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"
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.
come on bro, of course they were working as a group. that's a very typical set up. the whole time you were staring down the one guy he was probably just keeping you engaged, letting you feel froggy and keep some face, while his bredren was doing the lift. I'd lay odds on that. pickpocketing depends on distraction. some of the crews are actually a little hilarious- one team caught at wavs during a stageshow was a man and man woman crew- by that I mean one man was dressed like a woman. They were hosing people left and right and just got too greedy and being from out of town tried to fleece a sav cop. Definitely the wrong pocket to have your hand caught in lmao. Anyway they had about 50 empty wallets stashed with a wig and dress. They didn't have any of the cash, there was a third part of the team who walked off with that.Originally Posted by gerryg123
don't feel anyway, it's not exactly that you were the white guy or whatever, pick pocketing is an opportunists job, catch them all the while and they don't tend to discriminate.
i wouldn't go announcing you roll out with so much cash much less announce anything of the sort. I don't see why people would egg you on about it to be honest just to fan the trip report, please be smart. no trip report is worth getting pinched out of all your cash and worse, as ackee said discretion is the better part of valor. You wouldn't go onto a NYC travel forum and announce where and when and how you were going to be about the place would you? Like hey everybody, I get into town tomorrow and I'm going to hang at XYZ Bar (look for me on a moped) and I always have 700 bucks on me!!! Would you? No man...lol...anyone who did that you'd think was nuggin futz.
Also, most Jamaicans, like 99.99999999999999999999999999 with a couple more 9999999999s literally detest thieves and will just as soon put a chop in one as look at one. Just so you know...anyway am not saying you should have shouted them out for street justice, just saying discretion is the better part of valor in the very first place right?
"I beseech thee, my lord , let this venture be mine..."
-Sir Gawain
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.
Glad you are feeling better and having a great time, Gerry!
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!
Last edited by gerryg123; 01-09-2012 at 09:55 AM.
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!
Last edited by gerryg123; 01-09-2012 at 09:56 AM.
So by now it was late afternoon. I was making my out towards the main road from Seastar Inn with Jodie, and who do we run into but the great Brassi from New York ... We make plans to have dinner together in a bit at Bentley's Crab House -- a recommendation from boardie Marko, who has become a close friend through the months (he is right behind me, scheduled to arrive at Seastar Inn in two weeks).
I had made prior arrangements with Bentley -- great guy, BTW -- for a FEAST to include lobster, a large stack of crab cakes and like four different side dishes. I dashed down the hill to give me 50 dollars cause we had never met, and I wanted Bentley to know it was all good and he had no worries because biz is slow in Negril these days -- especially for Bentley cause he is off the main road on Pee Wee Lane near Samsara, about a quarter mile up, so it's hard to find.
Meanwhile, Jodie said she wanted to visit Bantons, and frankly so did I cause I have missed him on the two or three times I tried to visit over the past few days. This time, he was there, so did the whole fist bump thing and smoked up -- he says he wants to be in my trip report (Rob says I should get permission if I use real names, so I have been doing so).
Keith, my friend from Philly, joined us, and there also was a young kid, maybe 7 years old, who reeled off some DJ rap lyrics and was quite impressive! I told him he was going to be famous one day ......
Well, the sun was setting, and I knew I had to hook up with Brasi down the road and eat at Bentley's, so I dropped Jodie off, and descended on Seastar Inn. Brasi did not want to ride on the scooter with me -- understandable, especially considering it had begun to rain -- so we cabbed it to Bentleys, where we had a truly incredible meal that included great conversation and good vibes, as we had the second-floor restaurant all to ourselves.
There, I met an American who was Bentley's good friend. His name was Andy, and he wants to be in the report. He is a spear fisherman, and had got a lionfish that day that he ate raw like sushi! True story~~~
He says he will take me spear fishing with him later in the week -- an incredible stroke of luck, as I had put a post up a month ago or so about wanting to try spear fishing~!
It was still wet when we returned, so Brasi and I hung out until the wee hours drinking mixed cocktails and talking about our lives -- it was a nice time, though here we are back to the present, and I am bit hungover.
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.
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