TRAIL OF ASHES TOUR: The adventure continues as Gerry G returns to Negril

[Patty Sather]

[negrilbound]

Gerry,
I completely agree,,,,,,you were completely unfocused,,,,,,It's all Scrub A Dubs fault,,,,lol
there should of been some scantily clad strippers and some bone humping music going on, a little bump and grind,,, and you would not have lost your train of thought,,,,lol
As the most interesting man in the world would say " Stay focused my friend"

[gerryg123]

So backtracking just a bit, Saturday night was a really fun night. The anti-inflammatory shot kicked in nicely, so I was nearly back to normal speed -- read not very fast -- and the only bad thing was no head buzz, otherwise a great shot.

The Seastar drummers came out to blur of motion and tribal beats, including Francine (lady is a bundle of energy, I will say that), and the crowd was swelling. Center was the wedding party, including the groom who was smoking spliffs during most of the revelry, along with my friend from South Dakota, coincidentally, who served as Best Man.

I met Negril Bill, great guy. He was taking pro photos of the event, and he says he is an ocassional poster on here but more so a VERY dedicated lurker ..... Also, I guess he knows Jodie from way back from when she was a bartender, says she is good people, but of course I already know. She is just so kind and incredibly respectful to everyone she meets. And she always sparks up a friendly conversation with any and all locals and workers.

Anyway, I also met the owner of Xtabi, who was at the bar and in a great mood. I guess he and Chris are good friends, sure seemed that way. I told the Xtabi owner that I loved his establishment, and Chris chimed right in: "Watch out, he is going to ask you for something!"

Frankly, I would have liked some information about why Donovan is no longer there since he's been an Xtabi fixture for like 18 years. But it was all good, a party, and I did not want to ask in case there was some embarassment on someone's part. I guess peeps come and go, ain't my business, but Donovan was a special bartender IMO.

[gerryg123]

Anyway, I was kind of back and forth from up and down the hill because I also wanted to catch a little Yellowman at Roots, so that's probably why I did not bump into Brasi. But I did hang for a bit with Rob, who warned me NEVER to carry cash in my back pocket -- some Negril advice I promise to take seriously!!!

BTW, I do work in the music industry back home, and I have to say Steven West's talent is off the charts -- especially the backup singers particularly the keyboard player who was smokin' and playin' at the same time.

Also, Robin Banks has an amazing voice -- can't that lyric out of 'I can't stop loving you, I can't stop wanting you" out of mind. Reminds my of Cheap Trick.

[Schuttzie]

Glad you are feeling better and having a great time, Gerry!

[gerryg123]

I am having a good time. I woke up Sunday and knew I had an action-packed day ahead.

First, I had a nice breakfast at Sunset on the Cliffs -- Jamaica theme again -- before checking out, as today I was ready to check in officially to Seastar Inn.

So I took the motorbike to Seastar, just to make sure we were all good (of course we were), then decided to pick up Jodie up the road, as I had not seen her in a couple days while recovering from my inflammed joints. BTW, I am perfect now, feel just fine, so that is good.

[gerryg123]

So I told Jodie let's spend the day together, though I have some little errands to run, so you get on the back of the scooter, and we would be good to go. So my beautiful Negril girlfriend hops on, and first I need to back up a bit, cause I had actually picked her up first and brought her to Sunset on the Cliffs to check out -- in more ways than one, as we got exceptionally stoned smoking spliffs on the balcony while enjoying the ocean.

Anyway, I knew I had to get my luggage to Seastar before checking in later cause I had a snorkel appointment at noon with Famous Vincent. So we flagged down a red-plate taxi and I paid him 500j to tote my luggage to Seastar Inn, as I followed behind in the scooter.

It was nice to take a hot shower, I had been missing that at Sunset at the Cliffs, which had two temperatures for the shower -- cold and VERY coldThen we went to vis. it the fishermen near the river, and I got a big ol' bag of little fish to fry at Booby Cay as part of the snorkel trip that was coming up soon. I could not find Patrick, the fisherman who last time gave me a great deal on a big string of fish n lobster, but this time for only seven dollars I got a lot of fish, like 16 of them!

[gerryg123]

So the plan was the meet my friend Anthony at Whistling Bird; he is a great guy, an expat who runs the hotel and has been in Negril for like 20 years .... he has some great stories about the old days when schools of hundreds of rays used to darken the shore on the beach.

Oh yes, I cleared up the issue of who owns Whistling Bird, an issue that was disputed in my last report six months ago. Anthony has indeed inherited the hotel from his parents. He says he wants to be in my trip report again, too.

We ate jerk chicken at Whistling Bird -- spicy, good but still not quite as good as the road-side jerk stands -- then Roger, Vincent's first mate, called and said he was having issues and was sending another boat to pick me up. All good. We were greeted with a new boat and crew a short time later, joining three other couples of mix-n-match Canadians n Negril locals, and we stopped for a snorkel on the way to Booby Cay. It was a bit choppy but still fun!

[gerryg123]

At Booby Cay, I met 'Homie,' an older gentleman who is always cooking on the island with a couple of others. He says he wants to be in this report.

We had the fish, which he cooked for us, plus I bought two big lobsters for $30, plus $10 to cook everything, it was all good.

A baby moray eel was near the shore, swimming around, but no rays this time.

We smoked and ate a big plate each, then with the sun shining nicely compared to overcast on the way there, we returned to Whistling Bird, where we hopped on the motor bike and officially checked in at Seastar Inn.

[negrilbay]

Glad your having a good time Jerry, wheres the pic?