Hettie & Chad December 2011 Trip Report

[Hettie]

This was my morning wake-up call:

BARK BARK BARK!!!!!

rowrrr

BARK BARK BARK!!!!!

Rowrrrrrrr

BARK BARK BARK!!!!!

ROWRRRRRR!!!! HISS!!!

YELP YELP YELP yelp yelp yelp...(fading into the distance)

So I guess that cat had enough of that dog and popped him right on the nose. I dozed off again and woke up at 7:00. Normal morning routine of coffee (rum cream for me) and sitting on the verandah. Saw a cute bird and pulled out my Birds of Jamaica book and tried to identify it, but it was one of those birds that looks like 19 other birds, so not really sure which one it was. Did some more yoga while Chad went down to the swim platform to meditate. I looked over and saw that the crabbies were getting alarmingly close to his feet since he was so calm and still, you can just barely see them in the photo.


Sadly, those are the only two photos I have from that day. I must have gotten lazy and left my camera at the house or just not gotten it out much. Sorry...at least Day 3 will fit in one post.

After our morning Zen activities, we drove out to Out of Town Pastry for breakfast and both had ackee loaf (Chad also had a beef patty). Those ackee loaves are so delicious, I love them. Unfortunately, my gluten-intolerant body does not love them and it immediately made me feel like I had just eaten a bag of cement. Chad also has the misfortune of a gluten allergy, so we decided that was it for ackee loaves this reach. Our trips to Negril are the only times we drink beer and eat very much gluten containing foods, so it's pretty much a puffy, bloated, water retention fest the whole time, but-- totally worth it.

Up until recently, had never been to Red Dragon but always wanted to go. We decided to locate the place for future reference, but I was completely off on the location and we didn't find it that day. Maps of Negril always throw me off because the place looks so much bigger on a map that I always feel like everything is more spread out than it really is. We were down by the Texaco station and up toward Scrub a Dub thinking that was the area...sigh. We did eventually find it, another day.

We gave up and went back to Citronella to swim and chill. Not sure if anything else interesting happened, that's all I put in my notes. I can guess that the sea started to get rough, because we decided to go to the beach. I've learned that if the sea on the cliffs is calm, take advantage!!! Without fail, we have calm seas the first couple of days on the cliffs, and then huge swells or choppy waves every day thereafter-- this reach was no exception.

We went to our regular hangout Sun Beach and were happy to see Dennis again and the new bar location. The place looks nice and they're doing more construction, interested to see the outcome. It was lunch time and oddly enough, as frequently as we've been to Sun Beach, we had never eaten there. Someone recently on the board was raving about (obsessed with?) their escoveitch, so we both ordered it, and man, is it good! My favorite! It's very spicy, with big slices of scotch bonnet, which I eat up and they're fine going in...but talk about some pepper belly the next day (I know, TMI). Oh well, totally worth it.

Dennis set up a spot for us to lounge, which is what we did for the afternoon, watching the beach activity and soaking up the sun. One of the beach bands came by and played a song about Big Bamboo for all the Sun Beach patrons, assigning/directing each verse to a different gentleman. Chad got to be King of the Big Bamboo, which I think he was secretly thrilled about.

We went back to Citronella to put on real clothes then went to 3 Dives for sunset and dinner. We both got quarter chickens and barely had time to chill out on the cliff with the sunset before they were waving at us to come eat. I couldn't believe how quickly our food was ready, almost too fast since we've learned to get there before we actually are hungry. We gobbled the food anyway, it was delicious as usual, but now the granny sauce is not spicy enough for us. I don't think they've changed it, Chad and I have both just developed a high tolerance for spicy food, so in the future we're going to be on a mission to find the SPICIEST jerk/barrel chicken in Negril or the surrounding area...suggestions are welcome.

After our meal I decided I needed a dirty banana for dessert and Xtabi is right next door, so let's go! Their dirty bananas are still delicious, but I got a weird vibe there and we've stayed there twice before. Not sure what was different, it may have been that I was concerned about the two parrots in the cage, which I sincerely hope are rescues or being rehabilitated from injuries or something. I didn't ask, not sure if I want to know the answer. The place just felt different, it's hard to explain. The staff we encountered were not people we've met before, so maybe that's it.

So now I'm all sugared up from that dirty banana and feeling like I could fall asleep right there at the Xtabi bar, so we head back to Citronella for the verandah ritual. We bust out the tunes and citronella candles tonight for a real party! In looking at my notes I apparently started thinking about going to sleep at 6:30 pm...wow...but managed to stay awake until 8:30...really...seriously?