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It's been a while since our last update and we've been pretty busy over December & January with friends in Saudi and also over in Bahrain and Dubai. We've just recovered from jet lag after our big trip to Jamaica and Miami to see friends. Here's some stories and pics from our past couple months...enjoy! Reminder - scroll your cursor over the images to see captions and click to enlarge. December & early-JanuaryWe kept ourselves busy in December & January, having some Christmas celebrations and cocktails around the fire pit in Saudi and then heading across the causeway to Bahrain for drinks and brunches. Here are some pics... Dubai - January 2018We went to Dubai for a weekend in mid-January, as Lisa was getting certified to teach a Les Mills spin class. She was tied up Friday & Saturday working out and teaching spin 8am-4pm so Jeff had to find a way to entertain himself. One guess as to what he did? Lisa kicked ass in the class and now teaches at our compound. In Dubai, we found a cool area called Irish Village - an awesome pub with live music. We also found the Madinat Jumeirah souq, which has many shops and cool pubs along the water.
Random pics Our T&A group ventured to Negril, Jamaica for our 9th year! We stayed at the Riu Palace Tropical Bay. We were joined by the following great people: - Jeff from Vancouver - Mark & Gayle from Kansas City - Shane & Kelley from Kansas City - Vern & Noreen from Humboldt, SK - Nicole from Calgary - Dan & Marilyn from Chilliwack, BC As usual, there were a ton of laughs as we enjoyed the pool and the beach with our various sunglasses, outfits, and wigs. The pics tell the story... Foam Parties We joined in the fun on foam parties at our resort and the sister Riu. It's incredible to watch adults act like kids in such an environment! 7 Mile Beach, The Caves, & Rick's Cafe A few years ago, we visited 7 Mile Beach in Negril with Jeff's brother and friends. It is mind-blowing how clear the water is. So easy to see fish, crabs, and sting rays! We always wanted to go back and made sure to do a couple Beach Crawls this time, stopping at the vendors and bars along the beach. Lobsters for $20 and Red Strips for $2...tough to beat. After the walk down the beach, we water taxied to our cab and stopped at the Xtabi Caves, which is a resort built into the caves along the Caribbean Sea. Incredible views. You really have to be careful in the caves, as the waves come crashing in and can knock you around. Our friend Jeff got hammered by a wave and blasted into the rocks....lost his iPhone to the sea but hung onto his Red Stripe. Veteran move! Then it was onto Rick's Cafe to visit the famous location - great food, drinks, combined with one of the best sunsets you can see and some wicked cliff jumping. Lisa worked up the nerve to cliff jump, thanks to hours of liquid courage she was fuelling herself with. The great day was topped off with a pit stop at Burger King on the way home so we could feast on Whoppers after a day of sun, drink, and other. Floyd's Pelican Bar We saw a Trip Advisor review on Floyd's Pelican Bar that said it was the "Coolest Bar on the Planet". Noreen had also seen it in an old Appleton rum commercial. It was worth the 90-minute drive from our hotel. Here's the story on the bar... Floyd Forbes dreamed about a magical bar built on stilts in the middle of the ocean. Well in 2001 his dream became a reality and the Pelican Bar was open for business. There’s always a bunch of pelicans perched on the rocky sandbar next to the bar, and that’s where it got its name “Pelican Bar.” In the beginning, the bar was mainly for Floyd and his fellow fisherman buddies. However, it didn’t take long before more than just fisherman wanted to grab a beer there. 16 years later Floyd still fishes and serves up beer out here, and in our opinion, his bar is one of the best things to do in Jamaica. Due to the fact that the bar is in the middle of the ocean, it is subject to be damaged during hurricane season. In 2004 hurricane Ivan destroyed the original Pelican bar. Thankfully the local community came together to help Floyd rebuild. Jake’s Hotel in Treasure Beach donated new wood to help reconstruct the bar. Within a month after Hurricane Ivan, the Pelican bar was back in business. The bar has suffered storm damage since then but thankfully has survived all hurricane seasons since 2004. The menu is simple: ice cold beer, rum punch, and fish. Nothing complicated and fancy here. There are only two things on the food menu, lobster & fresh fish. It's a very cool place - no power at all. Freshly caught food is cooked on grills with propane. Beer and rum is kept cold in the cooler by ice. The stereo is powered by a car battery. We even got our names carved into the wood and put up a Riders license plate, thanks to Vern & Noreen for doing the research! On the way back, we stopped along the road at D'Jamaican Bar & Jerk Centre, as we all needed to use the bathrooms and this was a convenient place to grab some food and re-fill on Red Stripes. What a day! What an experience! Miami - Feb/MarchWe went back to Miami for the 5th time. We love this city! Amazing people watching, good shopping, and kick ass restaurants and night life. Every other time we've visited, we kicked ourselves for not going to the Everglades so we made sure to book a trip this year. Loved the experience and the gator show. We also enjoyed watching Lisa's 1st NBA game - Miami Heat vs Los Angeles Lakers. Was a great time and even got to see Marc Anthony in the front row. The rest of the time was spent on the beach, the pool, shopping, and sampling some of the great dining and nightlife of this awesome city! We hope you enjoyed some of the stories, pics, and videos. We're home for another week before we head to Jordan to visit the ancient city of Petra and also to float on the Dead Sea. Will post another blog once we return. Hope you're all doing well and hoping that spring FINALLY comes for our friends in Alberta & Saskatchewan. Love, J&L    
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