If you love Jamaica let me see your hand - A Trip Report

[CherryNorth49]

Oh gosh I hope this is not the end of the report and even worse you come back to say yall headed back to Winnipeg!! lol

Cherry you was a trooper for Sunshine! and I'm sure Sunshine heard the lil voice too 'We have to get on that plane in the morning. We've been waiting a year, we are half way there, and we have to get on the plane in the morning. haha!

I'll get us at least back to the airport today. I don't think I am giving away anything when I say this was most definitely the low point of the whole trip. At least we got it out of the way early!

[iowagirl]

Oh No! Poor Sunshine - nothing worse than feeling crappy on vacation. Especially THAT crappy. Glad to know that was the worst it was!

[CherryNorth49]

I get our bags put back together and down to the lobby. I liberate the plastic laundry bag from the room, just in case Sunshine doesn't make it through the shuttle ride. I find him a seat while we wait. A few minutes pass and he makes the dash to the bathroom in the lobby.

We load into the shuttle with two other couples and I think to myself that they may be in for far more than they bargained for on this ride. I've got the laundry bag out and I have every digit crossed. It may have been the longest ride 15 minute ride ever, but we made it without incident.

You want to see a sympathetic face? Ask an airport kiosk worker if they have any Imodium when they are all sold out. Three strikes and we are out - of luck that is. I do get more Pepto.

Security is of course backed up for miles and it feels like the heat is stuck on roast. I eye the family line, and pulling the 'he isn't feeling well' card, but I don't want to do anything that might have our boarding denied. So we get in the regular line and do the shuffle for more than an hour. We finally get through security and as I am getting my bag back together and walking away, I realize I just cleared through with a 32oz jug full of water. Oops. I'm not sure how I feel about the quality of that screening process, but since it really is just water I am happy to be headed to the gate.

We are in the front row of the economy section again. I wanted to be at the front of the line at customs. When I booked the seats I didn't realize that they also use those rows for people with mobility issues. Sunshine is feeling like death warmed over in the middle seat, with this lovely 90+ year old granny on the aisle. I don't mean this disrespectfully, as I only hope to live long enough to have this problem, but have you ever noticed that really old people often have a distinctive and not entirely pleasant smell? I didn't notice and he never said a word but to add insult to injury, poor Sunshine spent 4.5 hours in the middle seat trying not to breathe in old lady smell.

When I look back, I don't know why it didn't occur to me to change seats with him. It's just habit; I always have the window. On a clear day, I will spend the entire flight with my nose pressed to the glass watching the world drift by below us. Sunshine loves me enough not to complain about the fact that this means that he generally always gets stuck with the middle seat. This flight should have been the exception though. Sorry Sunshine!

[IRIEchic]

Sheesh Cherry.., Sunshine needs a vacation!

[irie always]

Ahhh Luciano - Seastar - holding a table for Cherry and Sunshine - enjoying a wonderful dinner and then I abandoned you all, to spend the next 3 hours dancing in front of the stage! OH it was grand and then I came back to the table totally exhausted and trotted off to bed.
Love your writing Cherry can't wait to read it all. Sure wish Charlie and I were going to be with you at Seastar but alas we won't get there until February.

[CherryNorth49]

Ahhh Luciano - Seastar - holding a table for Cherry and Sunshine - enjoying a wonderful dinner and then I abandoned you all, to spend the next 3 hours dancing in front of the stage! OH it was grand and then I came back to the table totally exhausted and trotted off to bed.
Love your writing Cherry can't wait to read it all. Sure wish Charlie and I were going to be with you at Seastar but alas we won't get there until February.

Irie Always, yeah! Great to hear from you, but I am sorry our trips won't overlap this year You and Charlie were such wonderful hosts - it was so nice to have such welcoming smiles there to great us. My recollection of the night is that you were totally in your element and it was great to see!

[rocknrollfarmer]

Hey Cherry! I had to go look at the video I took in Dec. '12, and yes you and Sunshine are in the video. {Should of I asked your permission?} Maybe , now you'll recall us from the One love bus, I was the annoying guy with the video camera. And yes, I'm starting to recall you guys from the Luciano show. Most times on our trips to Negril I try to cram as much as possible into everything I do. My wife gets annoyed from this, as she does get the concept of vacation and what we should be doing......nothing! Relaxing! etc. etc. We arrive at Seastar on Dec. 2nd. So, we'll be seeing you there for a day & a half. Remember the one love bus stop at Bella Donna's? She sang for us a lovely little ditty ?!*@! It's fun to watch the videos, gotta document some of this stuff, to remember better, as the older I get {today's my birthday by the way} 53. I must be getting the early start of dementia or something as these trips are running into each other, and getting harder to remember. OMG! From a Tubes song..."Talk to ya' later" Todd + Deb

[CherryNorth49]

Chapter 3

“And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”
― Meister Eckhart

I don't think I will ever tire of that first sighting of Jamaica

Or the final approach into MoBay. Now any landing that gets the plane and passengers to the gate intact is successful. I certainly wouldn't call this one graceful. I know I'm not wrong on this, because when my father, who retired after 35 years in aviation, saw the video his face got this rather disapproving look on it. I'd certainly started to hold my breath.

There will be more pictures are this report carries on, but I am sure you can appreciate taking pictures had kind of fallen off my priority list at this point.

At least our front seats got us to immigration ahead of most everyone on the flight. In what seemed like only a couple of minutes, we were through to the baggage claim. And then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Bags from our flight came along and then nothing. There was a group of us still waiting with no luggage when the luggage carousel stopped. I'm trying to keep my cool, but it has been a long day/night and I just really wanted my bags. There is of course no one at the baggage counter to answer any questions. Thankfully, after a few more minutes, the carousel started back up and not long after our bags arrived.

Last stop at customs and we were through the doors and out to the taxi entrance. Half a dozen pairs of inquiring eyes turned our way. I said Kingsley James and three hands pointed his way while the others turned to the next person coming through the doors.

I can still perfectly remember that first woosh of air as we walked out the airport doors. We were under a protective cover, but I can see the bright sun reflecting on the pavement in the parking lot in front of me. It looks right, it sounds right and it smells right. There are so many infinite possibilities in that first moment. Though the journey had already begun, our adventure was only just getting under way.

Kingsley went to get the van. I left Sunshine with the bags and went to the bank machine for some JA$. There was another passenger from our flight whose ride hadn't worked out as expected, so he was joining our ride. I would have been happier if it been just the two of us, but I'd rather Kingsley make the extra fare. I will say for someone who was essentially a hitchhiker, the extra fare sure wasn't very gracious. He took shotgun without even asking and seemed rather put out when we wanted to stop.

Kingsley of course had a pair of cold Red Stripe waiting for us. We took this picture and had our first sips. Then Sunshine pretty much held onto his beer until I traded him for my empty. I couldn't just let it go to waste.

I had originally thought we would stop at Green Island for some jerk pork, but I was pretty darn sure that wasn't what Sunshine wanted to do at this point. I was starving though and wanted to get something before we got to Negril. After a bit of back and forth with Kingsley, we settled on a stop at Juici Patti in Lucea.

Despite the fact that I had hardly slept in the last 24 hours, I was riding high. Not even a full year before I had arrived in Jamaica somewhat terrified; optimistic, but still terrified. I didn't know what I would find and how I would cope. Now here I was pulling into a crowded parking lot in 'real' Jamaican town and I was almost bursting with excitement.

Into the Juici Pattie we charged. I knew I wanted a cheese pattie. Sunshine was really just there for moral support. So I ordered up 2 cheese patties, 2 banana breads and 2 juices. I'm guessing it was just after school time, as the road was crowded with children in their uniforms amongst the people coming to and from work or the shops. Our food was up in a matter of moments. I was disappointed; I could have happily sat a while and observed the ebb and flow of the community.

Back in van, I take my first bite of pattie. I don't know what I was expecting, but the cheesy, beefy, spicy goodness far exceeded my expectations. It was so flaky it was all I could do not to cover Kingsley's clean interior with my crumbs. It was piping hot and I savored every bite as the not yet familiar sites of the road to Negril flew by. My poor broken Sunshine opted for a juice.

It wasn't long before we made the last curve and the resorts of Bloody Bay began to appear. Our hitchhiker got dropped off not too far into Long Bay and the vibe in the van lightened right up.

We had two stops to make, the first of which was Shamrocks. We had been dreaming of our next taste of that famous orange juice for 354 days and we weren't going to have to wait any longer. Juice and few other provisions acquired and we were back under way. One more stop and we were onto the West End Road.

My memory of the drive seems to be a series of snap shots in my head. I can see Mi-Yard and Canoe. As Jenny's appeared on our left, I knew we had only a few curves to go. Then just like that we pull up the castle gates and with a beep, beep and they open and we are home. The king and queen have arrived.

[billndonna]

Keep up the awesome job on this report Cherry,we are truly loving it and our ride with you into Negril has been great so far!!This has to tide us over for 13 more days!!

[CherryNorth49]

Hey Cherry! I had to go look at the video I took in Dec. '12, and yes you and Sunshine are in the video. {Should of I asked your permission?} Maybe , now you'll recall us from the One love bus, I was the annoying guy with the video camera. And yes, I'm starting to recall you guys from the Luciano show. Most times on our trips to Negril I try to cram as much as possible into everything I do. My wife gets annoyed from this, as she does get the concept of vacation and what we should be doing......nothing! Relaxing! etc. etc. We arrive at Seastar on Dec. 2nd. So, we'll be seeing you there for a day & a half. Remember the one love bus stop at Bella Donna's? She sang for us a lovely little ditty ?!*@! It's fun to watch the videos, gotta document some of this stuff, to remember better, as the older I get {today's my birthday by the way} 53. I must be getting the early start of dementia or something as these trips are running into each other, and getting harder to remember. OMG! From a Tubes song..."Talk to ya' later" Todd + Deb

Hey Farmer and Happy Birthday! We'll have to have a belated celebration at Seastar. I relayed the connection to Sunshine last night and he knew instantly who you were, remembering you from both the crawl and the Luciano show. Sunshine was like, "Yeah, the farmer, I remember them for sure! They were sitting a couple of tables over from and had come to the show from the beach with another couple. He and I hung out a bit by the bar at one point, but it was getting later in the night so it is a bit fuzzy." I have to admit there were a couple of folks on the crawl with which I hadn't precisely clicked; I was relieved to know for sure that you and your lovely wife weren't from that group!

Oh Bella Donnas - I think I had tried to block that song from my memory! Do you have video of that it? The crawl is coming up in the report the day after tomorrow, Jamaican time. Feel free to share. I'm curious to see if our impressions of that crawl match up.