A Colorado Christmas

If one can have a spirit state, mine is Colorado. Husband and I spent this Christmas in Boulder with his family. And if anything can distract me from missing my family and traditions, it's nature and good food, both of which exceeded my expectations on this trip.

With an extended vacation on the horizon, I have no time off work. On Christmas Eve, I was up and working at 6:30 am (after arriving late on Wednesday) at Boxcar Coffee Roasters to stay on par with Eastern Time. As a morning person, I much enjoyed these hours. Plus, it provided an excuse to try a couple Boulder coffee shops—something I relish when traveling. (And an excuse to pass on running, though I brought my gear, the weather was frigid.) I should also mention caffeine is a mandatory additive when you travel at my pace. (We later sampled coffee at The Cup Espresso Cafe and Oxo Coffee Co.) Alas, all the coffee and hard work on this particular morning called for a breakfast at The Buff, where dollar Bloody Mary’s were on the menu. Yes, please! The food was quite yummy. Though as I proceeded to eat my way through Boulder, nothing disappointed me. There was my favorite salad at Christmas Eve, made by my mother in law. There was eggs benedict for Christmas breakfast, Yorkshire pudding for dinner. A diner breakfast at The Village, where the slogan captured my heart: "890 sq. ft. of reality surrounded by Boulder." The dinner at Jax stole the show. Oh my goodness, heaven on plate after plate—a true food experience. The next morning we whipped up a mighty fine pre-outdoors breakfast with Christmas leftovers. And what does hunger call for at the end of a long day? Margaritas at Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant! On our last day, when I should not have been able to fit in my clothes, we squeezed in one more scrumptious lunch at Fate Brewing Company. That meal was nearly eight hours ago as I pound away on my keyboard on the flight home and I’m still not even mildly hungry. True overindulgence. I had no idea Boulder had so many delights waiting for me. Every time I thought I had experienced a Rocky Mountain high, something better touched my palate.

While we were there, the temperatures did not rise above 25 degrees, which was quite the contrast from the way Washington, DC has been. The bitter cold definitely brightened the holiday spirit! And in a town like Boulder, no one is slowed by the chill. We were out for long walks—along Boulder Creek and through University of Colorado’s campus. We hiked Wonderland Lake Trail, Buckingham Park, and Chautauqua Park. We saw the sights along Gross Reservoir. And we snowshoed in Rocky Mountain National Park, an obvious vacation highlight!

All the eating. And all the nature. 

Jamaica: Day 9

When I awoke, a part of me wished I was home. I wasn’t sure how I’d spend an entire day in Montego Bay. I felt as though I'd seen the sites (to be seen) the day before. Plus, I was warned most of Downtown and Uptown would be closed in observance of Sunday. Via a quick Google search, I was still struggling to find authentic cuisine on the Hip Strip. I set out determined to allow the day to run its course. As is well documented here, this is not something I’m particularly good at.

Boyfriend and I stumbled into Chili Pepper where the menu outside displayed items we had in mind—ackee and saltfish, round two. After sitting down, our waiter handed us a menu that listed none of what drew us in. Upon asking, she was delighted to serve the “whiteys” traditional food. The plates were hefty, and we delighted her even further by finishing every last drop. On full stomachs, it only seemed logical to stake out a place for our last dinner. We accomplished that goal, then landed afterwards at Café Tastey for a cup of Blue Mountain coffee. I simply cannot drink enough of the Blue Mountain goodness.

(Note on Jamaican Coffee: Even though I already purchased coffee to bring home, through a local roaster in Treasure Beach, I was stunned by the prices of Blue Mountain Coffee here in Montego Bay. The going rate is at least $30/lb, but, as with everything, rates are negotiable.)

Ship Day

Around noon, we bought day passes to a local beach and camped out until after sunset. Just before sunset, we treated ourselves to one last round of fancy cocktails. The crowded beach, due to ‘ship day’ in Montego Bay, was mostly deserted by sunset.

From the beach, we walked straight to MoBay Proper for red snapper prepared estovietch—still no idea as to how to define this method—with fried bammy and plantains. The meal was divine, certainly our best dinner in Jamaica! And even though we were full, we hit up the Candy Shack on our walk home for ice cream cones. There is no such vacation without ice cream in my view!

I’ll likely sneak in one more meal (and walk!) before departing, but all in all, this vacation has been capped. With that, my eighth country has been explored.

Jamaica: Day 6

This fabulous vacation is nearing it's end. And with that, today a theory was decided upon. As vacations ramp up, time often moves slowly... until the halfway point has passed, when time seemingly flies. This is an unfortunate reality I'm experiencing, but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying each moment of Day 6.

Breakfast on this morning was sort of a letdown, which was honestly nice. I needed one meal on this trip where I didn't feel like I was out to win an eating competition of sorts. I had the added bonus of starting the day with a run. These runs haven't been as pleasant as my at-home winter jaunts. My legs feel as though I'm lugging bricks along. The scenery has stolen the show; helping cope with some of the extra weight.

Bamboo Alley 

100+ Year Old Bamboo - Protected by Law

After breakfast, we headed to St. Elizabeth parish for the Appleton Estate Rum Tour. The tour was every bit as wonderfully cheesy as one might expect. The tour starts with "complimentary" gingery rum drinks and finishes with as many shots of eight different rums as one can consume before the Tour Guide closes the bottles. It was a total free for all with some of America's greatest spectacles elbowing each other out of the way for the chance to take samples of coffee flavored rums. Due to a Boyfriend engaged in brewing and various illegal acts of at-home distilling, I was pre-informed about most of the information provided. Refresher courses are never bad, especially when you're treated to pure sugar cane juice and a spoonful of molasses brown sugar syrup during the lecture. And did I mention unlimited tastings? Those too!

Paz, the Sugarcane Donkey

8000+ Barrels of Rum

The heart on the barrel label represents the heart of Jamaica, where Appleton Rum is made.

A mini set up of the distillery, where photography is not allowed.

The most interesting fact though is the setting of the Appleton Rum Distillery. It's surrounded--the full 360 degrees--by limestone bumpy mountains to protect the distillery from hurricanes. Appleton Rum has been around since 1749, so I'd say to the mountains: job well done.

I left feeling as though I had had my share of rum, and rum isn't even my thing. I even purchased a bottle or four. We migrated to Maggoty for jerk and fried chicken, and the people watching changed dramatically--from America's to Jamaica's finest. This was shaping out to be quite the day.

With a full belly, we left for more food--street food, simply the best. There were plenty of coconuts to go around, coconut "cake," and sugar cane stalks. For the first time, I was able to sample the jelly of an immature coconut. I still think I'm a fan of the more mature coconut, but I do not turn down coconut in any form. Ever. And from there we were on to Santa Cruz, high in the mountains where we picked up roasted peanuts from the car window. The town must be a decent size because we came upon our first stop light since leaving Montego Bay. This is where the drive got interesting. While the rum tour was fun and the street food made my day, the climb up into the Santa Cruz mountains was truly spectacular. The road winds and winds and winds up some 2,500 feet in elevation. There were unique lush mountainous views until we crossed the peaks, where the expanse of the ocean came into view. My motion sickness held it together for the most part, and I was able to enjoy the ride.

As we were nearing the end of our drive, we stopped east of Treasure Beach at Lover's Leap. The story is as predicted by the name, and the surrounding sea cliff is landscaped to please. The views of the overhang were stunning. There was ocean for days. And contrasting blues and greens in the best ways.

We saw dolphins from the pool deck!

We made it home just before 5:00 pm, and I was wiped out. I recall a pleasant sunset and a veggie-packed dinner, with a bed time around 8:30 pm. This is the vacation life.

Jamaica: Day 5

I began this day with another cup of coffee and another flavorful omelet. Lancel, a neighbor and former caretaker of our home for the week, stopped by for coffee conversation. (He also visits to eat the rest of breakfast, when there are leftovers.) If I had to guess, I would say Lancel is 80+ in age. Our conversation ranged in topics including hurricanes, American history, his family, and his favorite television show--Deadliest Catch.

We explored Treasure Beach a bit after breakfast, stopping at the Treasure Hunt Craft Shop and to pick up more roadside fruit. Then it was time to get my suntan on. I munched on heavenly frozen peanut butter stuffed chocolate covered bananas and continued reading until late in the afternoon.

When I was finally getting "schoochy" as M.R.B. would say, Boyfriend and I took a stroll along the beach. This was my favorite part of the trip! The way the shoreline is structured is one after another small bays or coves. Just when I thought I'd found the prettiest, most gorgeous, never want to leave cove, I was stunned by the next one. This goes on and on and on as far as I've walked in both directions. Because the sun was only a few hours from setting, the colors were incredible--turquoise water, green seaweeds growing on yellow, coral-ly rocks mixed with tan sands.

I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. 

Note: Trip HIGHlight.

The walk ended just in time for us to change clothes and head next door for sunset pictures. So clearly this day was awesome! We went to Jack Sprat for dinner afterwards. I opted for the estovietch snapper. I have zero idea what estovietch is, even after consuming my meal. Once I had enough with the bones, I moved on to the delicious jerk veggies smothering Boyfriend's mountain of crab. My meal was served with bammy, a cassava flatbread. Think a dense corn tortilla. Boyfriend opted for festival, so I proceeded to steal (more of his goodness) in exchange for the less exciting bammy. His festival were the best I've had yet.

At the ripe age of 27, I have a true appreciation for how I was raised. My parents always encouraged me to try new things. The best part of traveling, for me, is the exposure to new cuisines. As I walked to the bathroom to wash my hands after filling my tummy, I was appalled by the number of people eating french fries and chicken wings in JAMAICA. To each their own, of course. But when I'm sitting at dinner overlooking the ocean (and being consumed by mosquitoes), I certainly think seafood. And this is coming from someone who formerly went on several missions with Boss Man to track down the best french fries in Northern Virginia; I love a good fry.

Lest I fail to mention the drinks accompanying my dinner. There was a piña colada, strawberry banana daiquiri, and planter's punch to sip while conversing and munching.

Dinner (and drinks!) left me in a food (i.e., sleeping) coma. Another successful island day!