Stories Of Negril and the Westend

[Pushin 50]

My wife and I (Brad & Broke Back Janice) have been traveling to Negril since 1994. I celebrated my 40th birthday here and I am about to celebrate my 50th on Monday the 23rd here as well. One of the things I have always enjoyed is sharing stories about Negril and the West End. If you are interested in sharing your stories, come to Pee Wee's on Monday and help me celebrate. I will be there in the evening for my birthday dinner. (I haven't told the folks at Pee Wee's yet because I can't find a phone #) I will talk to Danny, Elvis and the gang when I arrive Saturday. If you can't join us then please share your stories here.

[Pushin 50]

My wife and I were looking for a place to go in the Caribbean. When people talked about Negril they had a look in there eyes of longing. So my wife and I decided to go there for a vacation. I was a travel agent and collected everything I could about hotels and I called 50 places on the beach and the West End. One of the last places I called was
Blue Cave Castle. The Jamaican woman I talked to was the most pleasent and informative person I had talked to. So we booked the first part of our trip (4 days) there and 3 days at the Yellow Bird on the beach. When we arrived at Montego Bay, we walked out to the craziness of the airport parking lot. Before we got 10 feet I got my first offer for Ganja. Two more offers came before we left the parking lot. We picked a bus and began our first ride to Negril. Back then, you went on the old coast road. It twisted and turned with every bay. Our driver was practicing for a Nascar race, or it just seemed so. With every turn, we and the one other passenger, were thrown from side to side. Once in Negril, the driver finally slowed down and we were happy to still be alive. He dropped off the other person then took my wife and I to Blue Cave. At this point we were both wondering if we had made a bad decision. But once the gate opened at the castle and we walked in, we knew we had found paradise. Steven and Suzan were great and my wife and I had our hearts skip a beat when we stared at the beauty of the place. From that point on, every time we left Negril we had tears in our eyes. To us, it became our second home, and the local's we befriended our family.

[rjonsun]

About what time on Monday? We will be pulling in to Negril on Monday and will be looking for a place to eat. BTW, what does Pee Wee's have for dinner and what kind of prices an we expect? I have heard about the great breakfasts there but never about the dinners. We have never eaten there. Not saying we will be there, but is in the realm of possibilities.
Regards,

Bob

[Pushin 50]

Sunset is always the traditional time for dinner on the West End.

[Pushin 50]

Prices are reasonable and the best thing on the menu is what ever is fresh out of the ocean that day. More than once I've gone down with chef's to pick the fish I want off the fishermans boat. And of course the Sunsets are the real star.

[Nick]

Bob; Some day we need to meet in Negril. I was there when your buddy floated out to sea on his rubber baby pool certified raft.
I believe that I met him staggering back up the road in the red ground, burnt red as a beet. I might have met you back then as well but that was a long time ago, and things are a bit hazy...

[Pushin 50]

We truely fell in love with the island and wanted to get to know the Real Jamaica. Victor was a wise man, before he would take us anywhere important to him, he tested us. He took us to a remote village in the mountains. Main street was 3 blocks long on a dirt road. We were far from civilization and had no idea where we were. He stopped and let my wife and I out, told us he needed to pick some things further up the road, and would return shortly. He left us there alone. We had arrived in the Real Jamaica we had asked for. We were very nervious and didn't know what to do. We saw a small shop and started to walk to it, then we heard a small boy yell "Hey Whitey". We turned around to see him running up the road twards us. Next he breathlessly asked "Why are you here, why did you come here?" I told him that we wanted to see what it was like in this part of the country and that we had asked to come here. He kept asking Why. I don't think I ever convinced him that we wanted to come there. He followed us to the shop. There was an old woman working on needlework. She smiled and said welcome and all of our worrys melted quickly. We talked to her and she told us of her life there and family (the little boy was her great grandson). We shared our stories with her, and had a wonderful time. I went out for a cigarette and a young man came up to me and began to talk. Before he could say much, the old lady called me back. She said "Be careful of him, he no good! I should know he is my grandson". This was the first of many times that our friendship with the local's saved our butts. (But those are other stories)While we were talking to her, she reached under the table and brought out the Book of Morman. She asked us if we knew anything about it. I told her it was a sect of christianity and that I and many others found it confusing. She laughed and said she did too. She said a man had come to the village and gave them out to everbody. She never saw him or any other Morman again. Just then Victor showed up, he saw how well we had done and smiled. He knew then he could take us anywhere, to meet anyone, and would do well.

[Bert]

MY FIRST TRIP TO NEGRIL.

First I have to go back to my first trip To Jamaica.........It was Feb. of 1976 and I had won a contest at work so had an extra $1300.00 to spend. Feb. in Toronto is not a very nice place to be so I figured that wow I could take a trip to an exotic Island. I had never been to the Carribean before so I walked across the street from work to a travel agency and picked up a couple of travel mags and took them back to my desk. I perused them both but had no idea where I wanted to go. Jamaica at that time was reputed to be a dangerous place to be so I tended to ignore the beautiful pictures and descriptions of the resorts there (I cant recall if there were even adds in the mag for Negril).
Anyway after looking for a couple of hours my work mate Fernando came over and told me to just close my eyes and he would fan through the pages and I should just stab a page with my finger and wherever it landed I would go. I agreed and we did it. It landed on an add for Trelawny Beach Club Hotel.

I was commited. So I called over to the Travel agency and spoke to a woman there, She asked when I would like to go. This was on a thursday and I said anytime. She told me she would check availability and get back to me. She called back and asked if I could make it for Saturday on a 6.45 AM flight. The trip cost $1210.00 and included breakfast and dinner so I figured its doable lets go for it!

I told my boss that I was going.

Done deal.

I packed the next night and was on my way very early Sat AM.

I arrived on schedule in Montego Bay. When they opened the door there was this wonderful warmth and sweet aroma that flooded the plane but we were asked to remain seated so that a man from the Department of Agriculture could spray the plane. Why I dont know, couldnt be bugs because no bugs could live in the the frozen world I we had left behind.

Back in those days there was no gates at the airport you walked down the stairs onto the tarmac and collected your bags as they were offloaded from the plane.
I got though Customs and Imigration no problem and was directed to a bus for our ride to the Hotel. My first Red Stipe was drank on the bus.

On the way to the Hotel I was shocked to see the poverty and the shacks that people were living in. Little kids with no shoes, ripped and well worn clothing was not what I had expected to see. I was thinking that if this is what Jamaica is like I wanted to skip it and just turn around and go home.

When I arrived at Trelawny it was a very pleasant surprise. Beautiful lobby, tropical plants eveywhere and again that sweet aroma.

My first night having dinner under the stars and listening to the band on the stage while the tree frogs and crickets joined in the chorus was an experience that I will never forget. I was supremely happy with my decision to make it Jamaica for my first trip.

I enjoyed the sun, beach the beer and the vibes for my first full day there then booked a trip to Dunns River Falls for Monday.

The Dunns River trip included stops at a few places along the way and I was all eyes and ears and learning a little more about Jamaica by the minute. After going up the Falls we were taken to a restaraunt in Ochi and I was still learning.

I saw the beauty around me and the easy going way the people seemed to have about them. I was hooked on Jamaica!!

The rest of the week was just fantastic and I decided that I had to return again and it had to be very soon.

I was back again 3 weeks later.

Then again in Nov.

And so it began, 3 sometimes 4 trips a year. and always with a rented car so I could discover and learn more about this Island that I had fallen in love with


In about 1978 or maybe 79 I discovered Negril.

It was suggested by the resident Manager of the hotel, Tony Pasquale, that I take a drive to the west end of the Island and have a look at the only part that I had yet to discover.

The drive took about 4 hrs back then over some pretty bad roads. The first place I went to was The Treehouse. I had a beer or two then decided to walk the beach.

There wasnt a whole lot there back then and the people on the beach werent wearing a whole lot either. There were many who were naked and I thought uh uh not for me.

I left the Tree house and drove though the town and my next stop was either Xtabi or Kaisers, cant remember which for sure.

Another beer and a look over the cliffs to discover that everyone laying on the rocks was naked. Was Negril a big Nudist colony or what?

I drove back to Trelawny in the blackest of nights imaginable arriving well after midnight.

The next day I was telling Tony about my day in Negril and he asked me if I would like to try a few days at Hedonism. He was friends with someone there and got me a comp for a 2 night stay. Who could say no to free?

Now that was a wild few days.

Funny how a uh uh not for me of a few days ago could become a what the hell why not?

So now you know how i discovered Negril.

[Pushin 50]

My first Jamaican friend was Victor Gibbs Sr. We met him through a mutual friend. He invited us to go for a ride to see the countryside and the south coast. Victor had a 1971 Chevy Impala convertable. A big land boat. We rode out past the golf course and down to Sav and he brought us back along the south coast line of West End Road. When we went past the Lighthouse, Victor proclamed "This is the Negril Lighthouse. The only thing that works 24/7 in all of Negril". On our next trip, we hired Victor to drive us around the island over 2 weeks. We stayed in Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, drove the old mountain road to 5000 feet and down into Kingston. Stayed in Treasure beach and then back to Negril. Although we loved every place we went, we still agreed Negril was special. As for the stories from that trip, they will come later.

[countryman]

I actually took a ride with Victor, in that land yacht many years ago! I'll never forget it. I was alone and it was after a concert at Kaiser's. Went from Kaiser's to out past the lighthouse . Scared the hell out of me, in a couple places I thought he was gonna drive off the cliff! But it was all good...

My first Jamaican friend was Victor Gibbs Sr. We met him through a mutual friend. He invited us to go for a ride to see the countryside and the south coast. Victor had a 1971 Chevy Impala convertable. A big land boat. We rode out past the golf course and down to Sav and he brought us back along the south coast line of West End Road. When we went past the Lighthouse, Victor proclamed "This is the Negril Lighthouse. The only thing that works 24/7 in all of Negril". On our next trip, we hired Victor to drive us around the island over 2 weeks. We stayed in Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, drove the old mountain road to 5000 feet and down into Kingston. Stayed in Treasure beach and then back to Negril. Although we loved every place we went, we still agreed Negril was special. As for the stories from that trip, they will come later.