TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

[Marilyn]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

I LOVE your pictures. Especially the ones of the flag waving proudly.

I really enjoyed your recounting of the wreck scene. although I regret the circumstances of course, you sound like you fit in well.

Thank you for finding and telling about this new resort.

YOu are doing a great job.

Oh yeah, love the Jamaican eaaster egg info also.

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Easter Monday-

I slept well. The beds were quite comfortable at Sunset. I loved the AC in the bedroom and kept it quite cool in there. I actually had to turn it warmer a couple of times in the night it worked so well.

The villa where I usually stay has no air conditioning. I end up adjusting to it but I loved having it on this trip. There were several times that we were out in the heat walking and the kids seemed to overheat quickly. I really tried to keep up on their hydration, but in the searing heat in the midst of a drought they got hot fast. They spent several afternoons in the cool dark bedroom after a morning out exploring. Maybe something to think about for parents selecting accomodations?

We went to the restaurant and ordered breakfast. This was really the only morning where there was a crowd at the restaurant and we had to wait for our food. If you need to catch a flight or are taking a tour they recommend you order your breakfast the night prior. That way you don't have to wait. We sat in paradise, watching and listening to the surf, enjoying the sound of the pool fountain and feeling the breeze. I didn't care one bit about waiting for anything.

Sorry to tell you all, but I was boring and ordered the American breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns. Everything we ordered at Sunset was great. The highlight being the lobster I spoke of in an earlier post.

After breakfast we went straight to the pool. There were always some sort of floaty toys in the pool. The hit with the kids was an inflatable octopus. We had a great morning playing with two other families. One was on holiday from Kingston and they were headed to Boscobel that afternoon for a few more days. (Jamaican schools had the week off for Easter break). The other family was from London and I have to say I grew quite attached to them during the rest of the week. The London family had stayed at Sunset during the Christmas holidays too. There had been no children staying at the hotel during that trip and they were thrilled to have some kids to play with their younger ones.

About mid day we decided to head to Jakes. There was a sign I ignored which said the pool was only for the hotel guests. Sorry folks. There was quite a few kids at Jakes playing in the pool. I ordered myself the first pina colada of the trip and sat down in a chair with a book. I read Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver on this trip. I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. The kids enjoyed the interesting shorline at Jakes and poked around there. They played in the pool with the other kids and swung in the hammock. Another note to parents is that I heard from other guests that there usually are not many children at Jakes. My kids were not fond of the salt water pool either.

I don't want to offend anyone by the comments I make in relation to making notes to other parents. I think there are a lot of parents with kids like mine who are somewhat spoiled and very Americanized. I have no interest in dragging my children along and having them be unhappy or uncomfortable and ruin a vaction for everyone involved. I say these things to possibly encourage parents who may be apprehensive or nervous about taking their kids to Jamaica. Jamaica has been an extremely rich experience for my daughter for the last three trips and my son on this trip. My children have missed some school during these trips, but on the other hand they have gained so many new experiences and have learned so much in our days there it is amazing.

I really enjoyed the whole funky feel of Jakes. We ended up coming over here quite a bit to hang out, drink and eat. The kids and I loved the dogs that live at Jakes. Humphrey, Peanut and Millie. Those dogs were a constant source of entertainment for my kids. (Peanut can snap at times, so be careful). There was one evening the four of them (little suzrand, J., Millie and Peanut) hunted crabs by the water for about an hour.


The Octopussies at Jakes (all you Jakes fans step in and correct my incorrect info)
We walked down to the beach access to Frenchmans beach by Jack Sprats.

There were buses full of people coming in and parking in the lot near the beach access. Jack Sprats was packed, there were people spilling out of the little area where you order your food. The beach was full of people. It appeared that most of the people were Kingstonians who had come to enjoy the holiday. We appeared to be the only tourists in sight. I loved it and plopped myself down on a towel in the midst of it all and enjoyed the sights and sounds while the kids built sand castles and played at the shoreline.

The sea was very rough on this trip. It would be calm until about 8 am and then it was pretty windy most of the day and the surf would kick up quite a bit. Someone had drown on Good Friday. Apparantly the man who drown was a Jamaican. He wasn't a great swimmer and was in water that was not too deep. He got hit by a wave and drown. The surf had been getting very rough during the week before Easter. The locals told me that the sea would be calming down now. They say that when the sea gets really rough it is calling to them and that it wants someone. The sea had been rough the week before and this man had drown. They now believed it would start to calm because it had claimed what it wanted. This story gave me goosebumps when I heard it as I stared into the churning water. We never really swam in the water I just spent a lot of time looking at it, breathing the salt air and listening.

We decided not to try and fight the crowd at Jack Sprats (only time it was like this during the week we were there). We walked back to Sunset and I heated up half of the pizza from the night prior. (Nice to have a fridge and oven) The kids sat in the AC, eating pizza and watching a movie while I enjoyed the pool below. Did I mention this set up was ideal for me

Little suzrand loved the swing on Frenchmans

This was taken right near Jack Sprats on another evening. Anyone know the name of the villa straight ahead?

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

Thanks to Marilyn, Cinnni and Lucija for the encouragement.

[suzrand]

Re: TB - A Little Piece of Heaven

After the kids had a rest they were up for another swim in the pool. After a quick swim the kids went back up to the room to clean up. I sat in the bar at Sunset. There was something about that location. Great sunsets, ocean crashing and always a delicious breeze blowing through that bar. I met another couple who were staying at the resort, K. and T. from Georgia, and we sat and visited with Michelle the bartender (always had some good tunes going too). K. had done extensive research for their first visit to TB and it was great to hear all they had planned.

K. pointed out SweeetLips who had come to Sunset for dinner with her friend Beth. We both recognized her picture from earlier reports. We had swapped posts that she was going to take us to the school she visits on this trip, but I was supposed to hook up with her at Jakes. I didn't want to be like some crazy stalker but as I approached her she asked me my name. I ended up joining them at their table. (Sorry for the intrusion gals, but it was fun).

I really enjoyed my visit with these two ladies. Little suzrand and J. joined us at the table and ordered dinner. Sweeetlips informed me that schools were on break. Once again, another school visit foiled. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] One of these trips I am going to make one.

After a nice visit I took the kids upstairs and put J. to bed. Little suzrand and I sat on the veranda enjoying some Beres and the sound of the surf. We watched an incredible moonrise. (Pics didn't turn out).

I also loved that there were not many mosquitos in TB. I got eaten on the northwest side of the island the next week. I guess that is one positive of the terrible drought.

There was music in the background all night. They were having a big Easter Monday party down the road at the Kingfisher Plaza. Just about 11 pm just as little suzrand and I crawled into bed they got the party going full swing. They must have brought out the live band at that moment. Little suzrand wondered out loud that the music may be in the room with us. In America I might be irritated by that party noise. In Jamaica I cherish every sound I hear. We both fell asleep to the music. (The only night that had any noise other than the sweet sounds of TB).