Margaritaville

While my in-laws were here we hit most of the tourist attractions. Margaritaville was of course the biggest tourist trap we visited. While there are three locations on the Island, we went to the one here in Montego Bay.

Although, we ate lunch there we really went for the boys to swim. That would be the big boys as well as the little boys.

Margaritaville is really a party place, especially when we have a cruise ship in port. It is virtually impossible to get in on those days and if you manage to get in you won't be able to hear yourself think much less try to talk to the person next to you. They play the music so loud and the DJ really tries to get people going. Thankfully we were able to go when we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

We ate lunch first and so the boys had to wait to get in the water until we were done. They got a little impatient but I think the wait was worth it for them.

Margaritaville's biggest attraction is their large, extremely fast water slide. Grammy and Tripp went up to check it out and to take some pictures.

Like most tourist traps, the food was over priced. My cousin April told me that the conch fritters are really good at the Margaritaville in Key West. So, we tried them here.

She was right! They were really good and were priced at about US$8.00. They were really crispy and the sauce that comes with it has a little spicy kick to it.

Then the real reason we went. They have a slippery floating platform and two water trampolines that have a tube connecting them. Few people succeed at crossing the yellow tube with out taking a dive.

Bubby taking a rest on one of the tubes.

Jacob shooting out of the water slide into the sea.

Brothers take a rest.

Bubby diving off of the slippery platform.

Daddy and Uncle Tripp slinging Bubby off the slippery platform.

Sumo wrestler wanna-bes.

Todd doing a back flip.

Tripp standing on his head. Really it's a back flip.

We had a nice time. All the boys had fun swimming and being silly. Grammy, Pappy and I had a good time watching and taking pictures. Next time we may eat at home before we go though.

Green Grotto Caves

Last week we visited the Green Grotto caves. The caves are located in Discovery Bay across the street from the Ultimate Jerk Centre. We had intended to go to YS falls for the day but Pappy wasn't feeling well and so we changed our plans. I have to admit that I wasn't all that excited about going to walk through some caves, for several reasons that I will leave out, but I knew it would make for a good post here on Nathan's Ma.

The entrance to the caves is well marked outlining the history of the caves. It is believed the caves were first inhabited by the Arawak Indians because many primitive artifacts such as bowls and stone tools have been recovered. There are two main caves. The first one is Runaway cave which was given its name because it was once used by runaway slaves. The second cave is the Green Grotto cave which goes way down in the ground...sixty five big steps to be exact.

This was the most interesting tree. It was at the entrance to the caves and these large gourds are called calabash. They amazed me because of the way they grew right out of the trunk of the tree. The insides are carved out to make bowls, (like the Indians did) or the smaller ones are used to make maracas.

This is the entrance to the caves. I love how the greenery grows on the outside of the mountain. The bars are in place I imagine, to make sure the caves aren't used for housing those who don't have a place to sleep.

All rules were displayed and followed.

This is the head gear they wanted us to wear. I was not happy. After I got mine on and in place, Todd asked if it was optional. They said it was, but that we would have to sign a waiver. We quickly asked where the dotted line was and signed on it.

This is the reason for wanting us to wear a hard hat. There are a lot of places where it would be very easy to knock yourself out on the stalactites. We were careful though and no one got a whacky.

Dewayne was our tour guide and he was really good. He offered a lot of information and took extra time with Jacob and Bubby answering all their questions. I was concerned that the boys would not really care for the caves but they were really interested and asked a lot of great questions. They were really excited to see the bats that were in the holes in the top of the caves. There were two different kinds, according to Bubby. There were fruit bats and insect bats.

As we walked along, it became clear to me why they wanted each visitor to wear a hairnet and a hat. It wasn't just for low hanging stalactites. I was very careful to look up when Dewayne stopped us to point out something of interest. I really didn't want any of the bat droppings to land on me.

Yep, more bat droppings. Dewayne told us that all of these bat droppings are harvested and used for fertilizer. Bat droppings are very high in nitrogen.

Minerals dripping from a stalactite. The drippings form stalagmites on the floor of the caves.

This is the first large opening in the caves. It is called the Disco room. Dewayne explained to us that the caves were once privately owned and the owners made this room into a disco. The government realized the damage that was being done and came in and took the caves over and made them a tourist attraction.

There were large openings along the way. These long "roots" are what we know as wicker. Dewayne said that they are gathered to make furniture and baskets.

Bridge over a thin walled cavity.

Bubby, the "archaeologist", asking yet another intelligent question and listening intently to the answer.

As we left the first cave to go to the second one, Dewayne asked the boys if they knew what kind of rock that was. My intelligent son, although somewhat unsure of his answer, announced that it was coral rock. He was right! Dewayne told us that the rock proves that the island was once under the sea.

This is my favorite picture of the day. It is the walkway that runs between the two caves.

In the second cave we had to go down to where the sea comes up into the caves. It seemed like a really long way down, but Dewayne said it was only sixty five steps. Bubby and Jacob had no problem leading the way. At the bottom we came to a ledge that overlooked a pool of water.

The water was crystal clear. We saw small fish, crabs and even a few shrimp. At one point Dewayne turned out all the lights. Needless to say, it was extremely dark.

This picture was taken with the lights out. Dewayne shined his flashlight onto two stalactites coming down from the top of the cave. If you look close their reflection in the water looks like batman. Check out the orbs, too.

At the end of the tour we were given our choice of fruit punch or rum punch. This was a surprise to me because few places offer complimentary drinks.

After we rested awhile we headed back to the car. Bubby or Jacob one must have put their hands into some bat droppings because there was a suspicious black hand print on the back of Bubby's shirt. Yuck!

Here is a short video of the boys interacting with Dewayne:

Welcome In-Laws!

Grammy, Pappy, Uncle Tripp, and JACOB arrived yesterday. Jacob is Bubby's cousin and he loves to play with him more than anything. Jacob was a surprise for Bubby. He knew the rest were coming but he had no idea they were bringing his cousin.

We asked Bubby if Jacob was a good birthday present and he answered, "The best!" Maybe now I don't have to get him that Kung Fu Panda Wii game he's been begging for.

Our car started over heating and we had to put it in the shop. It was not a good time for it to need to be in the shop, but we are thankful to have access to another car to drive. It has taken everybody a while to get use to driving on the left side of the road. I caught Pappy with his hand over his eyes. He finally started riding in the back and made Uncle Tripp ride up front.

Bubby and Jacob playing Nintendos at Island Grill.

Ordering at Island Grill.

Eating at Island Grill.

Strolling through Mega Mart playing their Nintendos.

Today we got Bubby out of school early and went to Doctor's Cave beach. The boys and Uncle Tripp had a good time swimming and snorkeling. But, the best thing we did today was get haircuts. Uncle Tripp gave Bubby and me a haircut. It's a wonderful thing. We are having to stay local until our car gets out of the shop. Tomorrow we are going to Margaritaville. We have plans of going to Dunn's River Falls, YS Falls and Negril.

Easter Sunday Afternoon at Grammy and Pappy's

Heather, Nathan and Jacob.

Easter Sunday afternoon, Nathan and I, went over to Grammy and Pappy's for our annual Easter egg hunt with his cousins, Heather and Jacob. Uncle Tripp was there and he took the three kids to ride the bike trails at Alafia state park before they hunted eggs.

Loading the bikes.

While they were gone Grammy and I hid the eggs. This year to enhance the fairness of the hunt, Heather divided the eggs into three equal piles. Each child had their own pile and Heather put each child's initials on each egg in their pile. So, during the hunt each child could only pick up an egg if it had their initials on it. It worked out good and cut down on all the whining because each one found the same number of eggs.

Posing before the egg hunt began.

Grammy finishing the hunt instructions.

Nathan and Jacob hunting eggs.

Uncle T.R. and Pappy watching Nathan miss an obvious egg.

As the kids were finishing up with finding the eggs, Uncle Tripp picked up a horse pellet and threw it at Heather and said, "Here's one you missed!" She promptly picked up another one and he took off running and she chased him around the yard and in no time she caught up to him and nailed him right back.

Heather chasing Uncle Tripp!

Lisa bought the stuff for me to make eggplant casserole so it baked while we did the egg hunt. Then we had leftovers for supper. We had ham, broccoli and cauliflower casserole, rice cooked in ham juice, peas, eggplant casserole and Grammy's famous carrot cake! We also had shrimp that Pappy cooked especially for Nathan and me. Thank you Grammy and Pappy for a great visit!