Mr. X does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

[Orchid]

Good stuff, it took me a couple of days to get here (sneak reading at work). I'm ready for some more!

[Mr. X]

Mr. X Does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

Chapter 18 – Seastar Inn
September 4th, 2010 – Saturday – Day 1 (AKA D-Day)
Pitch dark as we head into the outskirts of Negril. Can see sunset in far distance little burb of light but dark everywhere else. Looks beautiful if you had been in say Negril to see it instead of driving to Negril and missing it.

Came thru Negril. Dark and wet so could not see much. I tried. Explained landmarks best I could. Bloody Bay, Great Morass, Main beach, Negril river, Canoe, Start of cliffs. Baby look the Blue Cave Castle. Road is curvy and dark. Almost to Ricks on west end road and you turn left on Seastar Lane. A road but not like main road. I would say a Lane. Go about ¼ mile or less that looks more like a neighborhood with both nice homes and very modest looking residences and everything in between. Mostly looked like a neighborhood verse a tourist area. On right is entrance to Seastar Inn.

Gates were closed. Granville explained we were checking in. So they opened gates and we pulled in. Check in desk was a 20 feet from the car
Looks just like the photos on website. To my right I can see the bar area, hear the band playing and see 20 people are so spread out over 100 feet to the bar. I know it’s a small private hotel that has a webcast party every Saturday that gets a mix of local and tourists for the show and buffet. Good way to get a feel for things.

We did not arrive until about 815 pm and show had already started. Not big crowd but given the circumstances it was important for the show to go on.

At this point does not matter what room I wanted or planned for. Better that the girls are happy with the rooms.
Wifes went to look at rooms. We stayed at front desk and talked to owner of Seastar Inn (Chris). I mentioned we were aware of the situation and just wanted to be respectful and stay out of their way. Friendly and laid back. Now the girls want us to come look. Fine. Left bags at front desk. I wanted rooms 15 and 16 ($59 each) but they made a better choice.

Room 10 we each had nice bedroom but there was big room, kitchen and bar area we could all hang out together in. Only had 1 bathroom and it was separate from bedrooms. I don’t even like sharing a bathroom with my wife but it’s not like we got a formal something to get ready for. Not like we had to spend much time getting ready so only 1 bathroom was no big deal at all. Seastar Inn (room 10) $119. Paid the same as we would have for the two single rooms. Way better because instead of hanging out in bedroom now we have big open area with plenty of room for everybody.

Check in just paid $119 cash and put everything else on our tab and we will pay when we check out. No hammock on patio of our room. Girls say it was a little bit of sticking point no hammock on patio. Seem like an issue except there were hammocks all over the property to lie in. So in reality did not matter in the least. We put our stuff in the room. We hung out in the room for half hour. Room was fine. Clean. It was built like an apartment. Felt comfortable. Big walk in closets. Like 10 feet by 10 feet. Way more in fact than I need. My suitcase is going to sit on the floor of the closet. No need to unpack just pull out bathroom bag. Big open living room and kitchen. Full size refrigerator. Stove top. Like an apartment. We are not going to do any cooking but we wanted frig to put cold drinks etc in. I like the big open rooms and kitchen and the nice terrace. Solid concrete walls and floor and ceiling. Not luxury but clean and comfortable. Sofas and chairs. It’s like a 2 bedroom apartment. Built for someone to live here. Me likey.

Past our room is a set of stairs that led up to what I don’t know but there was only like a board laying on ground to step over to go up. As we walked in with suit cases I asked the lady that showed us the room what that led to. She said it went to the rooftop and we could go up there and do anything we wanted. I thanked her. Went inside. What does that mean “anything we want I thought to myself?” Maybe this was some kind of “nudie” place? OMG I will never hear the end of it from my wife and friends if I booked us into some kind of nudist hotel or something. I read a lot about Seastar Inn and no mention of that. Nah she must have meant we could go up there and hang out or whatever. I got to get a smoke, can investigate the dark stairs with no railing later.

Now here is where the story may take a strange turn for some. Don’t worry about it. I am not a role model. Just breeze over.
I am going to be blunt.
We both brought cigars from home.
Same kind.
Same size.
Dutch Master Vanilla cigarillos.
In fact we got at least 70 between us.
Apparently the tobacco in our small cigars had gone “bad” yet the double wraps of tobacco leaves on each were in excellent condition. Therefore it was necessary to unroll our cigars take out the “bad” tobacco and replace it with whatever local tobacco we could acquire.

Fortunately as with all my travels in Jamaica people always want to give me some of the local tobacco. So we just rerolled with the local tobacco and put back in cigar box. (Let me get this straight. You brought ur own professional cigar roller to Jamaica from another island country known for cigar rolling? That’s how we do it in the ATL bro! Besides my friend is more like world class nonprofessional cigar roller. When I asked him where he learned his amazing skills he said he went to college in the USA). Tested one and seemed to work just fine. Took away my lingering dizziness and anxiety in a flash.