Last year I had the chance to go on another family trip (previously we went to Punta Cana) with my good friend Sharde to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Let me start off by saying that I was extremely sick during this trip, and I must have a Jamaica getaway redo. Despite the sickness I persevered through. SN: Always get travel protection and just go at another time if you're not able to travel.

Royalton White Sands Resort Montego Bay, Jamaica

I remember my first thoughts vividly when our flight arrived and we stepped out of the airport into the fresh air of Jamaica. I thought, "Dear Lord if it's going to be THIS hot and humid the entire trip I'm not going to make it". I got on my phone and tried to check my bank account to see if I had enough money to just buy a plane ticket back home and say to my friends you all just enjoy Jamaica without me. I didn't have any service though, and decided to give this trip a shot. When we arrived at the Royalton White Sands Montego Bay Resort we had to wait down in the lobby (which is an outside lobby) for an unusually long check in process that seemed to last forever. I thought I was going to pass out from dehydration or heat exhaustion, so I kept downing waters at the bar until we could go to our room. Finally we made it to the Air Conditioning, I mean room. I rested while my friends went out and enjoyed day one on the resort. The Royalton White Sands is an all inclusive resort that includes your food, drinks and daily entertainment. They have a lively entertainment crew, but they were a bit too in your face for me. I just wanted to relax, but the crew was always around and trying to get the guests up and moving. The food on the resort was ok. I've had better Jamaican food in the U.S., and one of my friends absolutely hated the food, but to me it was decent and edible. The drinks were decent as well. Again, nothing spectacular, but they'll get the job done.

At Scotchies trying to look cute despite feeling like crap.

While there we took a few trips away from the resort, mostly in search of great food. Our first adventure led us to Scotchies. We dined on authentic jerk chicken, rice and peas and festival. That meat was so flavorful and juicy. The festival was a fried bread that made me not even care about the calories being consumed. I just wanted more. I had a difficult time eating because of the lump that had developed in my throat, but I managed to get every bit of my food down pain and all. Our driver Maurice took us on quite the adventure getting there. I think his driving was right up there with some of the cab rides I've had in NYC lol.

Jerk chicken, rice and peas and festival at Scotchies

Another off resort adventure we took was to the Dunn's River Falls and the Bob Marley Museum. I didn't know anything about the Dunn's River Falls, so when I heard something about hiking and a waterfall, I assumed we would be hiking a mountain and would see a waterfall along the way. To my surprise we were actually getting IN the water and hiking up the actual waterfall (uh this is NOT what I thought I was signing up for *side eye*). I can't swim, and without my glasses I can't see. The water was up to our necks. You know I was in panic mode the whole time, but I went for it. You have to hold hands and use team work to make it up the waterfall. Some of the people in our group wanted to do their own thing (men smh lol j/k) and I was getting quite frustrated at them feeling the need to put my life in jeopardy, but somehow we made it through. I can't even lie. I felt quite accomplished when we made it to the top, and had a lot of fun. I will definitely do that again. Then it was time for the Bob Marley Museum. I love how our driver had Bob Marley playing the entire way there. I didn't get tired of hearing his soothing voice on repeat. It put me in the mood for getting to see the houses where Bob Marley lived and spent most of his years. Upon entering the museum you will find yourself at the museum bar. I told the bartender that I wasn't feeling well, and he said he had just what I needed. The Bob Marley Shot. He said the shot would clear me up and have me feeling good in no time. Y'all.........I have never struggled so much to get a drink down in my life lol. It was actually quite comical. It did clear my stuffy nose, but it left my throat on fire. You can't help but to feel calmness and relaxation throughout the museum just the way Bob would want it. Everyone was really laid back and loving. You get to learn about how Bob's parents met, his upbringing, how he valued family. You'll get to see the places where he wrote some of his number 1 hits as well as where he is buried along with his closest family members. The Dunn's River Falls and Bob Marley Museum are two must see places when you're in the area.

Before I had to give up my phone so it wouldn't get drenched in the Dunn's River Falls

The Bob Marley Shot at the Bob Marley Museum

My friends and I decided to deviate from our driver Maurice and give another driver a chance (his name escapes me at the moment). That ride was much more smooth, and I didn't feel like my life was in danger anymore. Lowkey I think the driver was trying to make me his wife lol, but that's another story for another time. He took us to Far Out Fish Hut where we were able to pick out our own freshly caught fish and tell them how we wanted it prepared. We sat outside under the straw beach umbrellas listening to the sounds of the water behind us while a nice breeze came through. It was dark when we went, but I could tell that it would be a very romantic place to come to during sunset. That was the most flavorful perfectly flaky fish I've ever had. It was a bit spicy (no one warned me lol) but it was so good I still ate it.

Fried Fish Escovitch from Far Out Fish Hut. If you like spicy then this is for you.

The highlights of the actual resort were going to eat at the Hibachi style restaurant. Out of all of the on site restaurants that one was the best. The show was decent. One of the burners wasn't working, so the chef had to prepare the meal for our party and the one on the other side of us on the same burner. Luckily our burner was the one he had to use so we got the best view. The food was really good. The resort had beach BBQs where they prepared the food out on the beach for guests to eat from instead of in the regular dining hall. They had things like jerk chicken, hamburgers, festival, rice and peas, and fresh fruit. That food was pretty good as well. I visited the spa, and got a pedicure. I enjoyed being able to look out at the beautiful scenery while being pampered. The person who did my pedicure was so sweet, and made the experience even better. The resort offered daily water aerobics. This is something I've always wanted to try, but haven't had the chance to do here at home, so I finally gave it a shot. Water aerobics gives you a real workout that you will feel later, but I loved it. On the down side, the resort did have a few moments of power outages. Our room would flood if you adjusted the air conditioner. They also frequently ran out of clean towels, so we had to use the same towels. I tried to take a walk on the beach one night (an ill advised move on my part but I had done it on the resort at Punta Cana so I figured I could do it here as well). As I walked further onto the beach I remember hearing these voices yelling at me. I couldn't make out everything the voices were saying, but I did hear pretty lady, please come along with loud screeching sounds.. It was pitch dark so I couldn't see the people. The voices were coming form the direction of the beach where a lot of merchants had set up shop, but they weren't allowed to come to our side. I got scared and literally took off running until I could no longer hear the voices and then walked back to the room.

Overall I enjoyed the experiences I was able to have during my trip. I probably won't go back to the same resort, but I will be going back to the beautiful Island of Jamaica (our second driver offered me a place to stay for free lol). I look forward to being able to do more next time when I'm in better health.