Paradox in Paradise

[Rum-polephoreskin]

Jim/Donna,
So to speak, yippee!

[Fred Stripe]

Life++++ Is what happens when youre busy making other plans......

[Guirigay]

Great trip! Lots of romance, lots of fun and a lot of stories. It may take me a couple of days to get things sorted and settled here before I can do much with the trip report. I tried to start a thread about Bentleys that I promised him I would but I think it might have been pulled for excessive use of wild carded expletives It was a rather emphatic rally cry to go to Bentleys

[vikman]

Guirigay
Glad you had a good time. Let me know how you liked HSH leaving next Tuesday for a 11 day stay there
Nick

[MoFromMonroe]

can't wait to hear about hsh

[rastalady]

Thanks for sharing. I can not wait for the story to unfold.

[Guirigay]

I have photos Patty!! toy camera had some problems with the high contrast though, we'll have to see how the sea window shots came out, they might be pretty shadowy. Have a couple other nice shots from the boulder cave where we could get better lighting so I'll probably throw a couple of them up when I get a chance.

[Patty Sather]

I have photos Patty!! toy camera had some problems with the high contrast though, we'll have to see how the sea window shots came out, they might be pretty shadowy. Have a couple other nice shots from the boulder cave where we could get better lighting so I'll probably throw a couple of them up when I get a chance.

YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I cant wait!

[Guirigay]

As soon as we walk out the door Chris is standing there with a Home Sweet Home sign. God do I feel good, I turn to Sweetie Pie and kiss her and we’re off. There is another couple waiting at the airport bar, they’ve apparently had to wait about 90 minutes for us. They’re an older couple, somewhere in their sixties from southern Indiana. The husband has a pretty good one going and says he spent more in the bar waiting for us than the taxi is going to cost. I tell them I’ll buy them a Stripe when we stop for the trouble. We stop at Pork Pit and get some jerked pork and a couple of Stripes. Big load of mild sauce on one side and a smaller load of the hot stuff on the other. It is delicious. Sweetie Pie is digging in, saying “Now I feel like I’m in Jamaica!” We scarf it down, it’s so delicious that I’m licking, sucking, semi-abusing my fingers. I would later regret this action.

So we’re sitting at the table at Pork Pit, 15 maybe 20 minutes out of the airport doors and I have my first awkward Jamaican moment. Old Indy has actually brought down some medicinal with him, this just makes me shake my head. He imbibes before we go into the Pit so he’s even more relaxed as we’re talking about the excitement of being in Jamaica. They’ve been several times. I tell them I’ve been a few and mention some of the things I love about it. Here’s where it gets awkward. Sweetie Pie says she thinks she heard one thing, I think I heard something worse, but either would be seriously problematic for me. What Sweetie Pie heard Old Indy say was, “I love everything about Jamaica except the natives.” I heard something a sight worse… In any case Mrs. Indy smacks Old Indy and says, “They’ve just met us!” Awkward! If they weren’t going to be at the same small hotel as us for the next week I would have said something but considering his list I couldn’t see any positive coming out of it. So neither Sweetie or I said anything, but on the way back to the taxi Sweetie Pie whispered, “I don’t like that guy.” This is a very rare occurrence.

On the way to Negril Chris takes us to Percy’s Garden Retreat in Orange Bay. This is a very cool place up in the hills. Chris had his wedding reception there in December. It’s mostly used for day trips out of Negril. If you like the Jamaican countryside chill I would highly recommend it. The centerpiece of the property is a river bar. Yes, a bar built over a river. Very cool, very easy to relax. Sweetie Pie is amazed, she asks for a good Jamaican drink. We talk about the options a little bit and she settles on a rum and ting. She got the hang of the Jamaican thing really easy. She knocked a couple back, said they were delicious, she was hooked. We walk the property, it’s very nice old school Jamaica. Percy was working in Negril when most people still camped there, his place has that kind of feeling. Old Indy is a wreck by the time we leave and has managed a few more inappropriate but less overt comments. Percy wants to talk us into a day trip with the other couple to the retreat. We have to pass. Sweetie Pie says the place is beautiful and she wouldn’t mind going but…



We head out for Negril and I’m talking to Chris about what has changed since my last visit. A lot. The hotels start much sooner, Bloody Bay is mostly full now. I see all the old haunts go by a lot under different names now. Into town and up the west end road and soon we’re there. “Here we are, Home Sweet Home,” says Chris. I laugh and say,” I bet you like saying that.” “Ya mon,” comes the reply.

[Guirigay]

Charlie greets us and our bags are taken up. We’re shown the room and given a demonstration on how to use the TV and cable setup. We don’t turn it on the whole week. The verandah doors are swung open, we don’t shut them the whole week. After unpacking a little and getting out of our travel clothes we head down to the restaurant. Dirty Bananas!! Hay Suess they are good!! We order some dinner, Brown Stew Fish for me and Fish Escoveitched for Sweetie Pie. I like the brown stew, the escoveitch is good but they do the dry escoveitch there and to me that’s more like English fish and chips. Good, but I like it better when it’s in a sauce with veggies. Sweetie Pie loves it all. The escoveitch is very vinegary which is going to cause a bad association for me later in the night. I have had a strange low grade headache in the temples since about Percy’s. I write it off to travel and dehydration. I start drinking copious amounts of water. We have a couple more stripes at the bar and head up to the room. Flowers are waiting for Sweetie Pie in the room. I tell her flowers will be coming every day. She gets melty. We spend a little time on the verandah. We are in awe. I read her Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster. This is public domain material Rob -

Beautiful Dreamer
by Stephen Foster

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng.

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chaunting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!



We eventually drift off to sleep with the sea breeze rustling through the palm outside our room. We are in Jamaica!