This year we started out with some shorter vacations as they seemed to work better with our schedule. Before we set off for Jamaica, we had some free hotel nights to use before they expired. So, we booked a short trip to Dana Point, California. And since they were free nights, we booked ourselves into the Waldorf Astoria. Why not, right? We flew into Long Beach Airport. It’s not the closest airport, but the price was right, and the flight times were good. Long Beach is a cool little airport. They made it easy to get on and off the plane as they roll up the stairs for both the front and back doors. Then it’s a short walk across the street to the rental cars.
We ended up with an electric car. If you’re trying out an electric car southern California is probably a good place to try one.
We drove down the coast and got checked in. We went for a walk to check out the property and found the tram that takes you down to their private beach. They also have a restaurant at the beach as well. The wait for a table was a little too long so we just went ahead and made reservations for the following night.
After breakfast, we went on a walking on one of nearby trails. The weather was a little cloudy, but still pleasant and the clouds cleared for us in the afternoon.
Spent a few hours just lounging at the pool just relaxing before walking over to the beach restaurant for our dinner. The clouds had come back in, so no sunset for us, but the food was good.
We took a drive down to Carlsbad the next day. The Flower Fields were in full bloom. So, I wanted to check it out, especially since the weather was nice. They have a lot going on with a wagon ride, a food court, playground, butterfly garden and the Sweet Pea Maze. We did manage to make it out alive from the maze without too much difficulty.
The Flower Fields grown the ranunculus flowers both for cut flowers and their bulbs. The flowers were originally just shades of red and yellow, but over the last 85 years of cultivation they now come in 13 colors. The flowers originally started with 5 petals and were similar to poppies but now have many more petals creating a much more robust flower.
We were a bit hungry after walking the fields and stopped in Dana Point to grab a bite and walk around a bit downtown. We walked around the lantern district. Back in the 1920’s, there were more than 150 copper lanterns in the town. There are still a few left that were restored in 1989. Businesses would signal the ships coming into the harbor to let them know where they were located. The color of the lantern would signify what they had to offer.
It was time for us to fly back home but we had most of the day to explore a bit more. We started with breakfast at Proud Mary’s. Excellent corned beef hash right on the dock in the Dana Point Harbor area.
We then set out to charge the car as we needed to bring it back with at least a 70% charge. That was easier said than done. Or maybe it was just because we had a huge learning curve having never had to charge a car before. The chargers themselves are fairly easy to find, but we didn’t know you can’t just use any old charger. (Well, at least if you want to make your flight later that afternoon.) First two chargers that we tried would have charged the car up in a little over 6 hours. So, we finally figured out that we needed to find a fast charger. Finally found one that was not too far out of our way and about 40 minutes later, we were back on the road.
After our charging fiasco, we had just enough time before our flight for a stop at the Crystal Cove State Park near Laguna Beach. We did the 3-mile loop trail. It had some nice views and a very steep section. We were glad we did the trail clockwise as the steep part was downhill. It was good to stretch our legs and work off some of that heavy breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to check out anything else in the park. Guess we’ll have to plan a trip to come back.
After spending the weekend back in Albuquerque, we were off again flying out to Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was a pretty uneventful flight for us. We were traveling with Alyssa’s sister, Janessa and would be meeting Alyssa at the airport in Jamaica. Alyssa’s flight was delayed leaving Dallas which actually ended up working out great as she landed about 5 or 10 minutes ahead of us.
Found our ride to the Hilton Rose Hall an all-inclusive resort along the coast in Montego Bay. We walked around for a bit after checking in and waited for the buffet to open. I guess we were all a little hungry. We were pleasantly surprised with the buffet as the food was quite tasty and there was a wide variety of food. We also learned that a different crew comes in each night with a new menu.
It was pretty windy the next morning, but we got some chairs by the beach and lazed around and had a beach day. We also enjoyed the lazy river on the property as well. They have nightly entertainment and each night it was something different. It was all really enjoyable from the live bands to the steel drums, and especially the Michael Jackson impersonator.
As I don’t think I could have handled being out in the sun two days in a row without being burnt to a crisp, so, we rented a poolside cabana the next day. The cabana was the right choice for us. That night we had a tour booked at the Rose Hall Great House. It is one of the remaining great houses on the island which is how they refer to the houses of the former plantation owners. The Rose Hall Great House has an interesting history as it was home to the notorious White Witch of Rose Hall, Annee Palmer. She is said to have killed 3 husbands and many slave lovers. They offer both a day historical tour and a haunted night tour. So, of course we chose the haunted tour. The tour provided us with a lot of history about the house and Annee along with a few ghosts. The haunted portion was well done. Well, at least Jen and I enjoyed it. Our guide Ricki was great. He said Usain Bolt was his cousin. And therefore, able to outrun us, if any of the spirits were chasing us. The house itself was built in the 18th century and was meticulously restored by the current owners in the 1970’s.
We made it back to the hotel just in time to catch the end of the Steel Drum Orchestra. They were really good and it was interesting to hear their take on some songs you wouldn’t have thought could be done on steel drums.
We had an all day tour the following day. We were picked up in the small bus where you had to turn sideways and squeeze through the aisle. Along the drive our tour guide pointed out some of the sights and provided some more facts about Jamaica. We made the usual bathroom-gift shop stop and we back on the road headed to the Dunn River Falls. We were going along just fine until we hit a huge traffic jam. It was caused by a truck that had rolled over and into a building. We were told that no one had been hurt as it had been in the early morning hours. Our bus driver did a great job doing whatever he could to get us through the jam, but we were still delayed about 2 hours.
Finally made it to the Dunn River Falls in Ocho Rios. The falls are a cascading waterfall about 960 feet long. The falls are constantly growing from the travertine rock deposits. The guide leads you down to the beach and he proceeds to lead your group on a walk up the falls. It was a lot of fun. We all said this was the favorite thing we did on this trip.
Then it was on to lunch before our stop at the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole was a little more adventure as there’s a lot of jumping from cliffs and platforms and a rope swing. Well, I had fun.
Then it was the long ride back as the traffic still was backed up. I’m thinking it might still be backed up.
But we made it back before the buffet closed and in time for the Michael Jackson impersonator. He was excellent as were his backup dancers.
One more day of relaxation the following day. And dinner at the steakhouse for Will’s birthday that night. All in all, we had an “irie” (great) time.
