and lighting up all the little cottages along the cliffs. Next door to Rick’s I saw Ivan’s Restaurant, where we had reservations for a special anniversary dinner later in the week. I was looking forward to that! We made one more stop at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, where Ron bought a cigar and I took pictures of the sunset. On the way back to the resort, the Island Routes staff got everyone dancing. They were a fun crew.
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| Rick's Cafe |
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| Ivan's Bar |
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| Margaritaville |
It was 7 o’clock when we got back to Sandals, and I’d been in a bathing suit all day. I was tired of being WET. We got quick showers and went to dinner at Bayside. But everything was damp there too and the humidity was 110%. Ick! I hoped it would be drier the next day!
Wednesday
The next morning, we went to Barefoot by the Sea for their a la carte breakfast. Barefoot was an open-air restaurant with a thatched roof and decorated with seashells and blue glass buoys. I ordered eggs Benedict with cheese grits and Ron had steak and eggs, all served with that wonderful Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Mmmmm.
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| Barefoot by the Sea |
It was a sunny morning but much breezier, which made it feel cooler than it was. I commented to Ron that a lot of people would be getting sunburned that day! Because of the wind, it wasn’t a good day for wakeboarding but it was perfect for sailing. When we walked down to the water sports area to sign up for one of the Hobie catamarans, the water sports guys said, “We remember you. You’re the ones who were screaming on the tube yesterday.” Oops, how embarrassing. :-)
In the afternoon, all the watersports were shut down because of the wind so we hung out at the main pool and played trivia games with the activities staff. The pool was nice but small. Just like the pool at Couples Swept Away, it couldn’t compare with the beach!
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| main pool |
Before dinner that night, we met with Keron, one of the resort photographers, for a photo shoot. I liked that Sandals had on-site photographers. Since I’m usually the one with the camera, it’s not easy to get pictures of me and Ron together. But the photographers at Sandals Negril were a little out of control. They were EVERYWHERE! And they never took just one picture. It was always, “Now turn this way, now put your hand on his chest, now sit on his knee, now kiss each other.” By the end of the week, I had all the poses down pat. :-) Keron took over 60 pictures of us in the course of about 10 minutes. I don’t know if it was the beautiful Jamaican light or our vacation glow but the pictures turned out great. Thanks, Keron!
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
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| Snapshots by Sandals photo |
Dinner was at Cucina Romano, the Italian restaurant. Since I love Italian food, this was my favorite restaurant. I ordered Caprese salad and seafood linguini, and Ron and I split a tiramisu for dessert so that I wouldn’t be too full for the chocolate buffet later that night. :-) Ron wanted to go back to the room to watch a movie but I made him stay up long enough for me to get a chocolate martini and a couple of chocolate covered strawberries. Fortunately, the chocolate buffet at Negril was at 8:30 instead of 10 o’clock like it was in Antigua. We couldn’t stay awake that late!
Click here for the Cucina Romana menu
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| Cucina Romana |
continued on Part 3
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