Day by Day Trip Report with Pics - February 6 - 14, 2016

[Monty&Melo]

Vacation Day #3

Tuesday

If it’s Tuesday, it must mean 3 Dives for dinner. But a lot to do before we get to dinner.

Up and at em at the normal time and walk up to Sandals. Back to the room and grab Melo and across the street to Montana’s for Breakfast again. Assume position on beach in front of Rondel. Waves crashing up pretty good and water cold, so not a lot of swimming today.

After sitting on the beach for a while, we decide to take a beach walk in the other direction, toward Bourbon Beach, cut over to the road and walk up to Red Dragon. We left Rondel about 1pm and stopped first to visit our old friend Donovan at Woodstock. Woodstock is the new place on the beach, that they built where all the vendors were between Roots Bamboo and Rooms. Very nice place, we got to meet the owner, who is hoping to do big things with the place. Didn’t eat there, but from the looks of the food we will be eating there in the near future. After a beer with Donovan, it’s off to Sunnyside to see Maureen. Sunnyside is quickly ascending my list of favorite places in the world to have a beer. It hasn’t quite reached the legendary status that Red Dragon has in my mind, but it’s quite a place and the mix of characters that hang out there only enhances the experience. We drink one there and get one to go and head out down the beach to Bourbon.

Cut through Bourbon and reach the road. Stop briefly at the Cambio there and exchange a few Euros that I had left over from a trip to Germany last fall. Next beer stop is Drinks Plus Enterprise on the road. Grab two Red Stripes and a wedge of Tastee Cheese. Love that stuff. Cross road and utilize the sidewalk. Walk down into town and pretty soon reach Red Ground Road.

Wow, the traffic, they were working on road, actually the drainage so that when it rains the water doesn’t pool at the bottom of Red Ground Road. If you have ever been there during a downpour you will know that this is an improvement that was long overdue. The trucks and cars going up Red Ground Road was unbelievable and of course you had the motorcycles treating the cars and trucks like obstacles on a slalom course, zigging in and out as they tore off up the road. Dem guys crazy as they say!!!

About 2/3rds up the road sits Collette’s Bar. Another regular stop on the way to Red Dragon. (Its amazing that we are still thirsty by the time we get there, the walk ensures the need for more beer though, especially on a hot day). Nice cold beer, we talk with some tourists who are there and staying at White Sands (sorry, I’m the worlds worst when remembering names). Hang out for a while enjoying the comings and goings and the conversation. Head out for Red Dragon.

Of course, by the time we walked and stopped for beers along with way it is now almost 230pm. You know what that means, the most dreaded three words ever, “Pork Finished Mon.” Damn. Oh well, we are sort of on a liquid diet anyway, so we sit and enjoy a few porkless beers. Just love the Red Dragon. Another place with an interesting mix of tourists and locals as well as Expats. We catch up on the runnings with Gardo at the bar, have a brief political conversation with Ragabones himself (we only listened, I know better than to express much of an opinion on the subject and we purposely left anything we owned that was green or orange at home in the US) and back down the hill to Rondel (we had our driver drive us back, don’t drink and walk, mon, its dangerous).

Since we are well on our way, we dispense with the normal happy hour at Canoe and go straight to 3 Dives. The internet is down there so no Rob, but we would see him later in the week. Stand in line to order chicken, it takes forever, I’m always amazed at how some folks think the world revolves around them. Its Jamaica dammit, Jerk Chicken, Lobster, Shrimp, etc. They don’t do a lot of special orders and don’t ask for substitutions, it only confuses them and disappoints you. After watching others trying to figure out what to order and then finally ordering, I finally get to the counter, order way too much chicken for just the two of us and grab a Red Stripe and a Rum Punch.

I don’t know what does it, but the Rum Punch at 3 Dives in my Kryptonite. It really messes me up. My tradition is to skip the walk the morning after 3 Dives because I can’t do it. It doesn’t taste that strong when you drink it, but that stuff must pack a punch because it usually does me in.

Pretty soon the chicken arrives and it is superb as usual. I put way too much Granny Sauce on it and I’m in a full sweat. More rum punch. Damn, maybe its not the punch maybe it’s the fact the Granny Sauce makes me drink so much of it.

In any case, we finish dinner, head back to Rondel, go down to the beach bar to have a few drinks and catch up the day’s runnings with Delroy and soon off to bed after another great day in Negril.

Melo in the comfy chairs out front of Woodstock


Wedge of Tasty Cheese from Drinks Plus ($55JA)


Start of the walk from Rondel to Red Dragon