Getting Excited For Portland Parish!

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Originally Posted by johng

mwenvlay boy you have a lot to do on your vacation to Kingston and Portland via Hardware Gap Road. How long will you be staying? You won't want to come home!! I like Goblin Hill in PA, a nice spot up on the hill overlooking the sea! Beautiful spot!!

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is the last photo goblin hill? that's a gorgeous shot!

i've been to the port antonio area several times since 1995, but for some reason cannot remember details of any of the trips very clearly. last time i was there was 13 years ago, 2 months after my mom died, so i was a total wreck. i went there with a friend of mine. we did blue mountains and port antonio, just like this trip, but my main purpose for that visit was (tmi time) pretty much to sit in the hills, look out at the water and cry.

the one thing i love about jamaica is it's seen me through so many phases of my adult life, from an unfocused, single brooklyn chick doing dumb sht, all the way through to my honeymoon followed by vacations with my husband and son. it's gonna be fun doing the mountains and porty with an almost teenager.

this trip is going to be the one during which i'll actually go to a lot of different places and actually remember them. we're at strawberry hill for 3 days, at great huts for 5 days and terra nova hotel for 2 days, then we fly home on the afternoon of the 11th day.

i'm using this thread as a "mood board" for things we're interested in. there really is so much to do between newcastle and boston bay. we will never be able to do half of what's listed.

i haven't even bothered putting frenchman's and blue lagoon/hole up because i'm pretty sure we won't make it to either (i've been to both when they were free and i don't know if either is worth paying entry to).

my husband's gonna bug out- it looks so much like haiti!

i guarantee he forgets he's in jamaica and speaks kreyol to at least 1 person.


https://youtu.be/Zx26ENTJXYk?t=98







https://youtu.be/cjo6XEswFPU?t=378

this video shows woody's at 6:18.

cool video juxtaposing archival photos against what the folly house looks like today.

https://youtu.be/HB_cYCHhcT8

jamaican sweets are the same as haitian sweets ("dous" in creole). i am very excited to get some.




https://youtu.be/vZKvK6h04zU







https://youtu.be/6MCw5sR7Ld4

rum drinks. my fave.

https://youtu.be/wsjSFJwS92c?t=11




https://youtu.be/KgB4gDBVdv8?t=2

https://youtu.be/2_YpNOwsOEA




https://youtu.be/SkZIYYcauAU

https://youtu.be/UpQvX35JpKA




https://youtu.be/VjbdmS4MqMw

https://youtu.be/lGjqWKZn9Bc




https://youtu.be/9KWZd24PYdo

portland parish fun facts:



https://youtu.be/ls8UeFS5-q4





i've always wanted to spend a little time in st. thomas parish. i always wind up just driving through it.


https://youtu.be/iZ7z2meaaHU

i'd like to stop at cane river falls on our way back to kingston.



https://youtu.be/r8yTSwnXCsU




https://youtu.be/Dzf0Q_87coU

we'll be doing this route, but the opposite way (boston bay to kingston, via the coast):



https://youtu.be/3qTGb4WirAU

https://youtu.be/mqbYzlf-huc






https://youtu.be/wf60dozo7Gk

it's so crazy to think that the last time i spent any time in kingston was 13 years ago!





https://youtu.be/StYhiYt_CUM






https://youtu.be/YEyyvBIrQvI

when at strawberry hill, cafe blue and the attached restaurant, crystal edge, is the closest dining option.

https://youtu.be/ZkS75pEkA1U



when my husband and i stayed at strawberry hill back in 2012, the food was okay enough, but overly elaborate and really, really expensive, so we'd walk down the road to eat at cafe blue/crystal edge, chill out with a few beers there, then head back to the hotel. the food was good and fairly reasonably priced and the view there was very nice. that was the 3rd leg of our 4-stop honeymoon trip (port au prince, miami, irish town and negril), and by that point all we wanted to do was kick back at the hotel and relax together.




https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/...1462a4a8_c.jpg


https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/...f5ee889f_c.jpg


i'm hoping this time we'll venture out a bit further, especially since we'll be with our ti boss son. i'm sure he'll want to do some adventure exploring, which hopefully will help us find some additional dining options.

not crazy about this ride. my husband loves it.






https://youtu.be/Co26oTlUt0s

https://youtu.be/gn_5953FYqg






https://youtu.be/GMktpSYKKhY

downtown...


https://youtu.be/S5LEmb7o6o8







https://youtu.be/mv2fQJS5ryg

downtown restaurant...


https://youtu.be/dnCUgNbGwdc





vineyard town restaurant...



https://youtu.be/b4GQMb8zDLc

container hot spot!



https://youtu.be/L0n34s6EwUI





https://youtu.be/aCxrQ2bpM4U

shanty man!


https://youtu.be/hASrxR368dY


https://youtu.be/GGmJhHt0BIM

another video of the route i am not looking forward to taking...



https://youtu.be/rIiwd7YQydY

i want my son to know this...



https://youtu.be/VINzmLcE48A




https://youtu.be/SVgkZD7XXGk

https://youtu.be/T9rk7114d90





https://youtu.be/Hr13jylavtk

Not too much further up that road there is EITS cafe at Mount Edge. Looks pretty good..I was thinking about going up one day.

Is Prince Valley guest house still around, I wonder...?

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Originally Posted by ohliz

Not too much further up that road there is EITS cafe at Mount Edge. Looks pretty good..I was thinking about going up one day.

Is Prince Valley guest house still around, I wonder...?

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yeah, i'd really like to check out EITS. trying to figure out if we're going to be cool spending 3 days without any excursions other than hiking around ourselves or if we're going to want to engage someone to drive us around for the day. the 4 days we spent at strawberry hill in 2012 went by like a blur, and we never left the property except to walk down to cafe blue twice a day, but we were on our honeymoon. it's probably going to be different this time around, since our son will be with us.

i checked tripadvisor and the latest review for Prince Valley guest house is dated 8/18, so it seems as if it is. have you ever stayed there? i've only stayed at starlight chalet (which is, like, 8,000 feet up in the mountains and super secluded) and strawberry hill. i really love the mountains as much as i love the beach, honestly. my sister and her husband keep bingeing out and doing negril 2x a year and i keep telling her they're missing out by not checking out strawberry hill and/or port antonio.

looks fun, but not particularly safe.



https://youtu.be/VoEYZg435rg

conch soup!


https://youtu.be/DuQzghK_b1Y




https://youtu.be/P6aSJfYv1UI

I haven't stayed up there but have gone up a couple of times to hike or sightsee. I'll be in the area soon so might try to spend a night or two. Your trip sounds wonderful!

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Originally Posted by ohliz

I haven't stayed up there but have gone up a couple of times to hike or sightsee. I'll be in the area soon so might try to spend a night or two. Your trip sounds wonderful!

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thank you:) i swear, this will be the first time i'm visiting porty that i will actually do a lot of exploring and will actually remember where i went and what i did- all of my other visits were a super short blur.

i'll make sure to post anything that i enjoy about the strawberry hill leg of the trip.

this video makes great huts look incredibly beautiful.



https://youtu.be/sgvWI1I5V9c




i really hope it doesn't rain nonstop every day we're there. but we'll deal if it does.

i am SO EXCITED for escovitch fish.


https://youtu.be/SEEqrpym5Bg




my son likes to fish when we're in ja. i wonder if he'll get a chance to do so this trip.


https://youtu.be/_gkK0aIjWMs

Your trip sounds wonderful! My husband and I have been thinking of flying into Kingston, heading to Strawberry Hill and then to Port Antonio to see a different area of the island (we used to go to Negril, now we go to Treasure Beach). I don't want to rent a car so I guess we would have Strawberry Hill pick us up in Kingston and then figure out how to get to Port Antonio. Once there are taxis pretty easy to find to get around?

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Originally Posted by Rumghoul

Your trip sounds wonderful! My husband and I have been thinking of flying into Kingston, heading to Strawberry Hill and then to Port Antonio to see a different area of the island (we used to go to Negril, now we go to Treasure Beach). I don't want to rent a car so I guess we would have Strawberry Hill pick us up in Kingston and then figure out how to get to Port Antonio. Once there are taxis pretty easy to find to get around?

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ooh, i think you guys will love that trip, and i highly recommend having strawberry hill collect you from the airport, since their drivers know the roads so well. they picked us up in a range rover, which is comforting compared to driving in a regular taxi car. from strawberry hill to port antonio, i'd recommend contacting one of the local portland parish drivers that folks here recommend (we've engaged warren mckenzie based on info i received on tripadvisor from folks who also post here). and yeah, once you hit port antonio taxis are easy to find. i figure we'll be taking route taxis from great huts to winnifred beach and port antonio town and asking warren to drive us one day to moore town and rio grande or swift river.

have you been to strawberry hill? i loved it when i was there for my honeymoon. the hotel is a great combo of laid back and elegant, the air smells so good and the views are incredible. my husband kept thinking he was in haiti (irish town looks exactly like furcy, a mountain town directly north of port au prince). i'm really excited to hear what he thinks of port antonio. he got tired of people in negril (locals) asking him if he was a drug dealer. i'm pretty sure porty people will have more chill.

ti boss son's had it in negril...



https://youtu.be/K90W4tSd0yc





patties in bk have gotten sooooooo weak!!! can't wait to get decent patties.


https://youtu.be/WbxtGl3nBYo

https://youtu.be/2EL-kNhOIq0




https://youtu.be/QpGimR9q-nw

i'd love to spend some time exploring the portland bight and goat islands.


https://youtu.be/InPb76He0kE





https://youtu.be/Zqzzrv-HQQU





it definitely won't happen this trip, but i'm adding it to my list.

it's going to be odd not having a kitchen on this trip. i think last time i didn't have access to one in jamaica was on my honeymoon. cooking is one of my favorite things to do when i'm there.






https://youtu.be/eUMYUNA3luU




https://youtu.be/7wDLZNE2hDM

https://youtu.be/5EsbYzyYnAw





https://youtu.be/Bzfwbl-dSto

heroes circle crabs.




https://youtu.be/gdBktHI_zV8





https://youtu.be/O0fHeeZRMFg

hiking!


https://youtu.be/sNZkiFRvFlk




https://youtu.be/9ouIj4UU4ew