Just back/my report pt 2

We decided against route taxi's this reach, although we did charter some route taxi's, and were pleased with all of the drivers we had.
I simply offered 500 J from Seastar Lane to any destination up to the roundabout and 1000 J from any point on the beach to Seastar. Turned down only once by someone who wanted more.

Every driver was courteous and happy to receive 500 J from Hi Lo to Seastar; a trip that in my city of Niagara Falls Canada, would cost at least 20 dollars. So 500 J was a bargain.
Lots of white plates trying to be cabs. Just say no! One guy tried it at the Hi Lo and the other cab drivers gathered out back laughed loudly when I told him NO when he showed us his white plate dilapidated sedan. A van driver named Mac carried us several times. Has a bit of a white short beard. Courteous and patient and doesn't drive like a maniac. Seek him out.
We gave one of the Seastar preferred drivers a brand new Niagara Falls Taxi shirt complete with that company's log. Troy was quite pleased.

Shopping for supplies at Hi Lo was interesting. As we entered, one of the clerks asked if we would like a case of Red Stripe.
I reasoned, 10 days, why not, and agreed. He was at the cash when we checked out to tell the cashier he 'sold' the case and I believe he got a commission. Bought rum cream, rum and vodka, mixes, bun and cheese, peanut butter cookies (hard but delicious) assorted box drinks, Smith's recommend blue washing powder for clothes, and got a cab ride back to Seastar with Mac who became our driver of choice from Sunshine Plaza.

Wise Choice store at Seastar Lane and West End Road provided great supplies too with prices just about as good as Hi Lo or Valumaster.
Oh; before I forget, I want to mention our visit to the Valuemaster Plaza. A JUTA cab driver saw Linda favouring her right leg in which she had a knee replacement surgery two years ago. He tried to sell us Vikiden (sp) and oxy. Yes, really.

There were beggars all over near the roundabout. Just say no and move on. A guy dressed practically in rags claimed to be the coach of the Negril Soccer team. He had cards printed up that said you supported the Negril Soccer team. Don't believe it. This guy is a coach like I'm a rocket scientist.
Another new scam.

The shopkeepers at Sunshine Plaza are the same folks who have been there forever.
Same 'eastern' owners offering the same discount as soon as you walk in the store.
Buy some Chinese made crap that says Jamaica on it for much too much money.
Ganja grinders 8 dollars! Avoid.

We walked a lot. Up One Love drive one day and down One Love drive the next.
Loved the food at LTU. Had lunch there and relaxed a couple of times.
Hammock Park is open and the bartender told us he just arrived from Canada.
Don't know if he's taking over from the late owner or is a relative or new owner.
But it's a nice place.

Bothered by an old beggar who is a rum head, whom we've met several times before. This time I told him that Chris said he shouldn't be bothering the tourists and that backed him right off. He claims to have known Francine since she was a little girl.
This guy once followed us into Out of Town Pastry and told the clerk in patois that we agreed to buy him a rum drink.
That was the last time he was going to pull that one on us.

Walked by Sexy Rexy's. He beckoned us to come in, but we just waved and kept walking. When they fenced the seaside they really screwed his business I believe.

Seastar provides free beach transfers and we enjoyed our visits. Sun Beach is a nice place to chill and swim and the food is good. Had fish fingers there and they were delicious. Dennis keeps things cool and plays host to all.
Great hospitality at Sun Beach.

Enjoyed Margaritaville's beach too. They have lifeguards, security, lockers and change rooms.
Had lunch there and it was not good. Won't do that again. Much worse than several years ago. Had onion rings, and loaded chilli fries which weren't very 'loaded' at all. The server was a bit surly to boot.

On one beach walk, we visited Tony's hut where we met Philly and his lovely gal and some other boardies and saw PGW's Trail of bottle caps inscription on the bar support beam. Tony's is a welcoming chill place. Recommended.

We also enjoy White Sands bar and had two for one red stripes there.

We also rode the Seastar Bus to Boardwalk Village. Not our kind of place. Looks like a USA idea of a beach resort. Too many little shops, and 4 dollar Red Stripes do not make it. Liked the turtle pond though. Crowded beach with people bussing in from elsewhere. Nice likkle business they have going; but no our style.

Not too much hassle on the beach this year.
Drug sellers, Aloe pushers, and souvenir sellers for sure, but also some nice folks providing patties, fruits, see-garets, and music for the visitors.
We live in a tourist town (Niagara Falls Ontario), so we are very used to this sort of thing.

We accomplished many of the things we wanted to during the 10 days but cliff gravity, and the relaxing Seastar surroundings, made us pass on taking a market trip to Sav , or an excursion elsewhere. 10 days is just long enough to enjoy Negril without going anywhere else.

We attended a couple of webcasts. The first was at Canoe, and Rob and Lisa greeted us warmly.
They are true ambassadors for Negril and are lovely people as all of us board people know. Canoe provided a nice singer and steel drum group for the occasion. Philly was also at that event and Crusher too along with others, I think.

The Seastar webcast was also a great one, with Rob and Lisa providing a picture window to the www viewers of the wonderful entertainment including Stephen West and the Roots Vibration band and guest singers as well as the Seastar drummers.
We stayed a short while there enjoying a delicious buffet meal, and then listened to the rest of the show from the comfort of our private veranda where we could hear quite well and even watch the cast on wifi with our new little Microsoft Surface 10 inch tab. What a marvelous device.

The bar crawl people showed up several times at Seastar. I guess it's one of the semi regular stops.
We kinda like to avoid crowds while on vacation, and coming from a tourism town, where all of us work or worked in the industry; you don't need to see too many inebriated tourists from back home.

The weather was a bit bleaky at times and breezy; but believe me; it was wonderfully tropical to a couple of snowbirds like us with record low temperatures facing us at home in Canada.

We loved the toasty warm waters on the 7 mile beach and the Seastar Pool provided nice cool refreshment on a regular basis.
While it rained almost every day; it was only briefly and freshed up the whole town.
So green and nice.

One day we bought a huge tomato from one of the vendors near Juici Patti and she threw in a tangerine and orange for 'free' and even offered to peel them.
The tomato, coupled with the New Zealand cheddar from Hi Lo and the New Zealand butter and Jamaican cheese buns and you had a delicious non-restaurant room snack. mmmmmm

Visited Juici Patti and it was piping hot as usual, but the pattys are not the best and are obviously factory made and heated in store.
Hammonds a couple doors down have the better product and Out of town Pastry has nice pattys too.

Seastar provides the CBC for Canadians who don't want to miss Hockey Night in Canada or Coronation Street or The National; by the way.
We are not late night people, so it's a luxury to have that while on holiday.

As mentioned, we walked quite a bit and enjoyed the atmosphere along the road. Lots of folks doing the same too.
We were treated very well by the people who live and work in Negril.
Very friendly and polite.
Many people said they remembered us and it was good to see us back.
I guess with my mashed up face from cancer reconstruction and both of us using walking sticks, we're not too hard to spot.\

We were pretty impressed with Negril and what's been done on One Love Drive and the sidewalk improvements and all that.
Very favourable and beautiful.
Those suckers staying in Mobay and elsewhere are missing out. (but don't tell them; or there'll be crowds).

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Maybe I can provide some additional observations and answer any questions if I can.
Thanks for reading this. I know it's boring without photos.
I'll work on posting some in the coming days, I think but maybe not.
I've been spending a lot of time with my snow-blower.

Not boring at all! Loved reading it! I can relate to the snowblower as we are in Minnesota..dang, we really deserve this vacay this year! Thanks for the trip report!!

Thanks for sharing!

Another nice informative report Big Frank. Thanks!

Frostbite Falls Minnesota juls?

Great! Loved it! Detailed and right to the point!

Nice report Frank! I didn't know it had been 4 years...

That's a good rule. 500$J halfway 1000$J all the way. I'll use that.

Big Frank,

Thank you for a great report!

VVHT

Love reading trip reports .

There's always little gem of information that I had not read before.

Thanks for taking the time!

Good stuff, Big_Frank! I appreciate the detail; it's sort of like a "State of Negril" address. Gives me an idea of what to expect when we arrive on Thursday.

Always love reading about everyone's experiences in Negril. Thank you for taking the time to share! :)

I like this factual report. TY

I also refuse to pay $4 for a Red Stripe on the bus crawl? They get a bus load of customers and STILL get greedy.

Great report! I love reading everyone's trip reports. Every person has their own unique experience.

No Rocky.....Just feels like Frostbite Falls!!!

Well done Big Frank, what a nice little informative read.

Lots of good insight in this one.

Glad you and your wife had a great trip.

Thanks,

Jamb

Thank you all for the thumbs up. Arrived back Thursday midnight and already; the aches and pains and arthritis are returning along with a diabetic rash on my leg.
It totally disappeared in Negril.
I've got to win a lottery.

Was the rum-head named Dilbert, by any chance?

By gosh I think you're right.

Thanks BF. I figured Dilbert was still working the Hylton-Hip-Strip...everyting is everyting
I miss the rock

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big_frank

We decided against route taxi's this reach, although we did charter some route taxi's, and were pleased with all of the drivers we had.
I simply offered 500 J from Seastar Lane to any destination up to the roundabout and 1000 J from any point on the beach to Seastar. Turned down only once by someone who wanted more.

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This is how much we offer as well...but aren't you still technically using a route taxi?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dana1

This is how much we offer as well...but aren't you still technically using a route taxi?

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Not really. In fact the driver is required to place a "charter" sign in his window to indicate he's not taking passengers for that trip. He stops being a route cab for that trip only.

In this case the red plate indicates insurance and legality but he's not on his "route"

Yes; each driver placed a sign in the windshield indicating charter.

Great report, BFrank! Sorry to hear you are building a strong bond with your snowblower. It's winter in Canada, what can we say.
You have a dandy Jamaica resto in Niagara Falls! I loved the food, and it was fun. I was sorry I had to do take out for the train, and couldn't sit and enjoy the atmosphere! If you ever go there, have a rum punch for me!

We have more than one Jamaican restaurant and I haven't been to any.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big_frank

Yes; each driver placed a sign in the windshield indicating charter.

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hmmm...have never had the driver put a sign up in all the 15 trips we have been and there were many times where we "chartered" the taxi.

I just noticed it this visit. Sometimes the signs were handwritten on cardboard and others they were professionally printed.