Wow, thanks everyone for the positive feedback! It really is a lot of fun reliving the experience through a trip report.
Rambo & Markospoon, that is high praise coming from you guys! You both are LEGENDS in my book.
Ok, here is the rest of Day one...
After dinner, my wife and I began to discuss what our plans were for the rest of the evening. After a long day of travel, we agreed that we didn't want to go out and do anything too wild, but we were interested in checking out the neighborhood. I said to my wife, "Let's take a walk down the road. I heard there is a little grocery store not far away where we can pick up some Red Stripes and snacks. Plus, we need to grabs some "rolls" for making submarine sandwiches." My wife said, "Sounds good!"
I'll admit, I was a little nervous about our first venture outside the comforts of Home Sweet Home. I had done extensive reasearch (on Negril.com and other sites) so I thought I knew what to expect, but you're never really prepared until you experience it. My wife, on the other hand, left all the trip planning to me, so she had no idea what to expect. She was blissfully naive, as they say, which is why I love her.
The sun had just set, so it wasn't completely dark, but it was getting there. We confidently stode through the gates of Home Sweet Home and turned right toward the direction of the L&M Market. We walked along a grassy strip on the side of road, so that we could stay out of traffic. First we passed Gas's Scooter Rental, which also, apparently, sells beach towels. Next came Blue Cave Castle and then PeeWee's on the cliff side. That wasn't soo bad. We weren't hassled at all, and even received a few friendly greetings from people hanging out in the yards on the opposite side of the road. Across from Pee Wee's I spotted the sign for "L&M Enterprises", so we crossed the road and entered the store.
Much like a 7-11 in the states, L&M had a little bit of everything. We went to the refrigerated section and grabbed a 6-pack of Red Stripe. My wife wanted a snack for the hotel room, so she grabbed a bag of Doritos. I said, "Hon, anything imported from the US is going to be expensive". We looked at the bag, and written in black marker was the price - "$450". I said, "That's like 5 bucks for a bag of Doritos. Why don't we try a Jamaican snack?". We settled on a bag of plaintain chips, at a more reasonable price.
As I approached the counter, I remembered that we needed something to roll our subs in. Prior to our trip, I had read on another website that Jamaicans refer to cigarette papers as "Bamboos". This somewhat made sense to me because I was familiar with the Big Bambu' brand of rolling papers from Cheech & Chong fame. Little did I know that I was probably misinformed.
There was an older gentleman at the counter who totaled up my Red Stripe and plaintain chips on a handheld calculator. I then asked the gentleman, "Can I also have some bamboos?". He responded with a quizical look, "Pardon me?" Nervously, I replied,"Um, do you, uh, have any rolling papers?". The clerk then then said,"Ohh, you mean Rizlas!" Finally on the same page, I smiled and said, "Yes! Rizlas, please!". The clerk turned around and grabbed a pack of Lion Pride off the shelf and put it in a black plastic bag with the rest of my purchases.
Little did I know at the time that "Bamboo" has another meaning in the Jamaican vernacular. Boy, was I embarassed when I found out!
We walked out of L&M and began to cross the street, when we noticed an old Rasta sitting just inside the fence at Pee Wee's. In a low voice he called out to us and grabbed our attention, "Hey mon, welcome to Jamaica!". We stopped by the fence and said,"Thank you". He said, "Can I help you find anyting?" I replied, "No, thank you. We're all set." To that he responded,"Ok. If you ever need anyting, I am out here every night. I can be found between Samsara and Pee Wee's". He then asked, where are you from?" I said,"We're from Philadelphia." "Ahh, Philadelphia!, the first capital of the United States.", he replied. Impressed with his knowledge of US history, I said,"That's right! Philadelphia is a very historic town." "Well, if you ever want to grab a beer, and talk about politics or history or anyting else, you can come back here and find me" the Rasta replied. "Sounds good!", I said. We bumped fists and with a "Respect", we were on our way back to HSH.
We relaxed on our balcony for rest of the evening and enjoyed the quiet calm of the cliffs and the cooling ocean breeze. We fell asleep easily that night, with anticipation of our first full day in Negril.
Coming up: Day 2
- Mr. and Mrs. D go snorkeling off the cliffs
- Canoe Bar Thursday webcast
- Reggae/Fashion show at Bourbon Beach
(clap clap clap) EXCELLENT report - more pretty please!!!!!
Preach Peace / Live Love / Blessed Be
ONE LOVE
Sweetness
Hahaahah "bamboo please!" too funny...
OMG.....asking the clerk for some bamboos.....that had me busting out laughing!
Wish I could have seen his face
Loving the report!!!
LOL!!Little did I know at the time that "Bamboo" has another meaning in the Jamaican vernacular. Boy, was I embarassed when I found out!
Loving your TR so far!Looking forward to your next update!
Carpe Diem
Nice.......
i live for trip reports! you're doing a great job . . .
Hahahahahaha Good thing you weren't looking for jumbo sized papers....think if you'd asked for big bamboos HAHAHA that made me laugh so hard Mike
Stir IT UP
Excellent job. I love it. Good details!
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