Jamaican Anniversary Getaway

 Looking forward to our getaway, we thought back to the last time we boarded a plane together. At the crack of dawn after our wedding reception last July, we sat crammed in coach with no leg room to stretch our cramping charlie horses; a result of 4 hours of dancing and dehydration. Even my 5-foot frame felt suffocated in that tiny seat. We were drained, sore, and SO uncomfortable. 

We remembered that time over supper just days before our departure for Jamaica for our anniversary and Sean said, "Well at least this time we'll be rested before the flight. That'll be nice."

I said, "What would be nice would be flying first class! But I better get used to it because I'll never be flying first class in my life that's for sure." 

Airfare is so expensive as it is! 

On July 5th, we met up with an airport attendant to do our self check-in and print our boarding passes. She bypassed a question on the screen that asked if we wanted to volunteer for something. 

Sean: Not unless that's volunteering to take an emergency exit seat!

Airport Angel: Emergency seat? You don't need that. Yall flyin' first class!

Both of us: Whaaa? That's not right.

Airport Angel: Yeah it says right here, first class to Atlanta and to Jamaica too. Someone either upgraded you or it's just your lucky day.

It was our lucky day!

We took our cushy seats at the front of the plane and stretched out with a smile!

We debated which snack to purchase like usual; peanut M&Ms or Pringles. But instead were served a grilled chicken salad with pecans, apples and fetta and a roasted chicken sandwich, both with fruit, sides, and a peanut butter brownie. Not what we're used to! 

We dabbed our foreheads with the warm towel like we do that all the time.

Then peered out to window to see the view of the Jamaican coast! 

When we arrived, we visited with a couple we knew would be there. They would be leaving the next day, so we had a quick bite at the buffet then hung out watching the entertainment.

Tired from a long day of travel, we headed to bed around 10:30. But I would later be catapulted out of bed at 12, air-punching the darkness to find the bathroom as quickly as possible in a strange place with trick mirrors on the closet door, dresser, and hallway. Dinner did not agree with me and the result was mighty violent at midnight.

And 1:00. 

2:00.

3:30.

4:00. 

4:47.

Or something like that.

So on. And so on. And on and on and on...

By breakfast time, I was exhausted. Still nauseous. And still heaving something toxic. 

Sean ate alone and brought me back bread.

The saga continued. He ate lunch alone. 

And brought me back bread.

By early afternoon, I was seeming to feel worse rather than better. Dehydrated, weak and aching, I had nothing left to give. I called Sean's name just as I was about to pass out in the bathroom. He covered my sweaty,shaky skin in a wet towel as I laid on the floor and the room spun like a space shuttle blasting off. 

Sean: I'm going to find some Gatorade at the gift shop.

The phone rang sometime after. I hadn't made it off the bathroom floor yet, but managed to get to the phone.

Lady: Mrs. Gray, your husband tells me you're not feeling too well.

Me: Not at all.

Lady: He wanted me to tell you that it would take a little longer getting back because the gift shop did not have Gatorade and he is taking a cab to the petro station about 10 minutes away. He just wanted me to let you know.

Me: Okay thank you.  

Ohhh @*%$!

 After failing to persuade the cab driver to go in and get the gatorade for him, Sean opened his car door to go inside. 

Cab driver: Make it quick.

He had no intentions of dawdling, that's for sure. He took the combination of American and Jamaican bills of change in a wad and scurried back outside, but the cab was not in sight. After fearing the worst for a second, he realized the driver had parked on the side. Phew!

Luckily, his venture off the resort was uneventful and he returned with 6 gatorades to force feed me. 

That's love yall.

The sickness ended up hitting him too, but not as hard. Neither of us said it out loud but we were wondering if we would end up just having to go back home or...worse...to the hospital in Jamaica.

I went to sleep that night with nothing in my system. And still no beach. I had watched Dolphin Tale, 1408... and 8 back to back episodes of Awkward. 

When the next morning came, it felt like a strange time warp. I had seen the same 4 walls for 36 hours without setting foot outdoors. Get. Me. Out. 

But I was able to keep down some pepto and toast and felt like a new woman. This woman was finally on vacation!! When I suited up and headed out, I realized what a toll the sickness had taken on me. My abs and back were more sore from all the contracting than ANY ab workout I'd ever done. It was unreal!

 I loved how there were trees along the beach of Negril, providing shady spots here and there. They were so pretty. 

We wandered to the end of the beach to a secluded area to explore. 

 

 I would have never made it without him!

 

 

 

That night for dinner, we were obviously a little leery of the resort food, not knowing exactly what we needed to stay away from. We decided to take a cab to Margaritaville. 

 

Beautiful weather!

 

 To my absolute delight, a group of guys had an informal dance-off to the music over the loud speaker on the beach just passed where we were eating in the sand. I love a good dance-off like most women love a good sale.  I was so entertained and it was one of the highlights of my trip!

 

 The resort had a beach party at night with more dancing and a live band.

I love that bottom right picture of the dad shielding his daughter from the resident booty popper on entertainment staff! Hilarious.

 

Our favorite lunches came from a man grilling jerk chicken with red beans and rice right on the beach. Delicious.

The beach vendors selling everything (beach wraps, braiding, burned reggae cd's, weed...) were obnoxious but the musicians were really good.

 

I loved when someone around us would ask for a song and we could hear on their dollar. :)

 

The drinks were made much stronger than other places we've been. I'd rather not smell rum for a goood long while.

The reggae band stopped by the porch of our room while I was getting ready for dinner one night. I heard Sean say, "You know any Otis Redding?"
"Yeh Mon."
"Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay?"
"Yeh Mon. Of course."

 

::I left my home in Georgia.
Headed for Montego Bay::

 I loved it!

For our excursion, we took a catamaran booze cruise with 4 other couples to Ricks Cafe, one of the world's top ten bars that sits on a cliff where locals and vacationers jump into the waters below. 

 On the way, our tour captains pointed out all the gorgeous palaces and resorts on the shore.

 

 One of our favorite parts was when they pulled us up to Pirate's Cave that used to be a bar, open only one week out of the year (spring break for American's!)


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 They let us jump off and swim inside and it was breathtakingly cool! We swam through the "grotto" finding pathways and openings to follow and found a spiral staircase that led to a lookout over the cave.



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The water inside the cave was so electrically turquoise, you would have thought it was a result of lighting effects. They told us parts of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed there, but they joked about everything so I'm not sure about that one!


But I think Hugh Hefner should definitely look into buying some real estate in Jamaica and opening that place back up!

We stopped again for 45 minutes of snorkeling. It had been several years since I'd been snorkeling in Mexico and we had such a blast! I felt like I was a miniature person swimming inside the fish tank in someone's living room. :)

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We found the old ship anchor on the ocean floor that they mentioned and it was unreal. There was also an old cannon. 
 
  
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We continued on our way down the coast and made it to Rick's Cafe. That guy in the bottom pictures did an olympic style dive from an INSANELY high platform above the cliffs. 
 


 Seany jumps!

 

 We were finally getting our appetites back and had some yummy spicy buffalo chicken dip and coca-cola.

 

Then Mr. Gray had to stretch his conversion skills to figure out an appropriate tip out of the Jamaican money we got back for change. Definitely didn't feel right leaving three 100 dollar bills for tip!

The ride back consisted of a downpour, lightening, thunder, and rum punch that left us soaking wet, freezing cold and loving life.

 
 Lee from London and Shane from Canada joined Sean to refuel.

When the beautiful weather returned the next day, we walked the opposite way down the beach to check out the shopping and scenery. I loved seeing the local children playing the most. The girl in the tree swing in that grove of trees was adorable.

 

 Pushing each other.

Finding shells in the ocean.

Dinner at the steakhouse

We enjoyed our time on the beach together. Reading...listening to live music, kayaking, snorkeling. But by the end of the trip we were homesick for our own little home. I wanted to clean house. Cook our meals. See my babies. Lay around in our own little palace.

Our cab driver on the way to the airport pointed out celebrity homes and golf courses, and we compared cultures and customs of Jamaica and America. 

We followed behind a small car in town, with a full size bed (assembled) and mattress strapped to the roof. After talking about how much more regulated traffic is in America, he said,"So in America, yall would probably get in trouble if you did that yeah?" 

We said, "No, we've seen that before. That's what we call a redneck."

"Redneck? Hmm...Redneck." he said, trying out the word.

I wonder if its been incorporated into his vocabulary yet.

 

The children's school

We made it to Atlanta without a problem, but had another 6 hours to kill before making it back to Memphis. We had a Chile's date to pass the time and finally boarded the plane around 10pm. 

But this hit just as we were about to take off, causing us to sit on the plane for another hour until it blew over.

I'm done. Get me home!

My wonderful little mother-in-law had flowers on the counter for us to come home to. And I wasted no time diving right back into my tornado of projects, of course.

Great to get away. Better to get back home.

Missed Yall!

The Grays

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Birthday Girl, Shake it for me, Girl

Hey friends...It's my Birfday! :)

Sean's out of town for the basketball state tournament in El Derado so it's me and my poops for a while. But my birthday celebration took place over the weekend.

Jason's My Kinda Party tour made a stop in Tupelo, MS, Elvis's birthplace, a little under 2 hours from home.

We missed the Jonesboro show for a game night, so I wanted to go. I mentioned it once but we never discussed it again. The time drew near and with my birthday approaching, I asked for a pair of work gloves to protect my hands from wood work and lifting during my projects. But they had to be cute. We got them at Home Depot and I was happy...

Then, Sean did me one better and revealed that he had gotten tickets and a hotel room for the show in Tupelo on the 25th, 3 days before my birthday! He had also talked with Jessica, Jason's precious wife, about us coming, who left meet and greet passes at will call for us to see Jason before the show. I couldn't wait.

After a quick stroll in Tupelo's adorable downtown, we ate, got ready, and went to the venue to pick up our tickets at will call.

But they didn't have them.

Sean checked his confirmation, which said they would be available for pick up at will call 1 hour before the show. We waited around until that time, but still...No tickets in our name.

The box office kept assuring us the tickets were a scam and did not exist, but Sean said, "I did my research, I know they're legit...there's got to be a mix up."

"You didn't buy them from us, we can't help you."

So we were helpless. We stood with another couple who had bought their tickets from the same place. They had gotten 2 of theirs but not the other 2. We stood around, in the cold, on hold with the company...listening to the same stupid "you're on hold right now and we're telling you you're next in line but who really knows" song replay for 45 minutes.

No answer.

Time was running out to find a way in. Sean walked around to the fence where the tour buses were parked to see if he could find Jason.
And he did!

But he was too far away to hear Sean calling out and never turned around. He asked several security guys to see Jason's body guard that he knew, but no one seemed to believe this guy who swears he knows Jason.

Another hour in the cold passed and droves of concert-goers flooded through the doors while we stood at the ticket window for tickets that seemed to not exist. Everyone stared like we were losers. We had Meet and Greet passes but they wouldn't let us in without tickets. Sean sat down on the bench next to me and looked at me like a lost puppy.

"I've just gotta call Jessica. That's the last thing I know to do."
We so hated to ask for help. He got our tickets for the last concert and we didn't want that again. But we were literally stuck 2 hours from home with no way inside.

We knew she wasn't there, but he called to see what she could tell us to do. No answer.
He sent a last ditch text message asking if there was anything she could do.

Meet and Greet time was about to be over, so as a last resort, I wrote a note to Jason on the back of our pass and we prepared to give them away to 2 lucky fans with the promise to show it to him so he would know that we were stuck outside. Sean walked from the ticket booth around to the door to pick the lucky winners. Just as he was about to make a hand off, his phone shook in my hand.

"Jason is sending 2 tickets to will call for yall. Tell Katie Happy birthday!" from Jess.

My heart flipped and with a huge crowd staring at me like a nutter, I hollered "Seaaaaaan!! Waiiiiit!!" while sprinting in my stupid Jessica Simpson pumps. Dumb decision.

"SEAN! Don't do it!! We're gooood!!"

I caught him just in time. When the tickets arrived, we promised the couple who was dealing with the same thing that we would get them in somehow. We felt kind of guilty, but the deadline to make it through meet and greet doors was...now.

Again with more sprinting, 'Run Run Rudolph' played in our heads as we ran around the arena to get there. "I'm sorry, you're too late. Doors are closed."

No! "Just tell him who it is please." (There goes that 'I call BS' look again.)
"No really!"

"Ok, I'm going to be nice."

We made it in.
My hands tingled with numbness from the cold and my makeup was smeared.
I was out of breath.
And thirsty.
I had to pee.
My hair was windblown.
My legs ached.

Any more complaints I can think of? Let's see...no. We were finally inside!

Sean received a delayed text from Jason telling us he sent tickets for us and asking if we needed anymore. We knew we had to try to help those other people if we could. Everyone circled around the room for their turn and finally we were the last standing.

He looked over...we just shook our heads and smiled.

"THANK. You. THANK. You," I said as I walked over.
"Seriously, man, thank you so much," Sean said.
"Hey! I didn't do it for you! he said pointing, "I did it for her!" We hugged. "I did it for her."
I buried my head and totally could have cried from relief if I let myself.


We told him about all the craziness. He set us up with a guy who gave us 4 more tickets and took back the original 2.

"Go find your friends and yall can sit together. These are...these are good," the man said.

With the 18th "thank you" to come out of our mouths, we went back outside to find the couple whose tickets were also "missing". They weren't there anymore.

Sean found another couple who could not get in because their seats were sold twice. They were in shock. We just made their night!

After contacting the couple with the same problems we had, we found out that the tickets finally arrived or were found at will call an hour after the show started. How ridiculous!?

We made it in time for the second half of Luke Bryan.


Who would be a really fun dance partner for me!

We were seated in the 3rd row of the back floor section, what seemed like a football field away from the main stage, just behind a tiny deejay stage.



They said they were on the floor in a good spot. All the way back here? Who cares.
We had cabbed it to the arena so we could really enjoy the show but couldn't even get a single drink because of having to deal with just getting through the doors.

Then, after EVERYTHING we'd been through, finally...Mr. Aldean entered the stage to a roar.


We were so glad it worked out in the end. I just kept envisioning driving 2 hours home in silence. We couldn't help but still wonder what the show would be like with the 18th row from the stage, center of the floor tickets that had been purchased but evaporated in thin air. UNTIL this happened.

Guitars and mics were discreetly set up on the wee little dj stage and Jason was aided through the crowd by security...until he was directly in front of us, just a few feet away. Ok...It makes sense now! He called out his buddy Luke for an acoustic set played to the back of the crowd.

A little Burnin' Love by Elvis and Sunday in the South by Shenandoah.

And Luke's "We Rode in Trucks".

Happy Birthday to me...And Mr. Jason Aldean:)

~Katie

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Honeymoon Part 2: Zipline and Kayaks

While staying at Cap Cana for our honeymoon, we went on a zipline adventure excursion in Bavaro. The destination took an hour to reach by way of an open safari-style bus, which took us into the city of Punta Cana, then up, down, and around the steepest, windiest mountain roads you can imagine!

We were both SO excited to do it, but the slightest hint of nerves began to set in when we were getting suited and strapped up. One of the instructors said to the group, "Why everyone look so scared? You did not come here to die. You came to have fun!"

You'll have to settle for the poor quality pics. It was raining on this day so we used the underwater disposable.

The view from a tower.

Off goes KK! Also known as, "the professional" :)

Seany headed into the platform. Don't judge that picture...It was way up there but the shortest line.

Coming in again.

On the last and longest line, 800 meters, (about half a mile?) the view was over the river and waterfalls and it was gorgeous! We were all standing in our line on the platform as the instructors sent each person when their turn came up. I had NO idea what was going on when the guy singled me out from the back of the line and motioned for me to come next.
"Oh, no. It's not my turn yet," I said.
"No, no no..." blah blah blah (enthusiastic and insistent words in his native tongue that I did not understand) and he pulled me up the the platform before I could protest. He used one carabiner to hook up an instructor, then hooked me up right behind him. I was looking at Sean, SO confused, as was everyone else on the platform.

I thought maybe we were going to zipline tandem, if that's possible. But before I knew it the guy who was hooked up flew off the platform and was on his way. And again, before I knew what was going on, the instructor gave me a running start and FLEW me off the edge, just seconds behind the guy in front. I then flew at lightening speed over the longest, most beautiful stretch of land you could imagine. I was going so fast, I could barely move my head to look down. My contacts were pushed all the way to each corner of my eye. The instructor had weighted the line down with the guy in front, making the ride a lightening fast rush for me. It was incredible!


We survived and loved every minute!

We tried to take a few videos of the ride, but it was quite complicated. Here's one taken by an instructor so you can get an idea of the gorgeous view!

On the first full day we were there, we also took a little mini excursion on our own, venturing to the neighboring public beach "Juanillo Beach" for some kayaking and exploration.

We played in the beach huts...

And played in the palm trees...

It was just so blue lagoon! :)

We took a paddleboat out, but soon gave that up. We traded in our semi for a sports car!

These things flew across that ocean water with little to no effort.

The getaways were so much fun. But it was always nice to get back to our "home" on the resort.

~The Grays

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