(Wedding Recap) Honeymoon Death Defying & Dolphins

August 15, 2011 8 Comments

I have on record me saying that this excursion proved to be one of the most fun days of my entire life. 

A main reason this day was fun to the max amounted to the lack of safety precautions and the fact that this would never happen in the United States.  We’re too wary of lawsuits and just generally people unnecessarily dying*.  This waterfall and those dolphins would never exist in any amusement park over here in the States.  And that is why it was so gosh darn fun.

Dunn’s River Falls basically consists of rushing water flowing constantly at your face at about 30mph while you climb a 45 degree incline, over a mile. Fun, right?
Also there are no ropes or bars, just rocks under your feet, which of course you cannot see because the water is constantly moving over them.
However you are encouraged to hold onto stranger in front and behind you.  This genius move of holding on to someone’s hand while climbing hidden rocks and water all over you face made me wonder how there was no medivac helicopter in sight. Or maybe it already left with someone else.
We can’t forget the men filming the entire trek and hoping from rock to rock & reminding you that if you fall it’s ok, because they’ll catch you… on tape.  har har har.  Or that if your melons pop out, those too will be taped.

Overall it’s a fun [death defying] experience, once you get to the end.  Then you’re all like, “woah I climbed all that and lived to tell?”   Ultimately you feel like the coolest people ever with dry land under your feet.

I recommend everyone in good health who is not accident prone tries it.  Oh and all these old fashioned looking pictures are just that: taken from a waterproof film camera.  Everything gets drenched there at Dunn’s River Falls.  Somehow all the guides jump from rock to rock with their cell phones and camcorders.  I guess you can say practice makes perfect? or not soaking wet.   So we overpaid** for an “old timey” 35mm waterproof thing to have these sweet images preserved forever. 

Then we headed to  DOLPHIN MANIA!

When we first started looking for a honeymoon destination I needed 3 things:  1) beach, 2) a man to bring me drinks on the beach, & 3) swim with dolphins.

As a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist and then a veterinarian.  I have this thing for animals and never lost the desire to swim with dolphins.  Such beautiful, magical, serene, smart animals.  Until you get up close to them. Then they look like aliens.  Giant, smiley, beady-eyed, smart aliens.

After the tour guides instructed us on how to do the hokey pokey (I kid you not), we were told to get in the 30ft water.  Just, go ahead, get in the water, like it was nothing big to be surrounded by 8 dolphins: “Climb down those stairs over there into a giant saltwater area and swim over to there and I’ll meet you there.”  Oh and then get in a straight line (while treading water -30 ft deep).  Then please don’t move.  Oh and stay in that straight line.  Don’t accidentally kick the dolphins while you’re treading water & they swim by (Mike). No come back over here, but please stay in a straight line.

Then, don’t forget to hang on:

This place was crazy.  Simultaneously they had no concerns and rules up the wazoo.  How they expected us to stay in a straight line while treading water was beyond me.  Also don’t call the dolphin by a ficticious made up name (ahem, Sebastian) when his name is really something weird because the trainers don’t like that.

It was a blast, though. A 100%, paid too much for the DVD & photos, bought shorts that say “Jamaica” on the butt, once in a lifetime opportunity blast.

And I will never do it again.

*honestly that’s not the worst thing to be worried about
**only cost $22 American dollars at the resort gift shop

Filed Under: honeymoon, recap

(Wedding Recap) Honeymoon Reality TV

August 12, 2011 5 Comments

On a seemingly tame catamaran ride we not only sailed the beautiful sea and snorkeled, but I ended up on Jamaican television, too.  How?  Well…

First we went to the land of many boats.

And then we got on one of said boats.  (and got up the courage to post a picture of myself in a bikini. on my blog. on the internet.  boom.)

 I’m on a boat!

The water glistened (but not because of bugs).  So blue.  So pretty.

We snorkeled. And yes, I snorkeled too, but you can’t quite bring your dSLR in the water.

We both snorkeled.  Here’s proof that Mike swam with the fishes (and lived to tell about it).
(Haha I’m so funny)

Of course, no boat trip on any Caribbean island water is complete without a stop by a bar disguised as a theme restaurant. 
We floated up to Margaritaville and their 120 foot slide:

Shortly after Mike’s plunge down the tube of fear, he tried convincing me do the same.  Having a distaste for extreme heights and all things irrational, I quickly snapped replied no way in hell.  This snowballed into a heavy discussion of how I never put myself out-there in high risk situations. I tried bringing up my trapeze experience, of which I hated every moment.  I recounted my many airplane trips.  Then I acquiesced and agreed that those adventures do not give me a thrill, of any sort.  I think Mike stuck his tongue out at me.

We got back on the boat.
And then some crazy lady with full makeup, a skinny boot-ay, and an entourage also got on the boat. I did what any rational woman would do in this position: immediately started dishing out shallow, catty remarks.  She obviously needed a cheeseburger. or three.

Who did this lady think she was?  And why was she on our tourist boat? All pretty and thin and… oh my word is she Selena Gomez?  A buzz started to spread amongst the commoners.  I’m not a teenage girl so I have no clue what Selena Gomez really looks like.  Maybe she could be Selena Gomez because there were big cameras following her and taping some sort of interview.
Her lady in charge of her every move manager announced they were looking for 3 backup dancers. Now this part still gets me: why ask three, white, American tourists to be your backup dancers?!  Clearly someone needed to look better than us.  So I did what any “normal,” quiet adventure seeking person with a dance background would do:  volunteered.   I love to dance. I love to perform. I love the camera.  I hate water slides. 
Then this happened:
 
Dancing.  On a boat.  In Jamaica. Being taped. 
I wish my cute, little black coverup showed up better in pictures.  Alas, I landed on Jamaican Reality TV, strutting my stuff.  In the Dance serves as Jamaica’s version of Soul Train meets So You Think You Can Dance.  They travel around the island, searching for unsuspecting volunteers to teach a routine to and then film dancing! Dancers can also tape themselves and send in the video.  Then back in the studio people gather to learn the same move and poof, you have an episode.  I have yet to find our American-boat-dancing segment, but be certain I check their website on the regular.
Oh and that way too cute girl who I’d love to hate?
Rosina Casserly, the host, is a lovely, unmistakably cute, woman with a killer accent. (cue controlled jealousy)  I only hold a tiny grudge for how great she looks next to me in this picture.  Then I remind myself how much makeup and assistants she had, and how I spent the day snorkeling and dancing.  I bet she hates water slides too. (and eww huge beer gut in the background of our lovely picture!)
 
Lesson learned?
At the end of the day, it matters not how you look, but rather your experiences and the memories you make with those you love.  
I didn’t see Mike volunteer to dance, though.
::smirk::
Filed Under: awesomeness, honeymoon, recap

(Wedding Recap) Honeymoon Bright Lights!

August 11, 2011 1 Comment

Mike & I planned some mind blowing excursions while on our honeymoon.  And thanks to our honeymoon registry, little came out of our own pocket.  <–This turned out to be one of our best wedding planning ideas. 

Luminous Lagoon


In Falmouth, Jamaica, on a brackish (that’s half saltwater & freshwater, duh) lagoon you’ll find “Glistening Waters/ Luminous Lagoon.”  Apparently they wanted to add as many adjectives as possible to get their point across: the water lights up.  See, tiny dinoflagellates live in the waters and these rare phosphorescent microbes spend their days soaking up light.  All those big words mean at night, when anything causes the little buggers to move they light up. Greenish-blueish neon colors glow against a dark water background, seemingly out of nowhere.  Imagine conquistadors years ago flipping their ish as fish caused lightening bolt streaks to illuminate the otherwise murky waters.

And still today, it’s pretty darn cool.  (but really hard to photograph with a camera that insists on using a flash.)

And then Mike got in the 4 ft deep gross water and I refused to touch him until he showered.
Apparently these little creepers only live in 3 other places in the world (which I can’t remember, due to free rum).  If you find yourself in one of those places with glowing waters, you need to go see the tiny night lights in the water. I promise, the phenomenon is a must see.

Filed Under: awesomeness, honeymoon, Mike, recap

(Wedding Recap) The Honeymoon Resort!

August 9, 2011 4 Comments

Sorry to jump to the grand finale.  Our photographer needs more time to get our 700+ shots to perfection, and I’m not about to rush that!  So while waiting on the fancy-schmancy photos, here are my “normal” photos from our honeymoon resort!

We visited Montego Bay, Jamaica — where the people are friendly, the rum is plentiful, and the sun (mostly) always shines unless it’s raining while you’re trying to get a tan on the beach.

We stayed at Secret’s Wild Orchid resorts.  This all inclusive resort met all our needs.  The sun, the sand, the food & drinks — all included and wonderful.

Our gorgeous room:

View from our room by day:

Night-view from our balcony:

You can’t forget the Jerk Chicken Man or the Coconut Guy….

(…because of reasons like this above!)
We dressed up for dinner
And generally enjoyed not having a care in the world!

We had a great time!

…When do we get to have a second honeymoon?
Or simply go back to Jamaica?!

Filed Under: beach, eat your heart out, honeymoon, Mike

On Being Married

July 7, 2011 7 Comments

First things first, I promise to go through and do a recap of the wedding events — once our professional photographer gets all 700 photos edited and returned to us. And there is no rushing that! I will not get in the way of a woman and her photos! (especially when they are of me!)

But as for now? Now Mike and I are enjoying being newlyweds, both with the summer off – to boot!  As a school teacher myself and Mike heading into his 2nd year of grad school: half of June, all of July and part of August are totally ours.  Jealous? Thought so! 

So you might be wondering how we fill the time?  Get your mind out of the gutter! Somehow, even though our wedding is over, the to-do list is still there!  The countless items we never made time to deal with and shoved in a pile in the corner, the dog who suddenly hates to go on walks, and the thank you notes (oh lawdy, the thank you notes) all get their dose of attention.  There are duplicate gifts to return and registry items to purchase with our “finish your registry for 10% off” coupons.  The kitchen table still needs uncovering/rediscovering, but eating in front of the TV continues to work, for now. 

All in all, Mike and I are relishing our time with each other.  Grocery shopping has a new spin when you’re lucky in love and doe-eyed.  The DVR is almost full but we make plenty of time to catch up on our shows (sidenote: how happy are you that True Blood is back?!). I can honestly say the world is silly-wonderful right now.  With no timeline or expectations, we love spending this treasured time with each other. 
And who could want anything more?

Filed Under: honeymoon, newlyweds, update

Honeymoon Style Inspiration

March 25, 2011 6 Comments

I pine for spring, as I know many of you out there do too.

So I did what comes naturally, spent money on clothes to wear in warmer weather!
And what better warmer weather to look forward to, than that of Jamaica and my honeymoon.

I didn’t buy ALL of the items pictured below.
Yet.

But they are my inspiration, and I shall wear them inside until it’s warm enough outside.

GAP Polka Dot Hatler and Side Tie Bikini
Bag – SR Squared by Sondra Roberts Tangier
Gap Tie Back Dress

Merona® Wide Brim Floppy Hat – Natural
ModCloth Butterfly Garden Dress
7 Hills Stretch Striped Waist Belt 
Seychelles Harlow Yellow Shoes

Filed Under: beach, BlogBook, honeymoon

As Mike Sees It (2)

February 24, 2011 5 Comments

Hello again everyone! It’s been quite a while since I made an appearance here on the blog, but since Vicki’s input on the honeymoon planning was restricted to her continuously reminding me all she cared about was “going someplace where someone brings me drinks as I lay on the beach,” I did the heavy lifting on the planning so it makes sense that I should be the one who writes about it.

When we first started scheming about where to go on our honeymoon, and scheming is indeed the appropriate verb here, we were thinking someplace exotic. We both love to travel and therefore wanted to take this opportunity to go someplace we’d never been to and wanted to visit. The front runners were Greece, Thailand, and India. We soon realized since none of those places are exactly close, the flights are pretty pricey. But that wasn’t going to dissuade us since (if you do this right) you only get one shot at a honeymoon. So it became a matter of figuring out which place made the most sense.

But leave it to a sitcom to throw a wrench in our plans. We were watching the Hawaii episode of Modern Family, which features a scene were Cam and Mitchell debate the merits of exploring and seeing sites on your vacation versus laying by the pool and getting pampered. I was firmly in Mitchell’s camp on this one; when you go someplace you need to soak it all up and experience the place, because you can lie around anywhere. But then it hit us both: after the wedding and all the related craziness, lying around is what we’re going to need. So in a moment of deep revelation we both decided that instead of spending lots of cash on the flight, we should go somewhere in the Caribbean that would be much cheaper to get to and invest the funds into an all-inclusive resort instead.

I thought it would be easy at that point but lo and behold, the Caribbean is full of all-inclusive resorts (guess we’re not the first people to have this idea. Who knew?). So we (and by “we” I mean I) began doing our research into places that fit our budget and gave us what we wanted. After that we narrowed it down to about four different places. Then my anal grad-school-self kicked in and decided the best way to figure this out was to write down all the pluses and minuses of each place and assign them points based on that (I know, I’m a dork. I accept this fact and Vicki does too).

After considering everything the winner and place we booked is Secrets Wild Orchid in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The pluses on my list that led us this location include:

  • Direct flights from Baltimore to Montego Bay, followed by a short drive to the resort from the airport
  • Wait service at the beach and pool
  • A soaking tub on our private balcony
  • 8 restaurants and 10 bars on site
  • The inclusion of a honeymoon package which gets us spa discounts, a bottle of champagne, and some other gifts
  • Tons of activities, sports and otherwise, all included
  • 24 hour room service, including stocking the mini bar
  • DOLPHINS (<—-Vicki’s edit)

There are lots of others too, but this post has gone on long enough so I’ll stop there. Since we’ve booked this we both feel much more at ease with everything, as we now know what reward is waiting for us at the end of the end of the tunnel (besides, you know, getting married). The place looks amazing and we both cannot wait to get there and start getting pampered. We have more info about the place (including the option for people to get us massages and other things as a wedding present; hint, hint) on our Wedsite.
Until then, we’ll be dreaming of cocktails and sunsets on the beach…

 {source}
*sidenote, Vicki says that lady’s butt is bigger than hers.
Filed Under: BlogBook, honeymoon, Mike, Mike's Posts, registry

Honeymoon Decision!

February 9, 2011 10 Comments

When it came to the honeymoon, I let Mike take the wheel.  I asked him to do all the research.
Because honestly? If it was up to me? I’d book the first, most awesome looking place no matter the price.  I’m like that, though.  I’m not one to research 50-bazillion places and narrow down the choices.
Mike? He’s a total decision maker.  He weighed the pro’s and con’s. He devised a point system for certain items at the different places.  He figured it all out.  He gets ALL the credit. ((Thank you, love!!))
AND?! Soon he will have a post detailing the awesomeness of such.

For now, I can tell you this: we booked it.
There’s a solid light at the end of the tunnel.  There’s a beach with daiquiris waiting for us. There’s peace and quite and sand and ocean.

  {source}

Stay tuned for more from Mike!
For now, dream of summer, amidst the cold weather!

Filed Under: BlogBook, honeymoon, Mike

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