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Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - Tim - 02-02-2016
Not exactly a trip report, but thought I would write some notes on our recent trip to Negril, we were there a week before Xmas staying until just past New Years. I am going strictly from memory so things will be in far from chronological order, just as they come to me.
We were lucky enough to book first class seats from Winnipeg to MoBay, the price at the time was only about 20% higher than cattle, well worth it. Our flight time had been moved to a later time so we had hopes off being quick thru the airport being a evening arrival plus being first off the plane. Well we were first to the bottom of the ramp, then it was discovered the brilliant air Canada flight attendants gave us the wrong customs forms to fill out. Seriously? It didn't really cost much time but come on, is this the first time you have flown to Jamaica? Besides that little setback the airport wasn't all that busy and we got to our luggage and out the door in good order, only to find our ride wasn't here yet. So in the end we were probably the last ones from that flight to leave the airport. Not sure how long we waited, right about 2 beers worth.
Linston eventually arrived, we stopped for a party pack of beers and off we went. Too bad we travelled in the dark, I really enjoy the scenic ride to Negril.
We stayed a week at Seastar. Now we have been there several times to eat and drink but never stayed. Gotta say I don't think it can be beat for the price. Chris gave me a great deal over the phone when I booked, and we ended up with what I would consider the best room on the property. Our balcony overlooked the pool (and bar), and straight up the stairs was a rooftop balcony complete with hammocks and loungers.
The service at Seastar is first rate, and with the free shuttle we never used a cab at all. In fact we never used a cab our entire trip, lots of walking as usual. We took advantage of the free breakfast every day, but ate lunch and supper elsewhere.
LTU- good but not great, had better there in the past.
Ahhbees- good burgers, not cheap. They had a decent band one night and we stuck around late to enjoy. It was a good place to go with a short walk to the room.
Sips and Bites - good and cheap.
Just Natural- never been to the new place, a fair walk but I always enjoy Theresa, and good food.
De Bar.- Ate there our first night after our late arrival. Jerk chicken was a nice treat.
Chicken King- barrel chicken set up near Ricks. Probably the best barrel food of the trip.
Xtabi- had a good lunch followed by an hour of snorkeling.
Speaking of snorkeling, I promised myself to swim every day, and so I did.
Our seastar days varied from relaxing on our private rooftop, wandering the west end road, taking the shuttle to the beach.
One day we were dropped at half moon beach-meh. We have been there in the past but wanted to check out Calico Jacks. So we paid the entry fee ( isn`t there endless free beach all over the Negril area). I had brought my backpack cooler loaded with cold beers so ended up revolving them with buying the ones at the beach bar. The boat shuttle didn`t seem to be running so wife and I donned our swim toys and snorkeled out to Calico Jacks. It was closed. Nobody there but the hermit crabs. Guess that`s why the shuttle boat wasn`t moving. The water in the bay sure wasn`t as clear as Negril beach, and has a more rocky bottom. After that long swim we ordered some food. It was easily the longest wait we had to wait for meals the entire trip. On the bright side I enjoyed the dogs lol.
As usual Seastar put on a delicious spread for Christmas, we feasted that night.
There`s a lady from Ontario setting up some kind of room rentals up on the cliffs, along with a shop of some sort. We had heard she was selling weed cookies and so we stopped in the ask her about them.
To be continued...
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - jitterbug - 02-03-2016
hey tim, i was hoping you'd give us your thoughts . . .
was there barking dogs at seastar? that always worries me . . .
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - rootswoman - 02-03-2016
I am enjoying this immensely Tim.
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - Oldtimer2 - 02-04-2016
me to !!!
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - Tim - 02-04-2016
Thanks for the remarks. I have more but it will have to wait till next week. I have been working away from home, staying in a hotel 3 nights a week. Problem is I have several friends there too so am usually away from my room till bed time, which is early as well.
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - jitterbug - 02-04-2016
Sounds good tim! Looking forward to more!
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - kylake - 02-05-2016
Thanks Tim for taking time to write. Looking forward to the next addition.
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - Tim - 02-09-2016
Back to the cookies. We had met another couple and a single lady that were travelling together, staying at Seastar. They had mentioned the cookies and described where they had bought some.
As we walked back to the hotel from Just Natural we noticed the place, and walked into the small shop, still under construction. We asked about the cookies and she pulled some out to show us. We decided to buy 2 of them, pretty sure we paid $5 each for them (U.S). Rosie asked the lady how much we should eat, and the answer was a question - how much do you smoke? Now Rosie rarely smokes ganja, perhaps while sitting around the campfire at our seasonal campsite or up at the cabin, and while in Jamaica. A couple hoots and she's pie-eyed. The lady suggested she eat about a quarter of one cookie.
We get back to seastar, order some drinks and figure might as well try out our new snacks. 2 things to point out - we had plans to go to Ivan's for supper that night, the other thing is that I am pretty much a professional weed smoker and have been for the past 30 years. I have actually slowed down the last few years but I still don't catch even close to the buzz I once did.
I break off a small chunk and give to Rosie, I eat the rest of the first one except for another small piece which I pass her. So she is at her allotment, about a 1/4 as advised. Well about 15 minutes later I'm looking at the other cookie and without hesitation I wolf down the whole thing, what the hell!
After finishing our drinks we decide to go to the room, have a shower and go relax on our balcony for a while before we head off to Ivan's. So I'm all cleaned up, grab a cold beer from the fridge and go sit outside and do a bit of reading (yes I read books). Now I'm not sure how long I was sitting there but probably an hour or so later I'm thinking to myself - how many beers have I drank?? I'm starting to feel pretty "impaired" and realize I have only had the one beer plus a drink at the bar. I didn't really want to let on how I was feeling so I suggested maybe we should head to Ivan's for supper, hoping things would settle down. Not exactly.
Now besides feeling as though I had eaten a couple grams of mushrooms I do remember thinking Ivan's is a pretty nice place, with lots of tables.
Thankfully we were given a table right along the cliff edge and I could sit facing the sea, not that I could see out there as it was now dark. We ordered our meals and I sat there vibrating. Finally I had to tell Rosie I think I ate too much cookie. She says "really?" Oh yah, I'm f***ed, I said. I told her it was coming on strong and had been for a while.
I managed to hold it together, our meals came pretty quickly and I wasted no time pounding it down. All I wanted was to get away from there and hopefully start to come down from this wild ride.
Side note - Great service, with good food and reasonable prices at Ivans.
We get back to Seastar and see our friends sitting at a table. Rosie stopped to visit but I barely said Hi as I kept walking, next stop was our bed. I laid down, turned on the TV and amazingly was probably sleeping within half an hour. Woke up in the morning back to normal.
Take my advice, don't be a weed cookie hog.
We have a history of splitting our trips to Negril between the cliffs and the beach but I have to think we are beach people. I think we spent 3 days hanging at Sun Beach while we stayed at seastar. It's a good place for people not actually staying on the beach, lots of loungers and generally good service, although we got hosed once on a bill, thus ending our relationship there.
Something I noticed our first week was it seemed pretty quiet. Less tourists, less vendors then last time I was here. It definitely picked up every day.
Great weather, a couple good rains during the trip but mostly sun and heat, the way we like it.
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - Tim - 02-09-2016
More to come. Have a few pictures but need to figure out how to re-size them.
RE: Negril- ramblings, thoughts, observations... - jitterbug - 02-10-2016
good morning tim, first cup of coffee and laughing . . . great story . . . to remember for next time . . .