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

[Vince]

Good tymes mon!

[lacdeloo]

Love the report, good work man.

[Monty&Melo]

Vacation Day #6

Friday

We have plans to get out and about to different places today.

I start with another abbreviated walk because we are being picked up by our Canadian Friends and to go to Xtabi for Breakfast. First non-Montana’s breakfast of the trip, but I just have to have the Eggs Benedict at Xtabi once per trip. It really is that good and we all get it with Bacon and I swear between the 4 of us there is over a pound (pre-cooked weight of course) of bacon on the 4 plates. Its yummy and it sets you up for a day of drinking and not having to worry about eating a lot because it is rich and very filling. A few hours after eating it you are still full. No need for lunch on Xtabi Breakfast Days.

After breakfast we head for the beach. Time is ticking down and Melo needs her beachtime and her message from Verona, who is set up just adjacent to the beach at Rondel.

I am sitting there and I realize that even though I have visited the Red Dragon twice, I still haven’t had any pork. I also remember that I need to change some more money so that I have plenty to take home with me (I hate not having $JA in my pocket when I hit the island). So I figure I will take a nice leisurely stroll downtown to the Chineymon and then walk up to Red Ground and get everything done in one trip.

Head off down the beach, stop at Woodstock (I really like that place) and then at Sunnyside to see Maureen. After I get my second beer at Sunnyside, I take off again and get down to Bourbon Beach, where I cut through to the road (after stopping at Drinks Plus for another beer and a wedge of cheese of course). Pretty soon I am approaching the roundabout and I turn right and head toward the Chineymon. Just past the Burger King I hear someone yell at me and sure enough here comes someone wanting me to buy him some Brandy from the Chineymon. I tell him I am going in after some spices and I am not interested in buying him any Brandy. I turn and walk away and enter the Chineymon. Exchange $300US, count it and start searching the store for some of those spices that we bought yesterday in Green Island. Find a few treasures and walk back up towards the registers. I see my friend there asking the cashiers for a bottle of Brandy, he points towards me, I shake my head no, Chineymon asks him to leave. I guess you have to give the guy an “A” for effort, but he wasn’t getting any Brandy from this guy. I have my own alcohol habit to support!!!

Just as I am leaving Chineymon my driver appears as if from out of nowhere. I don’t even have to tell him where I want to go, he can tell by the time of day it is that I want pork. We head up the road to Red Ground and pretty soon I am having an icy cold beer and a half pound of their killer pork. It is so good. I wash it down with another beer, and then one more. Pretty soon I’m tired of beer, so I switch to rum and Ting. It starts raining, hard. My driver had parked across the street and it was really raining hard so I figure I’ll have one more Rum and Ting and then the rain will stop and we can be on our way. Evidently this was no brief shower, and one more turned into 3 or 4 more. I’m feeling no pain now and I don’t care about the rain, so even though it is still raining we walk across the street to the car and head back to the beach.

Melo is at the bar reading again, it really wasn’t raining all that much at the beach, but she had gotten enough sun and was very relaxed from the message, so she was just chillin with her book.

We had plans for Seastar for Happy Hour and then a walk down the lane and across the street to Catcha for dinner. It’s almost 4pm and our dinner reservation at Catcha was for 630pm so we decide to get ready and head on down to the cliffs. Driver picks us up and we head out.

On the way to Seastar we decide to stop at Quality’s (yes that Quality, the great chef is also a woodcarver) shop and check out his carvings. We find a rooster to replace a rooster that we have had for many years that has fallen a few times and lost its comb and a part of its waddle. Its awesome and the folks there were so nice. On to Seastar.

I know a lot of boardies love Seastar, so I went in prepared to be underwhelmed because I didn’t imagine that the place would live up to the hype. I was 100% wrong. It certainly lived up to the hype. Just walking in the place this relaxed vibe comes over you and you know you are at a place that makes folks feel ultra-comfortable. It is raining pretty good, so the pool is empty and there aren’t many folks at the bar. We step up, are warmly welcomed and we order our drinks. Rum and Pineapple for me and Red Stripe for Melo. Its 241 too, so there is going to be some drinking going on for the next hour or so.

We hang out, I would have liked to explore the property a little more, but we chatted up the bartenders and they filled us in about the place and really made us feel welcome. The Rum and Pineapples were hitting the spot and the beer was even cold. We really enjoyed our time there. We drunk-dialed a few friends who were stuck in the cold weather back at home and pretty soon we were ready to go to over to Catcha. Problem was it was still raining and it’s a pretty good walk from one to the other. Have no fear, Chris (Seastar owner) was on the job. He said to wait a few minutes and the shuttle will be back from the beach and will shuttle us over to Catcha. OK, great, thanks a lot. We chat for a while and sure enough the shuttle shows up and Seastar guests get out. Chris tells the driver that we are getting in and to take us to Catcha. I ask how much and they both say, no charge. Wow, that’s service.

We get to Catcha and get out of the Seastar van, I tip the driver nicely and we make our way down to the bar. The bartenders at Catcha are great and they remember us from past trips and greet us warmly. Melo gets a Red Stripe and I decide to get a Hurricane, Category 5 strength. Now I’ve been drinking pretty heavily for the last 6 or so hours, so the last thing I needed was this really strong drink. Too late for second thoughts though cause I had my lips wrapped around that straw before he even got it set all the way down in front of me. Damn it was good, but damn it was strong.

Since it was still raining we decided to go ahead and see if we could be seated early. All of the dining was going to be under cover that night so we figured we should get going before the place filled up very much.

I don’t even look at the menu when I get to Catcha, I know what I want. Jerk Shrimp appetizer and Jerk Chicken Pasta. Melo usually gets the Seafood Pasta, but tonight she opted for the Butterflied Shrimp. I have no idea how they do the pasta, but it is seriously about the best thing I have ever eaten. I look so forward to getting it each time and I keep thinking that one of these days it is going to disappoint me, but it never does. I am a very slow eater as I like to chew and enjoy my food, but somehow that pasta stays rocket-hot to the very last bite. Man what a meal, and Melo’s shrimp were yummy too.

We call our driver and head back to Rondel. I’ve had plenty to drink today, so we head down to the bar but don’t stay long. Tomorrow is the last of our vacation days (we leave on Sunday, but I don’t count leaving the resort at 10am as a vacation day), and I want to make sure we make the most out of it.

View of 3 Dives from Xtabi


Eggs Benedict at Xtabi


Scored a Coozie from the Red Dragon - my newest prized possession


Seastar - you can't capture the vibe from this picture, a great place


Melo's Shrimp Meal at Catcha


Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Jerk Chicken Pasta - again pictures don't capture what an awesome dish this is!!!

[Vince]

Ya mon!

[rocknrollfarmer]

Monty & Melo...Hey , great trip report! Love the detail of everything. We met you on our last day at Rondel , you held some ja's for us, so we could get our last meal from Norman Patty man.. We stayed 3 nights at Rondel first time there! We extended our Negril trip by those 3 days {we found the last room available, across the road. The MANGO room. Very nice. Loved the Rondel pool back there! Bob & Susan from negrilone stop got it for us. All in all, we were in Negril for 19 days. {drank every fricken day} wheww! We really like to be adventurous, and stay different places and eat also. We have Seastar booked for Dec. Take care, maybe meet up again some other Negril trip. YAMON!

[VVHT]

Monty&Melo, good stuff!

Back in the late 1990's it was trip reports like yours that convinced me to leave the All Inclusive Resorts and explore the real Jamaica!

Enjoy,

VVHT

[kwhizz]

LOL........WE were there for two weeks....ate at Catcha 4 times......Had the Jerk Chicken Rasta Pasta every time......Damm.......That stuff is the Best !!!!

[CosmicMoose]

You're making me hungry!

[booger]

You're making me hungry!

Me too!

That Jerk Chicken Penne Pasta is my go to most of the time, and definitely the first meal. Great trip report Monty....

[Monty&Melo]

Vacation Day #7 – Last Day

Saturday

Last full day, tomorrow morning we will be taking the dreaded drive back to Montego Bay. Up early for my walk and then breakfast over at Montana’s for the last time. We both get the breakfast sandwich and our usual Ting and Water. Say our goodbyes to Tony and crew and tell them we’ll be back in October.
On to the beach, we lay there forever just soaking up the sun and the vibe for one last day. We decide to take a walk, down the beach towards Bourbon. We want to see Donovan at Woodstock one last time and can’t walk down that way without a stop to see Maureen at Sunnyside one last time.

Woodstock is rocking, the place was pretty full, fuller than it had been the rest of the week, it was Saturday after all, so I guess that is what was doing it. We hang out there for a while and then head down to Sunnyside.

I’m sort of on a mission, to find JamaicaRob at Rooms. We have almost the same tattoo, a Jamaican flag on our right shoulder. I look around, but don’t see him (we had never met before, but I didn’t see anyone with a Flag tattoo on their shoulder), so we headed on down to Sunnyside. Sure enough, JamaicaRob was there. He was chatting up a lot of people so we just sat at the bar enjoying our beer. We hung up our coozie from our business back home. Soon enough, I got my chance to meet Rob without interrupting one of his conversations. We talked for a while, and then took a picture (see below). Nice guy, really likes Jamaica (as do we), so we immediately had a lot in common.

Back to Rondel and change for dinner, head out to Canoe for the last time on the trip. Gonna miss the 241 Rum Punch when I am back home. Also going to miss the view at Mary’s Bay. I love sitting there and looking back at the beach.

Walked down to Chicken Lavish for our traditional last night’s dinner. Stopped in to say bye to Quality and tell him that we purchased one of his carvings the day before. Told him we would definitely look him up when we are there in October. On to Chicken Lavish ,a large group was there, and they had ordered ahead which is always a great idea when you take a large group to a Negril restaurant. We sit down, order our soup and ponder dinner. I’m going to change it up as I usually get Curry Goat, but I was in the mood for something different. I decide on Curry Conch. Man, was it good. Not nearly as chewy as I thought it was going to be. The curry gravy was similar to the gravy that is on the Goat. I was very happy with it.

Finish dinner, head back to Rondel, down to the bar to hang out for a while and then off to bed. I’m getting up extra early to walk tomorrow and then getting back to the bar at Rondel to enjoy the Futbol on the bar television before heading to the airport. Love sitting on the beach, eating breakfast and watching Futbol. Good times for sure.

View from the bar at Woodstock


Sunset Spirits coozie proudly on display at Sunnyside


Me and JamaicaRob (sun is obviously in my eyes!!!)



Woodstock from the Beach