Month: February 2016

Rainy and grey days, the Jamaica way

My OCD self had been obnoxious about checking the weather forecast in the days leading up to our departure. There were multiple days with rain in the forecast. I convinced myself that the accuracy wasn’t great and things would be fine. When we got to spend Friday in nearly complete sunshine in defiance of the rainy forecast, I relaxed a little.

And then I woke up on Saturday morning to choppy seas and grey skies. Which never went away. The red flag was flying- no snorkeling or other watersports for us. But clouds were all we faced; we were still able to enjoy room service imagebreakfast on our patio, a music trivia game at the swim up bar (Frank won), lots of reading time on the beach, and our new favorite vacation activity: champagne and nachos and a dip in the jacuzzi before dinner. We even hung out for the reggae show and did a little dancing.

Today we weren’t so lucky. The grey skies were leaking, sometimes as just a sprinkle, others were a downpour. But we are on vacation so we will make the best of it. And what can we do in Ocho Rios in the rain? Why climb Dunn’s River Falls of course.  It’s an activity that was guaranteed to have us get soaking wet so why not do it in the pouring rain? And so we conquered  the 180 feet of climbing from the beach to the top, holding hands with complete strangers in our group and being as wet as it was possible to get. It was brilliant!image

The rain persisted on and off for the rest of the day. We took advantage of our private villa by lounging on our sun chairs while it was dry, dipping in the jacuzzi as the sprinklers started and then playing cribbage while drinking champagne when the rain got serious. A leisurely dinner and short visit to the evening show and we were ready to put an end to the rainy day and keep up hope for tomorrow.

Settling in

We awoke to bright sunshine which seeped in around the blinds on the multitude of windows in our cottage. This place is pretty spectacular – beautiful sea views, lots of space, bright colors. It is a fully furnished cottage with a kitchen, sitting room, imageoversized bathroom, and large deck. Add lots of privacy, a personal jacuzzi and a two person hammock and you have a little bit of heaven. The down side to all that privacy is that we are miles from the rest of the rest of the resort. We had to wander over by the beach for breakfast which was lovely. Lots of stuff marked gluten free – including a basket of GF bread. imageWe streaked out some beach chairs under a tree at the beach and we were set for the day. Our day consisted of various combinations of popping into the pool with the swim up bar, wandering into the sea, reading a bit, grabbing a bite at the beach cafe, enjoying a blended drink or two, and a snorkeling trip shortened by choppy seas and poor visibility.image

An easy evening dip in the jacuzzi before the grand gala dinner closed off the night. It would have been absolutely perfect but for two small things: the wine waiters seemed unable to see our table and a passing sprinkle turned into a torrential downpour. We solved both annoyances by retiring to our cottage where our well stocked bar had lots of wine. Now to rest up for tomorrow.

How to start a vacation

First, have all your flights take off on time and land early. Get on your connecting flight first (okay, second and third) so you score the exit row seats. Pre book the concierge service so you skip most of the lines at immigration in Montego Bay Airport. Arrive on an Election Day so there’s no traffic and you get to your resort in record time. Randomly get an upgrade to the cottage that’s the equivalent of the honeymoon suite with a private jacuzzi and more square footage than our first house. Have a soak in said jacuzzi before a dinner of fresh snapper with fresh veggies. Stop by the show by the pool where you are selected for a spotlight dance with one of the entertainment staff and the dance floor clears ala Saturday Night Fever. Oh, and don’t forget to enjoy plenty of champagne and vodka martinis. Then collapse in your kingsize bed in exhaustion ready to have a full day tomorrow (and write a proper blog post with pictures!)

Ready, set, gloat!

Okay team get ready. Frank and I are heading out tomorrow for a few days in Jamaica. If you don’t want to hear about our days in the sun, drinking and snorkeling and relaxing, then be prepared to look away, change your feed settings, or hit delete.

Here’s a reminder of last year’s obnoxiousness:

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Blue lines, bad beef, and Beethoven: anecdotes from a winter weekend

Sometimes my kids, or other mildly interested parties, will ask about our lives in KC. I thought some tales from this weekend would be somewhat illustrative. It was more active than many but not frenetic and does show some different aspects of little city life.

Our original plans for Friday night involved the symphony but we decided to postpone that event and instead hit the local minor league hockey game. The son of Frank’s friend Charlie was helping to warble “God Bless America” between periods so it seemed like a good excuse to go. WeIMG_1488 went to one game last year when the Missouri Mavericks were an independent minor league team – at least I think that was the status. I couldn’t otherwise imagine why there were many 30+ year olds with 70’s porn mustaches on the ice. (Have you seen Slapshot? Not far from that.)

The current team is different. I don’t know when they made the arrangement but it seems that Mavericks are now the farm team for the farm team for the NY Islanders. Young 20 somethings named Tyler and Brandon are skating like they have something to prove and the hockey wasn’t all that bad. I’m more accustomed to NHL and college games though so there were some stark differences. First, I’m pretty sure no NHL team anywhere has hosted a “princess night” where half the attendees are young girls in tiaras, tutus, and girl scout sashes. They shrieked at every opportunity and were disappointed that they didn’t get to sing all of every song from Frozen. (I’m also pretty certain that no NHL team has ever broadcast so many Disney tunes between plays. Ever.)

The crowd was more into the game than I have seen be the case in the pros. In that way it was more akin to a college game. Like in college games, the crowd liked to respond to announcements being made over the PA system. For example, when the opposing team has a member leave the penalty box, the announcer states “Blah blah team is now full strength.” At a college game the crowd response is “That’s debatable”; at the Mavericks game, “They still suck.” Same sentiment, fewer syllables? But the tuneless elementary school got their time in the spotlight and the home team won so it was an enjoyable evening all around.

Saturday was busy with typical and atypical errands from grocery shopping and hair cuts to massages. Yum. Then it was date night and we decided to hit a local steak house. I had peaked at the menu on line and saw many GF options and comments on Open Table about how it was a good place for special occasions (with prices in line with Ruth’s Chris for steaks) so we put on our Date Night Duds and off we went.

To a strip mall in the burbs. (First clue?) It looked nice enough but when we went in, we were pretty much the only ones NOT in jeans. In fact, there was more camouflage than twill and lots of tattoos and T-shirts involving second amendment rights.  (Second clue?) We got some pretty mediocre food for pretty outrageous prices. The place was really busy though so I have to think that we made poor choices but I know that we won’t make choices at that establishment again. As a capper to the evening, we wandered across the parking lot to the local sports fan store looking for a Royals magnet for my car and the teenager in the shop commented on how fancy we were dressed. {sigh}

On to Sunday, yoga, pancakes and church in the morning and then off to the Kaufmann Center in the afternoon.IMG_1493 Yes, we are symphony subscribers. This means that when we changed our plans for Friday night, we could swap our tickets for the Sunday matinee. It definitely had a different vibe than the Friday night performances. Drinks at intermission weren’t quite as appealing as it was 3 in the afternoon; we helped to bring the average age of the audience down instead of up; and the musicians were more casually dressed – suits instead of tuxes for example. Regardless, the performance was lovely and it was a great way to spend the afternoon before heading home to our Sunday dinner of grilled lamb chops with roasted sprouts and potatoes. With a lovely red wine of course… from California. The local wines we’ve tried don’t quite merit such a descriptor but we’ll keep looking. And when we find one I’ll make sure to tell you all about it.