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my love for Jam and this board - suzengrace - 03-18-2015
I love that we all have opinions and can voice them here, even it they're popular or met with complete disagreement and downright hatred..we're still allowed to voice it and i thank the board for it...something you will never find on other boards..that being said, we all keep coming back to this board and others ..even if we're the most anti-Jamaica, never set-foot-there again.. we still all harbor (or at least i like to think it) of one thing HOPE..Hope that the tide will turn and some of the negatives will be less so..A place we fell in love with -no matter how,be it awesome vacations, family members,born there,a community of friends we visit who have made a life there:with businesses that that depend on tourists and their live-li-hood or those that followed a dream and endure the hardships that came with and overcome it and stay..Things are tough all the world an esp. for Jam.
Even thru all the BS i've seen and dealt with in this country i still have one thing that keeps my love and allure of the place alive ..
Take away the culture, the people ,the runnings and there is still the one thing , pure and simple: Mother Nature and how she has blessed that little land mass in the middle of the Caribbean sea.. When Im up in the plane,way above and can see thru the window that land mass in the middle of all that blue, I'm again reminded why one of the reasons,no matter all the f---kery, I come back....
I see the little road winding thru mobay on it's way thru hopewell with that waterwheel ,thru lucea and how you can touch history almost just driving thru the town and of course on to negril, ....where one can see a most beautiful beach,,that yes, one can visit the circus or retreat to the long bay public beach or go the half moon...and then the awesome cliff area..how can one not be enchanted by them??
Or you look the other way and see the road thru the north, thru upper mobay, past big resorts (where you feel little sad for the all visitors who just stay put -dont venture outside of mobay)past Rosehall and Cinnamon hill (Jonny Cash's old plantation home-hell , he knew a great place to have another home back in the day) on to Trelawny,take a turn and go to historic Falmouth-home to electricity before even New york city had it..now with cruise ships disembarking and locals not benefitting like it was planned..still a place with a lots of history and beautiful old buildings.. or take the road out to the north out of the country..where sugar was king and built the beautiful Hope mansion ..you also see lots of housing -tracts being built-again "progress" that sadly looks like all the housing communities in So Cali.-you will also see all the huge 3 story mansions that look like hotels built into the hills,I'm told by Jam's coming back that have $$ , quite a contrast to the little board houses not far from them down the lane ...If you're really adventurous and better to have 4wd..go to where mother nature has held guard..the cockpit country, the waterfalls, the mineral springs,the caves ,the nature ,the rivers and communities that still look like they have for quite sometime..just be prepared to be met with suspicion=not alot foreigners there...and then the road in the north continues on to runaway bay (a place kind of like old jam ochie before getting built up ) then on to ochie and all that lush greenery. keep driving to the hair pin turns leading to orcabessa and if you keep going to Port Antonio you will be rewarded with excellent roads and the most lush, real tropical scenery..a real tropical paradise with the lush blue mts as backdrop and the coconut groves and again hair pin turns thru nothing but eye candy and then you come to PA..with all its faded old glory ,old school charm...the jam of errol flynn,ian fleming and noel coward(btw that guy could pick a location-visit his old home and final resting place in orcabessa.views -the best in Jam)the beaches of PA...separated, secluded ,not easy to get to (winnfred-hands down my fav in Jam) Boston beach, home of jerk and lots of stands that cook it and funky little beach with surfers and music blaring from cars...keep on the road south and if you ever been on highway 1 in big sur cali..while its like a minature version.. the roaring ocean on one side and cliffs on the other all the way to machinael..which i love..you can see one the most beautiful waterfalls in jam in that area, Reach falls-go when its closed to public (i think Mondays) and pay the locals that own land nearby to open gates and have it all to yourself for a cheap $$..Now have been to Bath falls a few times and nothing to write home about-not anymore..too many higglers and its gotten polluted with trash and human waste(yes,you read that right).you're not missing out..but interesting the story and how long its been a round ,since 1700's people have made their way to its restorative waters..now on to morant bay, yallahs, -very nice beach at golden (something) hotel..very natural ,lots locals,love the vibe in that area..on to kingston..what a beautiful area..the mts, the sea the big city...such a setting for the capital...now the road continues over spanish town, clarendon, thru the santa cruz mts.. mandeville,up hills ,and down them with sprinkling of new communities (the closer to kingston) and old (further down the road..now we come to bamboo walk , black river, and back up the north way to the beautiful (and I think the next place to get more visitors in the future) Belmont/bluefields...and then to little bay(which is building up-but still like a fishing community as negril once was) and round to negril(which we will hope will stop building up -or at least be sensitive to the environment ). The place still on my list-and i've tried to visit a few times but didn't work out is Blue Mts..still need to go..came so close-but wasn't in the cards..I guess mother nature is saving the "best for last" for me... To the sunsets in negril to the sunrises in Port Antonio..thats why i still love this little country in the middle of the Caribbean sea..
RE: my love for Jam and this board - Schuttzie - 03-18-2015
Oh, my goodness, Suzengrace, this is a wonderful thoughtful post! I can really feel the love of Jamaica in your words. We also have hope to go back one day.
Winnifred is our favorite beach, too, and it's funky road you must traverse to get there
Thank you, for this post!
RE: my love for Jam and this board - Oldtimer2 - 03-18-2015
WOW !!!!! All the beautiful things you mentioned . If only there was some sort of planning . If only the ganja $'s were spread evenly around . All these places you mentioned I saw in the 60's without fear or concern . The ganja money of the 70's and early 80's then along came the "cokilino " and she went to hell in a hand basket...sort of . It was brother's against brother's , father's against son's . No planning for the divided wealth . Then when Manley said "spend your money " all the little hotel's popped up . They now are all about the same age and need a spit and a polish .Jamaica is a beautiful country that needs to get in step with the world . When people like Dudus Coke are 1000 times more benifical to the country than anything else...that's not good . Negril...they can put a man on the moon and can't stop a bunch of chinese 125 motorbikes as get away vehicles . I'll be back ( I think ) but it will be for the weather only ( as most visitors want anyway ).There's 8 ft of snow in my yard ,it's snowing like hell ,if I went anywhere it would be to escape this not to be educated in anything but RELAXATION . Nice post SG !!!!
RE: my love for Jam and this board - kylake - 03-18-2015
Thanks suzengrace for the trip around the island.
You also mentioned the board itself and I ditto, thank you, Tammy (also admin Dread, mod RW) for this board where the people that love the good but do see the bad can communicate in an uncensored way.
RE: my love for Jam and this board - rootswoman - 03-18-2015
Sigh ...... I have tears streaming down my cheeks. (I am a highly sensitive person lol)
Beautifully written sentiments ((((((Suzengrace)))))))
Yes, indeed Mother Nature certainly did bless our beloved land of wood and water.
Just when I start to question if this board still has a purpose, a thoughtful post like this reminds me that it is the people that make this board.
I wholeheartedly agree that we would not be here if we did not have hope.
Thanks for this post Suzengrace - I am reminded of how much I love this cyber group of friends.
RE: my love for Jam and this board - Schuttzie - 03-18-2015
I am very thankful for this board and everyone here that make up this forum~ Big ups to Dreadneck and Roots!
RE: my love for Jam and this board - macyoder - 03-18-2015
Born and raised in the country I tend to see it from the inside out as I see myself as the outsider among many who travel there as visitors. No question, the place is beautiful and I have been fortunate to see so much of it , yes fancy resorts too. I often say the most amazing things I travel the world to see ( resorts, ruins, castles, waterfalls, beaches, lushness) are well represented in Jamaica. I have also seen the ugly and work to change it. Sadly some of the the things I wish to change seem to be the draw to the island. I have seen poverty blamed for some of the running, could be true expect Jamaicans living abroad sent back 16 BILLION dollars in the last 10 years. Yes, the wealth comes from hard sweat in the US, not necessarily weed. More money than ever, so more to it than poverty. Ha, nothing is as it seems.
The one thing I have found on this board is true friendship. I have learned to see things differently, no weed or dreads, but I am work in process. I have also felt unimaginable hate which in time changes how you interact or at least second guess your words, kind of sucks. One thing I know there are a few that understand me like no other and for that I am grateful. Also a few I have had the true honor and privilege of meeting.
Suszen, I have a pool and beer on tap so say when :-)
RE: my love for Jam and this board - Sharleen - 03-18-2015
One thing that makes me sad and upset are the number of former Mandeville residents, who have lived in U.K. for many many many years and come "home" to retire and are murdered within a month or two.
I still love to come to Jamaica -- such a beautiful country with the majority of the people... just so generously friendly and helpful and nice!
When I lived in JA long term we would move to the Blue Mountains in July and August when Westmoreland was just too hot to be there. One thing about those mountains is that it rains quite a bit. Daily we would drive down "into town" to get food -- what a horrendous drive I tell you!
Long time ago we would "borrow" a car and leave Negril about midnight -- you could make fast time any place in the middle of the night. There was this German guy named Norman who was "off island" quite a bit and we could commandeer his car quite often, most likely off the record. He owned the former Sunset Point (west end past the Lighthouse, just past Prebbles property) as well as a villa in Mobay.
We would all go to sleep early, like 6 p.m., get up at midnight and drive island-wide.
RE: my love for Jam and this board - kylake - 03-20-2015
Quote:Sharleen wrote: We would all go to sleep early, like 6 p.m., get up at midnight and drive island-wide.Those must have been the younger and good old days. Too bad I didn't know the island then! I surely would have liked that kind of experience years ago when most of you knew the island for what it once was.
RE: my love for Jam and this board - jitterbug - 03-21-2015
suzengrace, you have taken us around the island!!
thank you . . . you are soo right . . . just the pure lushness of the place makes me want to come back over and over . . .
i'll be reaching in a few short days and can't get any more excited than i already am!!!
thank you rootswoman and dread for allowing us to post our thoughts on this board.