LOL! I would have loved to see the expression on your face when you saw the boat full of naked people!
LOL! I would have loved to see the expression on your face when you saw the boat full of naked people!
I had at some point made mention to Sunshine that there was a place on the West End quite famous for their brownies. You could say they were extra special brownies.
As we were leaving BCC, I asked if I should call a cab. No, no was the reply, it's cheaper out on the road. We were out the door and on our own before I had processed the statement. The door was closed and locked before I even turned around. There was not a soul in sight.
No matter I have my map and the road seems relatively wide here. I take a deep breath and tell myself that this will be fine. We will just grab a cab when one goes by. I know the rules. Red plates only and negotiate up front.
Now for those of you who know the area, there is a certain folly to taking a cab from BCC to Jenny's Cakes. They cannot be in reality more than 250m apart. We are newbies though; we just don't know what we don't know.
We start walking down the road. It doesn't take long for us to hear a taxi approaching, sounding its horn to let us know it was available. We both throw up our arms and he comes to halt and jumps out. Red plate, yes, so time to negotiate. Another passenger is already on board, must be a route taxi.
"How much to Jenny's cakes?" I ask.
"Wah woh wah woh."
sh*t, Sh*t, SH*T! This is not getting easier. "Pardon me?" is my more polite reply.
"Wah WOH WAH woh."
The cabbie is obviously a bit annoyed now and I don't blame him, we are in the middle of the road and clearly we are idiots. You can see on his face he was kind of wishing he hadn't stopped, but he wasn't quite ready to abandon us yet.
Done guessing, I make him an offer.
"Two dollars?"
"Yes, yes, get in."
I will say that after their third try, most Jamaicans seemed find a slow gear in their speech that we could actually understand.
We get in, he puts the car in gear and starts creeping forward, "You know Jenny's is closed?"
Well clearly I did not know that or I wouldn't be asking you to take me there, I think to myself. Frustrated with myself more than him I ask him rather bluntly where else we can get Jenny's special kind of cakes.
The driver and other passenger exchange a few words and he announces he knows a place. He hits the accelerator we zoom forward and then come to a screeching halt.
The driver hollers something to a women inside the smallest bar I have yet to see. She must have answered in the affirmative, as the driver tells us she has what we need. We pass him our $2, we get out and he is gone. From when he first stopped to when he dropped us off, it has to have been less than three minutes and we have basically only gone around the bend in the road.
Well, first route taxi out of the way. It wasn't a long ride, but it got us there.
We walk into this bar and our greeted by a smiling face. "Welcome to C&Ds, I am Connie or Dawn, or Connie Dawn." Blessed be, I can actually understand this women. Maybe what the cabbie actually said to her was talk real slow, these people are lost fools.
We introduce ourselves. Connie declares she has an auntie with the same name as me. It must be a common Jamaican auntie name, as she was one of three people to say that to me that week. That almost never happens at home.
We have a nice chat with Connie; she explains the family connection to Jenny's and tells us we can always find her great recipes here too. We thank her for the brownies and get a piece of lemon cake to sample as well. It just looked too good to leave behind; it tasted even better.
We walk out and there is another cab there almost right away, this time empty, so we charter it back to Rooms.
I tried conversation again, because I just couldn't help myself. Another round of "Wah woh wah wah," and I conclude that silence is good.
We arrive back to the shelter of Rooms. The storm clouds of the previous day disappeared somewhere on the west end and Sunshine is positively giddy with the prospect of brownies for dessert. I admit I am less enthused as on this front I am a bit more cautious by nature, but he is happy, so I go along. Tastiest special brownies I have ever had. I know it is has been said before, but should you find yourself with one, go easy until you know how it's going to go down; they can pack a punch. We had no misadventures.
Into our swimsuits and down to the beach; this is becoming a good routine. We spent a lovely afternoon alternating between swimming, reading and just watching the world go by. It had been a nice afternoon on my own the day before, but the world just feels more right with Sunshine hanging out beside me. I wouldn't want to be living this adventure with anyone else.
Before I know it is sunset again. We head back to the room, clean up a bit and bring our beverages back down to see how the nightly show will unfold. It is perfect, of course.
I am starting to feel the tension really leaving my body. I have gotten through most of the firsts I had imagined for the trip and we are still in one piece. We have arguably gotten more things wrong than we have right, but it hasn't mattered. We are having a good time and heck it will only make for a better story when we get home. Maybe, just maybe, for the last few days I can manage to leave the anxious energy behind.
We decided for dinner it is time to give this Jerk we have heard so much about a try. We eventually wander down to security at the road and ask where he would recommend. He is standing with a white hat. They have a spirited debate between themselves, of which I caught nothing. White Hat seems to win and we are directed towards the smoking cart across the road and down a bit, Original Step-a-Side Chicken. If you are looking for him, he sets up between Montana's and The Jungle.
We follow our noses and after yet another friendly round of "Wah woh wah woh," we have chicken, sauce and bread for each of us, packaged up for the walk. Back on our balcony, we each have our first bite and I am transported straight to chicken heaven. I don't know what these people are putting in their food, but everything just tastes so good. The chicken wasn't too spicy, but it was really flavorful. I had heard that chicken in jerk was often dry, but this was perfectly moist. He had chopped the chicken up, so eating it had a similar finger-licking, bone-sucking appeal as tucking into a pile of chicken wings. The bread was the perfect tool for sopping up the sauce, though I was still tempted to lick the foil when I was done.
Thoroughly satisfied, we head down with our beverages to the beach for a sub and a stroll in the waves. Stroll might be an overstatement as we never stepped beyond the ropes of the swim area at night, other than to get fresh Red Stripes at Sunnyside. We were more lingering in the waves.
I think it was that night that we discovered the bats. Now I know that this is a sensitive subject for some boardies, but as long as I am not enclosed in a small space with the bat, I think they are pretty cool creatures. We discovered that one of the lights on the beach area at Rooms was attracting enough bugs to have gotten the attention of some bats. We sat for a while watching the air show as they turned it into an all you can eat buffet.
Eventually we ran out of beer and energy and headed back to the room to snuggle in for the night.
You met one of my absolute favs. Connie is a good woman, can't wait to see her again.
Glad to hear Sunshine is doing better today lol
You're attitude is awesome while encountering all the firsts...and your sense of humor is great. This TR get's better with every post.
Thnks again Cherry always looking forward to more
Stir IT UP
Can you send me some of your patience with Sunshine, please?
First trip to Negril for my hubby, ( not my first by no means) and he seems happy. Then day 3 of 18 he said to me, I wasn't sure about this, but now "I see" ( thank you Jesus) that it is awesome. I never expected to hear that from him. I thought he was as happy and ready for an 18 night vacation as I. Apparently, there was some doubt that I never knew about. Sneaky things those men.
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Naked and Eggs at the Blue Cave Castle! Love it!
awesome writing!!!awesome you get it!
Well I'm certainly hoping to run into Cherry and Sunshine while vacationing at Seastar in about 18 days. I can so relate with you in, so many ways. Your trip report is so enjoyable and I almost missed it. I don't read everything and I was thinking - a trip report from a year ago - skip that - but tonight I clicked on and 1 hour later........ now waiting for the next installment.
I agree Irie Always - I was just thinking I'm hoping to run into them too
wow wow wow! absolutely awesome report . . . now i'm waiting for your next trip
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