I just finished reading a fantastic article in the New York Times. It lays out the political and economic framework to allow the US to take leadership in the global warming crisis and in the process regain it's power as a manufacturing, political and economic superpower.

The article is a call to the masses with emphasis towards the politicians that need to step up and fight for rules, standards and policies to help get us pointed in the right direction.

The article is quite long, but worth taking the time to read. i learned a lot and there are some great examples of the true impact of "small" changes having an enormous impact on our planet.

read it, share it, live it!

The Power of Green, by Thomas L. Friedman, for The New York Times

Who would have thought that I could spend four gorgeous days in sun-drenched Jamaica and come back as pasty as ever?! Well I guess the guys at Banana Boat sunscreen really know what they are doing. Except for what they didn’t protect around my hairline and the tops of my shoulders, but oh well.

Our trip was great, fabulous, awesome, neat-o…I could go on and on, but I won’t. The resort was very nice. They had a lounge at the airport with free beer and beverages (and air conditioning!) for us to wait until our shuttle to the resort was ready. Then a Sky-cap took our luggage (we didn’t have a choice) and took it to the bus. Then she proceeded to tell us that she wasn’t covered in our package and she expected a tip. Then she held out her hand. Uhmm…..ok, here you go (we had to make change!). after a short ten minute drive we arrived at the resort and had to tip the bus driver (he’s driving an Sandal’s bus, but apparently not part of the package either.

Right through the main entrance of the resort is a large patio with bar….and the ocean. The blue-green kind of ocean you see in pictures and postcards and immediately conclude that somebody had to doctor the photo cuz water just doesn’t look like that. But it does! It was gorgeous. We got ushered into another lounge while we got checked in. they served us cold towels and champagne while they did all the busy work checking us in—we just had to sit there! Abi and I were really really tired and ready to get to our room, so we were thankful it only took about 20 minutes.

A bellhop took our bags to the room. We found out once we got there we got upgraded to a honeymoon suite on the water. No complaints from us!! We were on the first floor so had a nice little patio that overlooked a gazebo on the water’s edge. We were also close to the heart of the resort, which made it nice to wander to the gift shop, front desk, bar, restaurants, bar, pools, bar, ocean, bar. You get the point. J

After taking a shower and a brief nap, we changed and went looking for some food. I had a Jamaican patty, that is a cheeseburger….of sorts. It tasted alright, but was a very interesting grayish color. I didn’t have another one on the trip. The margaritas were horrible (think lemonade and turpentine), but there were plenty of other tasty concoctions to keep us happy. A preferred a mudslide while Abi took in lots of Hummingbirds (think alcoholic banana splits you drink).

We of course had a great time meeting and hanging out with Troy and Heather. Abi hadn’t met Troy yet and Heather hadn’t met anyone in the family other than Troy’s dad and brothers. We spent lots of time hanging out, eating, sailing, drinking and talking about live in the Velin clan. I’m not sure Heather knew what she was getting herself into!

Our first full day at the resort was spent in the sun. we hung around the resort and swam in the ocean, went out on the really small catamarans (Kobie Cats for those in the know). Then we left the salty ocean for the pool with a swim up bar. That was a fun afternoon!

The food was all really good. I was a bit disappointed because the website had different information about dress code and reservation requirements from reality. That meant it was a bit more difficult for us to get into the places we wanted. We didn’t make it to the Thai restaurant on its own island because we didn’t know far enough in advance… But oh well, the food we had was really good. Of the course of the trip I ate some interesting things: raw marinated beef at the Japanese restaurant (pretty darn good actually), some weird Chinese fruit (didn’t taste like anything, but looked and had the texture of eating an eyeball), and cavier (at the wedding reception…again, pretty good). They had great calamari, steak in pepper sauce and Alfred pasta (both Abi’s and my favorite meal of the trip!). We also had breakfast each morning—loads of bacon, fruit, potatoes and an omelet bar.

On Monday Abi and I got up, had breakfast and then made our way to the dock to leave on our Catamaran sailing/snorkeling tour. It was a huge boat and we had a blast sailing. We saw lost of flying fish. I also saw a large sea turtle. We sailed closer to Montego Bay proper and dropped anchor to go snorkeling in the marine preserve there. Abi and I couldn’t use the snorkels, but we splashed about in the warm waters anyway.

Then we pulled into port to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville!! This was one of the main reasons we chose to go on this tour, I’ve had a dream since high school to live out a Jimmy Buffet song and go to Margaritaville. This week is about as close I can come. Margaritaville was a big bar/restaurant right on the water, complete with 100 ft waterslide and ocean trampolines. We made it inside to look around, listen to some music and get some souvenirs. I am now the proud owner of a very cool Margaritaville hat.

After our stay in Margaritaville it was back on the ocean for some more sailing. It amazes me how many different directions and speeds you can make a boat go using the same wind! We sat up front on the nets and had a blast getting splashed as our captain really got us going fast through the waves.

All the tours off the resort cost additional money. That is how the schtick works—everything basic is included (which is more than enough for a lot of people) but everything outside is extra. We only did one outside tour, but we know some people that did something every day. They also complained that they had to get up to an alarm clock every day on vacation!

After we got back from our sailing adventure we had to hurry back to the room to grab a shower so we could get some lunch before our massage. We decided to treat ourselves and get massages while on vacation. They have a world-class spa on premise and it was a very cool experience. They actually put Abi and I in the same room, so we were laying on table 3 feet apart while getting rubbed down. It was kind of weird, but really really nice too! The massages also cost us extra (the most expensive thing we did apart from paying for the whole trip!).

Tuesday we took it easy all morning to prep for the wedding. Our room was directly outside from where Troy and Heather were getting married, and their room was waaaayy down at the other end, so they used our room to get dressed/ready. Troy went first and then he and I went to hangout in another lounge and wait for the pastor. Of course everything was running on Jamaica time, so the pastor showed up about 25 minutes later than he was supposed to, so the wedding didn’t start anywhere near the time it was supposed to. Abi and I were the only family, and the other guests included two couples from Alberta Canada that we hung out with quite a bit. I ran the video camera, so I watched the short, sweet, and lovely ceremony in a 1.5x2” screen. Then we had a nice outdoor reception with cake, hor devours and champagne. Then we all went our separate ways. Abi and I had dinner reservations at the Italian restaurant. It was a beautiful place that looked out on the water. We were there at sunset, so we dined while watch the sky go from blue to pink to black. It was great!

Wednesday brought about the end of our trip. It seemed to come so quickly! We got all packed up, had breakfast, checked out and made it to the airport. This didn’t take long. I had heard from a co-worker who had been there before that the only downside to the resort is that it is close the airport, so you get some airport noise. That is an understatement! As soon as we landed, Abi looked out our window and the first thing she saw as we were slowing down was the Sandals Montego Bay sign. It took about 10 minutes to drive the resort, and all the planes taking off flew right over our heads. It was annoying but not really that bothersome. They didn’t fly much past 11pm at night and it was only 5 seconds or so of loud noises when they did fly over. I think it was better than having to ride in a bus for 1.5-2 hours to get to the other Sandals resorts.

The trip home was really really long. We ate lunch at the Montego Bay airport at Air Margaritaville (we didn’t have time to eat at the one we sailed to). They had fantastic Margaritas! The flight to St Paul, MN was quite interesting as about an hour in the guy in the row right behind us starts shouting that his wife can’t breathe. Luckily there was an EMT, ICU nurse and Doctor all on the plane. So everyone is crowded around our seats for the next 3.5 hours while they watch to see if she is alright. They pretty much ruled she was really motionsick and had her lay down to sleep. Of course the paramedics had to get on the plane as soon as we landed and take her off first. But everyone survived and, for the first time outside of TV or the movies, we heard someone actually yell, “is there a doctor on board?”!

Once we cleared immigration and customs in St Paul, Abi’s best friend picked us up and took us out to dinner as we had a 4 hour layover. It was fun quick visit to see her and catch up on things. Then we were back for our late night flight back to Seattle. It was 85 in Jamaica, 25 in St Paul, and 60 in Seattle. Abi and I were in shorts and t-shirts. Abi was not happy about the weather in St Paul!

We got to Seattle and had quite a treat as our limo driver was waiting at the top of the escalator with a sign with our name on it. You always see this at the airport but you ignore it with disdain since it is never for you. But, we decided to splurge since it was only about $11 more than a taxi would be for us to get home. So we rode home in a very nice, silver stretched limo. We immediately crawled into bed!

Overall it was a great vacation. It was Abi’s first trip outside US and Canada, and she had a great time as well. She thinks that warm weather agrees with her and we need to move someplace warmer! I’m not convinced even though I too had a great time lounging on the beach. We will have to do it again sometime soon, though we will probably try one of the other island getaways, just to spread it around a bit! J

Be sure to check out all the pictures, I took lots.

~ddv