To the bale - Thank you all, one love... and Gerry - coming up here...
VVHT - I totally agree about Chris and Francine and SeaStar is great. I will offer another reason why momentarily...
Misti - Thank you, my dear. I truly believe to get the most out of an experiential life you have to extend A LOT of trust. When you do that, however, you are exposed to the misdeeds of the devious and dishonest. The trick, I think, is to offer the trust but limit the exposure. In that regard I was an epic fail here...
So where were we? Oh yes...
There is a little bit of disorientation as we awake this morning. We’ve been in Jamaica four nights and our heads have not hit the same pillow two nights in a row. OK, sit up, check the surroundings, we’re at SeaStar. Yes, it’s all true. Now the question is, “Can we make it like it never really happened?”
We pull ourselves together and head down for some coffee and breakfast. GerryG is there with his full working kit – notepad and pencil, laptop, cellphone, camera I think. He is in full on GerryG On The Scene mode. We bounce back and forth between tables a bit. Gerry’s gear takes up a good chunk of his table and SuzieQ comes and goes a few times. Francine, Chris’s wife, has sat down with us a few tables away. We fill Gerry in on the events of the previous evening. He is very generous in offering assistance.
As Gerry and Suzie gear up and head off for another scooter adventure Francine has settled into our table. She is an amazing lady. Multi-talented, highly motivated and entrepreneurial, Francine is a powerhouse. She is a busy woman with her hands in a great number of activities. As she sits at the table with us there are a number of phone calls regarding “the situation”. Chicken is going to pick us up at 11 so we can go talk to the landlord. We’ll decide what to do after that conversation. I’m extremely anxious. Francine says, “I just don’t feel like doing it today!” and calls off a couple of morning commitments. She stays and talks with us for hours, keeping our minds occupied. What a lovely woman.
Chicken calls and says he’s running a little late. We’ve decided we’re going to stay at SeaStar for another night but have also decided that we’re going to look at this as an opportunity. “Clean slate, Sweetie, let’s make the best of what we’ve got left. You’ve seen most of the cliffs, we’ve walked the beach, where would you like to be? We’re already screwed financially, a few hundred more won’t be that much worse…” We start talking about possibilities. A night or two on the beach, Xtabi, Blue Cave, maybe a night at Rockhouse or someplace special. Catcha would be awesome but they’re booked. It helps take a little of the edge off.
Chicken arrives and we have a good conversation. On the ride down we stop at Ras Rody’s for some vegetable soup. Chicken is a soup guy, let me tell you, right after my heart. I think if he could have a styrofoam cup attached to him somehow he’d go for it. Rody’s veggie soup is excellent.
The visit with the landlord is depressing and disappointing. Our acquaintance is there. There is no compensation, there is no recourse. There is no way we are going to continue to stay at the property. So it’s about exactly what I was expecting. Real, true, total drag. Sweetie Pie walks around the property while we talk in the apartment, her observations only reinforce what we think has happened. After way too long a conversation to no good end, we leave. We talk about what to do, there aren’t any good options. In the end we decide to let it ride, take our lumps and move on.
Chicken runs us to the ATM and we cash up. We’re dropped back at SeaStar and offer many thanks to Chicken and his family. Really glad they were in our corner this stretch. We grab some lunch and head up to the room for a quick nap. We’re thinking we need to be down at Mi Yard around 3 for the pub crawl, figure we’ll get a taxi down. Slight miscalculation there. Some time a little after 2 there is a bit of telephonic interruptus to the napping situation. There is apparently a love bus waiting for us at the gate. How convenient! We’ll be right down. Well, soon come, anyway…
