TRAIL OF ASHES TOUR: The adventure continues as Gerry G returns to Negril

So Gerry when is the next trip?? Anything planned yet? I'm ready for the next trip report. Ha Ha

Gerry, We all smiled when you met up with Jodi

Well I just finished reading every page and looking at all the pics and vids, and yesterday did that with your original trip report, and am now jonesin for Negril something fierce, lol! 31 days to go! :D

We have a lot in common lol ....

Here are some pics (top to bottom):

1, Nice Bentley's meal

2, Big birds flying at Booby Cay

3, Monthly Famer's Market event on Norman Manley ....

4, Nice mango smoothie at Fun Holiday -- thank you Darrin!

5, Enjoying a Fruit smoothie w Kevan at Rooms -- thank you Keisha!

Here's some video of Rick's Cafe at Sunset with Cliff jump and ya-mon commentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nth617Zy6DE

Jodi appears! yea . . .

Thursday is always a big day in Negril, and I was ready for it. Gary of M & G Montreal was coming spear-fishing with me on the spur of the moment, and I knew this would be a lot of fun. We jumped on the bike and motored down the hill and everyone at Home Sweet Home with some other snorkelers, and it was a nice calm day.

Home Sweet Home is really nice BTW .... Vincent pulled up, and we jumped on the boat. Gary, the nicest guy you would ever want to meet, conceded he had never gone spearfishing before, and I was kind of wondering how he would do out there, especially when he asked for one of those little floatie noodles to help him float in the ocean. i jumped out there and started spearing fish, and after a few minutes Gary was all good and swam up next to me.

I showed him how to line up the spear, pull it back into the slot and click the safety, etc. It's hard to actually hit fish, and most of us don't get much the first day or two, but I will be damned: Gary grabbed the gun, looked around, saw a fish and BAM he speared it. I couldn't friggin believe it, but Gary just shrugged, handed me the spear and said: "Dude, there's a huge moray eel right there, go spear it!"

We chased him around, I got him, but he got away. So did Gary. He grew bored and joined Vincent and Roger and the rest while I sat there dumbfounded about this Canadian tourist who speared a fish the first time he ever pulled the trigger.

gerryg, you sold me on bentlley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggtl4orDBh8&feature=plcp

Here's the first in a series of spear-fishing videos in Negril:

http://youtu.be/dfbzjwGH3oA

After returning from our snorkeling/spearfishing, we jumped in the pool at Seastar Inn.

Later, I went to Hi Lo and met a guy named Murphy, who suggested Aloe Vera for my sun-burned face -- he happened to have some in his car. The twist was, he wanted to give it to me for free, but I said no worries, I am OK.

I went out with Famous Vincent yet again later in the afternoon, this time with yardie friends Luis and his girlfriend. We decided to bring our haul of fish to Bentley's together, and we all enjoyed a nice dinner.

Chris agreed to tote all of us to The Jungle. It was me, M & G Montreal, yardie Sarah from Seastar Inn and a few others. I had a big wad of 1000s and was in a good mood, and there were a few party girls that recognized me and a few others that pretended so. The begging for drinks got to be a little much after an hour or two, and I remember at one point telling one of the relentlessly thirsty girls that she should get a job!

I did not bring Jodie. Though I was happy to see her again on this reach, I told her I wanted to do my own thing, so we did not see each other as much as usual. I just didn't want any pressure. The old, "It's not you, it's me."

Keith from Philly popped in, so I spent most of the time with him and Shayne, the great cabbie who as things would turn out never drove me anywhere cause his car remained in the shop needing a new engine, he said. He was still in a great mood. Oh, and btw, Brasi made a music video back home from Negril footage, and Shane is in the video -- it's great.

Outside of the club, I took a little break for some fresh air. I bumped into Step Aside, the great Jerk Chicken maestro, and had a plate. The hagglers were all over me, but I kept my concentration. It was not a late night. I made it home by 2 a.m. -- alone -- and that's the way I wanted it to be.

It was a good night.

Here are some pics (top to bottom):

1, Bubbles, the great Red Stripe girl from Ricks Cafe

2, Donkey near Banton's

3, Bella Donna

4, Nice pool at Negril Escape

5, gerryg123

6, Jodie at Bar Crawl at Sir D

GerryG, like Flipadelphia26 said you got me sold on Bentley's, as much time I have been to Negril I've never been to Bentley's but definitely will be there in August. His laugh is truly contagious and I got a good laugh from his laugh alone. It's great the way you advertise the businesses in Negril, they should really appreciate you.

Here are some more pics (top to bottom):

1, Roger on the open sea

2, Gary (foreground) gets ready to hit the water

3, At the Bar Crawl ....

4, Keith from Philly -- great guy

5, A little between-meal snack, lol

My mouth is literally watering lol

Glad you made contact with the lovely Jodie, tell her hi for me if you think about it :)

It's Friday morning and I'm sitting on the porch of the home of my friend Keith, an expat from Philly who is a good friend now that we've known each other for about two years, having met at across the street at Bantons, a small bar way up in the CLiffs.

Keith lives in Negril about half the time, and he loves to have a good time. We talk politics, government conspiracies, extraterrestrials, all that stuff, then we head down the street to Moondance, a fancy hotel where we enjoy brunch -- and in Keith's case, the free wi-fi. I bump into a Seastar Inn regular, a bearded expat whom I forgot to ask if it was OK to put his name in my report, though he did say I post his pic. Nice guy. Chris from Seastar says he is the No. 1 plumber in Negril -- no one else is even close -- when it comes to hi-tech stuff like water pressure systems for large structures. Anyway, he's working on project at Moondance, so I saw him a lot through the reach ....

We brought along Keith's live-in assistant, Rasta, and the bill came out to $82! That's OK, though. Money was meant to be spent and enjoyed, right? We were the ONLY folks at the resort -- the server said there were no guests staying there at all but a wedding party was coming tomorrow (it's a top wedding hotel).

Keith and I made arrangements to go spearfishing later in the afternoon -- he has his own spear but later admitted he has never actually hit anything with it -- and then, finally, I found a little dramatic action. I took my motor bike down the hill a bit early and witnessed a car accident on the corner near the corner bar. A tourist was driving a rental SUV (with young lady in front seat) and pulled out just as a cabbie was coming round the corner, and BOOM. It was not that serious, no injuries or super major damage, but it was quite a scene.

A bunch of locals got involved, some of them yelling and screaming at the tourist. They all wanted him to pay the taxi guy immediately before the police arrived, though the truth is, that was not in the tourist's advantage, of course, because it was a rental with insurance. He was SO nervous he did not know what to do. I had been parked across the street, and being the only other tourist in sight, I walked over to help out. The only other one I knew there was the LOVE BUS driver (good guy), who was also trying to help.

I told the tourist to get his paperwork from the glove, and offered to help call the rental office -- sure enough, the paperwork said: "If involved in an accident, call this number 876 etc." The poor guy was so nervous that he was literally shaking as the paperwork was fluttering in his hand. I told him everything would be OK. I called the number for him, but with a thick accent it was hard to communicate, and the Love Bus driver helped.

Some of the locals were telling the tourist that if the police came, he would have to pay extra for a report, but that sounded silly. (not sure if it's true). This guy needed a policeman (there are not too many in Negril), and thankfully, a couple of cops arrived and got the cars off the road, etc. By this time, it was time for me to hit the ocean, but the funny thing was, a few days later I bumped into a local and by then the story had changed that the tourist was my friend and we were together, lol.

Here's a big batch of photos (top to bottom):

1, Nice cup of coffee at Xtabi

2, Seastar mascot "Boy"

3-4, Garrett, from Seastar Inn

5, gerryg123 at Xtabi

6, Omar from Xtabi doin' his thing

7, Seastar Shaky, great kid ....

Here's a video with jerk chicken barrel cook Step Aside, who was recently featured in Conde Nest magazine as the No. 1 jerk cook in Negril:

http://youtu.be/ReW8zk0FRxE

Famous Vincent met us with his boat at the little dock behind Burger King, right where the ocean meets the river. It was just me and Keith, along with Vincent and Roger. The ocean was nice and smooth. Keith nearly speared a three-foot reef shark, but as usual he missed! It started to rain hard after about 45 minutes, so we called it a day.

Keith took all the fish home for Rasta. As we were leaving, I told him, "Yeah, Keith, tell 'em you speared all these fish yourself, everyone will be impressed." He looked at me sideways: "I can't do that, Gerry, that's a lie."

A couple of days later, he nudged me as we sat together on his porch: "Oh by the way, Gerry, I DID tell 'em I speared those fish. And you're right, everyone WAS impressed!" Little white lie, but Keith's soul is intact, I promise, lol.

Later, I went to Rick's for the sunset. I particularly enjoy the Jerk chicken from a barrel guy just outside Ricks -- Season to the Bone or SLice to the Bone is his name -- but the higglers were unstoppable. One of them was pushing CDs, and as I tried to eat, I blurted out: "Just please stop talking to me." The guy did NOT like that. He then went into a spiel of how this was HIS country, and he can say whatever he wants to whomever he wants, and that I should never say "stop talking" to a "real Rasta."

It took all my self-control not to reply with something like: "Well, you may be a real Rasta, but I'm a real Jew in the music industry in Hollywood, and if you knew that, believe me you wouldn't be talkin' to me like this because of all these tourists you badger, I'm one who can help make your dreams come true!"

But, alas, I kept my mouth closed, except for the chewing and the jerk sauce drippin' down my chin. God I love Jamaica.

Here are some pics (top to bottom):

1, Likkle car accident near roundabout

2, Bella Donna meal (you can see I am on a health kick, lol)

3, Visiting with Seastar Garrett and his dog, Boy

4, The band plays on at Ricks (notice keyboard player Knoxley from Seastar band?)

5, Nice breakfast view at Rockhouse, ya mon

Thanks for the Trip Report! Great pictures. I didn't know you were Jewish - Mazel!

Here's some Seastar Inn pics (top to bottom):

1, No Francine, I did not really do it LOL

2, Consumed many blended-fruit drinks

3, Once Lobstar season started, I went pretty crazy -- I would call ahead as I was coming up the hill so the plate would be ready when I arrived, LOL. Only $22 for a nice portion plus soup n fresh bread!

4, Nice rum punch featuring several different rums including overproof. A couple of these, and you're over the legal driving limit in Cali, ha ha ....

5, Room 6 feels like home ....

Gerry,
Ahh that Rockhouse view brings back sooo many great memories!
And, that dog is just so beautiful, so nice to see such a well cared for dog in Negril !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gerryg123

Here are some pics (top to bottom):

1, Likkle car accident near roundabout

2, Bella Donna meal (you can see I am on a health kick, lol)

3, Visiting with Seastar Garrett and his dog, Boy

4, The band plays on at Ricks (notice keyboard player Knoxley from Seastar band?)

5, Nice breakfast view at Rockhouse, ya mon

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Here's some video hangin out in front of Mi Yard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8-QGKmVnXQ&feature=youtu.be

I miss the lobster already!

Also at Rick's, a 10-year-old who was selling candy recognized me from Seastar Lane, so I bought a candy bar from him for 100j. And some fool across the way claimed I had to tip him to park at Rick's -- a first in approximately 50 visits through the years.

I hung out at Xtabi for a while.

Later, my appetite returned (big surprise), and I made my way down to Bella Donna for dinner -- I had paid in advance and ordered spaghetti with meat sauce and a vegetable side. I ended up with Spaghetti marinara and bread instead of veggies, but it was still good.

I went to bed early. At least, that's the story I am going with.

Here are some pics (top to bottom):

1, M n G Montreal daughter Alice and snorkel assistant Roger out of water

2, Seastar Inn yardies

3, Nichollette, the great Catcha server

4, Whew, what was in that shot????

5, Relaxing before supper ....

Here's some video, and this time Bentley takes the camera and does the narration:

http://youtu.be/kynRxkN0KTU

Wow! Negril was awesome and Jerry you rock! You are a truly interesting man and if i'd been solo, we'd have had some adventures for sure! As it was, just chatting, sipping, vibeing and hanging a bit was very cool for me and my wife! Our 22nd Anniversary trip was romantic and all it should have been and Rooms is our spot! Wish we'd stayed at Rooms on the Beach! We did 5 days there and then moved to the RIU Palace for the last 2.. It was very nice, but "Rooms" is so peaceful and laid back, right near so many cool things. Negril will always feel like home, but the time we spent in Mo'Bay at the home of one of our Dallas, Texas church members was priceless! Blessings Gerry, we'll adventure one day, Mi bruddah!

Yes, good hangin' with you, too, Kevan. I stopped by a couple of other times -- security is tight at Rooms! The first time, you were not there, the second time was after 5 p.m. when the restaurant had closed, and that time the place is like a Fortress and I was in a rush ....

Also, here are some more pics (top to bottom):

1, Step Aside in action

2, Jerk chicken by the road

3, Snorkeling friends from NYC

4, Roger out on the open sea

I really enjoyed that video with Bentley narrating

“6 things on your plate this time! I can’t believe I’m doing this! This is outrageous! This meal is from the hippie days!!”

That laugh! Oh my gosh! LOVE it!

And those pictures…That lobster looks Soooo good! :)

I know Clarity, I was laughing at the video too......Bentley is sooooooooooo entertaining!
Screamtalking....remember that's what I called it!
ha....good times!

Thanks for the Bentley video, Gerry, you KNOW Sweetie Pie and I wish we were there with you again...

I have several other Bentley vids .... Guess I will have to unleash 'em by popular demand.

Consider yourself popularly demanded!

At breakfast on Saturday morning, M & G Montreal were pumped up. They were set to pick up their daughter, Alice, from the the airport, as the 24-year-old was arriving for the latter part of the vacation -- something both parents were really looking forward to.

As usual, I went to the beach to meet Vincent and Roger for spear fishing, and the activity proved great fun until I injured my pinky while trying to load the speer -- it happens sometimes, one of the hazards of the sport -- so that put an end to the spear fishing for the day; we were having a good time, too, with Vincent's 13-year-old son coming for the ride and also snorkeling with us.

This was the first time I speared a lionfish. Ya mon.

It's a good thing I brought my notebook. I took a lot of little notes, and there's no way I could remember everything otherwise.

I'm looking through my notes, and it says (after the pinky injury reference):

-- "back to Seastar"

-- "eat pizza" [I know remember it was great (only $10 too) but of course I complained to Clarol that it took too long, lol]

-- "tip maid five dollars" [for washing my good-luck RIU pool towel I had brought from home after somehow finding it among my belongings like 10 years ago, lol]

-- "met new yardie Chris from NY City and Puerto Rican girlfriend nice [great folks btw]

-- "Westender Inn w Bill (Wedding) [they were planning a big wedding that night, so everything was crazy]

-- lost phone [was hoping to find it soon]

-- "Xtabi lobster" [self explanatory]

-- "raft" [not sure what I was referring to, but I am obsessed about my rafts]

-- "Blue Hole Chunkey" [the cabbie took me to Blue Hole, more on that soon]

-- "Xtabi raft Sunset" [I guess I returned]

LOL you and your rafts

I love that you take notes!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sbeth

I love that you take notes!

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I'm thinking I should start. Good thing about this trip is nobody else was there to dispute my facts. :cool:

"facts"
Lol