Hamiota And Miniota

Location: Hamiota, Manitoba, Canada
Address: 25 Maple Ave E.
Date: Oct 2014
Website:  www.hamiota.com

  Hamiota, Manitoba is a small town of about 850 people.  It just so happened that one day we found ourselves doing business with someone from the town.  The town is of special interest to us as it rhymes with one of our names.  When we were driving across the prairies from Winnipeg to Regina we made a special detour just to pay the town a visit.

  Hamiota used to be called Hamilton, but this caused confusion with the Hamilton in Ontario.  The name was changed to combine Hamilton with the word "iota".  Iota means plenty so the town's name means plenty of Hamilton.

 

   We visited any buildings we could find with Hamiota in their name such as the Hamiota School and Hamiota United Church.  Our stomachs also requested that we pay a visit to the local bakery.

    We purchased some strudel from the Country Crocus Bakeshop to be consumed on the road and also enjoyed at our hotel later that evening.  If you visit Hamiota we highly recommend it.  We visited in October and they were busy baking rows and rows of pumpkin pies.

 

    We left Hamiota and headed back onto the highway.  There was one more small town that we planned on visiting.  We drove past the fields that touched the blue sky.  We drove past rolled hay and silos.  We drove past cows grazing on the dry grass.

   The next town we visited was Miniota.  It's name means plenty of water.  We had noticed a Star Wars connection when we spotted the town on a map.  As a result we took along a small travel companion.  It was a mini Yoda action figure.  Now you may not be in the habit of carrying action figures in your purse so be sure to plan ahead.  If you find yourself driving through the prairies we suggest that you try to visit both Miniota and Hamiota.
Do or do not, there is no try.

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Map of Our World
Hamiota , Miniota
Country Crocus Bakeshop

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Post # 127

Sandals Grande Ocho Rios (Continued)

Location: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Address: Main Street
Date: Sept 2009
Website:  www.sandals.com

   One thing that everyone enjoys while at a tropical resort is a visit to the beach.  When we stayed at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios we spent time on the beach, as well as both in and on the water.  We headed down to the pier and looked over into the water.

  The rocks were full of life both fossilized (above), and still on the move like this crab (below).

  The resort was offering tours in a glass-bottomed boat so we took them up on their offer.

The boat tour took us along the coast so that we could see the homes and hotels that lined the shore.  We were also able to look down and see any creatures that might be swimming below.

  It wasn't long before we were headed back towards the resort.  We were passed by the much faster Sandals catamaran.

  After our boat ride we took a walk along the promenade and looked out to the edge of the resort property from the very spot we would enjoy a candlelight dinner later that day.

You can read the first part of this blog here.

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Map of Our World
Sandals Grande Ocho Rios

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Post # 126

Sandals Grande Ocho Rios

Location: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Address: Main Street
Date: Sept 2009
Website:  www.sandals.com

  During a long weekend in Jamaica we spent almost all of our time at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios.  We arrived at the airport in Montego Bay and then traveled by bus to the resort.

  We had a room in one of the plantation villas which included a fully stocked bar.  Each villa also included a shared pool for its four rooms.  The first evening we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Manor House where every request was "No Problem".  Once night began to fall the crickets woke up and sang throughout the night.  After dinner we returned to our room where we were glad to relax, take advantage of our bar and have some time to ourselves.  We discovered later that we were not alone as in the night an army of ants had marched single file through our bathroom window and clear across the wall.

  The next day after breakfast one of us headed for a massage, while the other took photos around the resort.

  The resort is a popular wedding destination so there are many flowers and gazebos just waiting to help with the perfect photo from the perfect day.

  One of the plants on the grounds was the Traveller's Palm which is more closely related to a banana plant than a palm tree.  It gets its name from the fact that its soft trunk is filled with collected water and that its leaves tend to spread out in an east or west direction in line with the sun.  A thirsty traveller could have a big drink and then use the plant as a sort of compass to get their bearings again.

  One of our pictures is of this backwards hammock.  We wondered if it had been hung backwards or if it had recently flipped out a guest who had consumed too much rum in the sun.

  The massage client finally emerged from the spa.  She was very relaxed and disorientated by the massage of her life and her hairstyle had grown in size from all the different oils.  The massage client was then poured into a small bus in order for us to cross the highway that divided the resort.   This brought us down to the lower half of the resort and closer to the Caribbean Sea.

 

  The lower portion of the resort included more walkways through the beautiful resort grounds.  We sat for a while and again realized that we were not alone. A brown anole was climbing on the leg of one of the chairs beside us.  These tiny lizards are native to Cuba and the Bahamas but have taken over many other Caribbean islands.

We hope you don't mind if we save the rest of the resort for another blog post.
No Problem.

You can read the second part of this blog here.

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Map of Our World
Sandals Grande Ocho Rios

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Post # 125