Stories Of Negril and the Westend

My wife and I (Brad & Broke Back Janice) have been traveling to Negril since 1994. I celebrated my 40th birthday here and I am about to celebrate my 50th on Monday the 23rd here as well. One of the things I have always enjoyed is sharing stories about Negril and the West End. If you are interested in sharing your stories, come to Pee Wee's on Monday and help me celebrate. I will be there in the evening for my birthday dinner. (I haven't told the folks at Pee Wee's yet because I can't find a phone #) I will talk to Danny, Elvis and the gang when I arrive Saturday. If you can't join us then please share your stories here.

My wife and I were looking for a place to go in the Caribbean. When people talked about Negril they had a look in there eyes of longing. So my wife and I decided to go there for a vacation. I was a travel agent and collected everything I could about hotels and I called 50 places on the beach and the West End. One of the last places I called was
Blue Cave Castle. The Jamaican woman I talked to was the most pleasent and informative person I had talked to. So we booked the first part of our trip (4 days) there and 3 days at the Yellow Bird on the beach. When we arrived at Montego Bay, we walked out to the craziness of the airport parking lot. Before we got 10 feet I got my first offer for Ganja. Two more offers came before we left the parking lot. We picked a bus and began our first ride to Negril. Back then, you went on the old coast road. It twisted and turned with every bay. Our driver was practicing for a Nascar race, or it just seemed so. With every turn, we and the one other passenger, were thrown from side to side. Once in Negril, the driver finally slowed down and we were happy to still be alive. He dropped off the other person then took my wife and I to Blue Cave. At this point we were both wondering if we had made a bad decision. But once the gate opened at the castle and we walked in, we knew we had found paradise. Steven and Suzan were great and my wife and I had our hearts skip a beat when we stared at the beauty of the place. From that point on, every time we left Negril we had tears in our eyes. To us, it became our second home, and the local's we befriended our family.

About what time on Monday? We will be pulling in to Negril on Monday and will be looking for a place to eat. BTW, what does Pee Wee's have for dinner and what kind of prices an we expect? I have heard about the great breakfasts there but never about the dinners. We have never eaten there. Not saying we will be there, but is in the realm of possibilities.
Regards,

Bob

My first Jamaican friend was Victor Gibbs Sr. We met him through a mutual friend. He invited us to go for a ride to see the countryside and the south coast. Victor had a 1971 Chevy Impala convertable. A big land boat. We rode out past the golf course and down to Sav and he brought us back along the south coast line of West End Road. When we went past the Lighthouse, Victor proclamed "This is the Negril Lighthouse. The only thing that works 24/7 in all of Negril". On our next trip, we hired Victor to drive us around the island over 2 weeks. We stayed in Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, drove the old mountain road to 5000 feet and down into Kingston. Stayed in Treasure beach and then back to Negril. Although we loved every place we went, we still agreed Negril was special. As for the stories from that trip, they will come later.

Sunset is always the traditional time for dinner on the West End.

Prices are reasonable and the best thing on the menu is what ever is fresh out of the ocean that day. More than once I've gone down with chef's to pick the fish I want off the fishermans boat. And of course the Sunsets are the real star.

Bob; Some day we need to meet in Negril. I was there when your buddy floated out to sea on his rubber baby pool certified raft.
I believe that I met him staggering back up the road in the red ground, burnt red as a beet. I might have met you back then as well but that was a long time ago, and things are a bit hazy...

I actually took a ride with Victor, in that land yacht many years ago! I'll never forget it. I was alone and it was after a concert at Kaiser's. Went from Kaiser's to out past the lighthouse . Scared the hell out of me, in a couple places I thought he was gonna drive off the cliff! But it was all good...

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Originally Posted by Pushin 50

My first Jamaican friend was Victor Gibbs Sr. We met him through a mutual friend. He invited us to go for a ride to see the countryside and the south coast. Victor had a 1971 Chevy Impala convertable. A big land boat. We rode out past the golf course and down to Sav and he brought us back along the south coast line of West End Road. When we went past the Lighthouse, Victor proclamed "This is the Negril Lighthouse. The only thing that works 24/7 in all of Negril". On our next trip, we hired Victor to drive us around the island over 2 weeks. We stayed in Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, drove the old mountain road to 5000 feet and down into Kingston. Stayed in Treasure beach and then back to Negril. Although we loved every place we went, we still agreed Negril was special. As for the stories from that trip, they will come later.

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Yeah, Eric is fair skinned anyway. His wife earlier in the trip took a liking to Rum Punch. She had five in a short period of time and passed out on my balcony. "A lesson to you Newbee's, the rum punches are VERY STRONG"! Within an hour of her demise, the party started on my balcony for the days sunset. We stayed there for two hours and she never moved. Oh by the way did I tell you she was Topless! It took 4 of us to get her to bed. And yes they returned to Negril 2 more times.
I am planning to be back in Negril sometime in December. I'll be coming down with my brother in laws and nephews. The girls have there own trip planned for Fantasy Fest in Key West.

We truely fell in love with the island and wanted to get to know the Real Jamaica. Victor was a wise man, before he would take us anywhere important to him, he tested us. He took us to a remote village in the mountains. Main street was 3 blocks long on a dirt road. We were far from civilization and had no idea where we were. He stopped and let my wife and I out, told us he needed to pick some things further up the road, and would return shortly. He left us there alone. We had arrived in the Real Jamaica we had asked for. We were very nervious and didn't know what to do. We saw a small shop and started to walk to it, then we heard a small boy yell "Hey Whitey". We turned around to see him running up the road twards us. Next he breathlessly asked "Why are you here, why did you come here?" I told him that we wanted to see what it was like in this part of the country and that we had asked to come here. He kept asking Why. I don't think I ever convinced him that we wanted to come there. He followed us to the shop. There was an old woman working on needlework. She smiled and said welcome and all of our worrys melted quickly. We talked to her and she told us of her life there and family (the little boy was her great grandson). We shared our stories with her, and had a wonderful time. I went out for a cigarette and a young man came up to me and began to talk. Before he could say much, the old lady called me back. She said "Be careful of him, he no good! I should know he is my grandson". This was the first of many times that our friendship with the local's saved our butts. (But those are other stories)While we were talking to her, she reached under the table and brought out the Book of Morman. She asked us if we knew anything about it. I told her it was a sect of christianity and that I and many others found it confusing. She laughed and said she did too. She said a man had come to the village and gave them out to everbody. She never saw him or any other Morman again. Just then Victor showed up, he saw how well we had done and smiled. He knew then he could take us anywhere, to meet anyone, and would do well.