Here goes....My first Trip Report Patrick & Lisa Mar2013....

[lisapat]

Day 2
We wake up rested, in spite of the fried food hangover. After figuring out the in room coffee maker, and getting said coffee, we head down for some breakfast.Let me just tell you that the kitchen at Seastar puts out the yummiest, warm, blueberry muffins I've ever had.My mouth waters just thinking about em. And they are no slouches on the coffee, too...hit the spot.Our plan today is to either walk to...or cab it over to place where we can chill for the day cliffside, get a round or two of redstripes, some lunch, and snorkel/jump/swim/sunbathe...Our friends from the previous night at Canoe arise(I hate this,it was a group of like 8..all from Winnipeg..we love you, but for the life of us can't remember your names..as we went our way, and you guys went yours, diving, beachin' it, etc)...anyway, they tell us to go check out Tensing Pen, right across the street...So, after some after breakfast transitioning back at the room, we venture out down the lane. Careful cross a scary section of One Love drive, and are at the gate of Tensing Pen, where the guard lets us in...after fumbling a bit to find the path, we find cliffside HEAVEN!!..For all those who have been to Catcha and love that location, let me tell you that this rivals it very closely.Awesome vistas, the layout of the terraces, and concrete work on the cliffs, and buildings is breathtaking...We are very quiet as we check it all out, but we feel a bit like a fish out of water. This place is so quiet, and serene...and practically empty?, that we feel like trespassers, and maybe rightfully so. We were let in, but don't feel sure if we are really doing the right thing to make this our "hang out" today.So, after a few pictures, we decide to try Xtabi..as I've read that it encourages visitors. 1st...a stop a wise choice grocery...many of you may think this wrong, but Lisa and I like to get our drink on, so we decide that a couple of sixers for $1,500 J is fair, and take them back to the Seastar bar, for some icing down in our collapsible Thermos cooler which looks like a purse, of sorts...(yes, folks..we smuggle a few...been doing it at festivals back home for quite some time, it's a habit of ours)...Now, we're ready for some cliff action!
Junior runs us to Xtabi, where we settle into a couple of loungers near the cave entrance, and begin our day, getting our cliffs on. Around 10 we buy our first round of red stripes from the cool Xtabi bar...which would last us a goodly portion of the day, as it turns out..get our lunch...Thanks Guirigay for making me can't wait to try the Conch Burger...yum!!!

[MoFromMonroe]

Love it. Great start. Our tree frogs in NY have started to "Peep" within the last few days. They don't "Gleep" like the ones in Jamaica.

[lisapat]

So, our plan was...to hang at Xtabi all day, the segue over to Three Dives, for dinner...well, as it turns out, you canonly get so much sun as a ginger like me, so we hail a cab to get us back to Seastar...well, 2 taxi drivers stop, then decide to drive away after the sight of us..As it turns out, even the cab drivers demand a level of respect that we were shortsighted in noticing....our dripping wet swimsuits!!! Finally, a 3rd river stops, and pulls the floormats up, flips them, and throws them on his back seat to give us a ride..I offer him $500J for the effort, and with that, he gets us to the gate od SSI, where Capt. Kirk greets us with a big smile. Not quite ready for showers, yet(actually we were afraid of that kiss of death nap that may do us in)we belly up to the bar where who intriduces himself, but Chris!!..We shake hands and congratulate him and Francine on their beautiful new edition to the world, talk some fishing over what is THE BEST ....Caesar I ever had!!!, then decide to hit the pool for a few minutes. Our Winnipeg friends find us there, where they ask us if we'd like to walk down to Sir D's Firewater for the sunset..We agree to meet em in 30, and now have a reason not to crash upon room arrival. ...Back down to what can only be called the "worlds biggest, most comfortable living room", we meet our buds, who have had a fun day of scuba while we got our cliff fix. To the road, and single file we march through the narrow turns, past Rick's, and it's late day van empty-ing pile of vehicles and A/I crowds...to Firewater..just in time for a gorgeous, albeit cloud blocked dropping of the big yellow ball.
Now who happens to pull up, but none other than Lenbert, and his One Love Bus. He lets out his passengers and I'm wondering,does he do the crawls every day now? It IS Friday, after all...We go over to say hey and I ask Lenbert if we are set for this coming Wed. He looks in his notebook and there we are <Patrick, GrandPineapple -8> Cool beans, baby!! So Lenbert tells our groupl there is room for more, and proceeds to give us a ride back to SSInn. Needless to say, with the edition of 10 more it was tight in there..I had to sit kind of on my knees forward on the engine hump, and thought I may have taken one out with a sharp braking once...nope...all good...so back to Seastar we are, and about ready to get some dinner. ...We met another group of fellow Seastar folks earlier in the day at Xtabi(again with the names) it was an adult brother, his gf, mom and dad from New York, and adult sister from Florida, if I remember right. We were talking to them in the SSI lounge and they said they were also going to Three Dives, as there was a party going on there tonight...I do recall seeing the sign...we told them we would meet up with then later, as we were gonna mosey over now(7pm?)...so, off we go(thanks, again..Junior)..instead of walking in, they have a gate set up for tonights festivities...$500J apiece to get in...no sweat...in we are, and the bonfire is in full swing, as is the bar, and the grill pit..Lisa gets the lobster, and me...half chicken....Wow!! after all these trips to JA, I must say..I arrived in jerk heaven. This chicken had the flavor of the pimiento smoke all through it, and the skin was blackened up to a perfection.. while we are enjoying our meal, keep in mind it's night...and I had made a small puddle of sauce on my plate, between the chicken and the rice/peas, which I couldn't see...I had gotten a forkful/mouthful of rice that harkens back to the memory of some random hanna barbera character "blowing their top" as I sat 5 yrs old watching the tv..."Holy Crap is that hot" I struggled, with a bit of a cough, and some heavy pulls of my stripe....Very good though...

[Maryann]

Great trip report and photos! Can totally relate to your comment about the tears.

[Lady Jane]

Hi Pat and Lisa.
So enjoying your report. You 2 stay busy busy! It was nice meeting you at the Canoe. Keep this report coming

[lisapat]

Hey Lady Jane!!! was so nice meeting you,too....We only wish that our 10 days could have been more....although we were so active(for us, anyway) that we would just spend the extra time relaxing

[Weathermon & Mi Lady]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

[lisapat]

So, here we are, at Three Dives....loving life, eating yummy local food, and gettin' down to the sounds of Beres Hammond over the speakers...there is an anticipation of the band/bands that will be playing later, and the sweet aroma of subs in the air.Well, the red stripes are going down way too easy, we see our New York pals and sit a spell with them, then decide that there is NO WAY we are gonna make it for the live entertainment(we kinda knew this going in..it IS Jamaica, after all). Say our goodbyes, and walk on out of Three Dives...(kind of a LITERAL pub crawl, you might say)..No cabs, at least none that are interested...till we walk a bit, and finally one comes to our rescue..I say "Seastar Inn?" ...and he replies "I know, mon..I take you there earlier today"....Well alright..our mystery driver from Xtabi who delivered our wet hides earlier in the day where others wouldn't is back.....too cool for school...Now, we heard a day or 2 later that apparently, on the side of the road, near the entrance to Three Dives, there is some sort of crevice/drop off that if a pedestrian is not careful, can FALL IN!!!...and apparently, someone DID!!. Sounds like it could have been near the time we had left Fri. night....I guess it took a bit of doing to get her out..like basket wenching or some such thing...Ouch!! This was going to turn out to be a not so good week for accidents on the West End....Now safely home, we don't NEED to, but can't resist just one more beer at the bar, which Alvin is quick to deliver...now who do we see? fellow boardie Robin...who just got in today....although we've never met, Robin greets us with big hugs as we are really starting to feel at home here on the West End....We are "getting it" now...As seven mile beachers every trip, we had been entertaining the thought of a west end stay for a while, but felt like we would miss out on the vibe we know and love....well this one rocks, too...different, but just as stellar....Now Chris appears to tell us about his fishing on this day, between watching Winnipeg Jets powerplays on the tv. He asks, "Can I buy you guys a beer?" which normally we would jump at...but graciously gave him a no thank you as our livers were threatening to escape from our body cavities if the punishment didn't stop.We are really grateful that we had left 3 Dives when we did because although not staggering dumb drunk...we are there!! Our Winnipeg friends would tell us in the a.m. that we appeared very happy last night....and right they were.

[lisapat]

[Jambarney]

Hey Patrick, great trip report and awesome job on the video.

We were at the 3Dives party also and left around midnight or a bit later, kind of slow, light turnout.

Love your idea about your 17 year old dropping you guys off at the airport, I think that's what we are going to do in a few weeks, we won't know how to act with a personal taxi driver dropping and picking us up. (Although I know he won't like getting out of bed that early

Jamb