First trip to Negril - Travel Report - Day 3: Part 2

So it's officially one month since we've returned from Negril and we're only on Day 3 of trip report.

Rob built an entirely NEW FORUM in that time span! (that's how slow we are) For anyone that's still reading... thanks for your patience. We ARE going to finish this before the world ends.

We transferred over Day 1 and Day 2 of our trip over to the blog section. You can now find it here http://negril.com/forum/blog.php?127-Clarity


Day 3 part 2
Negril : 1:30 PM


When we last left off, we had just finished our snorkeling adventure with Captain Sparrow and Shamma-lamma-ding-dong.

We stepped off the swaying glass bottom boat still soaking wet and clutching our snorkel gear. I felt unsteady on my feet as we stumbled back to our hotel room at the Grand Pineapple to shower and change.

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After washing all the salt water off our bodies and getting into dry clothes again we headed over to the buffet for lunch.

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I chose the Curry chicken and cheese/tuna macaroni. It was delicious. I scarfed it down and went for seconds... After pushing my body to the limit out in the middle of the ocean, I was famished.

The girls we had met yesterday from Long Island came to our table

“Hey, We're going to The Jungle tonight, you guys should come!”, One of the girls said “It's Thursday night - LADIES NIGHT, girls get in free!”

It sounded like a fun idea, but we decided to just play it by ear. We had partied until 3 AM the night before. I was already sipping my first Dirty Banana for the day and couldn't predict how I'd be feeling after consuming 10 more.

We were also getting ready to embark on our next mission for the day.

Finding Cheap Charlie.

We had met him on the beach yesterday and he had given Markus a pack of Marlboro lights on credit. I wanted to make sure we found him and paid him back. It's a seven mile stretch of beach. Who knew where he was or how long it was going to take to find him?

We decided to start by asking Ralston, our favorite security guard.

“Sure I've seen him around. There are a lot of vendors selling cigarettes though. I'm sure you'll run into him somewhere on the stretch” He said “Good luck!”. He found our determination amusing. Apparently credit transactions are common and people don't have a hard time finding each other again. I found that hard to believe.

We stood on the beach and scanned the horizon on both sides. The distance seemed equal. It's amazing to be on a caribbean vacation like this. The only important decision we had to make was regarding which direction to walk on the beautiful stretch of pristine beach. Right or left? This was a new experience for me.

We decided to go left again.

The first person we bumped into was the same person we had run into on our first walk.

The young fruit vendor. He gazed at us with wide eyes again and held out a bag of pineapples and a mango. “Hi again! Would you like to buy fresh fruit TODAY?”

Last time we didn't have money and had to refuse his offer. I remember his sad expression and how he slowly walked away defeated.

“Hi Again. Okay, How much?” I asked this time.

“300 JA for this bag of Pineapples”, He said.

Hmmm.. He saw my hesitation and quickly upped the offer.

“...AND this mango” he held out the perfect fruit for me to examine.”It's Ripe and sweet. Please?”

I held the mango in my hand. “This looks yummy but I don't have anything to cut it open with and..”

He pulled a butcher knife of a black plastic bag. I backed away slightly. Whoah!

“I'll cut if for you and put it in a bag for you to eat on the beach”

“wow.. okay,thank you!”

He laid the bag on the sand, I handed him the mango and he cut off the skin with expert precision. He slid the juicy fruit in one big piece into a plastic bag and handed it to me. It happened so fast, I couldn't even capture the moment on film.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...plecutting.jpg

The fruit lady came by with a basket of fruits on her head just as he was handing me my mango. “Froooot??”, she asked me.

“No thank you. I'm good for now”, I said accepting my fruits from the young vendor who was now smiling and in a very good mood.

“The early bird gets the worm!” he said with a huge grin “You too late now!”

The fruit lady shrugged and continued on...

and so did the young vendor. He had just sold the last of his fruits and said he was heading home for the day now.

I bit into the mango as we strolled down the beach. The sugary juice spilled down my chin and I licked it off my fingers. It was ripe, rich and truly delicious! We ate it together. Markus even sucked the juice out of the bag. Absolutely heavenly! I realized that by only eating the pre-cut, dried out and packaged mangos from “Safeway”.. I had REALLY been missing out.

We had just finished the mango and started munching on the fresh pineapple pieces when I saw the Vendor stands. I already learned that the only way you can pass this part of the beach without stopping is to STARE STRAIGHT AHEAD...

“Don't look. They'll suck you in. Look at me”, Markus warned with a smile.

I laughed. “I wont look. I wont look” I decided to focus intently on bloody bay in the distance.

But I slipped up though and glanced slightly to the right because the T-shirt stand caught my eye. My friend had asked me to bring him back a Bob Marley shirt..

I tried to avert my eyes away but it was too late. They saw my fleeting interest and swooped in.

“Come look at my jewelry!”, A vendor lady said approaching me

“No thank you” I said with a smile

“Just to look. It doesn't cost you anything to look. You don't have to buy. Just come look at my work. Just a look. Just a minute of your time...out of respect for me and my craft”

1000 JA later, I had Jamaican beaded bracelets for all my co-workers.

I was chatting with all the women vendors that were surrounding me when I realized that I had lost Markus somewhere along the way. He was no longer beside me.

I heard a shout from the shore “HEY BOSS LADY!”

Boss lady?

I turned around and saw Markus laughing with Cheap Charlie 100 yards away.

Markus actually found Cheap Charlie! Negril IS a small town!

I bid farewell to all the vendors and joined them on the shore.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...eapcharlie.jpg

“Hey Boss Lady!”, Charlie said. He extending his fist for a bump “That's your new name on the Island. Markus says you the one in charge”

I laughed. “Is that so?”

“How many new packs can he buy today?”, Charlie asked with a smile

I raised 2 fingers.

“Okay Boss Lady”, He said. “Respect!”

For the rest of the trip, Markus was calling me Boss Lady.

I felt beach gravity beginning to descend over my body.. It started at my head and slid down to my toes. My feet felt heavy as we trekked through the sand back to the Grand Pineapple.

We decided to just relax for the rest of the day. There was nowhere we needed to be and nowhere we needed to go. It was truly the best feeling in the world.

I always had a fantasy of floating on an inflatable bed in the ocean. It's something I had never experienced before. I had only seen it in pictures...

Grand Pineapple has tons of floatees, so I grabbed one happily while Markus settled down on a beach chair to sketch.

“I'm going to go FLOAT now.. for a looong time... just.. float...”, I said joyfully holding my new floating device.

I don't think Markus fully understood my excitement but he kept a watch over me from the shore. (Just in case I fell asleep and started drifting off towards Cuba)

After careful deliberation over which stretch of beach to float in (finally decided the expansive stretch of water in front of Alfred's) I waded out into the warm crystal clear waters with my new toy... and I just blissfully floated.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...03floating.jpg

I don't know how long I floated out there. I just remember the feeling of the warm sun licking the droplets of water off my skin and the sensation of drifting along on the gentle waves. I was in heaven in that moment. Only the soft distant reggae music coming from Alfreds and the sound of the water lapping against the shore..

it was me alone, all my stresses dissolved.. all my frustrations, fear, grief.. it all seemed so far away all of a sudden. Like a distant memory of another time...

I must have fallen asleep at some point because when I opened my eyes I had washed up the shore and Markus was smiling down at me.

I dragged my relaxed body off the floatee and moved over to a comfortable beach chair.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...tchonbeach.jpg

Markus continued sketching, I watched him until my eyes felt heavy from the sun and I drifted off again. I LOVE beach gravity. I could do this every day.. all day...

Eventually we managed to shuffle our newly tanned bodies back towards the Grand Pineapple bar.. they were experimenting with new rum cocktails and inviting guests to try them all. (and we did) Breadfruit cocktail, Ginger Cocktail and Pumpkin cocktail

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...ocktails-1.jpg



We hung out with our British friends for s while until I started feeling tired. The morning snorkeling trip, the walking along the beach, swimming, laying out on the sun and many cocktails left me feeling dizzy and satisfied.

I decided that I was going to take a nap... Markus was still very much awake and active. So I gave him a kiss and told him to wake me up before the sunset..

Coming back to a cool hotel room after a day on the beach is the best feeling in the world. I turned on the AC and nestled under the soft covers.

I realized that today was our last full day at the Grand Pineapple. Tomorrow we would leave the “Safe Haven” of an AI and venture over to the Coco La Palm hotel for the last 3 days of our vacation.. I had no idea what we had in store for us in the new hotel, but I didn't have much time to contemplate it.

I was asleep within minutes.

I'll hand the narrative over to Markus and let him finish day 3.

Day 3 Part 6
Markus

Daisy left me alone for few days with this travel report business. I haven't heard the whip crack until today. The time has come. So let me put on some Beres Hamond, sip on this delicious homemade Dirty Banana that Daisy has gracefully supplied as “inspiration”

and let's see what I remember...

The rest of day 3 was sort of a non-descript, lazy afternoon, so this is gonna be the reeeeally boring part of the trip report. My mind was sort of dangling that afternoon.

After taking care of the Cigarette situation with Cheap Charlie, Daisy wanted to take a floating device out for a spin, so we picked up an air mattress from the water sports hut on the grounds. I had packed my sketchbook and was looking forward to getting some sketch-time in.

In front of the Grand Pineapple is a stretch of water enclosed by a floating rope. The rope is quite close to the beach, whereas Alfred's next door has a rope that allows access MUCH farther out.

Daisy stood on the beach, light-blue air mattress clutched under her arm, with the pitiful look of a little girl in the candy store overwhelmed by all the choices. One section of the water was closer to where I would be drawing, the other one on Alfred's side just looked so much bigger and... “newer”. She gazed longingly over her shoulder over to Alfred's beach.

Me: “Really honey, you can really go over there, see I'll just pull this beach chair right over and I'll see you from there.”

She flung her head around, biting her inner lip, agony painted all over her face. “This beach, that beach, mmh,...” You could just see the conflict tearing her apart. I'm almost sure for a moment she wanted both and actually tried to figure how she could split herself in two.

Finally after a lot of weighing and looking adorable, she decided she needed the great wide open of Alfred's. I watched her for a while floating this way and that, mostly three feet from shore. When I was certain she was completely relaxed I sat down on my beach chair and sketched away.

A while later she joined me happily on the beach. My sketch wasn't going all that well, as always when I try to draw during a vacation. I'll have to do better next time. I doodled a little longer ,While she sunbathed in a beach chair behind me. It's weird, when I'm relaxed, I can feel her presence. I don't really care much what we do, when we are connected like that.

I could be cleaning out latrine... when we're in a bubble together like that the whole world seems perfect.

Eventually tired from all the sun that had burned down on her skin Daisy needed a nap. I don't care much for those, I have a hard enough time falling asleep at night, so I stayed behind to sketch some more at the bar. She told me that I could NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES allow her to miss the sunset. Serious stuff.

Sipping Red Stripes I sunk into a reed chair and tried haphazardly to capture the bartender Andrew's likeness. This of course a hopeless undertaking. Andrew seems to never rest or take break. His motion is completely uninterrupted. One moment he faces you, then you see his back, now a three quarter view, dang, now he's bending down, looking up, shaking something, fixing the blender....and so on. Finally I settled for the tiles on the bar as a challenge in perspective.

I heard some voices behind me, but ignored it. When I eventually turned around I saw that I had gathered a little audience made up of kids and staff. The kids immediately ran off as I turned around, so did one of the staff. That left a single individual in a spotless chef's uniform. He complemented me profusely asked if he could see my sketchbook. I obliged with all the obligatory statements, like :”It's not very good” and “You'll surely be disappointed.”.

He took it anyways and was sincerely interested, not like most people who rush through a sketchbook in search for a Mona Lisa or a Mickey Mouse or what ever the hell they look for expectantly, before they hand it back to you in honest disappointment accompanied by a fake “Very Nice, ehehe!”

Me: “It's just a sketchbook , you know.”

Chef: “It is beautiful. I will never be that good.”

Me: “Oh, no why would you say that.”

He introduced himself as Leighton. He was a incredibly sweet and soft-spoken young man.

Me: “You draw”.

Leighton: “Ya, a little. I paint, what ever comes in to my head. I never know what it will be, even while I'm painting. Sometime it comes out like something scary, and my wife asks me why I have to paint that dark stuff.”

We talked some more. I gave him a few hints that I had gotten from great painting teachers over my life and he actually took notes eagerly. That made me think I should really teach a free class for untrained local artists or maybe some kids, the next time I come back. Man that would be cool.

I almost forgot to wake Daisy. The sun was getting rather low. Maybe 45 Minutes left till sunset.

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When I got back to the garden side the Moon hung in a satin blue sky. The low light bathed everything in Gold. It was breathtaking.

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Daisy was already up and smiled happily from the balcony as I approached. She met me half way up the stairs. I quickly ran back in to the room to grab one of my watercolor sets for Leightons daughter. I scribbled his name on it, in case I had to give it another one of the chef's.

Holding hands we sauntered back across to the other side. We met Leighton in the otherwise empty dining area. I introduced Daisy and handed him the gift for his daughter. He was just incredibly thankful, more than the tiny gift demanded, and showed us some pictures of his family. Daisy took to him immediately. He really is the sweetest person.

Now it was time for the mandatory sunset viewing before dinner. I took out my camera started filming and actually caught the entire thing on film. I takes less than 2 Minutes from the suns first touch of the horizon to it's disappearance. I think you can even see the green flash in the footage, if you stare really hard at it. I'll post that footage soon.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/.../03sunset3.jpg

The dinner buffet was out of this world. It was Jamaican night, which is really more Jamaican/Indian cuisine.

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After dinner we sat down with our British friends, who seemed to always be close by, when you feel like having a chat. The Long Islanders from the first morning asked whether we wanted to join them for some party at the jungle. Somehow that wasn't at all appealing, so we politely declined and made up our mind that we would stay right here for the night and attempt to try EVERY DRINK posted around the bar.

Our britts also thought that was a wonderful idea and decided to join us. So we sat and chatted, drank, puffed and laughed whole-heartedly until the staff was beginning to clean up around us.

I remembered how the bell-hop had mentioned that the bartenders would fill the thermo from the room with anything one liked. While every one thought that it was just preposterous, I actually went and got the container from the room. The bartender (no longer Andrew) did give me a slightly surprised look, but filled up the vessel with Red Stripe as requested.

Our friends, excused themselves, heading for their respective quarters. We ,on the other hand, had taken aim at the bubbling hot tub, that was sitting around unused.

While Daisy fiddled with the camera and timer setting I let my steaming hot body slide into the bubbling water. Needless to say the pictures didn't come out that well....

The sky was clear and a thousand stars twinkled overhead as we sat together in the hot tub and enjoyed a perfect ending to a perfect day...

Upcoming Events in Day 4: in the next report we'll be leaving the Grand Pineapple behind and get a surprising welcome gift from The Coco La Palm....

Yeah, loving this so much! Sometimes it is great to just slow down and soak up the atmosphere this is Jamaica and just reflect on life. Your pictures are beautiful, once again!

Dang - See what you've gone and done now! I was thinking I'd be off to work a little earlier than usual this morning seeing as I awoke at 3:30 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. However, I thought I'd take a quick peek at the message board before taking off and what did I come across but another installment to the wonderful trip report of Daisy and Markus. Thanks guys, maybe the day won't be so long for me while I think about what I've read before tackling the day ahead.

Beautifully written !
In response to your comment about the buffet on Jamaican night, the reason for Indian food ..........http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0057.htm

btw , I love the cigarette man's TShirt . ... I can just hear him ...SSSeeeeeeeeeeGarrrrrrrretttsss!!

If i was walking the beach in Negril and saw Markus I would recognize him from the photos in the report, on the the other hand some how Daisy seems to be a shadow in the distance. lol

You guys are bringing back all the memories and now onto my current favorite hotel-CCLP. Can't wait!

Our first visit to CCLP will be in December so I can't wait for the next installment. This is the best trip report ever!!!!!

Can't wait to read your impressions of CoCo; we love that place and the location is perfect. IRIE! :cool:*IG

Sometimes I think "why even write a reply to this? I don't know what words could describe the joy I get from reading their posts"...TRULY, I look forward to your posts each day that they are written! What a lovely couple you are and it shows in your writings!

Yay! When I least expect it, along comes another report from Daisy and Markus--so so nice. I am already excited for my trip but your words and description up the excitement level entirely. Now I think I might buy a floatie thing to use while there--I can't believe I never have done that yet.

I bought my floaties yesterday, LOL

loving ur report!!

Daisy and Markus this is the BEST trip report............The way you tell it it's like I'm right there with you..............no matter how long it takes.......just keep writing the story!!!!!!!!

very
very
nice :cool: :rolleyes:

great stuff .... dont leave us hangin too long!

Awesome report as ALWAYS you two! Hopefully Coco lived up to it's reputation... Even though I know it hard to like a different hotel when the FIRST one you visit has a hold on you and steals your heart...It was like that for me when I "tried" to split my stay for Merrills II(AI) and Coco-- Didn't work out for me and my girls, we ended up back at CCLP before we could unpack at Merrills.

U r making me wanna use my free flight voucher and go back now!! Thanks for sharing..

Thank you so much everyone for your positive feedback on our trip report! It's really wonderful reading your comments. Thanks for reading our ramblings and ignoring all of our grammar errors/typos/run on sentences!:p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by poolguywindsor

If i was walking the beach in Negril and saw Markus I would recognize him from the photos in the report, on the the other hand some how Daisy seems to be a shadow in the distance. lol

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Wow thanks PGW!- LOL! "A shadow in the distance??"
Okay I admit there are more pictures of Markus than me in this TR, (This is because I'm usually the one taking the pictures) but I'm in there.
see example:

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...beachbest2.jpg


There are many pictures of the corner of my leg and my arms too.
I'll be the girl walking beside Markus. We're usually attached to the hip. I wont be lurking in the shadows behind him. haha Hope we get to meet you some day!;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pretty40

U r making me wanna use my free flight voucher and go back now!! Thanks for sharing..

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You have a FREE FLIGHT VOUCHER and you haven't used it yet?!


Honey518 - Yes we loved CCLP! I know what you mean about it being hard to move over when you get attached to one place first, but they definitely made the adjustment VERY easy for us. Such a great hotel!

To those that mentioned they were going to use their floaties, I highly recommend it. So relaxing.. I wish I were back there now

And to anyone going to the Grand Pineapple in the upcoming weeks.. Please say "Hi" to Ralston the security guard for us? We really miss him!!

Thank you guys!
We're working on day 4

Very enjoyable trip report, keep it coming.

Excellent!

:cool:Your trip report is OUTSTANDING. I am loving it! I enjoy it extra, because you were at Grand Pineapple, so I really could relate. I will enjoy the Coco part also, because I used to stay at neighbor Charela Inn, so I know that part of the beach well, too. Don't make us wait too long for Day 4-Coco.Attachment 1326

:) you kids make me smile. Love your enthusiasm in all that you do.

I can hear the vendors and the lap of the surf along the sand.....feel the waves in front of Alfred's and ....... almost ..... feel that warm air on my skin.
Excellent story ~ thank you both.

Awesome Markus
Just hearing about the talk with Leighton reminds me I need to start painting again. The things you lose when life gets going.
Ronin

[QUOTE=Hubby-man;1523]Day 3 Part 6
Markus

It's weird, when I'm relaxed, I can feel her presence. I don't really care much what we do, when we are connected like that.

I could be cleaning out latrine... when we're in a bubble together like that the whole world seems perfect.


"Sigghhhh....." :rolleyes:

Am loving your trip report and enjoying having the chance to tag along:cool: