Sandals Whitehouse, Jamaica. Ya, mon!

Do you like looking at other people's vacation photos?  You doooo?!  Well, this is perfect for you!

The Hubs and I were in Jamaica all of last week on perhaps the best vacation we've taken to date.  We went to Sandals in Montego Bay.  We were thinking, is it going to be cheesy?  (Can't help but think of Michael Scott & Jan on The Office.)  Well, it was not cheesy - except for the appropriate food items.  It looked like the pictures and everything.

We've been to Mexico twice and it was fantastic.  But there's something nice about everyone speaking English (you know you agree) and the Jamaican food was muey bueno.  I mean REALLY good.

After you get to the airport, there's a bit of a ride to the resort.  It takes a while but I thought it was very cool to soak up some of the "real" Jamaica.  (And apparently "real" Jamaica hangs out outside and eats a lot of fruit. )

Everyone drives like mad and randomly honks.  I though NY cab rides were worse...  But then we had the drive back.  (Dude was on the phone.  Driving like mad and randomly honking.)

After a full day of travel, we were excited to get to the resort  It was gorgeous.  We changed out of our travel clothes and wandered around to get a feel for things.

The main pool at sunset

We were really hungry by the time we got there.  Lucky for us they were setting up a HUGE buffet in the main plaza area.  It looked amazing.  Everything from mac & cheese to a salad bar.  Seafood for days!  And we can't forget this guy...

Hey, you good lookin' suckling pig you

I loaded up on mussels and shrimp.  The pig and some terrific fish.  (You know it's good food when buffet fish is good.)  Jerked chicken.  Salad.  Just all sorts of other things.  We were off to a fabulous start.

All week, they had an assortment of after-dinner entertainment.  Shows on the beach included a trapeze artist and Michael Jackson impersonators contest.  (Somewhere, someone regrets the video of that.)  There was also a small theater that featured a talent night, Jamaican history in dance, and a game show featuring guests.

Trapeze

Beach bonfire

Ya never know when Michael will make an appearance, mon

The next morning, I couldn't wait for Hubs to get up.  (I can't imagine why he didn't want to get up at 7am.  We'd only gotten up at 5am and traveled all day prior.)  So I grabbed my book and snuck on down...

Ahhh.  Yes.

 The days that followed featured sunscreen,water, eat, and repeat.

And this loud guy

The beach was gorgeous.  When you got in the water, the sand was just sand.  Not rocks and shell-chunks.  The ocean tides were nothing crazy.  It was an all around an ideal beach situation.

I say it was ideal but there was one small issue...  My float.

I bought a $10 float (I learned the hard way that $3 are not the deal they seem) and it was very nice.  Almost toooo nice.  It took me forever to blow it up.  I eventually took it into the ocean to blow it up because I got lonely on my beach chair.  So after, I don't know, half an hour+ of straight exhaling, I got it filled.

I floated on it for a minute, and then got off to really get situated.  And as SOON as my body weight wasn't holding it down, it blew away.  Ahhh!

I swam-chased it, a dude a little ways down swam-chased it, and it just got away.  And blew allllll the way to the end of the very long beach.

So, yeah.  I was mad.  You don't want to show it on vacation but I blew on that thing forever!  I got a tad light headed for that?!  Urgh.  I went back to my beach chair to work through my sad float loss alone.  Well.  After a bit, the people next to me  who had seen the whole show (and trust me, this whole thing was witnessed by many) said, "He's got it!!!"

Mr. Andrew Johnson, my mon, had chased that float down and brought it back.  Which was not only a long journey but he also had to deal with security because the float had gone outside the approved safe zone.

Sure, diamonds are a girl's best friend, but there was absolutely nothing better than him getting that float for me.  I took it back out and you know what?  It was glorious.

Anyhoo, long story short, Hubs was the business that day.

The happy couple

The pool was really nice too.  Each "village" had its own pool and then there was the larger one in the middle of the resort.  We just stayed in the pool by our room though.  It had plenty of chairs, provided Sandals floats, and was located right next to the lunch restaurant.  Oh, and that's where the pool volleyball was played.  The boys played some and it also provided some excellent entertainment.

Pool view from our room

Our room was in the yellow building

A couple of these pics are a little grey.  It did rain some while we were there.  But it really didn't last long and sometimes provided some nice heat relief.

And gave us a moment to visit new friends

The main pool that overlooked the ocean

Nearby plaza seating area

I didn't take a whole lot of food pics but the food was wonderful.  I mentioned the first evening's buffet.  We also had Asian food with fabulous pad thai.  A French pâtisserie with a bazillion sweets plus soft-served ice cream.  Oh, and I can't forget the breakfast buffet!  That's the way to wake up...  With an omelet station.

Describing all of that is making my mouth water.

Anyhoo, the last night, I actually got some pics from Neptune, the seafood place.  We went there twice.

Dinner and a view

We started with some bread.  Which taught me that anchovy butter is good.  And then on to the appetizers...

Errr, I ate them before I took a pic.  Whoops.

After a week of seafood, Hubs elected for the chicken.  Colorful!

Diana's seafood delight. I had it the first visit. DELISH.

Jake & I both had the shrimp and manicotti.  So good.  The shrimp especially.

It was an amazing trip.  The days felt slow and leisurely but it still went by all too fast.  Our friends, Jake & Diana, are so lovely and easy to travel with.  The Hubs is easy on the eyes.  And I think I mentioned the food.  Truly great fun with great friends to make for some really great memories.  (<–There's the cheesiness!)

But it was still good to get home.

The dogs are much better cuddlers.