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Thread: Why Negril? And first impressions.

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  1. #1
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    1983 DAY 6 – PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW & MY LITTLE COTTAGE IN NEGRIL.

    The pre-dawn hours were our time together. We did most of our planning and had discussions of about our individual experiences and made decisions on how we would proceed before each day begins. We both felt torn as we had fallen in love with Sea Lawn and didn’t want to leave but the lure of Negril and what might lie ahead pulled us in another direction. With great sadness, we decided to stay with Peter’s original suggestion and move on.

    It wasn’t even light out yet when we could hear a couple of young girls calling softly to see if my wife was ready to come out. She cried softly and hugged me tight. I knew right then that she would stay here forever if she could. We might go but we could never leave. We began assembling our possessions and repacking our bags as we wanted to leave early to assure our arrival in Negril would give us some daylight to explore our surroundings. We were mentally getting ready for the long bus ride ahead.

    We walked up to the verandah to find a small group of youth and a couple of adults waiting patiently for us. A few of the young girls were grabbing at my wife’s hand and pressing scraps of paper with names and addresses and tearfully imploring she would write them back after our return home. Mikey had written us a letter and asked me to read it only when we got home and then suddenly, he reached out to hug me. Perhaps it is only my experience and not that of others but, I have rarely had a Jamaican man (especially a man) or women spontaneously show affection like that and it touched me to the depths of my soul. Tony was there wearing my wife’s gift so I turned to him and said, “You look cool, mon!” which got a grin in return. He motioned me to one side and gave me his address and asked me to write but not to tell Mikey. I agreed as he shook my hand in friendship. I heard Mikey above the excited chatter saying a bus “Soon Come” so we grabbed our bags and made our way up the trail to a regular bus stop a few yards down the road.

    To our surprise and delight, we had been followed from Mikey’s verandah by our new friends and actually picked up a few more in the process. Beverly, a shy young girl whom my wife had taken an additional interest in helping, showed up with a woven basket filled with fruits and some bulla, cheese and pear (my favorite) to take on our journey. My wife was really struggling hard to hold back on the tears as she hugged the shy girl and thanked her for the generosity. We all talked, laughed and even shed a tear or two until the bus finally arrived. We got on and moved to a seat near the rear on the side facing our friends. We shared waves and blown kisses until they faded out of view. It was pretty obvious from the smiles of the people on the bus that they had been affected too.

    The road was long and the summertime temperature was hot but the beautiful scenery kept our thoughts cool. We changed buses in Ochi and again in Montego Bay before getting on a bus that took the old road to Negril. It was long, dusty, bumpy and rutted but finally we saw a sign for Negril. I had told the conductor on this new bus that we wanted to get off at Firefly. We had taken a seat near the front and noticed him pointing up ahead while trying to get our attention. The bus stopped and we were there.

    We walked up to a small house which appeared to also be the office for Firefly. A young couple with a small child greeted us and I handed Peter’s letter to them and waited for their response. The letter had worked at Mikeys and now we were apprehensive on whether it would work here. The lady read it and smiled. “Here, come” she said while leading us towards the beach. “There, on the side”, she pointed, “Are toilets and showers”. It was a small concrete block structure still being built that provided some privacy from the road up to ones neck. We continued walking.

    Ahead was a small, wooden cabin barely wide enough to walk around the bunk beds that dominated the interior space. There was one, starkly bright white light bulb on the back wall and nothing else. Well, $15 a night for a place on a beautiful 7-mile beach seemed like a real bargain. We shed our packs and changed into suits and headed towards the beach. Except for a sprinkling of overturned fishing boats, the beach was virtually deserted and seemed undeveloped.

    As we soaked our feet at water’s edge, I heard the sound of a small bike approaching up the beach. As it got closer, I saw a radical looking Rasta youth holding a long, green stem of “house” tobacco. He introduced himself and handed me the stem to smell and examine. I looked it over and when handing it back he said, “It’s yours, mon”. “Really?”. I was overcome at the gift when he continued, “For $10 US”. After my $2 Jamaican experience at Mikeys I just smiled, nodded “no” and returned it. Later another youth calling himself “Mushroom Kenny” came with a paper bag of large mushroom heads but I turned him down as well. Too much, too soon I reasoned so I decided to take my time before indulging if at all.

    We finished our swim and returned for a shower and to get dressed to continue our explorations. We walked into the town and then continued out the West End road. We walked for a while but I can’t honestly say how far we went. I only know we finally stopped at a crafts area and my wife indulged herself in her favorite pastime; shopping! I just kind of looked around and talked to people while watching her shop. I could see how much “sharper” these people were compared to those around Mikeys when it came to doing business so I was more vigilant. She was an excellent shopper and we walked away with a towel and two small baskets where one fit inside the other. She wanted it for her sewing supplies. Just then I heard a low flying small plane overhead outfitted with loudspeakers on the underside.

    “Repent you sinners!” “Jesus is coming!” “There is a revival meeting tonight at 7:00pm at (some place I never hear of)” “Don’t miss the opportunity to absolve your sins!” along with some other phrases repeated on each pass. We had never in our lives heard such a thing. We noticed that a lot of the people around us, especially the women, were saying things like “Thank you Jesus” as the assault seemed to accomplish its goal. As it was getting late afternoon, we headed back towards town.

    When we reached the mouth of the Negril River, a couple of fishermen had just returned and were selling fish and lobster. The lobsters were small compared to the ones we see in California but she bought two for a total of $5 Jamaican. The fisherman wrapped them in a piece of paper and we headed back to Firefly. Upon our arrival, my wife knocked at the office door to see if she could borrow a pot of some kind to boil our purchase but the lady insisted she would cook them for us. The lady told us to go up to the wooden beach chairs and relax as there would be a nice sunset today and that she would call us when they were ready. How nice, we thought as we went up to the beach to relax. The sun was just starting to set when the couple who managed the property showed up with the cooked lobster, melted butter and a dish of okra and small Irish potatoes!

    How romantic! The perfect end to a perfect day. We decided to turn in early.
    This thread got me thinking about my first time in Negril in 1983 on Day 6 of a 7 Day vacation around the island. We had stayed in Kingston for 2 nights on Jack's Hill camping and then for 3 nights camping just below Firefly in Port Maria at Sea Lawn Coral Beach. Jamaica had already "blown me away" by this time but seeing Negril for the first time (if only for one day/night) was very special to us.

    I copied and pasted this excerpt from the archives where I have a lot of my stories. That address is in my signature. I am missing Jamaica and my home so much today that I just had to relive a special moment in time.

    Peace and Guidance

    Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.

  2. #2
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    Love the honesty Mandy. For me it was the music. Grew up on rock, reggae, ska, So Cal punk and had to do it. Funny thing is our first night ever in Negril I took my wife up to Seastar for the show. Before it was over we were walking down Seastar Lane and headed to LTU in the dark. Halfway down she said WTF are we doing. I told her no worries, we are good. Found our way there due to feedback on this forum with ease. 15 minutes into it Sexy Rexy walks in and I make the approach. Told him to take me deeper into the West End. Problem was I forgot my wife at LTU. An hour later we are back and she is not too happy.

    After that nothing phases her and all is good. It wasn't really my plan, however it was a good way to get over any misconceptions real quick. Thanks to LTU for looking after the wifey while I went and explored......


  3. #3
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    My mother is from the UK, but we have lived in the USA most of my life. When she found out I liked reggae music she took out her records from when she was a teenager and introduced me to each artist (Bob Marley, Culture, English Beat, Burning Spear, etc). I was getting married and told my wife we needed to go to Jamaica. My wife said okay, but it had to be a Sandals. Sandals wasn't my thing and so a couple years later she said we could go back. I wanted a cottage and Negril seemed like the perfect place. Booked a cottage for 10 days and my wife and I had an amazing time. Such an amazing time that I took my mother and father, who had not had a vacation in 15 years to Negril the next trip with everything paid. We are now working on our 5th trip and my father can't stop talking about patty's.
    Last edited by jsteil; 06-02-2014 at 10:57 PM.

  4. #4
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    I had an unlce who used to go to Jamaica regularly (and just started going again, actually). I used to work the overnight shift with him at a truck stop, and as time went on, more and more of his "Jamaica" stories got told, and each one intrigued me more than the last. When it came time to get married and plan a honeymoon, it wasn't hard to decide where to go for my first trip out of the country. While not exactly getting the true Jamaican experience, we did enjoy our week at Couples Negril, and did sneak off the resort a few times to get a feel for the place. We swore we'd be back, but somehow ten years passed, and it never happened. However, we decided there was nothing we'd rather do than celebrate our ten year wedding anniversary in Negril, and have the Seastar booked for a week in late sept/early oct, with our wedding anniversary falling right in the middle of our trip! If that wasn't enough excitement, my THIRD trip to Jamaica is already in the works, as my best friend is planning a wedding at Riu Negril for Oct of 2015, and being the best man, I suppose I'd better be there! September 30 seems sooo awfully far away.....but not NEARLY as far away as when I planned this trip in January!

  5. #5
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    Had a few friends and family that had gone to Jamaica. 1st trip was also in August, walking the beach looking for a place to eat dinner and unable to tell what was open or a what was a restaurant. Someone called out and helped us get situated, it was all good!

  6. #6
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    I am not ashamed to admit, that I watch cocktail everytime I see that it is on, and Roadhouse or Pointbreak isnt.

  7. #7
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    Just got an itch to party like crazy people about 12 years ago and found Hedo.Went and partied many trips and then stayed at other hotels on the beach and had so much fun we stay all over the place now!!

  8. #8
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    1992 I was 34 and had been many places, but never Jamaica. Always wanted to go since seeing the James Bond movie "Dr. No". Finally convinced my wife to go to Sandals Negril. Landed in MoBay, walked down the stairs from the plane onto the Tarmac, long walk to terminal building. At first all you can feel is the heat and humidity and smell the Jet Fuel, then you get a wiff of something exotic. Dancers and music greet you as you enter the terminal..... The Old road to Negrl, bumpy, narrow, and then you cross the Ganga Bridge! OMG! A bud as large as my arm appears through the window, $5 US!. Oh the memories of that first magical sunset on the beach....

  9. #9
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    My first trip to Negril took place about a year after my first trip to Jamaica. Stayed in MoBay at an all-inclusive the first time (2000) because of the problems with the road to Negril. Knew the island was cool but also knew I was missing it at an AI in MOBay. Both times I was traveling with Boardie- JamaiKay who had been coming down to JA since 1987. Before we even departed from that first trip, I had my trip to Negril planned (in my mind at least).

    For the first trip to Negril (in 2001) I did what a lot of people do, I stayed at an AI (Rui in Bloody Bay.) Our second day there i wandered off property and ended up at the Office of Nature and met all the guys that work and hung out there. I LOVED IT! Loved the people, loved the food, loved the spirit of the whole place. I even met an 8 year old local girl that I fell "in love" with and she ended up "adopting" me til this day (she's now a 21 year old college freshman -getting straight A's-living in the States!). Watching her succeed has been like watching my own children's successes. These connections I felt/feel with the people in Negril, I had never felt anywhere else. I ended up meeting MANY people on that 1st trip to Negril that now, 13 years and 20 something trips later, I consider some of my closest friends in life.

    One of my favorite things to do is to bring first-timers down and watch their reactions. I have brought about 10 friends down (one at a time) for their first trips and they are always AMAZED by Negril. For some it was literally life changing. Bringing another newbie in August and I just know she's going to totally GET it.

    Speaking of August, why haven't I seen an August Roll Call yet? Seen Sept, Oct, Nov, etc. but no August! I know a bunch of you crazy people have to be going down for ATI....(not me, I wait till it's over!) Who's going when?

  10. #10
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    Re: Why Negril? And first impressions.

    Why Negril? Because they took Popeye the Sailor Man off the air and replaced it with Gilligan’s Island. This happened in about 3rd grade for me, about 1973. (Gilligan’s Island was already in syndication by then.) My ritual was to come home from school and watch Popeye and have a snack before going out to play (for you young folks, going out to play is something my generation did because the TV only had 3 channels and there were no computers or smart phones, just outdoors....even in the middle of winter in Nort Daakoda we went outside to play). Anyhew, I started watching Gilligan and loved it. The tropical jungle, the beach, the “lagoon”. From then on I always wanted to go to a tropical island. It took until 1991 when I finally had enough money. After talking to a travel agent, we (my girlfriend, who is now my wife) narrowed it down to the Bahamas, Mexico or Jamaica. I excluded Mexico right away because it was not an island and I remember the agent had some poor feedback from others about the Bahamas. So Jamaica it was. Why Negril? We wanted to see the sun setting on the ocean (hell, we never even saw an ocean up to this point) so we picked the west side of the island. One of the best decisions we ever made. A place that has remained near and dear to our hearts. And a place where we have met, and continue to meet some of the best people in the world. First impressions? Had a rum punch and bag a weed in my hand before leaving the airport for Negril......This place is FRICKIN’ AWESOME!
    Peace, Todd & Cher

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