A Jamaica Break

After weeks of staring at endless piles of snow and freezing cold weather, we decided it was time to shovel something else ....like sand. After researching caribbean islands that met our requirements (the only requirement was no snow and temperatures above freezing), we decided to head to Jamaica for a sun and snow break.

It was definitely a welcome break. The highlights included:

  • A room that was steps from both the beach and the bar


  • A playground for Anna


  • Not wearing socks (a nice break for Mom and Dad in trying to put socks on Anna with perfectly aligned seams)


  • A seemingly unlimited supply of hot dogs and french fries - also for Anna (Theresa still cringes when she things about it)


  • A hobie cat ride for Joe with 30 mph winds, which turned into a real thrill ride


  • Theresa's first snorkeling adventure


  • Building sandcastles


  • Feeding tropical fish off the reef surrounding our beach


  • A moving sidewalk at the airport, which resulted in a solid hour of entertainment for Anna (and 3 hours of sleep on the plane ride home)

One of the challenges of staying in a hotel with Anna is sleep schedules. Let's face it - Joe and Theresa usually do not go to bed by 8:30. Instead, everyone went to bed at 9:30 and got up around 6 AM. This proved helpful for Joe who was able to run out the door and reserve beach chairs before everyone else came out at 7 AM.

There were several things to see and do and there were also things we decided it was important NOT to do. For example, Theresa and Anna decided not to wade out across the lagoon to the braid lady to have their hair done in dozens of tiny braids with beads (a VERY popular activity among the tourist). Let's face it - there are very few caucasian people outside of Bo Derek that can pull off this look. We also decided NOT to get a tatoo. In fact, we may have been the only non-tatooed family at the entire resort.

It was a great trip. The nice surprise upon returning home was that the snow actually melted a bit. We can now see most of our roof!

Now we wait for spring.




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