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

Still working on the vids, but here's a Bentley pictorial special:

Thanks Gerry for getting me in touch with Bentley. We took a couple from Catcha and everybody loved their food as well as Bentley himself. Once I get my pics up I'll post some pics.

What is the food in the eighth picture? Looks like it has some kind of peppers in it...looks delicious!

Here's a little video on the west end:

http://youtu.be/zG6cDcjwpPU

GerryG123, your video featuring the west end donkey reminded me of something!
A long while ago, as I watched a man riding a donkey pass by, a Jamaican friend told me, "Patient men ride donkeys".
To this day, I don't know if that was in praise of patient men, or a cautionary tale against being too patient. Jamaican people have a way with words. Ya Mon!:confused:

thats a real nice pony

LOL Gerry!!!

Yup, that's a nice example of the rare Jamaican donkey-pony only found on the west end (on Sunday mornings). Most people don't even get to see one out in the open like that!:p

On the way back from Xtabi, it rained hard -- enough so that I was hoping the downpour would not affect the Saturday night show at Seastar Inn scheduled to begin a short time later. I ducked into DeBars, and there was Pam, the beautiful Expat wife of Eddie, widely regarded as among the top Jerk chicken purveyors on the island -- no small honor.

I got to know Pam pretty well the past couple of reaches, particularly when I stayed for a nearly a week in January at Sunset on the Cliffs hotel, right across from Debars. Plus, Pam tends to hang at Seastar Inn sometimes, too, so by the time I saw her again this reach, it was like we were old friends.

Meanwhile, here are some photos (top to bottom):

1, Cocktails at Catcha -- big n fast just like we like 'em, ya mon

2, Close-up of Catcha cocktail -- good to last drop, satisfaction guaranteed

3-4, At Rockhouse, little help with my raft please before it floats to Cuba???? LOL

5, Ackee n saltfish with big side of festival at MiYard

6, MiYard server

OMG, that plate of ackee, festival and plantains is off the charts perfection!!!! Mi yard....soon come!!! Thanks GerryG for the inspiration....

Saturday night was the big Seastar Inn party, and it was great. Once I settled in for the night around 9 or so, I alternated between drinking rum punches at the bar (they're wicked with a total of at least 3 shots, I would guess) and mixing some rum punches in Room 6 (not quite as powerful); it was fun!

I met Rock Robster (great guy, funny funny funny) and Steph (big ball of energy, very enthusiastic) and others.

After the last note, the party continued in Room 6. Mostly, it was just me, Gary and Chris shooting the Sheet, talkin' about our lives and how the Seastar first started and some of the business aspects of being a hotelier in Negril. Chris opened up, Gary opened up, and so did I. There was no music, just the three of us talkin it up until deep into the morning -- and it was one of the funnest times I had the whole trip.

Here's a special pictorial of M & G Montreal (w daughter Alice):

Awww those are GREAT. Fun looking family :)

wish I could pop over to ivans for lunch

No need to eat alone Tizzy...I'll come with you

Yay good company! I'll scoop ya up on the way Mo ;)

I'm hungry too, so please swing by and get me as well!
I may also be VERY thirsty after lunch

GerryG123, I know you enjoy hanging at Xtabi, but do you ever consider staying there? I'll be there this November for a few night but I never have been in the seaside rooms, do you have any opinion of cottages?

I would love to stay in the cottages if they had AC -- I am very picky on that issue, whether it's midnight in the dead of winter or the hottest day of the year, I need VERY cold AC at all times of the day.

On the other side, it's nice n quiet. I almost rented a pool side room there about four reaches ago as an extra room but, alas, an issue with the AC blew the deal .... For all the great things about Xtabi, it's kind of quiet at night -- no vibe at all after 10 p.m. -- and I much prefer being able to do a midnight cocktail or perhaps some late socializing with yardies when the urge hits.

Here's some video from the Rockhouse hotel:

http://youtu.be/xOJhrnN8O9I

Sunday is always a great day in Negril. I jumped to Out of Town pastries just as they opened, enjoying the freshness and great selection. Nice fruit juice, sit and kick it with the locals for a few minutes, all good.

On the way to Keith's house, there was beautiful miniature donkey -- a donkey pony is how I put it on my silly ya-mon video -- so I skidded to a stop and said hi to the donkey, took a couple of snaps. It's beautiful and well-cared for (I think).

There was a lovely church service going on, too. I didn't want to be too intrusive, but I do enjoy services of any religion -- I relate to the spirituality -- and this one is always fun because there's lots of singing and dancing. A lady was singing to a kind of fast, rock beat provided by a drummer, plus a guitarist (no bass); the drummer was actually quite good, an older fellow but he really mashed -- with a break or two and a move to Los Angeles, there's a good chance he would be a millionaire by now.

Anyway, some of elders in the church kind of recognize me, maybe from the street cause I drive by all the time but also I've been to this church two or three times by now over the past two or three years, and they posed for pictures last time.

cool man, thank you

Here are some more pics (top to bottom):

1, Home sweet home -- the Seastar open-air lobby

2, Roger doin' his thing on Vincent snorkel boat

3-8, Out on the beautiful ocean

9, Breakfast at Rockhouse (name the server, win a free glass of OJ)

9, Best plumber in Negril

10, Ya mon, ya mon, ya mon, it's gerryg123

Here's the latest Bentley FIVE THINGS ON YOUR PLATE video:

http://youtu.be/2SdjfjW6Ww0

Here is some fun video with justchuck as we jump onto Famous Vincent's snorkel boat:

http://youtu.be/K2RkC3kRLCs

Love the donkey pony!

Yah Mon! Good to see more pics and videos. The snorkel trip was excellent, even if I didn't snorkel, I've got my snorkel trip coming up this week in the Keys. I think I've got a GerryG video from that trip that I gotta find and post.

I mostly hung with some Seastar yardies for the rest of the day Sunday. The highlight of the evening was a short trip to Catcha for some chocolate cake.

I was thinking about a trip to Blue Hole because the last time a few days ago it rained super hard. The last mile or two through Roaring River was tough for Chunkey, the cabbie, so we did not stay long because I feared it might get too muddy, and we certainly did not want to deal with stuff like that once it got too late with darkness approaching. I forgot my camera, too.

Still, it was fun driving through the country hills. That's one of my fav things to do in Negril.

Here's some video of Negril Spa Resort:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ez_tviu4Uk

Monday morning. I woke and motored down the hill to Xtabi, where Omar greeted me with a nice cup of coffee. I worked my way down the Cliffs to the ocean, jumped on my raft, letting all the world's troubles drift away with the tide. So invigorated.

It's mostly couples in Negril, not too many singles. Loneliness can creep in even in the wildly fun moments -- it's human nature I guess. Yes, I love to party it up when I hit Negril, but there's a big part of me that wishes I was still married. Not to my ex-wife, of course, to someone else. LOL.

It was still early, just me and the beautiful ocean as climbed out onto the rocks. My Negril cell phone rang. It was Vincent, just making sure we were all good to meet at Rockhouse. The water was beautiful. I was looking forward to it. I stopped at Weisemart first for a few supplies -- including band aids for my pinky -- and that's when I heard one of Bobo's friends call out -- "Yo man, Gerry G!"

It was crazy knocka and a friend. He said he has been trying to flag me down all week because I had left my reading glasses at Bobo's shop last reach, and Knocka's friend had saved them for me. I smiled, shrugged, thanked them. I tipped both a few bucks -- the glasses only cost 99 cents in Los Angeles -- before making my way inside the sterling gates of Rockhouse. What a great hotel.

Here's some photos (top to bottom):

1, Get your bottle here

2-3, Booby Cay island

4, great eggs

5, Veggie shopping in front of Bentley's

2, Farmers market

Damn i miss JA>!~!!!-Thanks gerryg123!!!!!

That night, I joined the M & G Montreal fam for dinner, so it was the four of us -- Gary, Maggie, Alice and myself. We drank and ate heartily with fancy cocktails, pumpkin soup, shrimp, jerk and lobsters entrees and of course the decedent chocolate cake. The service was superb -- thank you, Nichollette -- the sunset was amazing, and by now Gary and Maggie were like old friends I've known for years.

Overall, one of the best meal experiences in my Negril history -- and that's saying something because I eat a LOT of meals, and I try to make most of 'em eventful, lol.

Those three had walked, and I had my scooter, so first Alice jumped on, and I took her to Seastar Inn (approx 30 second drive), then I caught back up with Maggie, brought her through the gates, then Gary, who was already about halfway down Seastar Lane. I had only had one cocktail at this point, so I was all good.

Everyone reconvened at the bar for the usual 10 p.m. rum party. Alice and I joined some yardies for a party at Bourbon Beach. It was not too crowded, no cover charge either, but the bar was rockin' pretty nicely. There was a nice mix of tourists (not too many), locals like the great chef from Bar B Barn and hustlers (a little too many, lol). Everyone was dancing and having a nice time. There's a little gambling casino room with some machines, too, but no AC (for business reasons, they should install at least a fan), and mostly I was hangin' with Alice and the yardies and also Rasta Dave, who always has a friendly smile.

Here's an Xtabi video with a lot of the usual gerryg123 elements:

http://youtu.be/u0az1QQG70s

Reading your posts is like re-living the whole week. Love it!
Keep em coming and can't wait to hang out again.

I took Alice to the roof party just to see what a late-night party is like, but alas it was not late enough, and the place was still filling up at the time. We had a quick drink, then took a ride through the hills just for fun before catching up with yardie Sarah and a few of the others back at Bourbon Beach.

Eventually, I ran into Raquel, an old friend, so we all split up, with Alice, Sarah and the others heading to Scrub a Dub and me having my own dub to scrub. It was a fun night.

Tuesday morning. My last full day in Negril. I went to Seasplash early in the day, hangin' with Raquel and Rasta Dave.

For some reason, I felt compelled to enjoy one of my rafts at Rockhouse, where I was meeting Vincent and Roger at 12:30. I said goodbye to everyone and took off up the hill. I passed Rockhouse and continued a little way to Seastar Inn, got my green raft, then back down to Rockhouse.

I had a nice fruit drink, then floated about for a bit. I ran into a couple of snorklers, one of whom points and says to me, "Hey, there are bunch of nude snorklers over there!"

Interesting. I floated over, and as it turns out it was a snorkel boat from Hedo. I do love boobies, so I said hello to a couple of them.

Here is some video of snorkel boat captain Famous Vincent between passenger pick-ups. As usual, it's a perfect day in Negril:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLjK4MF4iok&feature=plcp

Later I called Chris at Seastar Inn.

"Please start cooking me a nice lobster. I am heading up the hill.",

"No problem," Chris said.

You don't need four stars if you have a four-star mentality. God I love Negril. I've treated myself well. I'm rejuvenated. I'm recharged.

I'm ready to go home, but that also means I want to have as much fun and adventure as possible over the final 24 hours or so, which is where we were at at this point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gerryg123

Later I called Chris at Seastar Inn.

"Please start cooking me a nice lobster. I am heading up the hill.",

"No problem," Chris said.

You don't need four stars if you have a four-star mentality. God I love Negril. I've treated myself well. I'm rejuvenated. I'm recharged.

I'm ready to go home, but that also means I want to have as much fun and adventure as possible over the final 24 hours or so, which is where we were at at this point.

---

Chris is the host with the most. Seriously, I have yet to meet a hotel owner as involved as Chris is anywhere in this world. He aims to please and nothing is out of the question.