Hey everyone. It’s been sooooo long since I have posted on this blog, but because of all the recent inquiries I have received, I felt it necessary to do a quick re-cap of the contact information I have for the Blossom Garden Orphanage in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I first should tell you that we visited in July 2007….This information was current then and I do not know if it is still correct.
We arranged our trip to Blossom Garden through a local driver in Jamaica. His name is Chef and he was absolutely one of the best people we met in Jamaica. We contacted Chef through: http://www.chefsjamaicatours.5u.com/. Chef was instrumental in our being blessed with the opportunity to spend a day at Blossom Garden meeting the children, teachers, caretakers and other volunteers.
I also have the following link: http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/jamaica_children/. There are comments that also include some links that may have further information on Blossom Garden.
Again, I don’t know how current this information is. I hope all of you who are trying to help Blossom Garden are able to find the information you need.
Filed under: Beach, Family, Jamaica, Kids, Life, Montego Bay, Photos, Summer, Travel, Vacation
I have been procrastinating writing this, as it’s like ending the vacation all over again.
Thursday morning started off with the breakfast buffet and coffee. My son had left his flip flops somewhere on the resort the day before, so we decided to walk across the road to the strip mall. Some souveniers and flip flops were the goal. The strip mall must have had at least 20 stores, all with someone outside encouraging you to come and look. “Free to look” they will say. If you are polite but say you are not interested, your wishes are respected and you are on your way.
We found some flip flops for the boy and a few other touristy things. Next to get a cold drink from the convenience store. As luck would have it, we found Jamaican Patties there, something we really wanted to try. Beef for the hubby and oldest, curry chicken for myself and the other two kids. Turned out to be such a treat, as they are really good. Not to mention, Patties are very inexpensive, so it makes them even better. (more…)
Filed under: Family, Jamaica, Life, Montego Bay, Negril, Photos, Summer, Travel, Vacation
(Again, if you press play on the right of the screen, your mood will be set!)
Monday June 16, 2007 started off with the hubby, my youngest and I heading to the buffet for breakfast and coffee. The older two kids slept in a bit later and joined us after a bit. The five of us had scheduled a glass bottom boat tour for mid-morning and we were excited about what we might be seeing. This tour was offered by our hotel for a cost, but since we are Holiday Inn Priority Club Members we were given a 50% discount. That turned out to be a great deal, only $32 for a family of five! (more…)
Filed under: Books, Hauntings, Jamaica, Legends, Love, Montego Bay, Photos, Travel
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On Tuesday, July 17, 2007, we had another tour planned with our driver Winston. This day we planned to head towards Ocho Rios and see the sights along the way. Included in this day trip were Rose Hall Plantation, Columbus Park and Dunns River Falls. I enjoyed our visit to Rose Hall so much that I felt it deserved it’s own post. (See Dunns River Falls post and video here: http://nightowlmom.wordpress.com/2007/07/23/dunns-river-falls-climb-jamaica/ )
The history of the Great House: The house was begun by George Ash, an English planter, in 1750 and completed in 1780 by John Palmer, a wealthy British planter. This was a 6,600-acre plantation, and had more than 2,000 slaves. At the time, it was considerably larger than today. Two additional wings, originally connected to the main house by open breezeways, were never rebuilt. The Great House collapsed into ruins after abandonment that lasted more than 130 years. The house was later restored by members of the Delaware-based Rollins family, owners of the near by Ritz-Carlton, in 1966 and 1971 Listen carefully to the guide. She will probably be in a plaid-patterned dress that emulates costumes standard for that generation. The tale of sexual intrigue, insanity, and murder is one of the hottest celebrity exposés in Jamaica. The dark and brooding Annie’s Pub is on the building’s ground floor in the old dungeon. Enjoy a rum-laced “witches brew” and Johnny Cash songs, including the Ballad of Annie Palmer.
Filed under: Beauty, Family, Jamaica, Life, Montego Bay, Negril, Photos, Summer, Travel, Vacation
I ended up having to do this post in sections. Here is part 1, the first 3 days of our Jamaican vacation. I hope you enjoy. Hint: Press play on the songspot on the right to set the mood! 
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Friday, July 13th started off early (alarm went off at 5:00 AM) and the five of us leaving for Dulles International Airport at 5:30 AM. Thank God that my mom doesn’t hit the snooze button, because I would have and we would have overslept. We got to the airport, into line at the ticket counter and by 7:00 AM, our bags were checked, boarding passes were issued and we were through security on our way to the gate. Subway was the only open choice near our gate, so we had subs for breakfast while waiting for the plane to board. Once we boarded the plane, we were put on hold on the runway. The Charlotte, NC airport was apparently very busy, so we were held before take-off for about 25 minutes. Not too bad as far as airports can go nowadays. This just cut the 45 minutes we had to change planes in NC to 20, but we could still pull it off, hopefully.
We got to Charlotte airport, with exactly 20 minutes to catch our next flight. We hustled through the airport and got to our gate as it was finishing boarding. Just in time and hoping all the luggage got transferred, too. Guess who didn’t get to stop and grab lunch? Guess who had 3 hungry children on the next flight? At this point, I realize that this is going to be a long day and reminded myself that we were not flying direct because I hate BWI airport. It will be OK as soon as we get there.
We arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica a little before 2:00 PM and were ushered straight to immigration. With the exception that this portion of Mo-Bay Airport does not currently have AC, Immigration was smooth sailing there and we were off to claim our luggage. We finally locate the correct conveyor belt and a nice gentleman retrieves our bags for us. This portion of the airport the AC is working and feels quite nice. The hubby tips the gentleman who helped retrieve our bags and he ushers us over to a short line at the customs desks. Customs asks a few basic questions and once again we were off on our way. There were absolutely no issues or delays. We were then directed to a desk for Liberty Travel where we could validate our resort transportation vouchers and retrieve the paperwork for our resort. They direct us outside to a waiting bus and load our bags and we take off to the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. (more…)
