Ok, prepare for my picture heavy post about Montego Bay!

That Tuesday morning, Brad, Jeff and I went up to my parents’ room to something we hadn’t seen in a few days – land!

Land, Ho!

Dad looking at land

Of course we weren’t actually going to reach the island until Noon, so we played out our morning routine of eating breakfast and getting ready. Around 11:30 we were all in my parents’ room again and spotted the pilot boat leading the ship into dock.

"Follow Me!"

Finally around Noon the boat docked…of course I guess after being on the ship for three days, everyone on board seemed to be a little ansy to get off! There was a huge crowd leading down to the 3rd deck waiting to disembark. So, we all went down to Brad, Jeff, and my shared rooms to wait out the craziness. My Aunt and Uncle were supposed to meet us in the crowd, but we got a bit separated in the process!

After the crowd disbursed a bit, we ventured down to the 3rd deck and off the ship. Once we were on land, it we noticed just how huge our ship was! While boarding at the very beginning of the cruise, you go across a ramp structure that takes you up near the top of the ship, so we never had really gotten a sense of how tall it was…but now we could see it!

Our Floating Hotel...

Like I said in my previous post, we had signed up for a beach party. So we followed the crowd to the “find your excursion group” area…where local excursion operators hold up signs for you to find them. We found ours with no problem, and then just kinda hung our for 15 minutes or so while we waiting for other people on the boat to get there.

My mother's first picture in a foriegn country...with weird Brad in the background...

Once everyone who was going got there, and we reunited with my Aunt and Uncle, we boarded the bus to go to the Irie Mon beach party! I think they said that Irie means “Alright!”

My brother, sporting his beautiful excursion braclet

I had to redirect my dad so I could get both of them in this picture

The trip to the beach didn’t take more than 15 minutes or so, where our tour guide told us about what all would be there – pulled chicken and pork, snorkeling, limbo lessons, as well as their open bar – featuring something called Rum Punch…which he said is so named because it will reach up and punch you when you least expect it!

I found a Jamaican Bobsled!

Once we got to the beach…well, it was gorgeous!

This picture doesn't even do it justice!

Perfect day for the beach...

Our little Jamaican bar...

I really wish I would have thought to take more pictures, but I spent probably 90% of our time there in the water. The lunch was fabulous, though they were definitely right about the punch! Lol, I could feel myself getting a bit tipsy by the time we ate, so I stopped drinking pretty much after that, but Brad kinda charged on ahead! We hung out in the water a lot – but unfortunately Brad lost his wedding ring! It’s ok to me – it wasn’t his original wedding ring, it was just one that he had found that fit him a bit better…so he got off the hook there! But of coure in my semi-sober state I told him to go fetch me some snorkel gear and I would find it for him! Lol, I never found it, but me, my brother and Brad really enjoyed the snorkeling – just a small taste of what we’d get to experience the next day with Scuba-ing!

So…of course time seemed to go by entirely too quickly! Before we knew it, it was time to board the bus to head back to the ship

After drying off and gathering stuff, I was able to take a couple more photos.

Brad and the bartender...apparently they are best friends now

I'm not drunk! Can I have some more punch please?

We all made it back to the bus safely – no one left behind! Of course everyone was a LOT more quiet by that time.

View of our ship from the bus

I was able to grab this pic of my parents as we were heading back to board the ship.

One of my favorite pics from the trip!

You can’t really tell from this picture, but as we were boarding the ship there was a little band group right by the steps to send us off…Brad starting dancing with them, which he doesn’t exactly remember doing…

Yeah Mon!

Of course we were back on the boat by 5:30…so the sobering up had to begin! We still had an evening to spend! So, after showers, water, and a fresh, dry set up of clothes, we headed back up to my parents’ room to see Jamaica off.

My brother, Brad and I were looking through the binoculars and saw this guy over on the land…they swear that he was talking to himself or something weird…so of course I had to capture that memory!

This strange little man makes his way to my blog...what next!?

So that night we headed off to dinner – this is where that dancing comes in. Every night once everyone has their entrees, the waiters do some sort of performance…they usually all start by singing while dancing up the isles between the tables…our waiter, Mohammed, is the one in the yellow hat:

My dad doesn't look as thrilled as the rest of us...

I think that night they did the funky cha cha or something…

I'm embarrased! Yeah right!

I ended up catching a bit more of the dancing – I’ll share more of that later!

So, pretty much after that we all crashed – lots of sun and a bit of alcohol will make you tired, don’t you know!?

That’s our day in Jamaica – I’ll leave you of course with the towel creation of the day – no guesswork here!

Elephant Towel!

Is it sad that I came pretty close to buying the book that shows you how to make these? Don't worry, I resisted!