Catcha Falling Star

February 07, 2015

Never in my life have I been so in love with the world around me. From the tippiest tip of my little toes all the way up to the toppiest top of my head, I felt absolutely intoxicated. It was pure bliss.

Mr. Agrestic and I snuck away to Jamaica a couple weeks ago. It was to celebrate his 40th birthday… to celebrate our survival of three kids… to celebrate January in the Caribbean… to celebrate us... and life... and every ounce of energy required to survive our world on a daily basis.

My gosh, it was heaven.

Jamaica was just Jamaica to us… it's a little rough… a little poor… a little high… a little crazy, I guess. It was definitely a different world than what we're used to… But where we stayed in Jamaica, Catcha Falling Star, was absolutely surreal.

It's a stunning, cliff-side resort in Negril. We stayed in a guest house named The Coral Cottage. It was tucked away in a garden area and had a wrap around porch that gave us a panoramic view of the Carribean. I couldn't have dreamt of a more amazing place.

I can still smell the salty, sun-tanny scent in the room…

Our days typically began with me getting up around 7:30 or 8… not the kind of 7:30 or 8 where my kids are crying or waiting for me to make them breakfast … the kind of 7:30 or 8 where I can see that it's light outside and I don't want to miss out on another minute of gorgeous scenery that awaits my eyes.

I would get up, while Mr. Agrestic was finishing up his slumber, and walk this short walk to the restaurant to pour us each a hot cup of the most incredible Jamaican coffee.

The sweet Jamaican ladies down at the restaurant knew us by day 2 and were always full of compliments and kind words. Carol was my most favorite.

I'd come back with the coffee and read or listen to music on our balcony while Richie took a shower.

We'd head back down to the restaurant, Ivan's, where Carol would serve us the most amazing banana pancakes. Ivan's Bar and Restaurant was named after Hurricane Ivan, a category 4 hurricane that destroyed the resort in 2004. The only thing left was a tree standing proudly in the middle of what used to be a beautiful resort. This tree now stands in the center of Ivan's Bar. It's a pretty cool sight to behold.

Sitting there at breakfast… an hour would pass by in a minute.

Then we'd get our towels and find our lounge chairs for the day, where we would spend the next 5 or 6 hours listening to music… soaking in the sun and waves… watching boats go by.

Occasionally we'd go to our favorite cliff and jump into the ocean.

Then we'd relax a little more until it was time to eat lunch, or maybe not even eat lunch. Sometimes we would just wait for dinner. It was so easy to get lost in the day… lost in the music… lost in the frequent scent of marijuana floating through the air :)
We had people bringing us drinks. A few other guests would pass by and maybe talk for a few minutes. But not too much.