My Return to Jamaica a 3-month homecoming

Greetings from Accompong Town St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

I am starting a thread on my stay this winter. I am not able to post any pictures at this time but I will later. Since the first part of my trip deals with Negril, I am starting it here. I will, however, post the remainder of it at “Living in Jamaica” Forum for all those interested.

Well, here goes……

Sometimes I lose perspective on my life going back and forth from my home in Jamaica to where I work and live more and more infrequently in Florida. Maybe it is due to the fact that where I am in Florida is so similar to Jamaica in both the weather and the many Jamaicans who live in that area. However, nothing even comes close to my home on a mountain top deep in the Cockpit Country of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

This time, I overstayed in Florida due to a heavier than normal workload and the more and more frequent spells of daydreaming could no longer provide enough sustenance to satisfy my deep desire to go home so I finally bought a ticket and arrived at Montego Bay on October 15th to the smiling face of Linston, my friend and driver, for the first part of my trip.

Linston has just the right amount of qualities that I look for in a driver. Punctuality, a good fair price, safe driving and the right amount of chatting. When I arrive in Jamaica, I want to drink in the atmosphere. The sights, sounds and smells are eagerly assimilated into my consciousness and I appreciate not having to engage in idle chatter over trivial things. Linston treats you like an old friend and not just a paying customer.

Normally I just go straight up into the mountains seldom seeing the ocean or the coast until I leave in mid January to return for some work. This trip I decided to spend a week in Negril to wind down and relax before I headed home. I chose the Primrose Inn on Breadnut Lane (check them out on the Hotels link at the top of the page. All their contact information is there.). Gosnel Hylton and his son Martin run a nice quiet and secure 5 unit inn on the West End (Cliffs) of Negril. I like the size, the good reasonable price, hot and cold water showers and particularly the well stocked kitchen. Longer term stays can be negotiated.

I had a major case of burn out and just wanted to sleep in peace without the constant telephone ringing in my ears. Linston stopped for me to get a box lunch at a little shop across from Drifters on the beach. I don’t eat meat so a delicious meal of stewed bonita with some vegetables with lots of rice and peas fit the bill perfectly.

He dropped me off with a promise to come back the follow morning so I could get a new chip for a cell phone and groceries to last for the week. I hardly remember lying down but the sun was barely down and I didn’t wake up until it rose the next morning.

Except for the occasional visit by a friend or two, I did pretty much nothing but relax and read. I did enjoy having a good WiFi connection in my room so I spent some time catching up on my interests that I didn’t have time for at work. Because I live in Jamaica, I just don’t have the same drive to go out and explore Negril but I did pay a visit to Chris at SeaStar Inn on Saturday afternoon where I ate my only meal that I didn’t cook for myself.

The week passed by slowly but I was thankful for the slow pace and the healing rest. I made plans to return to Negril for one night on November 10th to see my good friend and Accompong Town neighbor Mystic Bowie who was headlining a show at 3-Dives that evening.

I was packed early on October 22nd and waited for Linston to take me home. First, however, we needed to pick up Jitterbug and her friend at BarBBarn who wanted to have a scenic day out on the island.

More to come on the trip up to Accompong Town.

Hope you enjoy.

Peace and Guidance

Looking forward to more!

I will be following you daily! You are living my dream! Thanks Accompong!

bill, loved hanging out with you on the drive . . . waiting to hear more . . . love your very descriptive ways of writing . . .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JitterBug

bill, loved hanging out with you on the drive . . . waiting to hear more . . . love your very descriptive ways of writing . . .

---

Jitters and Bill....Linston sends his greetings

Cap

More please, I'm hanging on every word.

Back to your island escape, enjoy your well deserved peace with nature and friends.

thanks captain . . . pls send my greetings to linston. that was the most fun day with a driver ever!!

October 22nd – Trip to Accompong Town

Linston is a lot like me when it comes to time. I am usually always early and waiting or exactly on time. I try never to keep anyone waiting and so it was this morning. Both Linston and I were early so we packed the car and headed to BarBBarn. The car was neat, clean and shiny and Linston put a cooler in the trunk at my request which would be needed when we stopped to see our friend Monday who sells fish at the Savanna La Mar market. We were our way to see my good, longtime friend called Jitterbug and her traveling companion.

Jitterbug and I met in Port Maria some 10 years or so ago when we shared a guest house over New Years. I often think back to a particular day we spent playing dominoes and drinking rum on Pagee Beach with some locals and New Year’s Eve on a cliff overlooking Cabarita Island. We always seem to miss each other as we were in Jamaica at different times, opposite ends of the island or had previous plans so I was delighted that she and her friend would be joining us for the trip. I called her the night before and we agreed on a time. She is a real traveler so I knew she too would be waiting.

Another thing about Jitterbug is that she is a leader and not much of a follower just like I am so she was understandably unsettled by my choice of a driver she didn’t know and the cost for the trip not confirmed but we settled the cost part right away and it didn’t take too long before she was expressing her happiness on Linston’s driving as we were off to Sav.

Monday and I have been friends for sometime as well so I was looking forward to seeing him again. I was surprised when I talked to Linston about buying some fish and he recommended his friend Monday to me. Now I knew for sure that this was a great choice. Monday has a stall right on the ocean at the foot of St. Georges Street next to where some fishing boats come in. I almost didn’t recognize him without his dreadlocks as he was clean shaven bald. I picked out about 10 pounds of butterfish and goat fish and had them cleaned and cut into steaks while Monday and I talked about old times and what had happened in our lives since we last saw each other. Task completed and paid, we were off to Accompong Town.

Likkle more soon come.

Peace and Guidance

hey bill, we met in 1999! 16 years ago . . . how time flies . . .