Spend the afternoon in Bluefields Bay????

[VVHT]

Pics from Bluefields Beach area circa March 2003

[Marblehead]

Bluefields has a special place in my heart because it was the first public beach I visited away from a resort area on my first trip to Negril. Back in 1984, A2 ran right along the beach. You just stopped along the road and stepped over the low sea wall. It is rocky at the northern end, but sandier as you move south. My wife and I were the only people on that end of the beach. We took a quick did, changed our clothes and head towards what look like some stands. Sure enough, there was the Jamaican Queen ( a boat up on shore selling drinks) and Jenny's Meals On Wheels. We grabbed a couple of beers and sat under the tin roof covered deck to get our bearings. A man was cleaning peppers very carefully with a knife and fork, separating the flesh from the stems and seeds. "Hot peppers, eh?" "Yah, mon." "Wouldn't want to get any on your fingers and wipe your eye." "No, mon." "Can I try some?" "Sure, mon," as he hand me a chunck on the tip of his fork. I popped my first taste of Scotch Bonnet pepper into my mouth. Yikes! The faintest smile showed on his face at the corners of his mouth. Naturally, the beer didn't help. "Mon, get some fish tea," he advised. I order up a cup from the huge pot on the fire. Oh, what a relief it was and so delicious.

Meanwhile a fisherman pulled his boat onto the shore and Jenny came out to buy his large stringer of fish and lobster. The pepper guy was busy mashing up the peppers with scallions and thyme. Another guy gutted the fish. The pepper mash was stuffed into the fish bellies and placed on the fire. Some were already cooked so we bought some. The mash suffused the fish flesh with a wonderful tang and made small tastes of the mask itself possible. We finished up and I asked where we could dump the skeleton. "Mon, you're wasting it! Eat the head." Sure enough, the cheek flesh was quite tasty, but we demurred on the eyes and brain.

Knowing the lobster was fresh we next tried curried lobster. Jenny mad it from scratch and in my memory still one of the best curry dishes I've ever eaten. Jenny was a handsome woman and her little daughter was very cute so I asked to take their photo. "Not yet." She finished up her chores for the day, took off her apron and the two of them posed for me. She was very pleased with the results when I dropped copies off on our next reach.

The road winds away from the beach creating a park with restaurants and places for vendors. The last time I was there, we stopped at the first vendor with cold Heinekens. We walked down the beach to the sandier portion, took a dip and sipped our drinks. I started to head back up the beach for a refill and here comes the very same vendor with three cold Heinekens. Now, that's customer service! --Marblehead

[rosalie]

Bluefields was one of the first places I visited outside of negril back in 1990 very quite just beautiful. Eight years later got married there at Bluefields Villas in San Michele house OMG it was amazing. It is worth checking out