Arrival day. Not too exciting.
After a relaxing night at the Best Western in Newark, complete with in-room Jacuzzi, and a good breakfast, we took the shuttle to the terminal and found a short line for check-in. That went smoothly, and then to TSA. Not as long lines as last year and went fairly fast. No problems there, so we were really early for our flight. Better that than screaming around through the terminals to get on before they fill it with stand-bys. Flight down was smooth, but more cramped than I remembered.
Arrived a few minutes early in Mo Bay and found the line for immigration was LONG. About 45 minutes just standing there. Finally got through, our one checked suitcase had been unloaded, and headed to the car rentals. Everything there went smoothly as well. Not a bad start to the week.
Driving out of the airport I quickly got my drive-on-the-left bearings, (good thing!) and headed to the Super Plus, which is now a Hi-Lo. Got all the essentials, like rum, and then hit the road over to Negril. Driving easy this time, with no construction or tie-ups. Road smooth for the most part. Even going through Lucea was easy. Got to the cottages about 4:30, so plenty of time to unload everything and get to the beach for our first dunk. It had rained here fairly hard about two hours before, so there were the usual puddles and stuff, as well as bugs coming out. But it helps keep the place green!
At the cottage we'd had some snacks, so we weren't really that hungry. Walked out to the road and crossed so we were heading against the traffic (safer, and more importantly, fewer taxis pulling over to take us wherever). Heading over to Ossie's Jerk, Debbie noticed off to the right a small place with a pot over a flame. SOUP! Now, what kind? Isis is the man's name, and he makes a great soup at the right price $100J for a big cup. He called it goat soup. I asked, goat soup? He insists it's goat soup. I then asked if it wasn't Mannish Water. His eyes lit up and said, yes, but tourists don't know that. So of course we had to have some. Normally Debbie doesn't care for mannish water, but this was mild enough that she did like it. Temperature hot, but not overly spiced, and less of the tripe taste. Since it was so hot, we carried it over to Ossies, where we were able to get some of their incredible jerk pork, and the sauce is still incredible. For those taking notes, the only ingredients are scotch bonnet, garlic, and ginger.
A nice walk back to the cottage. Skyped the Mad Piper of Vermont, who wasn't able to join us this year. Difficult to hear with all the crickets and tree frogs in full voice. Turns out the weather in Vermont is almost as warm as it is here, but it JUST AIN'T THE SAME!!!!
Getting late after traveling, and time to let the tree frogs sing us to sleep. God, we've missed this!
Dave
