Spratters Island Adventure....

[Sprat]

Laurel...thanks for the bit of info about the boat. I assumed it was something like that with police involved.

It's time to get the rest of this report finished...but with this busy season, it's been hard to get back at it. This photoblog report is basically of our travels up until Negril. I just wanted to show others who have been and are planning to travel the side of the island anytime soon. We saw a lot of the major spots but there is much more to see which we will do on another trip.

When we left Portie we were heading for Runaway Bay for a couple of non-touring days, just a place to kick back, go to the beach, wine and dine and rest up for Negril. We picked the 'Runaway Heart Hotel' because it had a culinary school on site and we thought the food would be great and we weren't disappointed.

We arrived, but quickly changed rooms as we were far away from the main hotel and internet access was not good. We got a much nicer room with a view, and this weekend happened to be the hotels anniversary, and it was filled with many former employees and many Jamaican business people.



A view just before sunset. The beach was just at the bottom of the hill. The property overlooks the golf course.

[Sprat]

The first course was a fish chowder served with a fabulous herb bread. Delicious!



We had both decided on fish....and hubby had the breaded grouper while I had the bacon wrapped grouper. This was one of the best fish meals that we had. It was served with herbed potatoes, sauteed vegetables, grilled tomatoes and served with a fruit preserve.

The presentation was dramatic and beautiful!! Now this is what I had expected at GeeJam, but was disappointed. Now this was the way to style food ~~

[Sprat]

We pretty much hung around the room, enjoyed the balcony and chilled before dinner. We planned on a nice 'wine and dine' meal so we headed for the dining room.



Due to the anniversary party, they had everything set up for their guests in another location across from the pool....which meant that we were the only guests in the dining room for dinner. In the front of the room, there were two tables on either side of the room that were partitioned off with lovered doors. We had them close the doors and we dined privately by ourselves...and we were loving it. They catered to our every need...and the service was top notch.

( I must admit I used the fact that I did a foodblog and that we were possibly doing a review of their food on the blog!! The camera was on the table and we were ready to snap photos) That just brought the service up to another level and the chef came out to meet us and to dicuss what were going to have for dinner...lol Now this is the life....mmmmm, I might have to use this food blogging thing on a regular basis. **Actually when we arrived we had met the new manager, who had brought out their head chef to meet us. This was another chef we had tonight and they are both graduates from the culinary school.

We decided on our wine....and it was brought to the table....

[Sprat]

There was no shortage of waiters, waitresses and even the chef was back to see what we thought. Dinner was wonderful and it was time for desert. We sipped on our wine...and decided to take dessert back to our room.



The presentation for dessert was equally impressive. A slice of chocolate cake, served with an apple fritter type of pastry along with lime mouse. It was delicious and we devoured it in the comfort of our own room.


* I was very impressed with the new Jamaican Hotel tourism magazine this year, "Our Jamaica'. It was done very well, photos and food are beautifully captured and presented. If you find a copy, it's really a keeper.

Tomorrow we would get up and explore the Runaway Bay area and head to the beach.

[Lady Jane]

WOW, that sounds fabulous Sprat. The food presentation is wonderful.

[northcoast]

The food was really beautifully presented....looks almost more like a "sculpture" than plate of food.....very appetizing....glad you enjoyed your dinner there. Was the lime mousse something like key lime pie?

[Sprat]

We were up early and walked around the grounds... These young boys were heading to the culinary school in uniform. I learned that the school offers free tuition to all Jamaicans and has 100's of students per year. Some stay on campus in the dorms, also at no cost to the student and family. For a country that thrives on tourism this is certainly a great education and training for young Jamaican youth.



The flowers were beautiful around the property and the grounds were well kept.

[Sprat]

Time to hop in the car and head for the Cardiff Hall Beach for some good home cooked Jamaican food.....



The restauant was called 'Flavours' and there were lots of people enjoying the public beach...



We met this guy right the getgo...and we bought a likkle ring from him...and bought him a beer...

[Seveen]

now that is some good looking food! and that dessert looks scrumpous - what a myriad of tastes to go with that chocolate cake

wonderful picture of peter at firefly! love it

[ackee]

Sprat, dem food plates look like those yu have pon yu website!! Works of art!