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I hope I don’t bore you to death, but the beginning of my story is very long. I wanted to document my initial feelings of seeing Jamaica for the first time. Hopefully, you will be able to re-call some of your first memories of Jamaica as I tell my story. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I promise, the remaining days will not be as long... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
We were in Negril from 4/8 - 4/15, however my trip report begins almost a year prior. Our family (husband, me, 15 yr. old son and 5 yr. old daughter) had taken our first cruise in May 2004. This was the vacation from hell, as everything that could go wrong did! By the end of the third day, our daughter, Celine, had started to get what we thought was a bad cold. Now we all know that when we are sick, the only person who can make us better is Mommy. So Celine and I spent the remaining four days in the cabin playing games and watching movies. We finally made it home, but within four hours we were rushing Celine to the emergency room as she suddenly was having trouble breathing. She was immediately transferred to a Children’s Hospital and while en-route her lips, hands and feet started turning blue. My limited medical background told me that we were losing our baby and panic set in. The wonderful Medics kept her going, and mom from losing it, until we arrived at the hospital and the doctors were able to get her stabilized. Her diagnosis was Severe Pulmonary Obstructive Disease, which is a technical term for Asthma. She and I spent almost two weeks at the hospital recovering and learning how to live with this nasty disease. Finally, we were sent home with all the inhalers, nebulizers and medications needed to manage and hopefully prevent another severe attack. Which, knock on wood, she has not had another “attack” since then.
About a month later, John, my dear, sweet husband tells me to start planning a trip for 2005. He said this was going to be “my” vacation as I didn’t get to enjoy the last one and he wanted to take me away from all the daily stress, re-learn how to relax and celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary with something special. Did I mention yet that he is the sweetest man alive?
I started looking into another cruise. This was the only choice because I was scared to death of flying. As I was looking into one particular cruise, I noticed one of the ports of call would be in Jamaica. At that time, the only thing I could relate to Jamaica was Bob Marley and reggae music so I did a google photo search to see what was so great about this little country below Cuba. Well, the first picture that popped up on the screen was of Seven Mile Beach in Negril and it totally blew me away! Now, I am not an overly emotional person but I actually had chill bumps go up my spine and tears well up in my eyes as I called out to John, “Hon, I found my paradise!” He says I screamed it, but I really don’t remember that! lol He came into the room and reminded me that I would have to fly to get there, but I was adamant, I had to go to Jamaica! I knew right then that even if they had to knock me out, I was getting on that plane and I was going to “My Paradise”!
I called our travel agent and practically begged her to make this trip a reality. She too reminded me that I am afraid of flying, and I said to her, maybe a little too strongly, that I will just have to get over it because I am going to Jamaica! I began searching the internet in earnest to find out everything I could about this little country that was stealing my heart. I stumbled upon the message board at Negril.com and from there I found several other message boards. I began reading the boards daily and learning more and more from all the wonderful people who were gracious enough to share their knowledge and experiences.
This now brings me to the present and hopefully you will enjoy reading this “newbie” report as I try, through my words, to take you on the ride with me as “my love affair begins”.
Day 1
After a sleepless night, we are off to the airport at 5:00 a.m. in a steady, cold rain. Looking out at the dreary pre-dawn I realize that I already miss my babies. In sixteen years, I have never been apart from them for more than a day and the silent tears begin to fall. What if Celine gets sick? What if Patrick gets hurt at baseball practice? What if, what if, what if they don’t miss me! Girl, get a hold of yourself! They will be fine! I force myself out of self-pity mode and start thinking about warm sand, palm trees and sunshine.
Now what is with all the brake lights ahead of us? There can’t be a back-up this early in the morning! Don’t these people know that I have to get to the airport! lol Phew, It’s just a car broken down in the roadway and we can slowly get by. The rest of the drive is uneventful and we get to the airport with time to spare. My first thought upon seeing the airport was - Wow, this place is huge, how in the heck are we going to find the right terminal! Now, keep in mind that BWI is really not that big of an airport, but to this rookie it looked like a city! Lol
We easily found the terminal and quickly went through check-in and security. I walked up to the windows and there she was, my plane to paradise with “Air Jamaica” emblazoned on her side! Of course, I had to get a picture of her! Lol With my heart in my throat, I made that first step into her confines. No talking for me now, I am too busy talking myself out of an anxiety attack! Lol When we start moving I get a death grip of the arm rests and stare straight in front of me, telling myself - breath in, breath out - slowly! Lol As we leave the runway, my husband (this is his first time flying also) starts poking me with his elbow telling me to look out the window. Yeah right, that is not happening! But, he keeps elbowing me, and unless I want to get there with bruises up and down my arm, I better give it just one tiny peek. Lol I gave one of those side glances, you know the ones where you don’t even turn your head, just move your eyes. Well, that was all it took! The view out that little window was breathtaking! The clouds were breaking up and the sun was just starting to peek out and I was hooked! We had to look like two giddy kids as we oohed and aahed and pretty much spent the whole flight with our faces stuck to the window! lol No fear of flying for me anymore!
Finally, we are here! They rolled the steps up to the plane, opened the door and let the sounds and smells of paradise envelope everyone on board. I swear you could just see everyone relax! When I stepped off the plane, I was stopped dead in my tracks. I could see the mountains in the distance dotted by houses, the beautiful blue/green sea, the heat rising off the tarmac and palm trees everywhere! I could hear the “meep, meep” of car horns in the distance and very faintly, I could hear singing. I snapped out of my trance as I felt a none too gentle push on my back and realized that if I didn’t get moving, I was going to take the fast, painful way down those steps!
As we entered the building, I saw the source of the faint singing that I had heard. The airport singers were there to greet us with their beautiful voices. We were through immigration, customs and out the door to the bus in less than 15 minutes! After a short wait, due to one of our bus-mates misplacing their luggage, we were on our way.
I can not think of a better way to get to Negril than taking a bus/taxi and winding your way along the coastline. I am sure that many of you long time visitors find the drive long and all too familiar, but for a newbie, it is the first glimpse at the beauty and also the hardships of Jamaica. Although I had read many times, and knew that this is a poor, struggling country, I don’t think I truly understood these hardships until I saw it through my own eyes. This was really brought home to me when one of the guys from our group of 6 turned to me and said, as he gestured out the bus window, “I certainly hope where we’re staying doesn’t look like this”. Now I am usually quiet and stay more to myself than most, but his statement brought a fury out in me that I never knew I had. I can’t remember everything that I said to him, but I know it wasn’t very “lady-like”! I do remember telling him to look out the window at the people and tell me what exactly puts them below him. I said, “ Nothing! Unlike you, they don’t need all the material things to make them happy. Yes, they do have to struggle to get by with the basic necessities. But, Of course you can’t understand that because your idea of roughing it is when you loose the #$@$*(^@ tv remote and have to get your lazy butt out of your recliner to change channels! These people are more rich than you could ever hope to be!” :verymad: At this point, I looked over at my husband and he was staring wide-eyed at me with a look of amazement on his face. He put his arm around me and said, “damn, you really put him in his place. I have never seen you go after somebody like that and I know one thing, I hope I never tick you off that bad!” [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] I was not going to let that idiot ruin my vacation one iota so I just tuned him out and finally relaxed again.
We made the obligatory half-way stop and had our first red-stripe! Mmm, mmm good. Drank it while looking out over the beautiful sea. The signs of the drought were very evident here. All the flowers and bushes were wilted and you could see cracks in the soil where the grass should have been. Back on the bus and I am so relaxed that I swear I could just melt into the bus seat. Could one red stripe do that?! As we pass through Lucea, I think of Smith and how much he loves this pretty town. It has almost the same amount of hustle and bustle as a larger city back home! I was a little shocked by this as I was expecting Lucea to be more laid-back and quiet - kind of like Smith.. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I figured that it was this busy because it was late Friday afternoon.
Within a few minutes we pulled into Riu Tropical Bay, our home away from home for the next week. We walked into the open-air lobby and you could see the beach and that beautiful water. When we got into our room the first thing I did was open the blinds, and guess what? I could still see beach and water! I stood there for what seemed like hours, really only a few minutes, and just stared and took it all in. The sun was making it’s descent by now and the oranges, reds, purples and blues were stunning. Only on Gods pallette could these normally clashing colors blend so awe-inspiringly beautiful.
We just threw all our stuff in the room and I went on my first mission. I headed straight to the beach with John following me looking totally baffled. The instant my feet sank into the soft, warm sand I could feel all the remaining stress leave my body and a peacefulness come over me the likes of which I had never experienced before. John looked over at me and said, “your paradise has just become our paradise”. I couldn’t believe I just heard that because John is not one to voice his feelings very often and for him to say that I knew this place had touched him too. We sat on the sand and watched the sun melt into the sea.
We were in Negril from 4/8 - 4/15, however my trip report begins almost a year prior. Our family (husband, me, 15 yr. old son and 5 yr. old daughter) had taken our first cruise in May 2004. This was the vacation from hell, as everything that could go wrong did! By the end of the third day, our daughter, Celine, had started to get what we thought was a bad cold. Now we all know that when we are sick, the only person who can make us better is Mommy. So Celine and I spent the remaining four days in the cabin playing games and watching movies. We finally made it home, but within four hours we were rushing Celine to the emergency room as she suddenly was having trouble breathing. She was immediately transferred to a Children’s Hospital and while en-route her lips, hands and feet started turning blue. My limited medical background told me that we were losing our baby and panic set in. The wonderful Medics kept her going, and mom from losing it, until we arrived at the hospital and the doctors were able to get her stabilized. Her diagnosis was Severe Pulmonary Obstructive Disease, which is a technical term for Asthma. She and I spent almost two weeks at the hospital recovering and learning how to live with this nasty disease. Finally, we were sent home with all the inhalers, nebulizers and medications needed to manage and hopefully prevent another severe attack. Which, knock on wood, she has not had another “attack” since then.
About a month later, John, my dear, sweet husband tells me to start planning a trip for 2005. He said this was going to be “my” vacation as I didn’t get to enjoy the last one and he wanted to take me away from all the daily stress, re-learn how to relax and celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary with something special. Did I mention yet that he is the sweetest man alive?
I started looking into another cruise. This was the only choice because I was scared to death of flying. As I was looking into one particular cruise, I noticed one of the ports of call would be in Jamaica. At that time, the only thing I could relate to Jamaica was Bob Marley and reggae music so I did a google photo search to see what was so great about this little country below Cuba. Well, the first picture that popped up on the screen was of Seven Mile Beach in Negril and it totally blew me away! Now, I am not an overly emotional person but I actually had chill bumps go up my spine and tears well up in my eyes as I called out to John, “Hon, I found my paradise!” He says I screamed it, but I really don’t remember that! lol He came into the room and reminded me that I would have to fly to get there, but I was adamant, I had to go to Jamaica! I knew right then that even if they had to knock me out, I was getting on that plane and I was going to “My Paradise”!
I called our travel agent and practically begged her to make this trip a reality. She too reminded me that I am afraid of flying, and I said to her, maybe a little too strongly, that I will just have to get over it because I am going to Jamaica! I began searching the internet in earnest to find out everything I could about this little country that was stealing my heart. I stumbled upon the message board at Negril.com and from there I found several other message boards. I began reading the boards daily and learning more and more from all the wonderful people who were gracious enough to share their knowledge and experiences.
This now brings me to the present and hopefully you will enjoy reading this “newbie” report as I try, through my words, to take you on the ride with me as “my love affair begins”.
Day 1
After a sleepless night, we are off to the airport at 5:00 a.m. in a steady, cold rain. Looking out at the dreary pre-dawn I realize that I already miss my babies. In sixteen years, I have never been apart from them for more than a day and the silent tears begin to fall. What if Celine gets sick? What if Patrick gets hurt at baseball practice? What if, what if, what if they don’t miss me! Girl, get a hold of yourself! They will be fine! I force myself out of self-pity mode and start thinking about warm sand, palm trees and sunshine.
Now what is with all the brake lights ahead of us? There can’t be a back-up this early in the morning! Don’t these people know that I have to get to the airport! lol Phew, It’s just a car broken down in the roadway and we can slowly get by. The rest of the drive is uneventful and we get to the airport with time to spare. My first thought upon seeing the airport was - Wow, this place is huge, how in the heck are we going to find the right terminal! Now, keep in mind that BWI is really not that big of an airport, but to this rookie it looked like a city! Lol
We easily found the terminal and quickly went through check-in and security. I walked up to the windows and there she was, my plane to paradise with “Air Jamaica” emblazoned on her side! Of course, I had to get a picture of her! Lol With my heart in my throat, I made that first step into her confines. No talking for me now, I am too busy talking myself out of an anxiety attack! Lol When we start moving I get a death grip of the arm rests and stare straight in front of me, telling myself - breath in, breath out - slowly! Lol As we leave the runway, my husband (this is his first time flying also) starts poking me with his elbow telling me to look out the window. Yeah right, that is not happening! But, he keeps elbowing me, and unless I want to get there with bruises up and down my arm, I better give it just one tiny peek. Lol I gave one of those side glances, you know the ones where you don’t even turn your head, just move your eyes. Well, that was all it took! The view out that little window was breathtaking! The clouds were breaking up and the sun was just starting to peek out and I was hooked! We had to look like two giddy kids as we oohed and aahed and pretty much spent the whole flight with our faces stuck to the window! lol No fear of flying for me anymore!
Finally, we are here! They rolled the steps up to the plane, opened the door and let the sounds and smells of paradise envelope everyone on board. I swear you could just see everyone relax! When I stepped off the plane, I was stopped dead in my tracks. I could see the mountains in the distance dotted by houses, the beautiful blue/green sea, the heat rising off the tarmac and palm trees everywhere! I could hear the “meep, meep” of car horns in the distance and very faintly, I could hear singing. I snapped out of my trance as I felt a none too gentle push on my back and realized that if I didn’t get moving, I was going to take the fast, painful way down those steps!
As we entered the building, I saw the source of the faint singing that I had heard. The airport singers were there to greet us with their beautiful voices. We were through immigration, customs and out the door to the bus in less than 15 minutes! After a short wait, due to one of our bus-mates misplacing their luggage, we were on our way.
I can not think of a better way to get to Negril than taking a bus/taxi and winding your way along the coastline. I am sure that many of you long time visitors find the drive long and all too familiar, but for a newbie, it is the first glimpse at the beauty and also the hardships of Jamaica. Although I had read many times, and knew that this is a poor, struggling country, I don’t think I truly understood these hardships until I saw it through my own eyes. This was really brought home to me when one of the guys from our group of 6 turned to me and said, as he gestured out the bus window, “I certainly hope where we’re staying doesn’t look like this”. Now I am usually quiet and stay more to myself than most, but his statement brought a fury out in me that I never knew I had. I can’t remember everything that I said to him, but I know it wasn’t very “lady-like”! I do remember telling him to look out the window at the people and tell me what exactly puts them below him. I said, “ Nothing! Unlike you, they don’t need all the material things to make them happy. Yes, they do have to struggle to get by with the basic necessities. But, Of course you can’t understand that because your idea of roughing it is when you loose the #$@$*(^@ tv remote and have to get your lazy butt out of your recliner to change channels! These people are more rich than you could ever hope to be!” :verymad: At this point, I looked over at my husband and he was staring wide-eyed at me with a look of amazement on his face. He put his arm around me and said, “damn, you really put him in his place. I have never seen you go after somebody like that and I know one thing, I hope I never tick you off that bad!” [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] I was not going to let that idiot ruin my vacation one iota so I just tuned him out and finally relaxed again.
We made the obligatory half-way stop and had our first red-stripe! Mmm, mmm good. Drank it while looking out over the beautiful sea. The signs of the drought were very evident here. All the flowers and bushes were wilted and you could see cracks in the soil where the grass should have been. Back on the bus and I am so relaxed that I swear I could just melt into the bus seat. Could one red stripe do that?! As we pass through Lucea, I think of Smith and how much he loves this pretty town. It has almost the same amount of hustle and bustle as a larger city back home! I was a little shocked by this as I was expecting Lucea to be more laid-back and quiet - kind of like Smith.. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I figured that it was this busy because it was late Friday afternoon.
Within a few minutes we pulled into Riu Tropical Bay, our home away from home for the next week. We walked into the open-air lobby and you could see the beach and that beautiful water. When we got into our room the first thing I did was open the blinds, and guess what? I could still see beach and water! I stood there for what seemed like hours, really only a few minutes, and just stared and took it all in. The sun was making it’s descent by now and the oranges, reds, purples and blues were stunning. Only on Gods pallette could these normally clashing colors blend so awe-inspiringly beautiful.
We just threw all our stuff in the room and I went on my first mission. I headed straight to the beach with John following me looking totally baffled. The instant my feet sank into the soft, warm sand I could feel all the remaining stress leave my body and a peacefulness come over me the likes of which I had never experienced before. John looked over at me and said, “your paradise has just become our paradise”. I couldn’t believe I just heard that because John is not one to voice his feelings very often and for him to say that I knew this place had touched him too. We sat on the sand and watched the sun melt into the sea.
So far so good. Looking fwd to the rest 
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