Hi all!
Sorry t0 have taken so long - took us a while to get back into the swing of things here (Negril withdrawl symptoms).
We (8 of us) arrived April 3rd, and made it through customs in about 40 minutes which isn't bad considering 3 flights landed at almost the same time.Attachment 25847
Joe Cool Taxi and Tours (Dean, our driver) was there ready for us. We zipped over to the mega-mart, hoping to get some clamato to make caesars - but no luck. So, we were on our way with the "complimentary" red stripe provided by Joe Cool. Since this is NOT a " single pint" trip - we just HAD to stop and reload!
We arrived at the Riu Palace through a rain storm (it was actually raining when we arrived - but stopped shortly after) - greeted with a cold drink and checked in quickly!
Next day, sun out - and a gorgeous view from our room!
We spent our first day on the beach, and who do we meet?
Cigarettes.... cigaaRRRs... its gonna be hot hot hot hot!
I did buy a cigar from him, and chatted with him almost every day.
I had brought some spare guitar strings and picks in hopes of meeting up with Donovan Dalrimple - and lo and behold!
He sure was happy! He came by and played for us every day he saw us on the beach!
Now I think I mentioned that this was my 5th trip to Jamaica (my 2nd time to Negril), and my wife's 3rd (but never to Negril)- everyone else were Jamaican virgins. So, we just HAD to do the catamaran thing to Rick's. It was fun to cruise along the cliffs, and go snorkeling. You've probably all seen "the cannon" - well, here's the anchor:
As you all know, Rick's is the place you go so you can say you've been there, then you never go back! LOL
We did the pub crawl on the 7th, sad to say that only 3 out of 8 people went. Yes, I suspect it was out of "fear" that one person didn't go (her hubby came with wifie and I), and the rest kinda followed her. (There's more to that story - but I won't post it LOL). We visited 7 places, Swordfish, No Limit, Xtabi, Pushcart, Bella Donna, Archway, and finished at the Firewater Love Nest. This truly was the highlight of the trip for wifie and I (and the one person who joined us!). Just a couple of pics:
Lenbert at Archway
Last stop - the Firewater Love Nest for the sunset:
Now, of COURSE during our time at the resort, we did slide over to the ORIGINAL "Office of Nature"! Great guys - we actually popped over there a few times during our stay.
Wifie and I were pretty much the only ones to venture off the resort - we flagged a route taxi, picked up some gifties for the grandkids, then crossed over through bourbon beach for a walk on long bay. We hit a few little pubs for pint. See if you recognize this one:
Of course, we hit Margaritaville, just to say we did - but the best part was me getting conch soup at cosmo's!!! Fantastic stuff!
All in all a great trip - but we did get afternoon rain (for over an hour) pretty much every afternoon. Clouds rolling in about noonish. But, let's face it, you can't pick the weather and a vacation is what you make it!
Ton's more pictures and a great video of Donovan doing the "cigarettes on the beach" song - but I didn't want to bore you with things you've already seen.
Stay Irie my friends!
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