Trip Report - February 1-8, 2013

[Monty&Melo]

OK…you were right, our friends D&R, who loved Ricks, thought Catcha was the coolest place on earth, because, well…..it is (or at least it is in the top 10!!!). We arrived at the big green door (I always feel like we are going to see the great and powerful Oz when we show up and Catcha and knock on the door, hoping to be let in), knocked and were pointed towards the bar (if you get wet you have gone too far!!!) and pretty soon we were sitting down perusing the drink menu. I am not one for fruity, frizzy, chocolaty, blended drinks, but there is something about Ivans that makes me want to hear the whirr of the blender. We order drinks and decide to explore the place a little while we are waiting.

We walk around and D&R are just amazed at every little nook and cranny that they see, the idea of having almost a private sun-tanning spot nestled among the rocks really appeals to them. They just keep going on and on about the place. Pretty soon we go back to the bar to retrieve our drinks and walk back out to the water’s edge to take more pictures and enjoy the view. As fate would have it, the sunset this night was probably the best one of the trip. So we took plenty of pictures of the sunset, of the grounds and of each other. Here are a few (we are the happy couple in the last picture, see how lucky I am to have such a beautiful specimen to accompany on all my journeys!!!)







We finally made it up to the bar to sit and relax, but as much fun as we were having at Ivans, our reservation for Bentley’s was at 630pm and the sunset occurred at 608pm, so the clock was ticking and I was excited to get them to Bentley’s so they could have yet another great experience. We pay our check at the bar (or rather they paid the check, gotta love friends that pick up a check every now and then!!!!), and walk towards the gate, our taxi driver meets us about half way up the path, he had parked just inside the gate and we hopped in his car, the gate opened and we were on our way to Bentleys…bye to Catcha until next time!!!!

Of course the ride to Bentley’s only takes a few minutes but the whole time we were travelling the road we all just kept talking about what a great time that was at Ivans. I kept telling our friends that the fun was just beginning, they were about to meet one of the true characters (again, character is a good thing!!!) of all of Negril.

We pull up the lane and pretty soon arrive at Bentley’s, as soon as I get out of the car I yell for Bentley and he greets us with his infectious laugh. As we approach the 13 steps to his “restaurant” I see him at the top of the steps ready to welcome us. Our other friends that were meeting us were already there, so we walked over to the table, exchanged hugs all around and sat down. I had the fresh bottle of Appleton for the fruit juice that Bentley said he would provide. I poured 5 glasses of juice with a nice portion of rum, on top, so that first drink is a killer. Melo drinks her Red Stripe, other than an Angry at Café Goa or a Caesar at Canoe (occasionally), she drinks nothing but Red Stripe the entire trip.

After just a few minutes, Bentley comes out with the “5 tings on the plate.” We all selected crab and crab, which is a crab cake and a crab back (what I would call “deviled crab” or stuffed crab). All the crab is served with plenty of vegetables and of course his “magic sauce.” Pretty soon the conversation ends and the only thing coming out of our mouths are moans and groans of pleasure as we all devour the food. To say our friends were impressed would be an understatement. As impressed as they were with Catcha and Ivans, they were just as impressed with the food at Bentley’s. We all cleaned our plates, almost finished off the entire bottle of rum and took in the view from the deck as we let our meal settle. Soon it was time to settle up with Bentley (I was already paid up since I put up the deposit for the meal) so my friends paid off the rest of the bill and we were ready to go. We all said our goodbyes to Bentley and we were on our way back to Rondel. Bentley provided a nice “to go” box of food for our driver.

There are cheaper meals in Negril than Bentley’s. If you are going to get upset about spending a few extra $$ on dinner then don’t go. If you don’t care about every penny that you spend while you are in Negril, go see Bentley. You will not regret it and you may end up with a memory that will last a life-time. I only discovered Bentley on my last trip (Oct 2012), but I will not go to Negril and not go by and see him and have a meal at his place. It’s these kinds of people (I realize there are a few of them) that make Negril. To me the beach, the water and the sun are great, but you can get a great beach in a lot of places, but you don’t get guys like Bentley just anywhere and it is folks like him that keep us coming back to Negril time after time. I am really glad we were able to show our friends what this is all about because a lot of folks in our subdivision always ask us “don’t you want to go somewhere else besides Jamaica?” and quite frankly we do, but with two jobs and two kids at home our time away from all of that is extremely valuable to us and the thought of going somewhere else and waking up on the third day and looking at each other and saying “We should have gone to Jamaica” just scares us to death. So in several years when the kids are grown and time is less valuable, we will see other places, but we will also continue to visit Jamaica because it means that much to us.

Safely back at Rondel, we decided to hit the hot-tub for a while and after all we had packed in to the last 4 or so hours it was nice to sit there and relax, look up at the stars and contemplate the greater meaning of life.

More report soon come…….