Fun on Friday

Our amazing journey is winding down now! Betty and I have just waved goodbye to Pat, Donna and the rest of the wedding guests. Betty is sitting at the reservation table, first in line, to make our reservation for tonight - we are going to Sir Richard's again as it was so fabulous.

Friday was such a fun filled day! The sun was shining brightly almost all day and even when it sneaked behind some clouds we didn't mind as we needed a brief respite from its rays. We had our usual leisurely breakfast at the buffet and everyone was branching out with their eating, knowing we didn't have many more chances. I even had a pancake and Pat had her second omelette with jalapeno peppers.

We spent the morning on the beach again. The water was more clear than Thursday even though there was a stiff breeze blowing. Once again, we were amazed by how many women were sunbathing TOPLESS! (Sorry Mike and Frank missed it!) There was no more really strong sunblock for Pat, Betty and me! We moved down in number, trying to maximize our browning.

We went to The Plantation for lunch again, and were pleased to see that our favorite waitress, Arlene, was there today. She spent a lot of time at our table telling us about her sons. After lunch, we moved to the pool deck but spent most of the afternoon in the water. First, we went in the whirlpool with our Mojitos. We had a hilarious time trying to get a picture of the four of us using Betty's camera timer. She had such a hard time getting back through the waves in order to be in the picture! I had to grab her arm and just pull her into the frame - we were laughing so hard, we almost drowned!

Donna has been hilarious, wanting to try each new drink on offer! We really wanted to get a shot of us in front of the "fan palm" or, as Betty calls it, the East - West palm. You can see how amazingly big they are!

As the sun was going down, Betty and I came up to the foyer to do a bit of emailing. (Thanks to those who commented on our blog or emailed - it was so nice to hear from home!) We laughed to see the staff "redecorating" the tree (they must have heard our comments!) They decided it didn't look very pretty, so started all over again with silver and blue lights and ornaments - it is much nicer now, although there are still tacky bows on it. But who's complaining? It brings Christmas to Jamaica!

We got dressed up for dinner as we were going to Tachima's, the Japanese restaurant, for dinner. It was a very peaceful room which had been decorated with Japanese touches. Pat, Betty and Donna really enjoyed the starters: huge shrimp, sushi, sashimi and nigori (did I spell everything right, Shirlene?).

Then we had tempura vegetables with shrimp (I skipped the shrimp!), followed by yummy grilled salmon or beef with red sauce. Dessert was "to die for" - fried iced cream with strawberry and apricot sauce! Most of the other guests were eating together at the buffet so we went over to say Hi to them.

As it was Pat and Donna's final evening, we were a bit wild and went to "the bar" where the entertainment was. We began with coffee, but then had a couple of drinks: pina coladas, cosmos or creme de menthe on ice. We were sitting at the back where we could feel the ocean breeze while we watched the stage performance of Grease. Naturally, we sang along!

About 10:30, we headed to our room as Pat and Donna had to have an early night.

On our way, we spent some time on the beach, frolicking in the sand and taking funny pictures by the "gnarly tree". It was SUCH a beautiful evening!

Once Pat and Donna left, Betty and I were putzing around and Betty found a pair of glasses stuck in our couch. They turned out to be my glasses and much of the week I had been wearing Pat's missing reading glasses. Here I thought I was going blind and it was because I wasn't wearing the proper glasses! Now I can REALLY see how beautiful everything is.

Now we are going to head to breakfast and off for a day in the sun. We will likely do a final blog this evening to finish off our record of the week - and to show Pat and Donna how we spent the day without them!