The drive up to the Good Hope Estate was a bit harrowing, but once we got there we had a lovely view over the rolling hills.
The house itself had an interesting history and our tour guide did a good job presenting it.
I actually got to listen this time, because Elena had received a bribe. My mom had bought her one of the ugliest stuffed cats I have ever seen with Jamaica stamped across its chest.
She still wasn't keen on pictures though.
The house had some interesting elements. The shutters let a breeze come through, and it was actually quite cool inside. The roof was made of a special kind of wood, and you could see holes of light through it, but the guide explained that when it rained the wood swelled up and the holes closed, so that no water came in.
Out back in the center of the yard was the old counting house where they would keep the money.
The current owners don't live in this part of the estate. They use it for various tours and things like high tea and rum tasting. There's also a part with a big pool complex which is where they took us for lunch. Lunch was, of course, Jamaican jerk chicken. It was a bit spicy for the girls, but it was good. We spent some time hanging out in the cool stone building that housed the lunch set up.
Elena and Jeff went for a walk around the grounds.
And then we headed back to the ship. I got a nice picture of Dumbo on the back of our ship, while Mom and Jeff went shopping (danger!).
It was still fairly early in the afternoon, and the ship wasn't crowded, so we decided it was the perfect time to hang out at the pool. Elena was disappointed that she wasn't tall enough for the Aquaduck, but she decided to explore the parts of the pool deck that were designed for kids her age. She spent quite a bit of time in the Nemo's Reef splash area.
Then Vivi came down, and offered to take Elena on the yellow slide which she was tall enough for. It was still pretty high and twisty, so I wasn't sure how she was going to react.
I should have known that my rollercoaster loving kid would adore it. She became completely addicted and just kept going on it over and over again, little speed demon.
Viv was enjoying herself too.
After a while, it was time for an ice cream break.
Then, the girls discovered the little splash pool with a view.
It was hard convincing the girls to leave the pool deck for dinner, but they were hungry. We caught the beautiful sunset from our balcony before heading down to dinner.
Dinner that night was at Enchanted Garden, and we had a nice little table off to the side. The food was good as usual, and for dessert Elena decided to try the Mickey ice cream, which she really got into.
We got her cleaned up for a garden themed picture with Grandpa.
The next day was the Star Wars day at sea, and after dinner we could see them starting to get things set up. Our waiter told us we would probably want to be in the atrium later that night. Sure enough there was a large crowd, ominous music played, and in marched Darth Vader with a storm trooper escort to inform us that they had taken control of our vessel.
The opening behind him leads to the Tiffany's, so we got a giggle out of that. The storm troopers were sent to look for resistors, so they went down the elevators and through the crowds.
Honestly, I was a little worried for their safety, because there were a lot of kids with light sabers in the crowd, but everyone played along, and no one tried to take a swing at them. It was a cool way to end the day and get excited for the next day's fun.
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