Instagram is still the most confusing of the three.

So let’s get down to the obligatory stats for 2015, in descending order:

Miles Flown
32086 (wow, lower than I expected but I guess Central America is closer than Asia)

Number of Nights Spent in Hotels/Lodges
33

Number of Flight Legs
26

Number of Missed Work Days
25 (I had a lot of comp time…I took maybe half of these days off work)

Number of Nights Dog Spent in Kennel
18 (sorry Toasty…we’ll do better in 2016)

Airlines Flown
6 (American, British Airways, United, Jet Blue, SafariLink, TACA)

Number of Days Pup Enjoyed with Dogsitter Extraordinaire
5

States Visited (> 2 Days)
5 (Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida)

Countries Visited
4 (Costa Rica, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru)

Number of Legs in Business Class
4

Number of Loyalty Statuses Held
3 (by year end: United, Marriott, Starwood)

Number of Times I Traveled Without DH
2

Number of Flight Delays > 1hr
2 (at DCA)

Number of Free Hotel or Flight Upgrades
1 (Hotel)

Number of Barf Bags Used
0 (This, for me, is shocking)

Number of Forced Bag Checks
0

Here’s to an exciting 2016! I’m going back (hopefully) to more routine posting after the holiday season is over. And let’s leave 2015 with some of my favorite memories (not favorite photos–choosing those is way too hard).

First, I hate margaritas.

Second, I hate weird commercialized things like this.

Third, if it sounds like a tourist trap, if it looks like a tourist trap, if it smells like a….well….

Confession: Margaritaville was a lot of fun, and I didn’t even go in the water.

Ok–Margaritaville is probably as ridiculous as you imagine. But that aside, it definitely is a fun stop. After our snorkeling in Montego Bay Marine Park, the Dreamer catamaran dropped us off for about an hour.

First–the drinks were good and refills are cheap if you buy a glass. We didn’t get as far as a refill…

Second–the water play-things are pretty awesome, and had I been a little less hungry and had a little more energy, I totally would have partaken. But it was fun to see DH and his brothers tumble and fall like cartoons or horrible ninjas on American Ninja Warrior.

Third–the food, while I think overpriced, was delicious and enormous.

Fourth–there is a waterslide. One that looked like it was built in the 1960’s, but a water slide nonetheless. It spit people out at least 10 feet, and looked sort of terrifying. I didn’t try it, and DH banged his elbow up pretty good, so use with caution. It still looked fun.

So I learned not to judge something before experiencing it. Even when it sounds like something I would hate. Margaritaville is definitely worth a look-see in Mobay, especially if you want to practice running across a rolling log or scaling a slippery plastic slide.

We really like to snorkel. DH can snorkel for hours without getting bored or cold. I only make it about an hour before I start shivering violently (yes, even in the Caribbean), but I still really love to go. So no matter where we travel, if there is an ocean, we try to snorkel.

While they don’t always offer afternoon trips out, the ladies at Scuba Caribe (the water sports provider at Riu) were willing to put together a trip for us the afternoon before we left. (Thanks to Matt, Jen, and Fred for indulging our snorkeling habit, too).

They were a bit scattered with payment and figuring out where staff was, but once we were on the boat the trip was great. Plus, they allowed us to use $10 off coupons, so it was only $20 per person.

While most snorkeling trips in Jamaica–including the one we took earlier–go to the Montego Bay Marine Park, this one stopped at the Sandals reef and a nearby spot. They usually stop a bit farther out, but the whitecaps were out, the wind was whipping, and the current was pretty strong so we stayed closer to shore for stop two.

We actually thought that this reef was a bit better than the Marine Park–the coral was more colorful and there were a ton of different types of fish.  I was really hoping we would see some marine life like maybe a ray or a little nurse shark, but no such luck. They say that they do see them there pretty frequently.

There were a ton of the long, skinny, pointy nosed fish–which I think are trumpet fish or cornet fish. Including one that was striped and looked way to close to comfort to a sea snake for me. It was moving like a snake, with that weird swerving motion in its body. In fact, my exact words to my husband when I saw it were “that better not be a sea snake otherwise I’m getting the hell out of the water.”

There were probably a few more choice 4 letter words littered in there, too.

I am SO petrified of sea snakes.

It was obviously not a sea snake.

We saw angel fish, parrot fish, Bermuda chub, and I think some tuna. Plus tons and tons of the little stoplight fish that are impossible to get a picture of, I swear. There are a lot of sand dollars (dead and alive), as well as urchins (dead and alive), which are fun to swim to the bottom to pick up (just the dead ones, obviously).

It was absolutely worth another trip out. Montego Bay may not be the best snorkeling ever, but you never know what you might find.

We stayed at the Riu Palace in Montego Bay. I’m not sure DH and I would go back to an all-inclusive if it was just us, but it was a great way to spend a fun weekend with family (thanks to Matt & Jen for choosing the place!). The food was decent (we are SO spoiled here in DC that I’ve become very picky about what I eat and I could always find something). The drinks were good. The dirty banana was addictive (it’s like a mudslide with a full banana….nomnomnom). The germaphobe in me found that the rooms were really clean, and the staff was incredibly helpful and nice.

My First But Not Last Dirty Banana

But I’ve become accustomed to boutique hotels. To small areas. To quaint spaces. To personalized service. To fewer people.

I was like a fish out of water when we first arrived in Jamaica. What do these people do all day? Lay on lounge chairs? Swing in hammocks? How can they? Don’t they get bored? Can they really eat three plates piled high from the buffet three times a day?

[And don’t they use SPF? I’ve never seen so many lobsters in my life. And these sun-crisped people were still lying in the full sun.]

I don’t think I’m cut out for resort life, at least not for more than 4 days. I get antsy. I like to read (and finished the wonderful book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in 2 days), but sitting and lazing around for hours at a time with no plans in sight makes me anything but relaxed.

Fortunately, DH’s brothers & girlfriend like to go and do things, too. Otherwise, I would have gone stir-crazy. I don’t think that most people that were staying there ventured out much–maybe once during their stay? Most just parked their crap on a chair at 6am (not permitted by the hotel, technically), and camped out there all day.

There are definitely good things about resorts. It was fun to do some relaxing, and to have drinks delivered to the beach. It was nice to dip into a pool the temperature of a hot tub, and be able to grab a snack when I was hungry with little effort. It’s nice to have a 2 minute walk back to your room after a dip in the ocean, or when you forgot your sunglasses.

Clean Room. Gah I’m a sucker for towel art. Lame, I know.

So we had a great time in Montego Bay. We had 2 great trips out for some snorkeling, good laughs, and just the right amount of lazing around (in the shade and in the pool). I finally finished a book on my pile of “to read” that has been there since December, and I stayed away from too much email and internet.

And even though it sometimes makes me more anxious to “just relax”, a resort vacation was definitely just what was needed.

Jamaica is known for lots of things (cough), but in terms of food, it’s best known for it’s Jamaican jerk spices and barbeque. Primarily on chicken, though you can get other meats too.

So, we decided to head to Scotchies, which is well known in Montego Bay and a short 3 minute drive from our hotel. I’m glad we went, though the jerk chicken at the hotel gave Scotchies a run for their money.

Scotchies is a barbeque, pure and simple. They have a cute, covered but open-air bar area with seats made of kegs. There isn’t a ton of seating, so get there early. There was definitely a mix of tourists and locals when we were there.

The good:
1. They offer another local beer by the bottle–Dragon–which is a dark beer and absolutely delicious, particularly if you are tiring of Red Stripe.
2. The chicken is SO tasty. It’s tender, moist, seasoned nicely, and there is always spicy jerk sauce to add if you want to burn your mouth.
3. It’s cheap. We ordered a ton of food, 2 beers, and the total was $23. That’s it. I can’t even remember the last time we had a $23 dinner (Thailand?). That’s like 2 sweetgreen salads in DC. (Yes, DC I still love you anyway).

The “eh”:
1. The sausage was not up to any of our standards and was incredibly dry. DH got a piece of bone. I’d advise avoiding it.
2. The pork was o.k., but definitely dryer and no where near the tastiness of the chicken.
3. There is literally nothing green on the menu. I know, you are thinking–it’s a BBQ place, what would be green? Whatever, I still wanted green. Peas=beans in Jamaica, fyi.

It was fun to get away from the hotel, and try a quintessential Montego Bay mainstay, so we have no regrets given Scotchies a shot, and you shouldn’t either. I think we all just wished we had ordered more chicken, and less other stuff!

Also, be sure you have bug spray. While I mysteriously was the only person who had no mosquito bites from Montego Bay (what?! I always am the bug attractor), they definitely were out feeding at Scotchies.

Where did you find the best food in Jamaica?

In any case, Montego Bay Marine Park was a short hop from our hotel and pretty close to the infamous Margaritaville.  We were allowed plenty of time to snorkel off of the catamaran–we took the “Dreamer” Cat, and it was excellent. The staff was really professional, there was plenty of cold beer and bottled water, and they actually gave us a good chunk of extra time on the boat. Plus, there were probably about 25 people on the boat that sometimes squeezes 50 or so, so we had plenty of room to spread out. The staff spent plenty of time coaching the people who had never snorkeled before but let the rest of us head right into the water.

The coral in Montego Bay doesn’t look the healthiest and shows some definite wear and tear, but it doesn’t look like the deadest coral I’ve ever seen, either. There was plenty of fish life, but the closer you went to shore the worse the coral looked and the cloudier the water got…I hope that they work to protect their reef and repair that ecosystem as much as they can, because Jamaica has a tremendous amount of reef surrounding the entire island.

It wasn’t the cheapest ($75 per person, open bar, bottled water/soda, plus twinkies?!), but after using Scuba Caribe the following day, the Dreamer’s team definitely had their sh*t way more together. Plus, they get bonus points from me from actually raising the sail on the cat to get over to the Marine Park–that’s always fun. We left our hotel at 9:40 and didn’t return until 2pm. And…I didn’t use a motion sickness patch and I didn’t throw up! Double win.

Anyhow, here’s what Montego Bay Marine Park looks like. It’s absolutely worth a stop if you are looking for something active to do in Montego Bay and like to snorkel.

Stop. Say what?

I know, I know, all-inclusives are really not my thing. I like seeing the country. I can’t eat or drink enough to seriously justify the cost (yea…there’s a reason my nickname was affectionately Grandma at one point). I’m a picky eater. The list goes on and on.

But it’s DH’s brother’s 30th birthday (brother-in-law just sounds weird. I guess I’m old now, but having “in law” siblings is just strange). So we are headed to Jamaica! DH has never stayed at an all-inclusive. And honestly, I’ve had a few really, really long weeks with no end in sight (though the unexpected stop-work on my contracting stuff was a real, huge blessing in disguise). Weekends blend into weekdays, and mainly it’s just trying to function and make it to the gym. I can’t remember the last time I cooked, and I like cooking. I’m so behind on my sleep that I can’t remember the last time I slept 10 hours, and I love to sleep more than pretty much anything in the world.

Even with the nice little break at Virginia Beach last weekend with the pup, I could seriously veg on the beach with a book for 3 days and not feel guilty for not accomplishing anything. Which, for me, is a total rarity. So I’m actually really excited. I haven’t been to a resort in a few years, and I could use some mudslides by the pool. If there ever was a good time for me to go to an all-inclusive, well, now is probably it.

And that brings me to packing. I think we are going to do as much snorkeling as possible, so swimsuits that don’t fall down are a must. And I guess people get pretty dressed up for dinner (these things boggle my little mind…dressing to impress on vacation is very much not my thing. It’s a vacation for goodness sakes! While I don’t mind throwing on maxi dress or something light and flowy, I am way too lazy to do my hair or spend much time accessorizing. I mean, I’m not a celebrity. I don’t go to these places to see or be seen. I’m telling you, spending 2 hours to get ready to go out on vacation is, well, NOT a vacation).

Sorry. Got distracted. Where was I? Oh yes, packing. I never check a bag, so the likelihood of wedges and other excess clothing is quite low. Plus, we are only there for five days! So check out what I think will be in my bag…

An outfit for grabbing lunch in town, heading to the airport (polo and shorts); a flowy maxi and cute sandals for dinner; stuff for running and maybe a hike; and a coverup (or two) for the beach, with a sunhat and sandals that can get wet. It’s really that simple when most of your time is spent in a suit! I think an extra top or maxi skirt will be thrown in for another dinner. Not huge on jewelry when traveling, so maybe just a set or two of earrings and a statement necklace.

What did you pack for a quick trip to Jamaica? Any suggestions for things to do in Montego Bay?

Similar Here: Sperry Topsiders// Ralph Lauren Polo // J.Crew Jean Shorts // Tory Burch Miller Sandals // Tibi Maxi Dress // Athleta Run Shorts // Nike Pegasus Shoes // Athleta Chi Tank // J.Crew Coverup // Sunhat // Ipanema Sandals