Great start.
Great start.
Missing Jamaica
Hey Lola!
That rug really tied the room together.
Loving your report! We stayed in the Gatehouse cottage at Catcha and really enjoyed it! if you are anywhere at Catcha, it's all good!
Rum, nice report - times for rolling to spots is invaluable. Nothing but chill under that hat in the pic. Keep it coming.
Trip reports are always great, even if they are late. More is welcome!
Day Three, Thursday , May 29
We started with coffee overlooking the sea. Mrs. Peel spotted dolphins out on the horizon but I missed them. I was distracted by the glaring mismatch between my sausage fingers and and the keyboard of Mrs. Peel's notebook. After coffee we strolled to Sips and Bites.
I have contradicting walk times in my notebook so I'm going to err on the high side (erring on the high side seems like a Negril natural), which put Sips and Bites @ 14 minutes from Catcha. Mrs. Peel had a caliloo omelet and I had my favorite JA breakfast, saltfish and ackee.
From S&B we headed to Ragabones AKA Red Dragon. I've heard about Ragabone's ever since my first trip ('98) but never got up there (Red Ground).
I was pretty sure I could make a 90 degree turn off the West End Rd. near Sun Island and that would take me to the neighborhood, since I wasn't sure though I opted for going the long way around by the roundabout (someone cue "Yes").
Even with this prudent approach I still missed a turn and we ended up hailing a cab. I don't remember what color the plates were but we were close and it was a cheap but informative cab ride and we got at least a rudimentary idea of the lay out of Red Ground. The morning was hot. By 10:30 the ice cold (possibly the coldest beers in Negril) beers were sliding.
Gordo, the owner's son was bartending. He was wearing a T-shirt with the following legend:
F_CK Yo_
Want To Buy A Vowel?
Reggae was playing on a Jamaican radio station. The breeze coming in through the open windows made those frosty beers sweat. As someone said above: "Vacation is good". Mrs. Peel noticed a baseball bat strategically located within the bartenders reach. Down the bar from us an older gentleman was drinking water and performing what sounded like an incantation. Five beers later (for less than $10) we decided we'd got there too early to wait for their famous pork lunch.
If you want to try Ragabone's pork it's a good idea to be there by 12:30 (PM - when they set it out). Gordo says it will be gone by 3:PM.
We'd have to wait for another time for the pork. We walked back to the Corner Bar. Cricket was on the TV's and it was drawing a small local crowd. The weather was perfect. We walked on to Canoe for rum/fruit punches.
Someone was in the process of rebuilding the Negril Yacht Club (miss you Chuck, Donna, et. al.). Next we sauntered into the "German Bar". There was a sign in there with the legend:
"Drawers showing not acceptable"
My, my, my, how very Teutonic. Are we really in Negril? It was dead so we pushed on to Mi Yard. The picture below is technically a Negril dog, but the caption could read: This is your brain in Negril:
We met a pleasant German lady there named Karin. Karin was troubled by the helmetless scooter pilots. She mentioned her friend Roberta's book about Negril (my notes are so sketchy - does anyone know about a Negril book written by a Roberta?). Karin said she was staying @ Jackies On The Reef and she extolled the virtues of its natural setting with a saltwater pool.
After Mi Yard we walked to Xtabi (where we stayed last time - we had the cottage closest to 3 Dives - a location hard to beat). At Xtabi it was time to re-hydrate. Due to the loss of precious electrolytes we decided to go with dirty bananas, you know potassium. Our bartender was Kevin (a different Kevin from Catcha's). Kevin said the pork goes fast at Red Dragon, don't wait around.
We walked up to De Barr. One of the best things about May is people have time to talk. We found out that the bartender was familiar with a couple of our friends: Fatty, and GerryG. They were cooking chicken at De Bar and it smelled too good to pass up.
It was a perfectly balanced Negril day. We were able to cover a lot of ground, explored a new area for us (Red Ground), had many drinks and all of them well presented (except the German Bar).
Someone dispatched half a cake, probably me, but the notes begin to lack clarity at this point. The day closes out with the following note:
AhhhBees @ Natalie - dinner here. I have two pictures (can anyone tell me where we were?):
Even though I have no idea where we were the seriousness of the moment seemed to escape me:
That rug really tied the room together.
This is fun! Thanks for the comic version of your trip and for sharing.
Another good report....thanks Rum
Stir IT UP
Looking like a very good time was had,please continue and thanks for sharing!
Great read... thanks for sharing Rum
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