It's a Wonderful World

Neither Scottie or I are big sun bathers. In fact, we both try to avoid the sun as much as humanly possible. We both have come to terms with our European skin and realize that even when we are tan, something simply does not look right.

So with that in mind in Jamaica we were really careful. Scottie's day of demise was when we were at the Dolphin Cove. We were swimming in the ocean with the dolphins all day long and unfortunately his sun screen did not last in the water and he ended up with a pretty red head.

Surprisingly his burn went away pretty darn fast.

My story is a lot different and a lot worse. It was the last full day in Jamaica. I was still fairly white. It was very over-cast for most of the day. We decided to just hang out around the ocean and in the pool. When we went into the pool, we met a really nice couple from Canada. They were also in love with their dogs so we started talking about that.

My biggest mistake was sitting in the area of the pool where you would normally lay your beach chairs and lay out. So I was sitting in like 6 inches of water. My second mistake was not putting sun screen on my legs. I figured that they are mostly in the water so no harm could be done. My next mistake was sitting in that 6 inches of water and splashing water over my body while I was talking and thinking that it would "cool my skin off". When we got out of the water I felt fine. We went to grab some lunch and we went back up to sit on the terrace after lunch. All of a sudden Scottie looks down at my legs and said I looked like a lobster. The rest of the day got worse and worse. I was so cold all day long. I could barely move my shoulders and my legs. It felt like needles were piercing my skin.
That evening was spent with cold compresses all over my body and some Advil Extra Strength. I kept telling Scottie that it felt like my knees were broken. Then I looked down and saw two white-colored circles on both my knees. At first I thought they were scars that didn't color. But then I went into the internet area and googled third degree sunburn and sure enough, that is what it was!! Which explains why I felt like my knees were broken. What a sad day! But neither of us let it ruin our honeymoon. At least it was the last day! I'm doing better now. My skin has started to peel with the exception of one area on my leg that is bright red and will not change! Oh, the joy of being Irish!

Our little refrigerator in our room was also all-inclusive. So we could drink any of the beverages without being charged (sweet!). Well, we go to open our fridge, and look what beer is sitting so cute on the top shelf....

We had a couple of days where we laid by the beach or pool or just sat up in the terrace area. We loved sitting on the terrace, looking at the ocean, playing SkipBo, and sipping on some really good cappuccino.

Thanks mom and dad for such a great experience!!

When we arrived in Jamaica we were so tired but so excited. It was fun seeing all of the other honeymooners on the flight. Getting through customs was very easy and luckily we did not spend much time in the airport at all. We found our bus with no problem and waited in the parking lot for some time for other travelers going in the same direction.

After what seemed like an eternity our bus finally left towards the hotels. We were with other people going to other hotels, but luckily ours was the first stop so we didn't have to be in the bus that long. Along the way, the driver stopped us at a little store/bar. These drivers must have an arrangement with these places to stop their buses so the tourists can go in and spend money. And our course we did spend money. I learned my first lesson when we bought to drinks at the bar. Scottie ordered a Red Stripe and I ordered a Smirnoff Bottled Drink, and when I asked how much I started pulling out a $10 bill from my wallet, of course the bartender saw it and said $9. How convenient, nine bucks and just enough for a $1 tip. Oh well, I figured all of our other drinks were paid for with our all inclusive hotel so I justified it.
Our hotel was absolutely gorgeous. In fact probably the nicest in Runaway Bay. We got in before check in so we went in for our first lunch. Scottie has never been to an all inclusive resort before. So I don't think he had any idea of what his options were going to be like for food. When we went into the dining room that served food all day long, he was in Heaven!! We had so many options to choose from. It's so funny when you stay at an all inclusive. You start to schedule everything around the food. Then when you come back from your vacation, you expect to eat every 2 hours like you did when you were on vacation! Needless to say we found some of our favorite foods for our meals. Scottie loved the crepes for breakfast. I loved their fruit smoothies. We both really liked their pizza. The crust was almost sweet and they usually had pineapple in all of their pizzas. We also loved the ice cream. It was a lot smoother than what we have in the USA.
After lunch we went up to check into our room and also checked out the hotel.
Our room was incredible. The pictures below with the view of the ocean were taken from our balcony... Amazing!!
The picture below is me being a dork in the bathroom..The first day was pretty much spent relaxing by the pool. After traveling since 3:00 a.m., we definitely were ready for some down time. Since we are both so white we played it very safe on the first day and just sat under a cabana the entire day. Scottie also wore his t-shirt over his head - it's hard not to get a sunburn on a head that is so exposed :)Scottie and I went back up to the room after awhile to take a nap. Right as I started to doze off a started to hear some steal drums. Being a big fan of Jamaican music and steal drums, I followed the music and let Scottie continue to nap. What I found was a cute foursome of musicians playing on the beach. It was great to sip on a pina colada and listen to the music