West End Tales: Sept 2022

Used the Kiosk to fly through immigrations, stopped at duty free for rum, no Kingston 62, bought 3 Bottles of Appleton reserve.
Oz picked me up at the airport, great friend and excellent driver.

Stopped at Mi Yard to catch-up with Delroy and the crew. Loyd was in prime form! Karl Ricketts stopped by as well as Roofer and his girlfriend. Good times, lots of laughs!

Checked in at Seastar, all is wonderful at Seastar! Chris and Francine have created a Likkle slice of Paradises!

Dinner and live music at Blue Skies. Great food and Jazz.

Closed the bar at Seastar and then off to bed,

It is wonderful to be back in Negril and Seastar Inn!

Enjoy,
VVHT aka Happy

VVHT you go bro , have a blast my friend. Please tell Chris , Francine , Delroy and Garrett that Mike & Beth send their best . Also if Jeveon and his little dog gummy bear and Stacy are still there plz say hey for us. Miss that neighborhood it's been a few months. Hope time moves slow for your trip VVHT. Til the next time ...... Jamb & Badnaz

Jamb and Badnaz,
A few photos for you both.
Crossed the lane to say hi to Delroy.
Late night at Mi Yard and Seastar last night!
You two enjoy and book pack go!!!

VVHT
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Sunday was a quiet day. Had a swim before breakfast, then a trip downtown to the ATM and then Hi Lo for a power cord and ear buds. It was very quiet downtown.

Headed back to Seastar and spent some quality time in the hammock on my deck!
Chilled all afternoon and had an amazing curried shrimp dinner prepared by Delroy at Seastar!
Kim was working the bar last night and did a fantastic job!
Santana (?) made a chocolate cake that was the BOMB!

Just had my morning swim and waiting on banana pancakes for breakfast.

As Smith used to say.....
Book, Pack, GO!

Enjoy,
VVHT aka Happy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VVHT

Had a swim before breakfast, then a trip downtown to the ATM and then Hi Lo for a power cord and ear buds.

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Buy a power cord and ear buds? First time to Negril? :biggrin-new:

So how's the head count at your hotel? Pretty quiet there as well? I've only been on the beach in Sept in the past and I know it's quiet there, was wondering if it's any busier on the West End? See any other announcements for music around town besides Blue Sky? I appreciate any scouting report!!!

Ukrans1ans,
I haven’t been on the beach yet, but locals are saying it is quiet right now.
Packed the wrong power cord for my phone and my earbuds stopped working, so I had to replace them $3,000 J at Hi Lo.
I’ll check around for live music for next week and will post later.
Chilling in my hammock. Headed up to Red Ground and Red Dragon for lunch later.
Just my observation, but I’m not seeing many route taxis up on the West End Road. Plenty at the round about and beach road.

Enjoy,
VVHT aka Happy

ok, thanks! Enjoy the hammock!!

Asking about the Jazz. On occasion I have heard one or two jazz numbers but most of the live music quickly returns to Reggae. Real jazz? Or just what the signs out front says? I'd be happy to hear some old Monte Alexander Reggae or Ernest Ranglin jazz.
Regards,
Bob

Ragga and Gordo say hi!

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Loyd says Hi from Mi YardAttachment 56686

Busy day yesterday!
Downtown for the ATM, Red Ground and Red Dragon for some Jerk pork (see photos posted yesterday). Great times at the Dragon!
Then Mi Yard and Canoe for more good times.
Back to Seastar to get some cash and on to LTU for dinner. Chicken Lola but no pumpkin soup!! The sunset was very nice! Back to Seastar for a bit, then down to Mi Yard and spent some time on the porch!
Ended up closing the bar at Seastar AGAIN!
Enjoy,
VVHT

More photos from yesterday and last night

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Sounds like so much fun! We miss Negril. Glad to hear Karl is doing well. We bought a painting from him in 2010 while staying at Catcha. Thanks for sharing the photos! Enjoy! :encouragement:

Yesterday was a great day for a pub crawl on the beach.
Started at Sunnyside, Alfred’s for lunch, Flag City and finished the crawl at Tony’s Hut and what a wonderful surprise to have Tony as our bartender! He is a very cool guy!

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After the beach pub crawl Errol picked us up on the beach road and we ran a couple of errands downtown. Picked up groceries at Hi Lo and the ATM to replenish the cash.
Then we tried a new place across from Rick’s called Lisa’s. Lisa has a very nice bar and is a gracious Hostess. Forgot to take any photos.

So Rob heads home and I walk back to Seastar planning on an early night.
One thing I have learned is don’t make plans in Negril!!!

I check in at the bar at Seastar and turn around to head up to my room for a shower and a nap.
An older Jamaican man is walking towards me. The closer he gets, the bigger his smile gets!
My wing man from back in the days Baker!
I haven’t seen Baker since 2009!
He heard through the coconut telegraph that Happy was staying at Seastar!
Delroy cooked us a wonderful jerk pork dinner!
We strolled down the lane to grab a route taxi to Mi Yard!
Late late night! Too much fun!

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Another magical night here at Seastar Inn on the West End, which in my humble opinion is the best end!
Enjoy,
VVHT

The other night I was chilling on my balcony at Seastar listening to the gleep gleep gleep and thought maybe you might like to hear it as well...

Crank up the volume and ENJOY!

https://youtu.be/AdRRiUSoXJU

Post Trip Report:
Thanks Rob for everything, the journey gets deeper and richer with each trip!

Big thanks to Chris and Francine for making this trip a wonderful time at Seastar!
The staff was excellent and made sure Happy was Happy all the time!
Great to see Garrett, Evan, Erroll and even spent some time with my old friend Baker!
New faces, Delroy & Shantana the cooks, Deanna at the front desk and an excellent bar staff:
In order I met them: Kim, Stacey, Keanna and Osheena.
Housekeeping: Carol and Danisha.
I apologize if I missed someone or misspelled anyone's name!

This was my first September trip and definitely a great time!
It was hot and humid every day, but that is to be expected.
September is slow season and it was slow. Great time to walk the beach and hardly see anyone.
Even though many places were closed due to slow season, there was enough variety in the places that were open to accommodate any palate.
Only one night out for live music as there were few venues hosting live music. Went to Blue Skies last Saturday and it was a great time!
Tried to stop in at as many places as possible for a drink or food.
Spent a few nights at Mi Yard with Delroy , Loyd, Pablo and Ricardo.

Many highlights on this trip, but a couple of the best:
1) Spent an afternoon at Tony's Hut on the beach listening to Tony give his thoughts on life in general and the runnings of Negril! Tony is just a great guy with a wonderful outlook on life!
2) Ran into a couple of young men I met 16 years ago in Negril. Back then they were young boys living off of Seastar Lane. Now they were grown men with good jobs. It was very cool to meet them again.
3) My wingman back in the day was Baker the cook at Seastar back in the 2000's. I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has expired on most of the mischief we got into back in the day. Now we are just a couple of old dogs reliving younger days!

So many good times and laughs!

Book pack and go!

Enjoy,

VVHT aka Happy

Love that sound! :)

Really enjoyed following your trip!! Can hardly wait for our fall visit and the gleep gleep gleep. Thank you!

VVHT - thanks for the trip report & pics!