TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

[Nanook]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Way to go suzrand! What a thing to come across. good thing you and your first aid kit came across the scene. I'm also making a mental not on the Mongoose. Why did the Mongoose cross the road? I thought it was to get to the other side, not bad luck! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

I am explaining to Junior about Americans and Easter eggs. He tells me that they do a holiday thing with eggs too. On Good Friday at a certain time of day they crack an egg over boiling water. The egg white will form either a boat or a plane if you will be taking a journey in the future. I thought this was interesting. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can come along and fill me in more on this tradition.


Another view that flag. This time it was from my lounge chair at the pool.


Photo taken while walking down the road from Sunset Resort towards Kingfisher Plaza.


Photo taken on Frenchmans Bay. That is the TB Hotel in the distance with all the Royal Palms.

Wish I could attend this concert. This was posted right at the head of the driveway down towards Jack Sprats.

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Welcome Forty. Glad to have you along too.

[loops]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

wow...you can really see how dry it is in that pic of the landscape...very pretty by the way.

I'm always wanting to slip those signs into my suitcase...

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Loops mentions dry....You all have no idea. They are really having a hard time in St. Elizabeth with the drought. There would be many times throughout the day where there was no water at all coming through the pipes. I was a fortunate guest who was staying in a hotel that had a water pump and a reserve tank. If there was no water I just went and told Sunset and they were able to turn on their pump. What about all the local people who do not have the benefit of a pump or trucked in water? Whenever you went out on the streets you would see the people with water tanks on the back of their truck. I was told they were mainly farmers looking for water for their crops.

Here is a photo of the water truck filling the tank at Sunset.
Large portions of the hills and roadside were barren and charred from fires burning. Some were set on purpose to clear land and others were accidental.

[Laurel]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Nice job!! I am going to enjoy this!

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

I did extensive research before leaving on where to stay in TB. I am spoiled and am not too into roughing it. While on vacation I like to be comfortable. I had trouble finding information on a lot of the places in TB. The ones I hear most about are Jakes and Mar Blue. From the research I could do both of those sounded great but not the place I wanted to be with the kids.

I selected Sunset Resort Villas. They have a great website, but I couldn't find a lot of feedback on the place. I was a little nervous on the way to the place no knowing what to expect. As soon as we pulled in I was thrilled and knew it was going to be great.

Sunset is more similar to an intimate American hotel. But also reminded me of a private villa in some ways. I want to say they have about 14 configurations of different rooms available to rent. Some were more like a standard hotel room and some were more like small houses or an apartment. I had read the water can be rough in TB so I made sure to get a place with a pool. Another requirement for me this trip was a restaurant. I wanted to be able to order food at most times of the day. We all seem to be hungry at different times. They also had a great menu that was very Americanized for my picky son.

We stayed in Paradise Suite A. I showed a photo of the veranda in a earlier post. My place was made up like an apartment. I had one large room that included two couches and complete living room, dining area and a complete kitchen. The kitchen even included a microwave, toaster and coffee maker. We had one bedroom with a king bed and a full bath. There was AC in the bedroom. I had also requested a rollaway and there was an extra twin bed made up and waiting for us. The look of the room reminded me a lot of the pics I have seen of Rondel in Negril. There was an additional bedroom that could be rented in Paradise Suite if needed. They also rent out that bedroom separately. We didn't need an extra bedroom, so we didn't have access to that.

The food at the restaurant was excellent. Everything was made to order. Another word of note is that they deliver to the area and will deliver to your room if asked. We ate every meal sitting in the restaurant. (It was the table and chairs below Paradise Suite in the earlier post) The staff was great about accomodating any special requests by the kids. There were a couple of days my daughter wanted pancakes for lunch and they were more than happy to accomodate her. One memorable meal was the grilled lobster with garlic butter. It was huge and so fresh. There were mashed potatoes and veggies on the side. They were the best mashed potatoes I have ever eaten.

Right next to the office they had two coolers full of beer and sodas. The kids loved this. Everytime I turned around the kids had another soda in their hand. I always threatened to cut them off, but never did.

The staff was wonderful to us. They were so good with the kids. I really felt as if everyone was watching out for us. I felt so safe. The set up was really ideal for me. My daughter likes to sleep late and my son gets up early. I would get up early and enjoy the veranda. Then my son and I would go have breakfast and then go for a swim. My daughter was able to sleep as late as she wanted and then wander down to get breakfast. The whole time I was able to do all I wanted while being right there and keeping an eye on the door.

Sunset is not the Ritz Carlton, but very clean and comfortable. (Not that I have any interest in the Ritz). The owners live on site which I felt like was a definite plus. I will tell you all other stories of their excellent care later in this report. I will definitely return.

Photo of Sunset from Calabash Bay beach


Taken from Sunset's Bar.

View out the back window of my bedroom. This field doesn't belong to Sunset. It was a field full of goats. My kids loved it. Occasionally one would escape and little suzrand and J would become goatherders. Little suzrand ended up naming them all by the time we left. There were also some adorable kittens in this field, but they wouldn't let us near them.

(pardon that something was on my camera lens in these photos)

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Once we checked into Sunset and got unpacked we immediately put on our suits. The kids couldn't wait to get in the swimming pool. We also went down and checked out the waterfront.

We came back up to our room after a nice swim and investigation. We changed out of our wet clothes and regrouped a little. We grabbed some flashlights and headed left out of the driveway of Sunset. We walked past Jakes and ended up at Jack Sprats. (Thanks once again to the folks on this board for letting me know about this place.)
We ordered a pizza that was excellent. I sat and enjoyed some pineapple juice and coconut rum. Actually enjoyed a couple of those. Hey, I wasn't driving, so I didn't need to worry.

Jack Sprats in the daytime from the beach.

I sat and enjoyed the atmosphere and thanking Jah I was in my happy place. The kids met up with a bunch of other children. I relaxed while they got together a lot of fun games and played in the field running along the driveway to Jack Sprats. I enjoyed the breeze and the reggae. The place was hopping as they lit a big bonfire down on the beach.

By about 9 pm we were exausted from our day of travel and headed back to Sunset. One thing I loved about TB is that I felt safe walking around. My main worry was the cars on the road that sometimes came along pretty quickly.

I went to bed that night so excited at the prospect of the days to come. We were asleep by 9:30 pm that night. Jamaica continued to party and celebrate Easter late into the night while we slept.

[damask]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

great pics loving report [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Thanks damask. Soon continued..

[BND1999]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

((Suzrand)) Glad the trip went well.. and bringing a little reminder of TB Back..

its been two years since i was there.. but ive often thought to go back for a few days...

what i loved was the quiet beaches..walking in solitude in the morning..... and the trees... each one a character against the landscape.. and the lighting and how it made each one look....

looking forward to seeing more

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Nina,

Thanks for the encouragement. I have to thank you for giving me the nerve to go this journey "alone" without my hubby. Not that I needed him around I was just a little nervous about taking the two kids myself to a new place. I have enjoyed the reports from many of your journeys and that gave me the courage to go.

A side note is that now my apprehension seems so silly. I tried to do many new and brave things on this trip and I learn a little more each time. I never once felt nervous while I was there.

So, thank you Nina for your insight and inspiration. I have so many more things to see and do on this wonderful island. Enjoy the report!

[loops]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

awwwwwwwwwww...how nice.....((((you guys))))..ok (((gals)))

[Sophie Magoo]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Thank you!

Treasure Beach . . . wish I was there right now . . .

1. Portland
2. Treasure Beach [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[cinnni]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

These pictures are really great suzrand!! Loving them and the report and cannot wait for more!!!