M&M Birthday Trip Report

Ok, we've been home a little over a week and if feels like a month!!! PNS (Post Negril Syndrome) to the max!!! We arrived in Negril on the dreaded Friday afternoon (we were scheduled for early Friday but the airlines changed our flights a million times between purchase and trip so we got what we got). On top of it being Friday afternoon, it was also a rainy Friday afternoon. We zoomed through Montego Bay, but the trouble started at Hopewell (half hour to get through) and then Lucea was a nightmare!!! 90 minutes and we didn't even make it all the way thru Lucea. Bryan, our longtime friend/driver and knowledgeable of every pothole on the island (which takes mad skill) veered off the main road before arriving at the "floodwall" in Lucea. We went straight up a hill to go around Lucea. It was literally one of the worst 5 roads I have ever been on in all my years on the island. What a mess, holes the size of the car, etc. It went up a steep hill and soon enough we had a beautiful view of Lucea Bay. Back down the hill and we came out on the other side of Lucea just across the street from Rusea High School. Back on the road to Negril!! The rest of the trip to Negril was uneventful. Soon enough we arrive in Negril and head directly to Red Ground. Normally our tradition is Collette's and then Red Dragon, but Collette was away in Canada visiting friends with her son, so we went straight to Red Dragon. After a couple of drinks we head for the beach. We get checked into our normal room at Rondel Village and head down to the bar. It's Friday, so that means Happy Hour at Rondel.

More to come...a couple of photos from the first night/morning.

M&M

First night Sunset, not bad considering all of the rain late in the afternoon
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First morning walk. Walking towards town, I usually head towards Sandals, but today was a walk towards town
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Wow! Quite a trip to Negril mon' Can relate. Part of the fun, right? Thanks for the pictures. One love.

M&M,

GOOD GOOD STUFF!

Please say hi to Delroy at Rondel and Tony at his Hut!!
Too late to say Hi to Gordo and Ragga!!!

Enjoy,

VVHT aka Happy

Very nice photos! Thanks for sharing! :eagerness:

Now we have been home about 3 weeks, sorry for the break in posts, went out of town for the Labor Day Weekend.

Saturday was peaceful and mostly uneventful, headed to Sav in the morning to run a few errands and then back to the beach for a while before another trip to Red Dragon to meet up with Rob and some others. Ended up moving around the west end some and went to Canoe for happy hour. I love the rum punch at Canoe and we got a bucket of Red Stripes to ensure that they were cold. Went to Sweet Spice for dinner, always good, cheap food and we already had plenty to drink so the lack of a bar was not an issue for us, but of course you can always pack your own alcoholic beverages if that is going to be an issue for you.

Sunday was one of our famous NSDs (No Shoe Days). On the days that Rondel has happy hour (Sunday, Wednesday and Friday) our goal is to stay on the beach all day and not wear shoes, not even flip flops. We walk up and down the beach and stop for beers, or just sit under our almond tree at Rondel and hang out. On this NSD we went to Tony's for a while after watching Liverpool and Chelsea fight it out to a 1-1 draw on the television at the bar. Pretty soon it was time for Happy Hour and sunset. Here are a few photographic highlights from the last couple of days.

Breakfast with a view!!!!
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Sunset on Sunday in the early stages
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Sunset in the late stages (this is personally my favorite part)
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The view from Tony's
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More to come!!

Gee Thanks. I just got over my Negril withdrawals, or so I thought.

That view from Tony's hut is amazing!

Great report and pics!

I promise to finish this report before we return in December!!!

We made a point to make this trip a lot about just hanging out and we did a lot of that. We tend to hang out in Negril in the winter when we have tons of friends there and we are on the go with them a lot which of course is fun, but sometimes it is great just to hang out with each other in the sea, on the beach or at the bar.

Wednesday the 16th was Melo's birthday and happy hour at Rondel, so that meant another NSD (No Shoes Day). So lots of time under our almond tree on the beach and lots of time in the sea. The water temperature was perfect this week. In the winter it can be a bit chilly, but this trip it was Goldilocks for sure, just right!! I can get lost floating in the sea. Makes me forget all of the stress of living in the good ole USA. We spent a majority of the day doing a steady rotation of beach, sea, beach, sea (with occasional bar stops tossed in).

The day flew by (as usual) and pretty soon it was Happy Hour. The hotel took care of Melo, a cake, a nice floral arrangement and a card signed by the entire hotel staff. It was pretty awesome. We invited some friends to join us and there was a pretty good crowd at the bar, especially considering it was a Wednesday in the middle of August. We had a great time and Melo thoroughly enjoyed her birthday.

A few Wednesday pics:

Our view from under the almond tree
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The obligatory Sunset Shot
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The housekeepers decorated our bed in honor of the birthday girl
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More to come (or I guess more to soon come!!)

M&M

Your photos are awesome! The relaxing on the beach sounds so nice. It's what we enjoy doing.

Finishing up as most of you can probably figure out what we did the rest of the week. Beach, Bars, Red Ground, repeat, repeat, repeat. We did switch up the last day and joined some friends at Tensing Pen for dinner. We are usually Catcha people (we have stayed there a few times) and we had visited Tensing during the day when friends stayed there, but we had never done dinner and decided to give it a chance. So glad we did. The food was great and the view was spectacular. I'd give the bar scene at Ivan's (at Catcha) an edge when it comes to vibe, but the food and the view were neck and neck in our opinion. I had the Seafood Pasta (spicy please!!), Melo had the Nut Crusted Snapper and they were both wonderful, sorry no food pics because, well you know, we were hungry and they had a bar there so we sort of forgot.

All and all we had a great trip. August is normally very slow, but it seemed busier this year. It was hot, but it was also hot at home in Louisville, KY and the Ohio River swimming is no match for the Caribbean Sea, so we very much enjoyed that part of the trip. We'll be back in December for our anniversary, already counting the days!!!

A few pics from our dinner at Tensing Pen:

The pool
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Early sunset when the sun is above the horizon
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The famous bridge (I have been known to jump off from here)
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Sunset after the sun has gone below the horizon (my favorite part by far!!)
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We have never been to Tensing Pen. Looks very nice! We fell in love with Catcha and always go back there. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. :)

M&M,

Great photos and appreciate the trip report!

I'm sure I'll see you two at Tony's Hut again!

Enjoy,

VVHT aka Happy