Yeah Mon!

Isaac and I had so much fun together on our honeymoon. We got to try so many new activities, food, and drinks. I even stepped out of my box and tried scallops, 3 different kinds of shrimp and calamari! I have never eaten seafood, and after trying some I'm still not too excited about it.

We woke up at 3am on the Monday after our wedding and headed to MCI. We parked at The Parking Spot because I had a handy 20% off parking coupon, and then we headed to Atlanta. We had a short layover in Atlanta and then headed to Montego Bay.

Montego Bay was much poorer than Isaac and I had thought. Little shanty towns lined the streets, and people just walked around trying to sell stuff.

One of our tour guides told us that in Jamaica, people do not get financing for building homes, so it can take generations of family members to finish a home. A lot of Jamaicans get stuck in the process and the house just is left the way it is for years. Not many of the homes have windows or doors, and they are mostly built with limestone.

Walking into the resort was an entirely different story. It is all gated, barbed wire and all, because this particular resort is located in a not very pleasant part of town. It was not recommended to leave the resort without a guide, especially at night.

Right when we walked in, we were directed to a living room where we were greeted with a glass of delicious rum punch. The people working at Sandals are so nice, and they played a big part in making our trip wonderful.

Our room was located just off the beach, and we had a beautiful view of the gardens. We especially enjoyed the complementary mini-fridge that was re-stocked daily. Yeah Mon!

The first morning, Isaac and I were treated to breakfast in bed. A very nice waiter brought in our breakfast (on his head!) and placed it on our bed to enjoy. We feasted on omelettes, english muffins, croissants with orange marmalade, corn flakes, and mimosas. 

     Warning: Morning Faces!!

The next day, we "beached it up," as Isaac would say. Sitting in a beach chair, soaking up the sun and drinking a fruity drink with an umbrella was just what the doctor ordered after the past few months of wedding planning.

The weather was beautiful while we were there - mostly in the upper 80's. It did rain almost every day, but we enjoyed that too!

Some of our favorite things on the island were all of the activities. We went out on the hobie cats (miniature sail boats) kayaks, snorkeling trips, volley ball and tubing every day. I'm lucky to have such an active husband and not a beach bum. He did sail us into the rocky coast one time on the hobie cats, but I will blame that  on the ocean conditions, and not Captain Chamber's sailing ability.

We saw a lot of cool fish when we were snorkeling. We swam through a school of little fish and I also say a stingray and Isaac saw an eel. I was a little uneasy about snorkeling because I really don't care too much for the ocean, but I got used to it, especially when we went out for the second time. Our guide said that he has seen nurse sharks on the reef that we were in, but thank goodness we didn't see any!

On our second trip out to the reef, our boat has quite the mishap. It broke down on the way into the beach and we had to flag down some people at Sandals and they sent out rescue boats. Many titanic references were made during that time "Women and children in the boats!" "Men, step back!"

Now, the most important part of the honeymoon, the food. :)

Isaac and I shared many, many delicious meals. He even had the 'great' idea of making two dinner reservations a night so we could eat twice. Talk about stuffed!

The dinner restaurants at Sandals include: Cucina Romana (Italian) Toyko Joes (Asian) Oleander Room (Jamaican) Stewfish (Seafood, on the beach) and Bayside (International)

The first night we ate at Cucina Romana and I had a prosciutto wrapped chicken breast, zucchini  parmesan and Isaac had calamari and linguini with clams. It was delicious. We also had fresh bread with dipping sauces and cheesecake & tiramisu. Yummo! We also ate there our last night and I had tomato soup, caprese salad, & risotto and he had calamari, seafood soup, lasagna and grilled tuna.

I forgot to take pictures of our food, be here is one after the fact.

This plate was from our dinner at Stewfish. Both nights I had a ribeye steak and Isaac enjoyed a plethora of seafood including shrimp kebobs and red snapper.

We ate at Tokyo Joe's one night as our "second dinner". I really wish we would have eaten there first because if was SO delicious but I was too full from our first meal to enjoy it. At Tokyo's, you are served your appetizer and soup, and then you get to go up and create your entree and watch the chef prepare it.

I loved being able to choose from all of the fresh veggies - carrots, mushrooms, onions, water chestnuts, bok choy, cabbage, etc etc. It made me feel half-way healthy after eating jerk chicken, nachos and drinking dirty bananas and pina coladas all day long :)