sunsets – lifeofacitygal

The Jamaica Edition

OMG! The day was finally here. May 5, 2018. No, I’m not referring to Cinco de Mayo. On this day my best friend of 24 years and counting graduated from college. I was so happy I was able to take part in this celebratory moment and be there for such a huge accomplishment. Congrats again bestie!!! So after the party, there’s an after party right? That after party for us was in Montego Bay, Jamaica. A group of 13 family members and friends all came together to help celebrate this special occasion.

We resided at the Royalton Blue Waters Resort during our stay. After my first experience with this property in Punta Cana, I was excited to be staying with another Royalton property again. Upon arrival, the host gave us cool, scented towels to help relieve some of the heat from the sun. I thought to myself, man this is going to be a great trip after such a great gesture because I was literally dying from the heat on the shuttle over to the resort 😊 After check-in and all the introductory hotel meetings, it was time for some fun.

On the first night of our trip we decided to chill out a bit since this was our travel day and just planned for a nice, late night dinner. For me, that meant time for a quick swim before dinner! The best part of the resort for me was the swim-out room we had. At any given moment I could just go out for swim, no matter the time of day. Vacations allow me to actually decompress and enjoy the things most people may take for granted on a typical day. Things such as the calming feeling you get from the sounds of the beach waves or the joy found in watching the pink tresses that line the sky before the sun sets. With all the things planned on our itinerary, the main thing I wanted to make sure I did was RELAX. A huge thank you to the lazy river too!

The following day we had an early start and was able to catch breakfast and spend some much needed time on the beach. It was then on the beach when I spotted a boat that said “Parasail”. At that moment, I decided I was finally going to do this. I have quite a few things on my bucket list and it was time to scratch this one off. Before the parasailing adventure, we enjoyed the many festivities the resort offered; one of my favorites being the swim-up bar. Bob Marley’s and mojitos became pretty popular drinks for our vacation crew. A couple of photo shoots later, it was time to concur my fear and take the ride in the air for lack of better words. I was so happy a group of us decided to do the parasailing together. It’s always more comforting when others join along and face a fear together. I watched my friends parasail first and thought oh man this is going to be a breeze (literally). It wasn’t until I was hooked on with my sister when I thought “okay are we really going through with this”. A few moments later, we were up in the air and thinking that’s it! While parasailing, it’s really just you and the wind. No noise, no fears, no worries. Man, I’m so glad I did this. Not to forget the jerk hut we found right before going. OMG, this place did not disappoint. Not sure of the sauce that they use but man oh man if only I had known about this gem sooner. Great for lunch and just overall some of the best jerk chicken I’ve had!

The day before we left we decided to visit Chukka Adventure Park. It offered a handful of activities such as ATVs, ziplining, kayaking, etc. Boy did we have our day cut out for us!! This day was definitely a workout. Another thing on my bucket list was ziplining. A lot of us had never done this before either so it was nice to see all of us conquer this together as well. We didn’t know that it was a zipline trail of like 5 ziplines. Whew! After the first two I could of called it quits on this adventure but we all made it through! Of course, we couldn’t come to this park and not partake in an ATV ride. This was so fun!! Not that I haven’t rode an ATV before but since it was such a big group I think it made it that much more fun to experience together. Lunch was provided as well so I was definitely excited about that. If you haven’t noticed, I love food. All of the Jamaican cuisine was a hit for me.

Overall, Jamaica was everything I imagined. I had only been here once as a teenager so it was nice to travel here as an adult. The resort gave me some of the best views, food and memories of a lifetime. I really enjoyed the fact that this resort was all-inclusive. All you can eat and drink sounds like a good combo to me. Oh and let me not forget to mention the other hidden gem we stumbled upon that had the braised oxtails. I doubled back twice because they were that good!!! We definitely made great memories and I’m so glad I was able to share this experience with my best friend and family. Here’s to more success and a bright future with endless opportunities. Until next time…..

The Barbados Edition

Barbados provided the best weather, the most beautiful scenic views, perfect sunsets and pure relaxation. Everything a woman could ever ask for from a vacation. I visited here with a dear friend who just so happens to be a native and proved to be the best tour guide for this Caribbean gem. Before visiting, I did not have many recommendations on places to go or see; I left it all in her hands and she outdid herself for sure.

We visited Oistins on that Friday night and had a blast hearing the live music, enjoying performances from locals and the best of all, having the local favorites, flying fish and the macaroni pie for dinner. Anyone that knows me would know how much I love food and Barbados did not disappoint. Let me not forget to mention the $5 homemade rum punches. Oh what a delight. The spices in it were so dominant yet not overpowering. Rum punch became a must for each day of the trip 🙂

Let’s discuss the food. I had the pleasure of visiting the Crane Resort in St. Philip and a country club, the Apes Hill Club in St. James for brunch. Both places offered the best experience one could ask for while enjoying a meal. At Crane, you could get the best ocean view and almost instantly gain calmness from the sounds of the Atlantic ocean waves; pure serenity. At Apes Hill, you could dine right outside and overlook the island of Barbados. For the Bajan dishes, we visited a number of places including Fisherman’s Pub in Speightstown, Marina Bar & Restaurant in the heart of downtown Bridgetown, The Beach House in Holetown and the infamous Chefette. We had dishes like the beef stew, macaroni pie, jerk chicken wings, chicken roti and fish cakes just to name a few. To say these places were good would be an understatement. Everything was cooked to perfection. I made sure to try as much Bajan cuisine as possible. The only thing I didn’t recall having was a Bajan dessert but I did have the rum raisin ice cream one day which was a nice refreshing treat. Also when I left to head back to the states, I grabbed a rum cake made by Tortuga. Now this by far has to be the best cake I’ve had and they definitely didn’t take it light with the infused rum.

While visiting places foreign to me, I love to see things regarding the culture or history. We visited Cherry Tree Hill, which provides a beautiful snapshot of the entire island of Barbados. I was able to have a fresh coconut with a splash of rum thanks to the locals and even snag handmade jewelry pieces and souvenirs to bring back home with me. The next place we visited was the Animal Flower Cave in Saint Lucy. Unfortunately, the cave was closed due to high tide but to see the landscape of the cave and have lunch by the ocean worked just fine for me. We traveled to Bathsheba in the parish St. Joseph and enjoyed the scenic views here as well. The drive itself to some of these places created wonderful memories for me. The small narrow dirt roads which often had cattle alongside them, or wild monkeys that peeped out here and there or mongoose that scurried across the roads from time to time made the ride an experience as well. Once you get along the coast, I instantly became mesmerized by the crystal blue waters. The joys of being a passenger includes getting tons of pics and asking for frequent stop requests to capture just a piece of the beauty you witnessed in that moment.

The best feature of Barbados to me would have to be the beaches. I was obsessed with the idea of seeing the sunset and my friend decided to make a trip to the beach to go a swim and have rum cocktails afterwards to wait for the sunset. Brilliant plan my friend and what a sight to see. Simply beautiful and breathtaking. We visited Mullins beach but there are so many others and while driving along the roads there are many public access areas designated for their beaches. We often take things for granted but I literally tried to appreciate every detail involved with this vacation. The beauty of this island is indescribable and I would definitely love to visit here again. Until next time Barbados…

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LA Edition: Part 3

LA is a place known for many notable things. Hollywood, celeb sightings, production and die-hard Lakers fans to name a few. Whenever I travel, I’m always in search of the best food and LA does a good job of providing new places to try. Being a foodie at heart, I will always fit in a nice dinner, new dessert place or quick bite to go. While in LA for the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to add some new places to my growing list of favorite food spots. I also came to find out a lot of places are open extremely late or, even better, 24 hours! One of those 24-hour places happens to be Birdie’s in DTLA. I made it by here to try some of their delicious donuts. Another place, famously shown in a John Singleton classic film ‘Baby Boy’, called Lucy’s is also open all day and night and the food here is definitely comforting when its late night.

On this trip, I was actually able to spend a lot of time in Los Angeles. I didn’t even make it to Santa Monica this time around or Malibu and both are 2 of my favorite hangouts, particularly for the beaches. I did stop by Venice beach, because its only right that you do and had cocktails at Wabi Sabi on Abbot Kinney. This is also one of my favorite areas and I made a point to enjoy at least an hour or so in the area. I saw the Farmer’s Market in the Grove on a ton of vlogs so I definitely made a stop there. The Farmers Market seems like a good place to visit when you’re indecisive about what you want to eat because the market offers a variety of food and different types of cuisine. I think I grabbed tacos and a horchata to hold me until we made it to the infamous In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is a must try if you never had this before. The menu is so simple and apparently, the way to go, is animal style for your fries. Never disappoints. I also went to another market, Grand Central, located in DTLA solely to try the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich from Eggslut. Eggslut is a pretty popular sandwich joint, so much, that another one has opened in Venice. The line was pretty long at the time I went but it was definitely worth the wait. To go with this, I went to G&B coffee for a nice cup of coffee and later found out this is one of the most popular coffee shops in LA, according to Time Out magazine.

BOA Steakhouse was the choice for the LA finale dinner. I normally do at least one nice restaurant when vacating here so why not spend it in West Hollywood for that evening? We started with the blue colossal crab cocktail. As the entrée, I went with their rib eye and added both mac and cheese and creamed spinach with crispy shallots. Wayyyyyy too much food to indulge in at once but I couldn’t resist. Everything sounded so good. Not to forget the cocktail I had for the evening too. I cannot recall the name of it but it was a great choice! To say the least, LA never ceases to amaze me. The vibe is enough to fall in love with but when you start adding all of the other great things like picture perfect sunsets, countless beaches and warm weather all year; it’s just a place you never want to leave. Check out pics of some of the food I was able to enjoy while there. Until next time LA….