Greg & Tiffany's 1st Jamaica trip... Pure bliss with a side of rice & beans!

[garysteph1018]

Again, thank you all for the sweet comments. This has been kinda difficult trying to remember what happened. I may pull a GerryG next time and take notes.


Our 2nd day in Jamaica/Our 3rd Vacation Day

Today was Sunday… and our first full day in Jamaica! We had plans to hang around Catcha, walk over to Wise Choice, and in the evening we were meeting RastaDave & his precious wife for dinner and drinks.

We woke up about 8:30 in our cool bedroom…. not cool as in ehhhhh, but cool as in burrrrrr. I rolled out of bed super excited and went straight to our bedroom window. Even though I was looking through some bathroom construction at Banana Shout, the view was beautiful. I could see the spectacular blue Caribbean thru my window. Oh my goodness, are we really here! HELL YEAH WE ARE!!!!

Gary & I decided to go down and have our first Jamaica breakfast and cup of coffee. We walked out of the bedroom and got hit with some major heat! UGGHHH! July in Jamaica!!!

I wanted to go out on the terrace, so I went over to the doors to go out. Geez, are you kidding me …Gary had dead bolted us in, top, bottom, & sideways as if Venom (the evil spiderman) was going to break in…. I was completely irked! Once we got all the locks undone, we walked out to our terrace and the view…. OMG even more beautiful today! I believe I took a picture of this everyday!!!!

After taking in our view, we got dressed and headed down to Ivan’s. Adria, sweet as can be and absolutely beautiful pregnant, was a morning waitress most of the week. I just fell in love with her, as I did most everyone at Catcha…but some were definitely more special than others. Her voice sounded tired, like every pregnant woman is, but her smile was delightful. I introduced us, and then of course had to ask if she knew Marley and Ninja. I kept forgetting that those names aren’t the real ones, but she sure did remember them…. I, like a good little boardie, told her hello for them. She smiled so appreciatively.

So what to get…. My nerve wasn’t up for the ackee & saltfish, so I got the french toast with hot banana syrup. Gary got the BLT with home fries! What a treat! OMG this stuff was so freaking good. That hot syrup on my beautifully cooked french toast… my mouth is watering right now! Holy crap, this isn’t even right! I should still be there….. Anywho.... Gary really enjoyed his BLT because he ordered the same thing every day!

Gary & I sat at the small round high top looking out over the pool and the caribbean, enjoying our coffee, OJ & breakfast astounded at what we were living. Finally alone, no bills to pay, no work to go to, no grass to cut, no toilet to clean, no dishes to do, no kids to worry about (we love them though)… I think you get my point. FINALLY IT WAS JUST ME & GARY!!!!

My 1st Jamaican morning.... Breathtaking!


We sat here every morning except Thursday! Most peaceful place on earth IMO!


Mmmmm gooood! OMG so good!


Gary & his future happy plate.

[Vince]

This is going to be a GREAT trip report(grin)

[TizzyATX]

Can't wait til you get to JA!!! Great start Steph

Hard to believe this was ya'lls first trip just the two of you....in 15 YEARS!!! That's most def a cause for celebration

[garysteph1018]

Wow my pictures are huge... Sorry! I have no idea how to resize!

Sorry Day 2 is so short. Much more happened, and I'll get to it soon. It was getting late last night, plus I had a sick kid... who miraculously is fine this morning.

Thanks for the encouraging comments everyone! It is fun to share my experience.

[TizzyATX]

No worries we like big pics!

[tfw73]

Mine are all large also!

[NegrilAddict]

I am already loving your report. I like your self portraits.

[marley9808]

I like the big pics.....and you two are so cute! I love the smiles

[*vi*]

i agree, that's a really great shot of the two of you. So glad you decided to add this wonderful collection of trip reports.

[garysteph1018]

Yep… day 2 is gonna be a long one!

So, Jamaica comes into view! It was beautiful! My adrenaline is so thru the roof it was killing me to sit on that plane! Once we landed and started getting off the plane I so loved hearing those folks say “Welcome to Jamaica”. What also made me happy was to hear the guy looking at our customs card say, “Oh Catcha… nice place! Good choice.” We seriously get thru customs, get our luggage and are heading out the door within 15 minutes! It was spectacular!

Now, on to my first real view of JA! OMG… everything I had anticipated had gone out the window! The smell, the sights, and the photos I was so going to take… everything! All I wanted was to see Rocky! I had Gary following closely behind telling everyone we were okay, while he is asking me where do we go!? I said “Right, we go right” That’s all I know! And right it was! There was Rocky…. a very handsome dark man with a red polo shirt and the biggest smile ever! I was so happy, I can’t even explain! I ran up and hugged him over that lovely makeshift fence as if I had known him forever, or he was my daddy! Whatever! He let me hug him hard, and he says “Hi Steph!” Steph… he said Steph, because he knows me!

Rocky & Gary carried our bags to the curb and Rocky told us to wait there and he would go get the bus! While waiting we had a lovely conversation with a Jamaican man, who honestly I was just wondering what he wanted out of us. I know that's bad, but I was skeptical at first... give me a break, it is my first time out of this mess of country I live in! Rocky pulled up in this big bus, and all I could wonder is... "Is this big ole thing just for us, or are we going somewhere else?" Yep, it was just Rocky, Gary, and me on that bus! Man can he drive!

Our ride to Negril was just overwhelming. Rocky, Gary, and I just chatted! As we were riding, I noticed the cooler up front. I jumped up there and grabbed our Red Stripes as if it were my cooler. Rocky was laughing at me for doing that, but he gladly opened those Red Strips for us, and they were sooooo good!! I didn’t even request to stop anywhere. I just wanted to get to Catcha and then to Sea Star! We were on a mission! I took very little pics because, seriously, I was just in awe and completely overwhelmed. I will admit that I was a little saddened by what I saw the people of Jamaica living in. It kinda made me feel guilty that I was coming to enjoy their country in a beautiful lavish place, and they had to go home to what they had to go home to. Just kinda broke my heart! I think another Red Stripe is in order!

So we get to Catcha… the guard (not Mr. Lewis) opens the big green doors and OMG more emotions that I can’t handle! The place is beyond expectations! Marley had taken wonderful pictures for me, and Clarity had posted a video…. but when you see it in person, it’s just too damn much! I’m in awe, and all Gary can think about is how bad he had to pee! Apparently SOOOO bad, so he ran up to the room with Jason, and ruined my whole plan of walking the grounds together right when we got there! Oh well… the first of many plans that went opposite! It was all good though! Mauvette walked me up to Venus and showed me around, and all I could do was hug her. Pure bliss!

We drop everything off… check out the room, and head to Ivan’s! I had to have a Dirty Banana! So yep, here is where Ty comes in! What a spectacular person! So full of fun! Can I seriously take this for a week! The Dirty Banana was so good and so strong! We sat at Ivan’s at Catcha Falling Star in Jamaica with Ty serving us our first Dirty Banana! It was all just wonderful!

My one and only pic of outside the airport, too excited for anything else!



Our first Red Stripes in Jamaica!!!



Our first pic of the view outside our room! I think I took this picture every day... it was just beautiful!



One more... everything is a first, so I guess I should stop saying that! But here is our first Dirty Banana