If Mike is loading our bags in the dark, that can only mean….
…we’re off to Jamaica!!
Kelli and I were the only non-Jamaicans on the flight.
Enjoying our omelet breakfast.
All airports need a Sandals welcome center.
Kelli helps herself to the free Red Stripe tap in the lounge.
We’re the only 2 in our van and we’re off on the 1 and 1/2 hour drive to Sandals Whitehouse.
A view of the landscape.
There are a ton of beer shacks along the way. We stopped.
Almost to the resort but we saw this and had to get out!
The crypt where Peter Tosh is buried. Kelli signs the guestbook.
An outside view of the crypt.
An old, original photo of Peter.
Like you didn’t know already.
Kelli heads over to the house where Tosh lived.
This is his mother.
It was pretty cool to meet her.
Our tour guide gave us the lowdown on Jamaica’s local fruits.
This was an interesting plant. When you touched it..
…the leaves would curl up. It used to be planted around slave’s quarters so the slave owners would know if the slaves ran away.
This is ackee, part of Jamaica’s national dish.
It was a pretty cool tour.
The local kids having fun.
Finally we arrive and are escorted to our room.
We decided we hated our room. Can we see another?
Kelli does her “let’s do an upgrade” dance.
Ah, now this is more like it!
Just making sure I can fit.
Find Kelli.
She’s actually standing in the shower.
Checking out the vanity.
Its nice having a bedroom…
…and a sitting room.
The corner balcony was key.
Home sweet home for almost 2 weeks!
Kelli checks out the ocean.
I took this picture so I could remember our room number. We kept forgetting it.
A better room means better free liquor.
Meeting our butlers, Damion and Basil. (Oh yeah, the upgrade includes a Butler)
Time to explore the resort. This is the main pool.
The daily activities board, which includes some interesting mixes.
The spa.
The Butlers gave us a cell phone for when we needed anything.
Its nice to be home!
Dusk is falling.
So is the rain.
I always end up meeting other photographers.
Her first outfit was soaked. Time for the quick change.
Dinner the first nite was at Tokyo Joes.
This miso soup was no good.
The teriyaki fish was better.
Kelli always makes me a card.
Basil sets up our anniversary breakfast!
Dining alfresco can’t be beat.
So we did it every morning.
Time to get ready for our first dive.
How do you celebrate your anniversary?
Our first dive started with the usual stuff. Lobsters…
Our divemaster, Carlton (otherwise known as Stringbean) seems to have found something….
A jellyfish.
It was a relaxing dive.
This doesn’t look like much…
…but its a home for this guy.
A beautiful surprise bouquet awaited us when we got back to our room.
Kelli heads to the swim up pool bar.
This is the biggest pool in Jamaica.
Kelli gets in position to play todays activity, Name that Tune.
We used the cell phone we were given to call the butlers for some pool side lunch.
Everyone is majorly unplugging.
Nothing like sipping champagne poolside.
She almost looks naked.
I spent way too much time at the pool.
This male peacock lives at the resort.
He never fanned his feathers, but boy is he pretty.
One of the many fountains throughout the place. The landscaping was fantastic.
Another fountain.
Whitehouse is set up to resemble a European village.
Do you see the hummingbird?
There he is.
Some info on the wildlife.
This end of the island is still relatively untouched.
Just walking around you would come upon little critters.
I love doing a walkabout.
A snail
This is the pier where you caught the dive or snorkle boats. It’s at the end of the resort.
When you get to the end of the resort, sometimes the locals think you might need something, so they come running.
You know I’ll need a picture of me in this.
Getting ready for dinner.
I sure am a lucky devil.
Every night Kelli would fill out our breakfast card and hang it on the door.
He’s just taking a little stroll like we are.
Check out that claw.
As I said, there’s always some sort of critter around.
Enjoying cocktails before dinner.
Kelli does her Tarkay pose.
The gameroom where Kelli continues to be reigning champion at ping pong.
We enjoyed our anniversary dinner at Eleanors.
The ambiance was really nice.
Who isn’t smiling in Jamaica?
Kelli ordered a double lobster tail.
Arriving back to the room and the butlers have decorated the bed with rose petals.
Another day, another glorious way to wake up.
We did 11 dives on this trip.
The dive sites at Whitehouse were pretty pristine. Look at this color.
Everytime we came back to our room, there was some sort of surprise.
Trying out the other pool with a swim up bar.
I stayed on this raft all the way to the bar.
The bartenders just watched me coming.
I made it.
Now for the tricky part.
I carried both drinks back on my raft, camera in hand. Oh there was a volleyball match going on in the water too.
Kelli is in sight!
She has no clue that I never got up or off this thing.
Damion can you bring us some lunch?? Butler service rocks!!!!!
I had fish tacos every day.
After arriving back to the room later on, some little sandwiches awaited us.
What Kelli would look like with dreads.
This sunset was gorgeous. The lights on the beach are where couples are enjoying private dinners.
The colors were fantastic, and changed by the second.
Gearing up for a night out.
Delicious pasta at the italian place.
Tiramisu for dessert.
When you travel during hurricane season, you’re bound to hit one. Notice the red flag.
All dives are canceled today, so we enjoy a relaxing breakfast indoors.
Well its raining outside, what would YOU do?
This is how I set up that shot, BTW.
You can never have enough camera accessories.
Its still pretty cloudy, why not have some snacks.
A rainy day in Jamaica is still better than a sunny day in MD.
Okay lets do something. We grabbed some Red Stripe Lights for the road.
Same flag, but from the beach. Ours is the third floor yellow balcony.
I kicked Kelli’s butt in pool.
To the victor go the spoils.
She’s in a dress, it must be dinner time.
Dinner that nite was outside at Bayside. It was delicious!
The seafood was extra good. We could see the ocean from our table.
I definitely ate while I was there.
Oh look more food. And the weather is clearing.
But the waves were still rough, thanks to Hurricane Faye. Diving was cancelled again.
It was so exciting watching Usain Bold during the Olympics while we were in his home country.
Posing at a fountain.
We decided to hang at the main pool again.
Appleton Estate. Accept no substitutes.
The bartender couldn’t believe that I almost killed this bottle.
Oh wait, I did kill it.
When you’re drinking in the sun, you don’t always realize how much sun you’re getting. (More on that in a minute)
While Kelli laid out, I hung out with these cats.
After hours in the sun we all went back to one guy’s room.
It was cool.
We found out we had all gotten married on the same day, Aug 15.
Its amazing what you can make with a bath towel.
I really overdid it.
Yup, I’m definitely red, and in pain.
The nurse said it was pretty bad and gave me some relief.
So I can remember who everyone is.
This was Meet the Managers night and they had fun drinks set up.
This was just OK though.
The buffet was pretty extraordinary.
Its no wonder people gain weight on vacation.
I’ve never had turn down service like this.
I wanted us both in the shot.
You have to keep it interesting.
Kelli plays the ghost of Lillypad Lane.
Well, the storm is over, so the diving is back on. Check out this crab.
Visability was not that great, but you never know what you might see.
I’ve never seen so many bluefish.
A view of the resort from the boat. Every room is oceanfront. Ours is right side, yellow corner, third floor.
Another dive, and this is a pretty decent sized puffer.
Some of the reefs were pretty cool.
Back at the room, a new note and new snacks.
Which we enjoyed outside.
My sunburn is starting to blister. Sexy!
The resort had a french patisserie where you could order gourmet coffees, cookies, ice cream, the works.
The outside of the place.
This was where nightly entertainment was held.
Kelli got majorly schooled in shuffleboard.
Getting ready to go out for tonights theme, “White Night”
They had a midnight chocolate buffet that was delicious!
A molten fountain for dipping and hot chocolate station.
Tonight’s turn down service.
I should mention the dive shop was at the complete other end from where we were staying. Sometimes we took the shore walk.
An old anchor.
Getting ready to dive off the boat.
That’s about as graceful as it gets.
My dad bought me some special paper that you can write with underwater.
This was a pretty cool 11 foot nurse shark!
They like to hide under the reefs.
When we got back to the room a delicious cheese plate awaited us.
My blisters were bothering me so I applied the ointment from the nurse.
It helped a little.
The ointment color is redder than my sunburn.
Kelli finished one of her books so she donated it.
This is the special dinner for returning guests.
We didn’t eat this beef carpaccio.
They take photos of you while you’re sitting there and then play them over on the screen.
They took two of us.
This was delicious. Some sort of fish in parchment paper.
Kelli of course had the lobster.
Just one picture on this dive.
One day we decided to be crazy and go somewhere for lunch. This was the southwestern grille.
Told you I’d be doing this.
The ping pong table was open, and Kelli beat me….again.
Basil set up a special sunset dinner for us. Check out that sky.
The sky was constantly changing.
It must have worked for me. Click here for pictures of our trip to Sandals Whitehouse.
Basil really outdid himself with this one.
Because there wasn’t much light, there were a million stars to see.
Do you see the puffer?
This is one of Kelli’s favorite fish. Their eyes and face are so expressive.
Its really hard to do photography under water.
We decided to snorkel after our dive. This was on the shore, maybe 2 feet of water.
I didn’t feel like touching him so I put him on my fin.
She didn’t know what all the fuss was about.
We never really go on the beach in Jamaica. Would hate to step on this sea urchin.
There was a big log nearby and we found these guys hanging out under it.
Man if only the pickings were this easy in OC.
We arrive back to our room to find a path of rose petals.
They led to a freshly drawn bubble bath!
It was heavenly.
Some treats.
We really miss this guy. The service was exceptional.
A guy from our dive group was having a little happy hour.
It was fun. He took a lot of video while diving so we watched the tapes.
Time out to watch the sunset.
Another gorgeous one.
By this point we are pretty relaxed.
Group shot. Ron and Steve would dive with us while their wives did other stuff.
After cocktail hour, Kelli and I decided to head over to the art auction.
It was kinda dead and almost time for our dinner reservation.
We were at the same place but our menus were different.
Treats from the antipasto bar.
After dinner we decided on Cafe de Paris for dessert.
The resort wasn’t packed; we had a lot of it to ourselves.
Couples shot.
Our happy hour remnants.
Our last morning and no diving, so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast…
…before having to pack.
We would definitely come back here.
Heading to the main lounge.
But first, a kiss.
We would recommend this place to anyone interested.
Back at Sangster.
Our flight was delayed so we stopped for some final red stripes and the national Jamaican dish of ackee and saltfish. A perfect ending for a perfect trip. Thanks for looking!