See y’all next time.  Hugs, CC and me

That’s the view from our balcony.  Here’s a bartender’s view from the working side of one of the swim up bars…

Or you may prefer to exercise your mind a bit with a game of chess…

The kids made a lovely couple and chose the perfect spot to be married…I never cease to be amazed at the number of beautiful blue eyed blondes that hail from the Lone Star State.

In spite of my infirmity, our stay at Sandals was over much too soon, but we have already booked 10 days for Zook’s 2015 Birthaversary.  Happy Birthaversary, Darlin’…

This year we took the party on the road and included a bunch of unwary Jamaicans in the event at Sandals Grande Riviera in Ocho Rios…

The Zook’s Birthaversary (that’s her birthday and our anniversary), traditionally consisting of the entire month of August EVERY year, is very much like the movie, Groundhog Day:  after enduring a seemingly endless series of parties, toasts, singing Happy Birthday and providing a number of fabulously expensive gifts, you wake up the next morning only to discover that it’s STILL here!  How the hell did this “tradition” even begin??

With each of these pieces cast in solid marble and weighing in excess of 100 pounds, you may also exercise a muscle or two should you care to make a move, and don’t even think about castling!  (Chess players know what I mean.) 

I was unfortunate in developing what I believed to be a pulled hamstring 2 days before we left for Jamaica and this condition made stairway navigation all but impossible…

Zook's Birthaversary 2014                                    September 26, 2014

It’s pretty difficult not to be always smiling at this place with so many people bending over backwards to make sure you are enjoying yourself.  I have NEVER been to a resort where absolutely every one of the employees made you feel so welcome and would take care of even your smallest request immediately and without complaint.  We are totally sold on Sandals!

In addition to a plethora of restaurants, bars and pools, Sandals also boasts a fleet of water craft both large and small, as well as mid-size for skin and scuba diving, all included at no extra charge…

I have never seen a place with so damn many stairs before!  This necessitated long-range planning in where we wanted to go; scouting out the most direct routes and then establishing a timetable which allowed for numerous rest stops, icing breaks and the quaffing of an ample number of medicinal mango daiquiris to get me there with a minimal amount of crying, cursing and pain-driven hysteria along the way.  Snails would stick out their tiny tongues at me as they sped past. 

One event which we were able to get to on time was the wedding of the son of our fellow Texans, Ken & Ginger…

And should you happen to tire of the non-stop orgy of activities, you can always take a quiet meditative stroll through the grounds and gardens…