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Had a few friends and family that had gone to Jamaica. 1st trip was also in August, walking the beach looking for a place to eat dinner and unable to tell what was open or a what was a restaurant. Someone called out and helped us get situated, it was all good!
I am not ashamed to admit, that I watch cocktail everytime I see that it is on, and Roadhouse or Pointbreak isnt.
Just got an itch to party like crazy people about 12 years ago and found Hedo.Went and partied many trips and then stayed at other hotels on the beach and had so much fun we stay all over the place now!!
1992 I was 34 and had been many places, but never Jamaica. Always wanted to go since seeing the James Bond movie "Dr. No". Finally convinced my wife to go to Sandals Negril. Landed in MoBay, walked down the stairs from the plane onto the Tarmac, long walk to terminal building. At first all you can feel is the heat and humidity and smell the Jet Fuel, then you get a wiff of something exotic. Dancers and music greet you as you enter the terminal..... The Old road to Negrl, bumpy, narrow, and then you cross the Ganga Bridge! OMG! A bud as large as my arm appears through the window, $5 US!. Oh the memories of that first magical sunset on the beach....
My first trip to Negril took place about a year after my first trip to Jamaica. Stayed in MoBay at an all-inclusive the first time (2000) because of the problems with the road to Negril. Knew the island was cool but also knew I was missing it at an AI in MOBay. Both times I was traveling with Boardie- JamaiKay who had been coming down to JA since 1987. Before we even departed from that first trip, I had my trip to Negril planned (in my mind at least).
For the first trip to Negril (in 2001) I did what a lot of people do, I stayed at an AI (Rui in Bloody Bay.) Our second day there i wandered off property and ended up at the Office of Nature and met all the guys that work and hung out there. I LOVED IT! Loved the people, loved the food, loved the spirit of the whole place. I even met an 8 year old local girl that I fell "in love" with and she ended up "adopting" me til this day (she's now a 21 year old college freshman -getting straight A's-living in the States!). Watching her succeed has been like watching my own children's successes. These connections I felt/feel with the people in Negril, I had never felt anywhere else. I ended up meeting MANY people on that 1st trip to Negril that now, 13 years and 20 something trips later, I consider some of my closest friends in life.
One of my favorite things to do is to bring first-timers down and watch their reactions. I have brought about 10 friends down (one at a time) for their first trips and they are always AMAZED by Negril. For some it was literally life changing. Bringing another newbie in August and I just know she's going to totally GET it.
Speaking of August, why haven't I seen an August Roll Call yet? Seen Sept, Oct, Nov, etc. but no August! I know a bunch of you crazy people have to be going down for ATI....(not me, I wait till it's over!) Who's going when?
Why Negril? Because they took Popeye the Sailor Man off the air and replaced it with Gilligan’s Island. This happened in about 3rd grade for me, about 1973. (Gilligan’s Island was already in syndication by then.) My ritual was to come home from school and watch Popeye and have a snack before going out to play (for you young folks, going out to play is something my generation did because the TV only had 3 channels and there were no computers or smart phones, just outdoors....even in the middle of winter in Nort Daakoda we went outside to play). Anyhew, I started watching Gilligan and loved it. The tropical jungle, the beach, the “lagoon”. From then on I always wanted to go to a tropical island. It took until 1991 when I finally had enough money. After talking to a travel agent, we (my girlfriend, who is now my wife) narrowed it down to the Bahamas, Mexico or Jamaica. I excluded Mexico right away because it was not an island and I remember the agent had some poor feedback from others about the Bahamas. So Jamaica it was. Why Negril? We wanted to see the sun setting on the ocean (hell, we never even saw an ocean up to this point) so we picked the west side of the island. One of the best decisions we ever made. A place that has remained near and dear to our hearts. And a place where we have met, and continue to meet some of the best people in the world. First impressions? Had a rum punch and bag a weed in my hand before leaving the airport for Negril......This place is FRICKIN’ AWESOME!
One movie in my youth did it for me... starring Jimmy Cliff, Robin Williams and of course Rick Moranis!
CLUB PARADISE
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Looking for chicks on the beach, trying to score the motherload of herb, tribal rastas... this flick had it all!
Muslims go to Mecca, Jews the wailing wall, and Christians the "promised land".
For me somewhere deep inside.......Jamaica has been calling me home.
After visiting, the call is only louder and much more clear.
Good one ESparks!!
Believe it or not my first time going to Negril i didn't want to go, I had graduated high school almost a year beforehand and my mom was pressuring me to go to visit my father and his family. At some point during my first semester of college i gave in and decided to go for 5 or 6 days during spring break. My first day there i cried, im not sure why, it wa just a big culture shock being up in the hills, seeing goats roam around freely and mosquitoes for some reason love to bite me. Once i finally got settled in a hotel and got to roam around i fell in love! Later that year (2011) i went back and stayed for two months with my grandmother on westend and went back again in 2012 for spring break for a 7 day trip that ended up being 9 or 10. I havent been since, life got ahold of me i had my daughter last august and got married but we will finally be making it back April 2015