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Nice shots of the city. Good start of a trip report.
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We sleep in a bit the next morning, and get a bite to eat before we were to meet Trevor and see the city. First stop, and probably at the top of my "Must see" list, was Bob Marley's house. On a previous Jamaica trip we had been to his birthplace in Nine Mile and now had to visit the Kingston house. We arrive, and it is a bit quieter than I expect, with only a few people around. Aside from my wife and I, there were two other people on our tour. It was a nice visit, and was able to learn a few things that I had not known. An interesting tour, and glad I got to see it. The property is still owned by the Marley family, and the family still stays on the property, mostly behind the main house, while in town. Steven and Damien were in town to perform at Rebel Salute, and I am pretty sure that I saw Damien driving off of the property. Looked exactly like him. I would feel more confident that it was him, except that he was driving a Toyota Yaris. I would have expected something nicer, for the son of the King of Reggae. Who knows.
After the Marley tour, we headed to nearby Devon house. A beautiful mansion in Kingston, and home to the best ice cream in Jamaica. Cones all around, and then back to the tour of Kingston.
When Trevor asked what we wanted to see, I kinda felt bad. When you visit most places, you want to see the nicest parts. However, in Kingston, what I really wanted to see were the worst parts. The slums. Trenchtown. Tivoli Gardens. When friends visit Washington DC, I would never take them to the housing projects of southeast. However, this was what I had read about Kingston, and so this was what I wanted to see. Trevor was understanding and took us all over, from the nice parts of the city to the, um, not so nice. I'm not so sure how comfortable he was driving around the bad neighborhoods, and was visably nervous when he had to ask directions in Trenchtown. However, he was a great sport about it. We found Culture Yard, in Trenchtown, and Trevor stopped the car for us to take a picture. I don't think he was expecting, or happy about the fact that we immediately jumped out of the car. We took pictures in front of Culture Yard, and then set out to complete our main goal.
Across the street from Culture Yard there was an open gate leading to a nearly empty yard. This was exactly what we were looking for. We went in, sat down, and took a quick picture of ourselves. Mission accomplished. From now on, every time we hear the song "No Woman, No Cry" we will remember this trip, and "remember when we used to sit in a government yard in Trenchtown."
To Trevor's great relief, we finally get back in the car and continue the tour, with the next area being Tivoli Gardens. This was the area made famous as the home of notorious drug lord Christopher “Dudas” Coke, and became a war zone a year ago when the government ordered his capture and extradition. We could see the buildings covered in bullet holes from the battles between government forces and forces loyal to Dudas. Definitely cool to see, but we smartly stayed in the car this time. We continued the tour, past the harbor, government buildings, and in the end I feel we got a pretty good look at Kingston.
We headed back to the hotel, had a few for happy hour, and headed back for another early night. We were just wore out again. We both had worked for like 17 straight days before the trip, and it just hit us. We're not club people anyways, so I don't think we missed out on much. So we get back, and that night at the hotel they had karaoke. Like I said, we were exhausted, but when we headed up to the room we could hear the karaoke up in our room, especially with the balcony door open. Let me tell you, in Kingston karaoke is not the same as at home or in Negril. People were actually good! I mean, I was really impressed! Fantastic reggae and other singers, really professional quality. A totally different experience than the usual drunken noisefest that you normally find. The only time I have ever heard karaoke close to this was in Nashville, where there were professional singers hoping to find a record producer in the audience. It was a nice way to fall asleep, listening to great singing in the background.
All in all, we really enjoyed Kingston. Don't really expect to go back, but was happy to have finally seen the city. All the worries that we had about the city proved unfounded. People were generally very nice and I felt much safer that I would have expected. We only had one issue the entire time, and it was really more funny than anything. We had stopped in a shop to pick up a quick lunch. After we paid, a woman asked me for my change. OK, I gave her the coins I had received. This was not good enough for this woman, apparently. She got upset, and complained that I did not give enough. No, I am not giving this woman all my bills! I told her that I already gave her money, and that's all she was going to get. At this point, she lost it, and just started screaming at me! "You're a Pigface!!!", she kept repeating, very loudly, making a scene at the restaurant. Obviously she had some mental issues. In the end, she moved on, everyone in the restaurant laughed it off, and that was the end of it. Now and again my wife still calls me "pigface", however. Oh well. I'm sure I've been called worse. Off to Port Antonio!
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Great report. I enjoyed my time in Kingston; it has the feel of a metropolis city anywhere. Now I did inadvertedly wind up in the not so good parts and I was there truly on the heels of the whole Dudas fiasco. I would go back as I had the best pedicure ever in life at the mall there!
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Thanks for a great report, looking forward to more!
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Always great to see s/o who goes to Kgn and has a great time .... Sorry I didnt kno you were going . i could/would have given yu pointers for some hidden gem places to see.... and stay
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Fantastic start, can't wait to hear all about your trip east!
The first time I went to Kingston what struck me most was that no matter where you are, you are surrounded by green mountains. You can see them everywhere, like a big hug :) As I spent more time there I came to appreciate the lack of hassle and ability to walk around New Kingston without being asked for anything. The nightlife is unbeatable, I have had some good times at parties and at Red Bones and just around. As NYC kid myself, I think I felt right at home in the busyness there.
Good to know priceline treated you right, honestly it never would occur to me to try it in Kingston.
Love Porty too, looking forward to hearing about that!
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LOVIN your report.......please keep it coming.
Yeah, I'm with you Liz, I've used Priceline many times but never would have occurred to me to use them for Jamaica.
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9 Attachment(s)
Downtown KingstonAttachment 11510Herb Garden at Bob Marley's house... One herb in particular was noticeably missing....Attachment 11511Statue at Bob's HouseAttachment 11512Wife at Bob's HouseAttachment 11513Bob's HouseAttachment 11514Devon HouseAttachment 11515Georgia and TrevorAttachment 11516I scream!!!!Attachment 11517Eatin Ice CreamAttachment 11518
