Jamaica T-Shirt Trip Report

[Monty&Melo]

Started Monday the same as Sunday. (See a pattern here?) We left around 1:30 to meet Rob and Lisa at Red Dragon. After a couple cold beers and a visit with Osheba, we headed out to meet the business owners listed on the back of the t-shirt. First stop was Just Natural, followed by Sips and Bites. Monty and I had never been to these places before. Wow! Just Natural has the most beautiful rustic scenery and Sips and Bites has an amazing view of the sea. They were so excited, just to see us wearing our shirts…when they found out they were receiving more contributions, they got tears in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces!! They asked that we pass along their Thanks! We can’t wait to go back when we have more time, but we still had more stops to make.

Next stop was Natural Mystic…time to get a cold Red Stripe from Susan! We love this little bar and the view out back is extraordinary! After visiting with Susan and enjoying our beers, we headed over to Sandra’s Place. Obviously, she has an outstanding view as well. Susan and Sandra were just as happy to see our shirts and totally surprised by the additional contribution money. We received hugs from all and as I mentioned at the beginning, I couldn’t be more proud to have helped in some small way!

We left Rob and Lisa and headed back to Rondel for a little while before going to dinner. It was one of those, “I’m just going to lay here on the bed for a bit” moments that ended with Security knocking on our door to wake us up. Apparently, Bryan came to pick us up and we weren’t waiting for him outside so he called our J-phone but the ringer wasn’t working. I guess that’s what happens when you have more than one beer at each location. Oops!! Anyway, once we woke up enough to get to the front, Bryan shuttled us off to Chicken Lavish for dinner. We always go see Doc at least twice during our visit. This time I opted for the Fried Chicken which never disappoints! Monty can’t get enough of his Curry Goat! Sufficiently stuffed we left for Rondel.

[Bnewb]

Geez...I'm here in Negril and part of your trip report...BUT...I still get excited reading it & seeing what everyone gets into...more please!!! 😆

[ukran1ans]

Started Monday the same as Sunday. (See a pattern here?) We left around 1:30 to meet Rob and Lisa at Red Dragon. After a couple cold beers and a visit with Osheba, we headed out to meet the business owners listed on the back of the t-shirt. First stop was Just Natural, followed by Sips and Bites. Monty and I had never been to these places before. Wow! Just Natural has the most beautiful rustic scenery and Sips and Bites has an amazing view of the sea. They were so excited, just to see us wearing our shirts…when they found out they were receiving more contributions, they got tears in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces!! They asked that we pass along their Thanks! We can’t wait to go back when we have more time, but we still had more stops to make.

Next stop was Natural Mystic…time to get a cold Red Stripe from Susan! We love this little bar and the view out back is extraordinary! After visiting with Susan and enjoying our beers, we headed over to Sandra’s Place. Obviously, she has an outstanding view as well. Susan and Sandra were just as happy to see our shirts and totally surprised by the additional contribution money. We received hugs from all and as I mentioned at the beginning, I couldn’t be more proud to have helped in some small way!

We left Rob and Lisa and headed back to Rondel for a little while before going to dinner. It was one of those, “I’m just going to lay here on the bed for a bit” moments that ended with Security knocking on our door to wake us up. Apparently, Bryan came to pick us up and we weren’t waiting for him outside so he called our J-phone but the ringer wasn’t working. I guess that’s what happens when you have more than one beer at each location. Oops!! Anyway, once we woke up enough to get to the front, Bryan shuttled us off to Chicken Lavish for dinner. We always go see Doc at least twice during our visit. This time I opted for the Fried Chicken which never disappoints! Monty can’t get enough of his Curry Goat! Sufficiently stuffed we left for Rondel.

No, that's what happens when you meet up with Rob & Lisa!!!

At least that's always my experience...

[Monty&Melo]

Tuesday is pretty much a duplicate of our usual. Monty walked the beach, we had breakfast, had beach time and visited Tony’s Hut and Julie. We left the beach a little early this day so we could have lunch at Sandra’s Place. I can’t even begin to tell you all how delicious it was…OMG!! I had the fried chicken and mash with the most amazing gravy. Monty had curry conch and octopus. He cleaned his plate as well. Next trip will definitely include a lunch trip to see Sandra!! Later in the evening, my stomach wasn’t feeling well (too many Red Stripes) so I hung out on the balcony of our room reading my book. Monty stayed at the Rondel bar with Delroy then walked to Best of the West for Jerk Chicken. I must admit, when he came back to the room, it smelled wonderful! I ate one festival and some coco bread and was feeling much better.

After a good night’s sleep, we were ready to start Wednesday. The morning was the same but today we finally got to see Maureen at Sunnyside…yay!! She was caught off guard by the contribution we delivered to her and was absolutely thrilled. She told us that frequently, a day will go by with no visitors at all. It is crazy how empty the beach is right now. We have been to Jamaica several times during slow season…this is slower than slow!

After our visit, we changed clothes and headed out with Rob and Lisa. We had an exciting afternoon planned. First on our list this day was Connie’s Honky Tonk Pub and we were privileged to meet Connie and Sasha. Once again, like the other business owners, they were so excited to see us wearing our shirts. We enjoyed a couple cold Red Stripes and discussed the current situation in Jamaica. They are hurting like everyone else due to virtually no tourists. She confirmed that a number of businesses are having their current and water cut off and are facing the unknown as to how to pay their bills and rent with little to no money. They are forever grateful for the contributions to help ease their suffering for a bit. Needless to say, they were very excited to get more contribution money.

After saying goodbye, we headed to Miss Sonia’s. If I had to pick just one person who touched me the most, I would have to say Miss Sonia. While I got teary eyed at the other establishments, Miss Sonia totally made me cry. She was so appreciative and surprised. She’s just a total sweetheart!

Next on our list was Fr. Jim. We gave him the 3rd batch of donations for the St. Anthony’s Soup Kitchen. Let’s just say…this was a total pleasure. As soon as we arrived, we gave him the t-shirt he purchased (he was the first person to buy a shirt to show how much he supported this endeavor). He immediately went inside to put it on. We talked at great length about the tremendous need but also, the resiliency of the Jamaican people. Through all of our visits, everyone we met still had a smile on their face, love in their heart, were so welcoming and were working so hard to make it through all of this.

The last of the businesses to visit was Quality’s Sea Breeze. He was completely surprised by the money we delivered. He says he is truly blessed! Actually, we were the ones blessed to be able to deliver this money to everyone and see them in person. We can’t thank you all enough for all the purchases of shirts and donations to the Soup Kitchen. While we were at Quality’s, what else could we do but eat a delicious meal? Of course!!! Monty had a curried whole snapper, mash, veggies and fruit and I had the fried shrimp with the same sides! His food is always so fresh and amazing!



It goes without saying that we went to bed very happy that evening!

[Monty&Melo]

week flies by so quickly while my work week moves at a snail’s pace.

Monty took his walk and I sat on the balcony reading a book. We got ready and headed to breakfast. We are quite boring…I think all week we have eaten the exact same thing, breakfast sandwich for me and ackee and saltfish for Monty. We enjoyed our beach time under our favorite almond tree and swimming in the sea. The weather we had this week was wonderful. Thank goodness we missed the previous two weeks of solid rain.

We made our regular stops to Tony’s and Sunnyside, then walked down to Firefly to meet Rob and Lisa for happy hour. The beers were cold, and the company was great!! We ended up having to leave in a hurry though, so we could get back to Rondel for our Covid test for our return to reality. Rondel scheduled to have them come to the hotel lobby for the tests so we didn’t have to go anywhere else. This made it so much more convenient…and they even picked up the fee. Just one more reason to love Rondel!

We decided to get cleaned up for dinner and headed out early enough to make a pre-dinner stop to see Collette. After our visit, we went to one of our long-time favorites…Catcha! At least once every trip, we go to Catcha for dinner…starting with a cocktail at the bar. Monty usually gets the Category 5 Hurricane and this night was no exception. I tried the Hawaiian Sea Breeze which was delicious.




We started with Firecracker Shrimp for the appetizer and…Wow! It was terrific! For dinner, we had the Jerk Chicken Pasta…another amazing dish. The view was as spectacular as the food. I could sit there all night and just stare out at the sea, moon and stars!! Back at Rondel, we paid a visit to Delroy at the bar. One of the good things about curfew was that we ate dinner earlier which allowed time to get back before the bar closed.

Friday, our last full day on the beach was filled with more of the same. This was another NSD (no shoe day) since we weren’t leaving the beach! I get terrible sand gravity in Negril…at least once per trip, I need a full day with only the beach! Friday, also, happens to be one of Rondel’s happy hour days (Friday, Sunday and Wednesday) ... 2 for 1 drinks and discounts on food. For those of you who know Delroy, you know how much fun it is watching him in his element! He gets so excited and happy to be serving everyone. If you don’t know Delroy…do yourself a big favor and show up for happy hour. His drinks are fabulous, and he is famous for his Delroy Special.

We had dinner at Rondel with special friends to celebrate a birthday and the food and company couldn’t have been better. In typical fashion, it was back to the bar after dinner. Saying goodbye to Delroy is always tough, but at the end of the night we said good night and headed for bed with a tear in my eye.

Saturday, we had Bryan pick us up around 10:45 but since we had a later flight we had the chance to make pit stops. First stop was Red Dragon. I’ve never been there so early that it wasn’t even open yet. Gardo was inside setting up so he let us in. This was our first real chance to talk with Gardo. He usually leaves before we show up for the day. Rob and Lisa met us there. The four of us had a discussion about whether it was too early to start drinking or not. It was decided that it’s never too early! We were lucky and got to see Osheba before we moved on.

Collette’s was our next stop. We, obviously, had to enjoy beverages there as well. Wink, wink!! After spending about an hour, the time had come for us to leave. This is so hard to do…you would think it would get easier every time, but I think it only gets worse. Business was so slow at Collette’s, that she and her daughter decided to ride with us to the airport just for something to do. It was so sweet to have that extra time with her before we had to leave.