Sam I Am's Trip Report May 2011 (Part1)

[Sam I Am]

DISCLAIMER:
A few warnings and excuses...
1. While I have been to Negril many times and often keep a journal, I have never done a trip report, so this may suck.
2. I have have already been home for about a month, so the info contained within may be out of date.
3. I am boring. Sorry, but this definitely wont be action packed.
4. I hate taking photos. I have a few but we are talking single digit pics, dont get your hopes up.

Now that I have sufficiently lowered your expectations, we shall begin.

BACKGROUND:
I am a early 30's female who has been traveling to Negril for the past 10 years. Sometimes I travel with friends, sometimes family, sometimes solo. I am a creature of habit so I often fall into comfortable patterns.

DAY NEGATIVE ONE:
I call it -1 due to the fact that I always fly red-eyes from the west coast, so while I am excited to be leaving, it is not really my first day of vacation. The flight was scheduled to leave at 11:20pm. I arrive on time and once again the flight to Charlotte is totally full. So full they require me to check my carryon at the gate. I hate that. I am never confident it will get all the way to JA.

Onto the plane and of course there is a delay. Mechanical problem with the toilets. Apparently they wont be able to flush during takeoff and landing.... last time I checked we could not use the toilets then anyway!! So we wait an hour to see if they can be fixed. I am starting to worry since my layover in Charlotte is only 1.5 hours and we are already a hour behind. After much discussion they decide it is no big deal and we can fly without fixing them.... UGH!

The flight was fine, but I cant sleep on planes, so it was long and stressful thinking that I and/or my bags would never make my connecting flight.

DAY ONE:
We arrived in Charlotte and I frantically ran through the airport to my gate. Just in time and on the way to JA By the time I arrived in MoBay, I was more relieved that excited to be there. I am a crazy OCD planner and organizer (which happens at home but disappears in JA), so the past few weeks were stressful. But I was here

Customs/Immigration was fast for a Saturday morning and only took about 10 minutes. I met DeShaun from Clives outside and got my first cold Red Stripe of the trip...always the best one. I tried to get my digicel working while I waited for the van to pull around. Oh and I gladly took off my watch and put it away (not to be worn again for 2 weeks).

Into the van and on the road. Cell was not working, so I would need a new SIM card. There were about 6 other people in the van heading to a wedding at Beaches, so I was not able to convince them to stop more than the prerequisite bathroom/beer break. Dropped them off and then I was pulling into White Sands.

White Sands is my home away from home. I love it there and it fits my needs perfectly. I got my regular room, unpacked a bit and then it was time to hit the bar. I said hi to Tony (the Bartender), ordered a daily special (jamaican delight), and said hello to a few regular guests that I knew.

I then grabbed a taxi downtown to get a new SIM at the digicel store and change some money. Then back to the bar at WS with some Best In The West chicken for dinner. Food was good, but not as great as I remembered.

I headed to the room early due to being awake for the past 40 hours and having too many first night drinks. Fell asleep drunk and happy

[Sam I Am]

DAY TWO:
I woke up early and a little hungover. A typical start to every trip for me. The best solution for me is a greasy breakfast and a swim in the ocean. I had the full breakfast at White Sands (bacon, eggs, toast, fruit, OJ). It was good and I was feeling better already.

I posted up in the shade on the beach and read, napped and swam the morning away. I then decided to walk down the beach to Alfreds and cut through to the road to buy some supplies at Shamrock. I came back with drinks and snacks for the room. I am obsessed with Excelsior Water Crackers and Hardo bread. So that plus Shamrock OJ and Pepsi and I was set for next few days worth of munchies.

Back to the beach after putting the items in my room. I hung at the bar and drank pina coladas for a while but eventually hunger forced me to walk over to Niah's for a chicken patty. So good but they didn't have any of that great dipping sauce...damn slow season!

Back to room to clean up and then walked down to Aqua to check in at the webcast. I hung out there for a while with Scott & Janet, Ras Walleye, Tawnee and Rob & Lisa. Scott tried to teach me the finer points of Rum drinking... it may have been a futile effort as I am still partial to Appleton Special. After sunset, I walk back to Sun Beach for my favorite dinner... Escovich Fish. I love escovich, and Sun Beach has always been my favorite! Spicy and lip tingling. Red Stripes were cold and the food great!

Back to the bar for a few drinks and then off to bed.

[Sam I Am]

DAY THREE:
Another early morning, so I went for a walk on the beach and settled at Coco La Palm for breakfast. I love their Banana Bread. I then took a walk the other direction down to Bourbon Beach, cut through to the road and stopped in at the cambio to change some money. I always seem to meet some real characters in there. This trip was no different.

Back to the beach to read and swim. Around 1:00, I headed to the room to cleanup and then caught a taxi to Red Dragon. I hung out a bit with Ras Walleye and ate some delicious mouth numbing jerk pork. I think I got a pepper on accident because I actually started crying. It hurts so good! I had to save the rest to take back for a snack later. From there I walked down to the roundabout and stopped in at Spotlight to check a friend. He works as a cook at the little grill there. Always some good people watching there.

I taxied back to my hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon at the bar and on the beach (and finished the rest of my jerk pork without anymore tears). Around 7, I set off looking for dinner. A friend called and offered to drive me someplace if I needed a ride, so I chose Sweet Spice since I am often too lazy to get all the way there without a ride.

Sweet Spice was great and I had the brown stew fish. I really have to go there more often. Taxied back to the hotel and off to bed.

[gerryg123]

You're just like me -- food is key part of the vacation ... i've heard VERY mixed things about Sweet Spot, glad you had a good experience there. I want to visit that place next reach cause the locals like it.

[Sam I Am]

DAY FOUR:
I woke up and decided I was not yet totally relaxed and called Jackie's On The Reef to schedule a massage. She said I could come up that morning if I wanted, so I got ready and found a driver. We drove there through Good Hope and Mt Airy. I had never gone that route, so it was nice to see some new sights.

Jackie's is amazing. I went there for the first time a few years ago and vowed that I would make an effort to go each trip. It is so peaceful, the view is spectacular, the breeze is so cooling and the massages are great! I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a massage but also wants to get away for the day. View from the massage area:
Attachment 2099

I then headed back to the beach and chose Boat Bar for lunch. A simple chicken club with fries. Filling and yummy. I like to sit there in the shade, have lunch and read my book. It also always seems to have some interesting people there. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. If you cannot tell, my trips usually revolve around eating, sleeping and reading at the beach. Not too exciting for you boardies to read about but perfect to me.
My regular daily view:
Attachment 2100

I had dinner that night at Rondel's restaurant Island Twist. I had the stew fish which was just ok, but it came with pumpkin soup that was great. I am not sure if it was the soup or the oils from the massage but what I remember most about that dinner was that I was sweating like a pig! I mean I was pouring sweat! Weird!

The bar at White Sands was really quiet that night, so I called my friend who was working at the Spotlight Grill. He told me I should come down and hangout. So off I went. I hung out there for a few hours with the staff who were all bored since it was a quiet night. We chatted and I taught them all to play "Would you rather...". Pretty funny.

I headed back early again, read my book and went to sleep.

[Sam I Am]

Gerry,
Sweet spice is the place I went to...it was great. Nicer restaurant on the road to sav.
I have also eaten many times at sweet spot.... very good box food on the beach road.

[RockRobster]

I second Sweet Spice for good food. But beware on a Saturday night, the do a HUGE carryout business from the cabbies and the delay can be excruciating. The food was really good though....

[Sam I Am]

DAY FIVE:
I was finally able to sleep in a little. It is crazy, I always think that I will sleep in, take naps and catchup on some sleep while on vacation, but it never happens.

Since it was Wednesday, I called Rob to see if the Rhodes Hall party was happening. He said no, so I grabbed my stuff and headed to the beach with no plan for the day other that food, drinks, and reading. And that is exactly what I did. I walked up the beach to Pilot Cafe for the Fry Chicken with Sweet & Sour sauce for lunch (yum). Other than that, I sat and read, chatted, swam, and drank rum punch with Paul (the bartender). The rum punch at White Sands packs a punch for sure. I am not really a rum punch fan in general, but what it lacks in taste it makes up for in alcohol content. Paul mixes up a batch in a jug every hour. I watched him make a jug more closely and was somewhat horrified at the amount of liquor in each drink! You are definitely getting your moneys worth there!

I waited for the Celtics bball game to start and Paul let me control the tv remote. As most of you know, there are no TV's in the standard rooms at White Sands, but I love the fact that it gets me out and meeting people rather that hanging in my room. I really wanted to watch this game and Paul was happy to turn the bar tv over to me for the night. At halftime I ran down to Coletta's for box food. I got the curried conch and it was great. I took it back to the bar to eat and watch the second half of the game. The food, company and game were great that night and I had a blast.

I met up with some friends around 11:30pm and headed out to On The Rocks for Rocky Wednesday, but the place was closed or just really empty, so I just headed back to the hotel and to bed.

[Sam I Am]

DAY SIX:
Another day started with breakfast at White Sands. I never have much motivation to head out in search of food in the mornings. And I love a traditional bacon and eggs type of breakfast, so I often eat right there at the hotel. It was at this point that I remembered that I brought along an old license plate for the White Sands bar. The next time you stop in for a daily drink special, check out the Arizona plate... that's mine! Westcoast representing

Another boring day of read, nap, swim, chat. Life is tough


For lunch I was craving another patty from Niah, but this time I got the Italian. So delicious and so HOT!. That cheese is like molten lava, but it is so hard to not scarf it down anyway!

I headed to Canoe for the webcast in the afternoon. It was nice. I had been to Canoe a few times, but never eaten there, so I was ready to give it a try. I met some more boardies, ordered the Chili Coconut Shrimp and watched the sunset. The food, atmosphere and company were great.

I headed back to the hotel and had a few drinks at the bar. I then called it a night.

[Sam I Am]

DAY SEVEN:
I woke up feeling like this was an errands day. I did so little the day before, that I had a few things I wanted to get accomplished! I walked down to check out the new MiYard on the beach. It seemed nice but didnt have the same energy as the other location. I hope that it picks up and can stay in business. I would love to have a 24 hour spot on the beach. I got a egg sandwich there and then went looking for some credit for my digicel.

I stopped at Mikey's shop near Coco but he was out of credit and told me to come back later. So I decided to hit the beach and get some sun before it got too hot. I am fair skinned so I try to stay out of the sun and in the shade most of the time. People never believe me when I get home and tell them I was in JA for 2 weeks... they always want to know why I am not tan. I dont tan. I am pale or I am burnt. Given those options I choose pale. But I digress... While at the beach I meet some other guests including a mother & her college aged son who seem really nice (we'll call them C & N). We chat and she offers to let me tag along with them tonight to Ricks. She has a rental car. I have never been a huge fan of Ricks, but again, it is hard for me to pass up a free ride. We agree to meet later at their room.

I need to change more money, so I walk down to the cambio at Bourbon Beach again. On the way I finally find my digicel credit. After changing money, I stop in at Yellowbird for the webcast. I promised my coworkers I would pop in and wave to them on camera on this day. I also wanted to try the 2 for 1 dirty bananas there. The drinks were good, but were melting too fast! Guess I have to drink faster or bring a friend.

After that quick pop in, I walked back to White Sands and spent a few hours on the beach. Then I go and meet up with my new friends C & N and we head out for Ricks. We all grab a beer and and stake out a good spot to watch the sunset. We chill, chat and people watch. The place was packed. You would never walk into that and think it was slow season! Beautiful sunset as usual.

On the way back, we stop and HiLo and grab a few things. The C & N then invite me to join them the next day on their trip to YS falls. I had been there before, but couldn't pass up a free excursion. We make a plan to meet the next morning. I am starting to realize that I will do just about anything is there is a free car ride involved... note to self: stranger danger.

I head to bar for a few drinks and then up the beach again for the Escovich fish at Sun Beach (resistance to this dish is futile). I met a older man there while I was having dinner who was born in Kingston and now lives in Canada. His family came to JA in the early 1900's and he moved to Canada in the 60's. Since then he has come back to JA regularly but had not been to Negril in over 20 years. We chatted about the changes and what Jamaica was like for him as a child. I really enjoyed meeting him and had a nice history lesson with my dinner.

Another day in the books...