Last May, we took a long weekend to Jamaica to enjoy the sand, the jerk chicken, and a beach wedding!Chase met his amazing friend, Paige, during Sophomore year at ONU (Ohio Northern). She was studying Pharmacy and Chase was in the Forensics program, but they collided during O-Chem. Maybe it way the mutual hatred they had for the class that brought them together, but ever since, the two of them have remained close. Paige was actually in our wedding back in 2011 and when it came time for her wedding, we knew we wouldn't miss it for the world. She called and told us that Kyle had proposed in Negril, Jamaica, while they were on vacation and she said they wanted their wedding to be on the island as well. Fast forward to several months later and we were booked and ready to go! Unfortunately, about 6 weeks from the wedding day, we get a call from Paige telling us that their travel agent had royally messed up. Long story short, all the families and friends relocated the wedding from the Sandals Resort at Negril to Sandals Whitehouse Resort. It was actually considerably more expensive to be at Whitehouse but because the travel agent goofed so badly, we were able to transfer hotels and pay the same rate! So, kind of a crazy upgrade with a lot of added stress to our friends, but it worked out! The biggest difference from Negril to Whitehouse was that the bus shuttle went from about 15 minutes to 90 minutes! We had to cross from the north side of the south side and the "short cut" was to go through the mountains of Jamaica. We definitely saw a side of the island that most tourists don't see. We saw many towns and villages with locals going to and from school and work. Locals were filling pot-holes in the road with makeshift cement because the island had just spent a ton of money repairing the main roads and had no funds to repair this route. We saw the sugar plantation that Jamaica uses for their rum. We saw untouched beaches and unexplored cliffs. After a bumpy ride and 90 minutes later, we arrived at Sandals Whitehouse. When we had booked our stay in Negril, the Bride-to-be suggested that we upgrade to be apart of the club level, that way we had access to the Club Level lounges, pools, etc. So we went with the beachfront (Whitehouse is actually all beachfront so that wouldn't have mattered here but in Negril, it would have) luxe club level room. We were on the top floor and had amazing views of one of the club level pools and when we walked out the door to go down to the beach, our view was of the Jamaican mountains! Such a gorgeous property. This was our first experience with a Sandals Resort. We have done only one other all-inclusive in the past but it was on a much smaller level, very boutique, nothing like the massive corporation of a Sandals, Beaches, or Secrets. Whitehouse was very secluded, we were the only resort on this side of the island and Sandals actually had to create the beach by removing the small cliff-sides and smoothing out the land to put in the beach, imported sand and all... Whitehouse had a European theme to their buildings and restaurants, which we thought was strange because we were in Jamaica. There was a little jerk chicken stand down by the water that had a Jamaican feel to it, we just wish Sandals would have done more to embrace the island's identity. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful resort and because of it being an all-inclusive, we took advantage of daily rum punches, blue-mountain coffee lattes, and all the water sports we could squeeze in. That little sail boat was so hard to navigate! We went a little farther out than we would have liked, but luckily, we were able to get it back to the beach (with some help from other sailers and a couple motor boat drivers!). We arrived on Thursday and spent the next two days sunning, drinking, and relaxing. Friday evening, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner and that's where we met Paige and Kyle's Families and other Friends. We were also informed of the events that were going to take place on the following day. Saturday, May 15th, was the wedding! This next part is dedicated to our lovely friends! Congrats on nearly a year of marriage! We love and miss you guys! Could they BE any more beautiful?? After the wedding, we celebrated with a some cake and champagne and later that evening, we had a friends dinner on the very edge of the property at a sea-side pergola. Way later that night, we played some Cards against humanity IN the pool while drinking some Jamaican spirits but no photos were taken! The next day, we left the resort around noon, and headed to the airport to catch our flight back to the states. Not without one last Jamaican Blue Mountain latte!! Clearly, our experience with Jamaica was a little different! We weren't in the populated part of the country and we were there for a wedding but if you've visited, share your favorite part about the island in the comments below!
Until Next Time, C + D
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6/30/2023 11:21:22 am
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