Also, it was great meeting you at Seastar that night!
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Also, it was great meeting you at Seastar that night!
It was great meeting you as well! So nice to meet you in person :) It's too bad we didn't have more time, hopefully next time!
It was great to meet you & Mr. Nutz on the "End of the World' pub crawl!!!! We had a small but good crew! Your photos are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing the pic of Lenbert with your special T-shirts!!!
Beautiful photos and great report. Really enjoying it
It was a fun group - we had such a good time! Those pics are coming up soon :)Quote:
Originally Posted by WestEndGirl
Thanks! As long as somebody is reading, I'll keep going...Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Jane
Very nice!! awesome pics. :)
We are all reading. Keep going. :-)
Day 7
Another day much like the one before... We bought OJ this morning from the young man who is out early, anyone know his name? His juice is sooooo good!
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After breakfast we took a walk up as far as Nirvana, scouting out locations for our next trip. And yes, we found yet another bush doctor who wanted to cure Mr. Nutz :)
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We hung out on the beach and swam a little until it was time to get ready for the One Love Bus "end of the world" Bar Crawl. Lenbert picked us up promptly at 2:30 and greeted us warmly (and by name); we knew right away that this would be fun. Already on the bus were Westendgirl and another couple from Ottawa; quick stop at Coco to pick up CrabMan and his lovely wife and we were on our way...
THE ONE LOVE BUS "END OF THE WORLD" BAR CRAWL
First stop was Sunset After Dark, which is owned by a young man from Edmonton who claims to have the biggest (1lb) and best burger in Jamaica... We'll have to go back there next trip to see if he's telling the truth:)
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Second stop was Natural Mystic, probably the smallest bar on the island...
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3rd stop was SwordFish...
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4th stop was No Limit for a domino rematch...
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Next up was Seastar where we got to meet GerryG as well as Rob & Lisa. Seastar was having a Sax show that night, so we got to listen to Celia Baron doing her sound check. I have to say, the webcasts don't do the place justice; the bar area is really nice, open and airy...
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For sunset, we went to Sir D's Lovenest.
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Our last stop was Villas sur Mer, where we got to see the terrace at the Seaside Villa and the cave below...
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Thank you to Lenbert for a great time! We had a really good group, it was laid back and fun - a great way to see some of the cliff bars and a great way to meet some new people. :) It wasn't expensive, but it did cost Mr. Nutz the shirt off his back LOL
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I believe that juice vendor is Kevin. I usually buy from Flex. We stay at Nirvana if you want any info about it, you can PM me.
Great colourful pictures.
PS We stayed at Country Country in 2002. The bar had been washed away in a Hurricane. You had to climb over the cement divider to go next door to the Treehouse. Also there was a small bar with food in between Country Country and Crystal Waters. CC was much narrower then.
Easter Weekend the owner came with his HUGE family and they over took the beach in front of CC. They had SUV's parked on the beach ( seriously!) and set up a big tent with food for themselves. We went up to Bloody Bay every day they were there or else endure diesel fumes from the trucks and SUV's. Hopefully it is owned by other people now.
What? Mr Nutz had made up shirts and Lenbert got it?
Very nice report and awesome photos! Were there only 7 of you in the bus? Very different from our experience, there must have been 25 of us. My travelling companion had a negative attitude about it to start with, and that negatively affected my enjoyment, but Lenbert was great and made a point to check in with us often. Going again next trip with a different friend, I'm sure she'll be more open to enjoying herself.
Please continue with your report...
I had shirts made up for both of us; Lenbert loved the fact that there was a picture of the bus on them, so Mr. Nutz gave him his at the end of the night.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Jane
The juice guy is Tony - I've known him for years. Yummy juice! We bought orange juice & mango juice. He was out of pineapple ginger juice, but brought it the next day (spicy!). Nice report & pics - glad you had a wonderful time - you two deserve it!
Only 7, we were so lucky :) I imagine the bar crawl is only as good as the group on the bus, and we had a good one. No one got drunk or stupid, it was just a really fun way to spend the afternoon!Quote:
Originally Posted by Melody
That shirt is awesome! What a fun idea!!! I love how you spent your vacation!!! Can't wait to meet you guys in April!
10 years ago I couldn't relax on vacation, I always had to be doing something or going somewhere. Now I get so relaxed it's a major effort to do anything :) Looking forward to April and meeting you as well!Quote:
Originally Posted by garysteph1018
Day 8
The world didn't end but it was very windy and the seas were very "angry" this day. Swimming was a challenge and a lot of fun :)
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I love the beach dogs, it amazes me how well behaved they are :) This girl was so sweet, I just touched her ear to pet her and "flip" she was on her back...
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She was one of the few females we saw, and the only one that really begged for food, but she was pretty thin. That just broke my heart, next time I have to remember to bring some dog food. I did manage to get her a good drink of water though...
Really nice sunset this day
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We played tourist and went to Margaritaville for dinner. It was extremely quiet to say the least, but the margaritas were perfect and the food was good (we shared some appetizers - coconut shrimp, wings and a lobster dip). The service was excellent, very attentive and friendly. I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Glad to hear you enjoyed m'ville!! Fun place to hang out! Jimmy's place scares some folks on these boards to death, but its not so bad..lol. Best onion rings I have ever had.
I'd go to m'ville in a heartbeat! Hell I'd even buy a t-shirt!!
They do know how to make a margarita!
Nice report, and I can now say that yes, this is VERY true.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nutz4travel
Wonderful report! Your pictures are absolutely beautiful!! I wish you both continued good health!! Maybe we'll bump into each other in April. :)
Cheers!
So, I think it's time to wrap this up...
Our last day in paradise, so our plan was to eat everything we could on the beach. Mr. Nutz skipped breakfast so he could get himself a lobster on the beach. Well, as luck would have it, no lobster man that day. It was Sunday, but I suspect the seas were too rough for them to get to their traps, so no lobster. No patty man either, although we only saw him once in our 5 days there. Oh well, next trip! I did manage to get some ice cream, and wow, was that a surprise. It was the perfect temperature and oh so good!
They had their 1st wedding at Country Country this day, it was at sunset and they did a great job of setting things up.
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I had brought some Clamato Juice from home, so I brought it down to the bar and had Ceasar's. We actually had fun at the bar that night, the staff was all loose and happy because of the wedding. Dinner was shared conch fritters, Curry Coconut Shrimp for me and Beef Tenderloin for Mr. Nutz. As always, the food was very good and those were probably the best shrimp I'd had this trip.
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Day 10 - Time to go home :(
We were packed and up early, Rocky was picking us up at 7. Ready to go by 6:30, we headed down to the beach for one last look.
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Back to the room to get our suitcases only to realize that we'd managed to lock ourselves out. The rooms at Country Country have 2 sets of doors, the key opens the front door. All the doors have bolts on the inside that you can lock at night. Sounds good right? We had gone out the side door, locking it behind us, but the front door was still bolted. We had the key, but with the door bolted, we weren't getting in any time soon. :o
The office doesn't open until 7 AM, luckily for us, the girl was early. She made a call and the maintenance man came and got the door open for us. Rocky was early, but by 7:15 we were on our way.
The ride to the airport was VERY quiet, neither of us wanted to go home. We both just took in the sights in silence. Only in MoBay are there street signs with a KFC bucket on top...
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We arrived at the airport at 8:30 and couldn't believe how dead it was!
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We checked our bags with no line up, stepped outside for one last breath of warm air and went through security. We were sitting having breakfast by 8:50! Duty free shopping and then one last drink at Margaritaville (well, it was 5 o'clock there lol).
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I can safely say I did not want to go home! Until next time...
Thank you for the trip report! Wishing you good health in 2013!
Thanks 2nutz, enjoyed your report and photos very much!
What are your comments, AI vs non AI? Seeing as you almost immediately booked 2 more non AI trips, I take it you were pleased with that route? ;)
I see Coral at Catcha did spoil you a bit for CC. That's rotten you were given a superior room after booking a premium...I hope they compensated you? I was very fortunate to be given the beachfront rooms both times. I agree it's quiet around there in the evenings. First trip, we went off property every night but one (and traveled with my teenager, so just relaxed in our room when we got back). Last trip, our dinners were included (yes, great food). Befriended a couple staying there who liked to visit and have a couple of drinks after dinner. Enjoyed that. My November traveling companion was a bit of a stick in the mud and didn't like to leave the hotel, didn't like to have drinks, didn't enjoy the pub crawl....I still had a great time, but felt held back from doing what I'd like...when he did join me, he put a damper on things. :( Coco in April...a little worried I won't love it as much as CC, but it will be more lively I'm sure. (I may have mentioned previously, going with a different friend!) We will likely go out to dinner elsewhere most evenings though.
Melody - to answer your AI vs Non-AI question - we really liked it better. It did end up costing us more than a nice AI would have, but I still prefer the non-AI route. I loved being on Long Bay and really do like the smaller resorts; the AI's are all so big and impersonal. It's hard to explain, but it's so nice to not feel like you're being "herded". We didn't venture out much for meals, but we could have and probably will do more of that next trip. Not to mention, we never had an issue finding a chair on the beach which is an issue at some of the AI's and the beach, at CC at least, rarely feels crowded.
I wouldn't say that Catcha spoiled us for CC, we really enjoyed the grounds (they are beautiful) and our cottage. And yes, we did get refunded the price difference in the end. I would recommend CC to others, it's just not for us. I need somewhere I can sit outside at night without worrying about getting eaten alive and we're looking for somewhere with a bar that is a bit more lively. We're not the stay up all night and party type, but we do enjoy hanging out at the bar in the evening.
Enjoyed your report Mrs. Nutz... Glad Mr. Nutz's health is better. Can't wait to meet you guys in April!
Thanks! It was fun to do! Mr. Nutz is feeling good and our time in Jamaica did us both good. MRI on Monday so fingers crossed that it brings good news :)Quote:
Originally Posted by garysteph1018
Thanks for the great report and wishing you a good MRI on Monday.
I take it that you experienced more bugs while at CC than Catcha? Do you attribute that to your CC cottage being amongst the foliage? I did get more bites during my November stay vs. my February stay, and used bug spray regularly in November and didn't use any in February, but I didn't notice bugs flying around and therefore didn't know whether they were sand flea bites from being on the beach or not. As we were beachfront both times, there was was no foliage right in front of our balcony either time. I assumed the bugs will be the same at Coco as at CC....unless nearby foliage makes that much difference? Maybe there are less bugs on the cliffs?Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nutz4travel
Anyway, I'm glad you still enjoyed yourselves. What a wonderful idea those pub crawl t-shirts were! Thoughts and prayers will be with you and Mr. Nutz on Monday!
Thanks for the great pics & trip report! The photos you have of me are my only proof that I was really there for a week!!
I can imagine how rough it has been for you two since the diagnosis, so I am very happy that you had this wonderful time together.
Fingers crossed for Monday. XO Lori
Great report and awesome pics! I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for a nice report and all the pics. We're going to Catcha in May so it was nice to read your thoughts on the place.
Hey #1 nut!
I LOVED your trip report! Awesome story and magnificent photos!
We have a LOT in common. I split my trip, too. And funny, from your other post, it sounds like you'll be staying at least part of your next trip at Charela. And I'll be spending part of my next trip at Catcha! I'll be splitting between Catcha and Charela in December. I also went to Margaritaville and enjoyed it. I knew what to expect...good drinks, decent food and a few hours of fun. Having said that, I LOVED Ivan's and it is so much fun to try the small restaurants on the beach and in the West End. While at Charela's, I had Tony's fresh juice every morning, too. My 50th birthday was Dec. 26th. I loved the One Love Bus Crawl, too. Like I said, I read your review and noticed lots of commonalities!
I'm truly sorry to hear about Mr. Nutz's diagnosis, but am happy to hear he's doing well and that your trip was so wonderful. Jamaica can only help.
Thank your for taking the time to tell your story and post your magnificent photos. This trip was the first time for me in Negril. And I had been back home 3 days when I made my Charela reservations for this coming December. Guess that pretty much defines how much I loved it.
If you want me to send your more photos from Charela or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me. Perhaps I'll be seeing you and the Mr. in December! :)
By the way- I love the t-shirts you made for the crawl. So cool. And so nice for Mr. Nutz to give Lenbert the shirt off his back.
Beautiful picture. Love the contrasts. Prayers and thoughts to you both and thanks for sharing your story::)
Coral, is that a new room? I don't see it on their website?
It is the new room (along with Sun which is above Coral). On their home page, it's the last one on the list on the right hand side...Quote:
Originally Posted by jan24
Thank you so much Mo!Quote:
Originally Posted by MoFromMonroe
I think the foliage has a lot to do with it, there's also more of a breeze on the cliffs. I didn't get many sand flea bites this trip which is unusual for me :) Thank you for the well wishes :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Melody
Thanks Lori! PM me with your email if you want, I have a nice pic of the group at Sir D's that I didn't post here....Quote:
Originally Posted by WestEndGirl
Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike_D
Catcha is magical. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!Quote:
Originally Posted by justchuck