Favorite Travel Days 2011, Relaxing on the Beach of Riu Palace Tropical Bay, Negril

Contrary to this winter, where my grass is still green in the Boston area, last winter I was shoveling a good foot of snow every week. By the time, February break rolled around, I would have been happy to be any place warm. But the beach at the Riu Palace Tropical Bay, an all-inclusive resort on the outskirts of Negril, Jamaica, exceeded all expectations. The white sand sloped down gently into the warm waters, where I would spend a good portion of the day swimming, kayaking, and watching the reddish-yellow sun melt into the sea. If I felt hungry, I would get up from my chaise lounge and grab a plate of hot jerk chicken from the resort’s jerk hut or wander over to the pool bar for another dirty banana. The kids and I played a lot of games, winning bottles of rum at the pre-sunset bingo bash. Best of all, I relaxed more than I’ve been able to do on a trip in a long time. The story first appeared in The Washington Post, before being picked up by the Denver Post, Columbus Dispatch, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and other papers.