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

Marcia was our server too at Spa Retreat for our Anniversary dinner.
She was a sweetheart. It's really nice seeing her again :)

I remember Patrick from Treehouse, excellent bartuff! :)

Hey Gerry, it was fun hanging with you. Pics will soon come. The evening with Bentley was priceless!

Glad you had another great trip. Thank you for all the pictures and stories.

It's 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning at Seastar Inn. I'm sitting alone in the open-air lobby, just me and my laptop and the hotel's resident dog, Boy, a beautiful Rottweiler mix that belongs to Garrett but was first adopted by hotel owner Chris, who rescued Boy after finding him as a puppy "tied to a tree with a really short rope," Chris told me.

It's a beautiful dog, and sometimes we would even hang together in room 6 when both of us were in the mood for mid-day air conditioning.

Chris is an exceptionally gracious man with a big heart. He also takes care of a young man named Shaky, whom he and the hotel staff "adopted" years ago when the youngster was abandoned and had no where to go. There is also a one-armed maintenance worker on the property, and I doubt the poor soul would have been able to find similar work at one of the all-inclusives on seven-mile beach. At Seastar Inn, they all fit right in.

I waited until 830 a.m. or so until Out of Town pastry had their patties ready, then fired up the motor bike. I took off up the hill, past Rick's cafe to the Out of Town. I bought a big batch, mostly veggie, and brought them to Banton's, where there are always a group of hungry Rasta's.

My Negril cell rang. It was Famous Vincent, wondering when I would be ready for spearfishing (I went every day). It was a little choppy, so we made plans to meet at 2:30 p.m. In the interim, I bought three chapsticks (lips getting too much sun, and I lose things easily), and then I went to Seasplash (I have 2 rafts there), where I had my usual fruity drinks plus a nice order of french fries with lots of ketchup (love the Jamaican ketchup). Bumped into Rob and Lisa at Seasplash. It was technically his day off, I think, because there was no webcast meet, but I joked with him that was working anyway.

Later, fellow boardie Smokin Kevan called. I couldn't wait to meet him and his wife. He was staying at Rooms (nice place BTW), and together we sat near the ocean, drinking and doin' whatever. He's a great guy. He had only been in Negril for one night and was already so relaxed. We shared some war stories. It was great.

Well Gerry-glad you had a another goodtime and made it back in one piece..Nice to meet you and our chat was fun...sorry we didnt make it to the rum party-but was just doing some major chilling while in Negril for a couple of days..

So when you going back ???

Suzen! You have to wait for your chapter -- you gave away a surprise, lol .... Mi come back soon .... Nice meeting you too!!!!

Here are some pics (top to bottom):

1, Ricks Cafe pumpin' at Sunset

2, Appleton or JB? Thumbs up to both

3, Famous Vincent on the open sea

4, gerryg123 .... ya mon

OMG, I realized I forgot to pay Bantons the $300j I owed him for a couple of bottled waters earlier in the day, but there was something more important: He had tracked down Jody, and the plan was for all of us to meet later at Banton's.

I was planning to head up there anyway, plus Banton's neighbor, Keith from Philly, called to remind me he was returning to Negril the next day; Keith and I have become good friends through the past year or two, and we talk on the phone all time time in USA.

I said goodbye to Kevan and his pretty wife and the waitress (Keisha), and I fired up the motor bike.

In the meantime, I stopped by Seastar Inn for a quick swim, and there I met Suzen Grace, who is a respected poster on several different Negril boards. She was staying next door to me at Seastar Inn in Room 4 (Suzi Q's former room), and as things turned out, we're both from Los Angeles and know a lot of the same peeps -- not just in California but Negril, too. Suzen is extremely good looking, and like many of us she has a zesty love and affection for all things Jamaica.

It was Wednesday, which means LOVE BUS BAR CRAWL Day, and I knew we would be heading towards Bantons cause the second-to-last-stop is Westender Inn. I caught up with the bus on my scooter at Pee Wees; just by chance, Bentley was there on the corner cause Pee Wees is just down the road from his restaurant.

We also went to Bella Donna, where I made arrangements to eat a meal there later in the week, and we went to Negril Escape -- very nice place. I remember someone had said Negril Escape was not in perfect condition, particularly the pool (green???), but as things turned out, the property is in perfect condition and quite lovely and well cared for; I can't think of a better deal than an oceanfront room there with AC and pool for 70 per night.

At Banton's, there was Jody. We hugged and smiled. I was glad to see her. She hopped on the bike, and we scooted in pursuit of the Love Bus to Westender Inn, where we caught up and laughed together. The last stop was Sir D Lookout, and it was like a coming-home party for Jodie because she used to live across the street.

The road to Red Ground can be a long one if you don't have transportation nor a spare change for a taxi to visit friends.

Later, I hosted the first of several unofficial "rum parties" that began at 10 p.m. (or earlier, lol) at Seastar Inn. Generally, I would order four or five from the bar and in the interim fix four or five in Room 6, and the strategy usually got me where I wanted to go rather quickly.

Another yardie, Luis, originally from Argentina, had checked in as my neighbor on the other side (along with his girlfriend), in Room 8, and we all had become hang-out buddies. He was learning to scuba, and he was a good guy. The party continued at Roots Bamboo, and by the time I crashed late into the morning, I had a big smile on my face.