lol that vid of bentley is the best!!! 5 things on di plate soon come
lol that vid of bentley is the best!!! 5 things on di plate soon come
It’s the day after Christmas in Negril, a day I’ve been looking forward to because Michael Guirigay is arriving – one of my best boardie friends – along with the lovely Sweetie Pie of course, but it’s also a somber day because it’s my last in Negril before heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow.
I slept great (obviously, lol) and woke up early, like I usually do, and before breakfast I went to Xtabi to take one last solo session on my raft, floating against the Cliffs. It’s just great way to start the day, and it’s also a good way to say goodbye, kind of ritual I always do. If I can’t float in the ocean on my last full day, I feel like I have to start all over again ….
Last edited by gerryg123; 01-10-2013 at 11:29 AM.
Thats what we all want to do on our last day of the trip, start over again . . .
Later I hit the ocean for my last spearfishing adventure, and though Vincent and Roger both said they wanted to buy my spear gun -- I had given them one for free the past two visits -- neither could come up with any money. I had treated both of them well, tipped them well, and rode in boats filled with tourists paying 25 dollars each all week long, so I shook my head a little bit.
Was I being taken advantage of? They said others wanted to pay for it, and that they wanted mine for 100 bucks, so I came up with a novel idea: i said, OK, I will take the spear with me, and you guys call me later and work it out with your "friends" who want to buy it, and we will all meet up. At first, they were talking about 100 dollars, but I told 'em they could have it for 50.
The whole thing put me in an interesting position with me the one trying to get money from a local instead of the other way around.
I had been very generous and did not want to get taken advantage of. If I give it as a gift or a tip, that's one thing, but of everyone on the beach, especially Vincent, I knew they had money cause I was among those giving it to them. I had tipped Roger close to 100 this week and paid Vincent more than 200.
I know times are tough but they already had two free spears, so fair is fair. Plus, I had asked them repeatedly all week long to bring the other spears so I could spearfish with a friend, and they always came up with excuses. I have no proof they still have the two prior spears.
So I said F-it, I am the music industry and know how to play hardball if I want to, so I did NOT pay for my snorkeling trip this final time, meaning I owed THEM 20 dollars (they charge me a little less each trip because I'm one of their best customers for years and years), and Roger looked at me with wide and confused eyes when I bolted, but I told Vincent I would leave the 20 dollars with Chris at Seastar Inn if he couldn't work it out by purchasing the gun later.
Well, I did close the deal. Later, miraculously, Roger came up with some money, 50 dollars, and said we had a deal. We met later near Burger King, and I took 30 and gave him the rest, and I thought it was fair. Roger did too, he was happy.
It was the first time in my long Negril history that a local had given me money instead of the other way around.
Last edited by gerryg123; 01-15-2013 at 12:33 PM.
Here are some more pics (top to bottom):
1, Random Negril dogs are always nice
2, Half Moon Beach picturesque shot
3, Hangin' at Bourbon Beach
4, The beautiful Westender Inn hotel -- a great place to get away from it all!
Well played, Gerry, well played.
What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding?
December 26, the day after Christmas, is actually a bigger day than Christmas itself. It's called Boxing Day, a long tradition from back in the plantation days when Jamaicans would labor through Christmas and have their off day on the 26th plus some "boxed" leftovers from Christmas day, and there you have it.
There are more local families enjoying themselves today more than any day I've ever been in Jamaica (this is my first Christmas pon the Rock). Everyone was all smiling, and all the little kids were dressed up in their fancy Christmas-present clothes, and it was fun riding around and seeing all the families outside playing soccer in the yard and selling drinks and snacks to tourists.
At Seasplash, someone took the holiday a little too seriously and "boxed" away my raft, as I couldn't find it and neither could Rasta Dave. It was a big loss for both of us cause I had told Rasta Dave he could have the raft, and it was just ONE more day at this point.
Being a Canadian we have always recognized Boxing Day. I just took it for granted.Originally Posted by gerryg123
Just had to google the history:
Why is it Called Boxing Day:
Arguments abound on the origins of the name Boxing Day.
•A ‘Christmas Box’ in Britain is a name for a Christmas present.
•Boxing Day was a day off for servants and when they received a ‘Christmas Box’ from the master. The servants would also go home to give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their families.
•A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day.
•Great sailing ships when setting sail would have a sealed box containing money on board for good luck.If the voyage were a success the box was given to a priest, opened at Christmas and the contents given to the poor.
Who Knew?
Here's a little snippet video with Garrett, a key behind-the-scenes figure at Seastar Inn:
Last edited by gerryg123; 01-11-2013 at 12:45 AM.
I enjoyed some special cake at Jenny's, then headed to Xtabi again for a meal. In all my visits, I had never enjoyed one of their famous conch sandwiches.
The conch sandwich was indeed great, but their was a new server working, and the service was pathetically poor. He got my drink wrong -- alcohol instead of being a virgin smoothie as ordered -- plus the conch sandwich had mayo and all this stuff after I very specifically called for a dry bun, and then another waiter asked me to move to a different table though there was no one and I mean NO ONE else on the whole property, AND the first server made a mistake on the bill (in my favor!) that I fixed for him to be nice.
The server was smiling and repeating "no problem mon, no problem mon, no problem mon" the whole time, and I laughed my way through the whole misadventure. But the whole thing did turn me off a bit because I think peeps should take pride in what they do, ESPECIALLY when you're the only patron in the restaurant.
OK, rant over. Wait, one more thing: Earlier in the week, at Bourbon Beach, they also mistakenly put alcohol in my smoothie. There, the server said it was my fault, but Margi was sitting right next to me and totally called out the server, saying she heard loud and clear that I had ordered it with no alcohol.
Service in Negril is a mixed bag. You must be tolerant or you'll drive yourself crazy.
Guirigay arrived later, and together we hung out with Brasi for a mini-roof party above the new rooms. You can just see the sun setting into the ocean from up there. We had pizza and enjoyed drinks up there.
I drove each one back to Catcha Gardens separately on my scooter.
We had plans to meet later at Catcha for dessert, but I conked out and fell asleep.
The next day, they admitted they had fallen asleep, too, so it was all good.
Tomorrow I go home. I will miss Negril, but I miss my little daughters back home, too. I'll be ready to return to Los Angeles.
Last edited by gerryg123; 01-11-2013 at 11:05 AM.
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