Ocho Rios, Jamaica

For many years if we took a vacation is was usually to the beach (N.C or S.C coast) or to the mountains if N.C. Don't get me wrong, these were always great vacations and I love both locations. However, I have always wanted to visit others countries and with the girls grown and starting their own journeys we were finally able to start exploring the world. Not that they were holding us back, but as they leave the nest it does free up room in the pocketbook!

2009 was our break out year! October 2009 was going to be our 25th wedding anniversary so we decided what better time to spread our wings. I started looking at possible adventures for us to do; cruises, resorts, all-inclusive...
The list went on and on. We really wanted to go on a cruise at some point but I was afraid I would get sea sick. I have a problem with motion sometimes. I had a friend that recommended a all-inclusive vacation so I focused my researching on that. There are tons of places to go and many resorts that offer all-inclusive
vacations. We settled on Couples Sans Souci Resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

The beach just outside our room.

Some of the view on our ride from the airport to the
resort. It was a wild and bumpy ride. There are not many
driving laws and if there are they are not followed!

We had a beautiful room just steps from the beach. Large bathroom, separate sitting room, in room bar/fridge that was stocked daily!

 This was the view from our room. The beach was just at the end of the paved path. To the right of the paved path was a pool with a bar. So we had the best of both worlds, pool and beach. The places to eat were an easy walk to get to and the food was amazing.

Some of the amazing sweets we got to choose from.



The final night there is a big party. They set up on the lawn and have tons
of food and music.
 

One night during the week they have a Jamaican BBQ kinda night out on
the beach. They have local talent come to entertain. It was pretty
awesome.

This was our favorite place to eat. We had breakfast here everyday and dinner
a lot of the nights. We did try out some of the other restaurants but
thought this was the best place.

Our favorite bar tender and teacher. He told us a lot about the island and
its people. The people of Jamaica were very friendly. Everyone at the
resort was very friendly.

One of the many ice sculptures at the last night party event.

David enjoying the pool!

Enjoying a paddle boat ride.

David learned to scuba dive. He went out twice and had a great time. I
was too chicken to try. After watching them learn in the pool, I am glad that
I didn't try it. I would never have been able to go deep underwater with
the mask and breathing stuff. We did go snorkeling and both of us
fell in love with it.

One of the resident sea turtles

Couples Sans Souci Resort

Not only did we learn to snorkel, we had our first couples massage. All I can say is HEAVEN.....

We hated to see the week end!

                            But stay tuned, we have many more exciting travels ahead...