Skipping AC in December was worth the risk, but it in the calm of July I can imagine you'd just bake. That shower is now the standard by which all showers are measured. I will have pictures...Originally Posted by booger
Skipping AC in December was worth the risk, but it in the calm of July I can imagine you'd just bake. That shower is now the standard by which all showers are measured. I will have pictures...
Waiting patiently for more (fingers drumming...)
Around 2 o'clock, we decided we had been sufficiently lazy and that perhaps we might leave the castle grounds. I suggested we head over to PeeWee's to see if we might get some lunch. We were venturing out but we certainly weren't going far.
Walking up to the bar at PeeWee's it was completed deserted. There were sounds coming from the kitchen though, so we poked our heads in a said hello. I think it was Danny in the kitchen. He came out introduced himself and got us a pair of Stripes.
One of the things I told myself before we arrived in Negril was that I needed to be better at telling people what it was I wanted. Everything in Jamaica is no problem, as long as you know what it is you want. My impression from our first visit was that I was just confusing people when I was being vague. The 'What to do want?'/'Well what do have' dance just wasn't working.
We were hungry, so I asked if he were serving food. He paused briefly in contemplation. 'What do you want?' he asked.
"Something for lunch," I replied.
"Chicken?"
"Sure, with some rice and some veg maybe?"
"Okay, I can't cook for you right now, but I can get it no problem. I have a friend nearby who has a shop, he will bring it here"
I'll admit that wasn't how I'd expected this to go down, but I'd said what I wanted and he was sorting it out for me. I had a momentary concern about what this solution might cost. "Sounds, good but I don't want it to be too expensive."
"Is $10 each good?" Danny responded.
"Perfect."
So Danny pointed to the cooler with the Red Stripe and told us to help ourselves and just let him know how many we'd had. I can't even imagine what our local liquor inspector's reaction to that might be. Danny got on his phone and wandered back into the kitchen. So we sat back and just let it all soak in.
About 20 minutes later he walked back out and let us know our food was here and he needed that $20. No problem.
Our food delivered he ran back into the kitchen to get us real forks and knives. We got fried chicken with pineapple sauce, rice and peas and some cabbage and carrots. It was delicious. The portions were huge however and we came nowhere near finishing. We had no real use for the leftovers, so Danny asked if we might leave it with him for the local dogs. I am so glad he suggested it, because where I come from, you don't feed animals in the street. I just wouldn't have thought of it.
He asked if we smoked and we allowed as we did. He offered us up a lovely big sub and we just couldn't say no.
At some point it became clear why he couldn't cook us lunch. He was too busy cooking a meal for what I assumed was his family. We sat at the bar and watched 8 or 10 folks arrive and gather around one of the tables in the back. Danny served up the meal and joined in the festivities. We enjoyed our private bar and kept up a count of our Red Stripe consumption, but no one seemed very worried.
I am amazed by how well behaved the street dogs in Negril are. We'd gained a companion who seemed content to just have someone nearby while he had his afternoon nap.
Have I mentioned Sunshine works in lighting? He is pretty into it. I have become accustomed to the fact that everywhere we go, the first thing he notices is the lighting and if it is visible, the electrical setup. Negril is a gold-mine of not precisely to code and yet perfectly effective solutions. If you catch him staring up at the ceiling, he is probably checking out the lights. When Sandy was delivering a glancing blow to Negril last year, I showed him a few pictures from the board. The first thing he says? "Wow, they have striped the wires right out of that building; that is amazing!" He says nothing about the evidence of the wind, the menacing skies or the lack of people and furniture. He is far more curious about how to make the lighting hurricane ready.
So what was our first big winner in the cheap and cheerful lighting solutions category? The ubiquitous black bag used as a lamp shade. We decided it was probably practical and effective, if not precisely to code. It was nice to see a vintage Manitoba license plate on display as well.
As we were starting to feel the urge for an afternoon nap, Elvis arrived to mind the bar. We settled up our tab and wandered on back to the castle, with a stop at L&M Grocery first. I'd heard so much about this Sangsters Rum Cream that when I spotted a small bottle I just had to give it a try. A few supplies laid in we wandered back to our Penthouse.
Chapter 5
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch
We woke up to another beautiful Negril morning. Sunshine fetched up some coffee and I broke out the rum cream, curious as to what all the fuss was about. I should say I really dislike Baileys and think it is one of the quickest ways to ruin a good cup of coffee. I was not optimistic. I do like flavor in my coffee, but never cream. First sip: hmmm, not bad. Second sip: OMG, where have you been all of my life?! I was hooked.
We had spoken with Teddy the day before and planned to have his special mushroom omelets for breakfast. On the lowest level of the Penthouse, there is a lovely section of the patio that is covered and shady. It is still nice and open so the breeze blows through and keeps it cool. We decided to have breakfast delivered. We wandered down to order everything up.
I find that I am struggling in my descriptions to do Blue Cave Castle justice. It is not a fancy place, but it is a really special place. You would never mistake it for the Hyatt or the Ritz. That day though, I felt as though all the money in the world couldn't have bought us a better morning.
We talked about what we might do for the day and decided we were kind of already there. We were booked on the pub crawl that afternoon, so we wanted to save our strength.
I know there are some special showers in Negril, but I want to add the shower on the lower level of the Penthouse to that list of awesome places. It isn't fancy at all, but it is also totally private, well except to anybody else staying with you in the penthouse. If you skip the shower curtain, you have a view across the patio to the crenellated walls and the sea beyond. I honestly don't remember the practical details. If the water pressure was bad, I don't recall and whatever temperature the water was it worked for me. It is all about that view.
It was rather windy the whole time we reigned in the castle. As I was getting ready to board the bus, I discovered that the wind was funneling just right through the windows on one side. Mother Nature's blow drier:
Sorry if some of these pictures are giant today. Photobucket is giving me real attitude today
This was our first Pub Crawl and I would suggest that our experience was not exactly the norm. As I recount our experience, keep in mind we are booked back the bus this year, so I am still a big fan.
Our pick up for the pub crawl was somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00. We were waiting at the gate when the bus arrived. There is no one on board. 'Great', I thought to myself, 'we are the first pick up, so I'll get to meet folks as they board.' I'm shy, so starting smaller and building up is kind of nice. We trundle on down the road and the bus stops in front of a small bar. Lenbert explains he dropped the rest of the crawl off already before picking us up and we should head in.
Oh crap. There goes the starting small plan. Instead I figure I'm going to be that weird person lurking on the fringes getting the strange 'why are you here' looks.
The first stop was Natural Mystic. I spotted another great Jamaican light fixture.
We ordered a round. They were out of cold Red Stripe, so I tried my first Red Stripe light. It offends my prairie sensibilities that I would pay more for something with less alcohol. It tasted fine but went down like water. I prefer a bit more bite to my brew. Then I indeed stood around rather awkwardly out behind the bar, which appeared to be where most of the crawl participants were gathered. You could certainly still see evidence of Sandy's recent enough passing in the detritus along the shore. At least I think that was the cause, I'm actually just guessing.
The call to load up the bus came and we got several strange looks when we boarded too. I was hoping the interloper feeling would fade at the next stop, which was I think Swordfish (nice bar upstairs, ice cream on the main floor?). It seemed we were earlier than expected as the bar was without bartender and bottle opener. We found the Stripe ourselves and luckily, one of the crawlers had a flip flop with integrated bottle opener. When the staff caught up we settled our tab.
There were stragglers loading up after at this stop. While we waited on the bus for everyone to get on board, one of the other crawlers remarked on the photo strewn poster board one group was carrying along, photographing it at each venue along the way. I didn't catch the whole story, but it seemed a great deal sadder than just a shout out to friend who couldn't make the trip.
Next up was No Limit. This was great for us because it was right in our neighborhood. At this point, there seemed to be only one other person on the crawl staying on the West End, so on that score we were a bit of a novelty. It was good to be able to point and say, "See, right there; that is where we are staying." For most that proved enlightening. I found myself at one point a little amazed when I was asked if there was much to do on the West End and where did we eat. I saved the snarky response for my inside voice, but seriously, where had she been for the last hour?
Three stops in and most everyone on the bus still seemed pretty sober and to my surprise there was not a single sub in sight. At one point Lenbert came in with a big green parrot. Don't get me wrong, I love birds. My grandfather's version of easy listening was sitting in his rocking chair relaxing to recordings of bird calls. Some families have bibles; mine has a birding reference book with three generations of 'Spotted On' notes. I just don't love birds in enclosed spaces and I most certainly don't want them using me for a perch. The bird made no menacing moves in my direction and all was well.
Back on the bus and down the road to Xtabi. I was really excited for this stop as it was on my must check out list for the trip.
Some of you may recall a certain 'gurly girl' and 'real men' photo contest on the board. It involved replicating one of the boardies avatar shots. Sunshine had no knowledge of any of this tomfoolery. I rather innocently asked him to head into the opening so I could get a picture. His wardrobe is a little off, but otherwise I think he nailed it.
I will say proceed with caution, it slippery down there. Really cool spot. We will be back.
Back on the bus, we head to Bella Donna. Lenbert jumps out and after a bit of back and forth, the big gates open and the bus pulls right into the yard. It seemed to me the original architect of the space was going for a real Mediterranean feel with a big courtyard and open archways to the covered spaces along its perimeter. There was a restaurant on one side and bar along the next.
The pizza was in the oven, so we were certainly expected. There weren't really any cold beverages, which was a bit of a shame. There was the most adorable little puppy dashing around in the yard, which immediately captured almost everyone's attention. You know how puppies can be; they will bound around frenetically to everyone who will give them attention.
After a few minutes an older women comes hurrying out. "Don't touch that dog, he has mange!" she practically shouts. A little late, given at least half the bus has already shown the little guy some love. I have to admit, I didn't really know what mange was, but I am pretty darn sure I didn't want it.
She explained he was being treated for it, but that we now all needed to wash. So in she goes for soap and we all form a line at the cold water spigot coming out of the wall. As we each got to the front of the line we were issued a squirt of dish soap and a chance to wash up. The poor puppy couldn't quite understand why all the love had turned into a whole lot of 'Shoo, go away.'
Now that we are hopefully disinfected, out comes the pizza. Despite having washed up, I wasn't really that hungry anymore. We still each got a slice to spread our (relative) wealth around. Lenbert hurried us back on the bus to head for our next spot, where we would see the sunset. He needed to hurry us along or there wouldn't be a sunset to see.
I remember the puppy! We used to raise pigs here on the farm, so we remember what mange was! The song Bella Donna sang was her "special" version of "Just a Gigolo" ??? I've got it on video. Your picture of you at Natural Mystic with the Red Stripe light ....that's me in the background with the Jamaican flag tank top! Thank God, I wasn't doing something stupid! Go to your profile section for a message. Can't wait for the next installment! Farmer
Ha, I was 90% sure that was you. Great shirt by the way! I just sent you a reply
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