Chapter 12

“Earth's crammed with heaven...
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning


This beach day starts like most, down to Marley-by-the-Sea for breakfast. Tough call on whether Catcha or Coco has the better morning view, as they are just so different. Either one is sure better than the snow banks at home.


Afterwards we wandered back to the room and enjoyed a bit of time on our huge patio. We had exhausted our supply of Shamrocks O.J. so decided to make the walk up the road to get more. Even at a slow shuffle, it really wasn't that far a walk. Fifteen minutes maybe? I'd walk a lot further for that juice.

When hunger called we decided to wander over to Sunbeach for some lunch. They were setting up the stage for a show that night.


This day was probably the most questionable we had, weather wise. It was overcast most of the day and it rained periodically. By periodically I mean each time we thought we might get to some loungers on the beach. It went kind of like this. Pick lounger, spread out towel and look up to feel the first drop of rain. Shrug, fold up towel and seek shelter. Oh well, tough luck having to drink Red Stripe at the bar instead.

There is something fundamentally different about the vibe on the beach versus the West End. A year later, I am still struggling to put my finger on what that difference actually is. When people call Negril the Capital of Casual, I feel that more on the beach than I do on the West End. Up on the cliffs as the day wound down, I found myself feeling like getting cleaned up a bit before heading into the evening. I straightened my cowlicks and even put a spot of makeup on a couple of times. On the beach, I didn't feel that urge. Maybe it’s the fact that there is always a little bit of sand everywhere that makes the extra effort seem kind of unnecessary.

Another big plus on our room location was that as the sun began to set, instead of being roasted on our balcony, the greenery acted as a lovely shade.