Trip Report Fall 2009 Negril & Ocho Rios, Eco

[ECO]

Trip report:

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Monday evening I planned to catch a few hours of sleep before having to get up at 230 for a 240am pickup for a taxi ride to the airport.
At around 10pm I got the idea to have a few ☺ energy drinks with alcohol, by 1 am I was running in circles with a nice buzz. 240am finally rolled around and my taxi showed up right on time, thank god since I was in no shape to drive myself to the airport. The ride in was perfect, no traffic and the driver was good for some small talk.

While I waiting in line at US Airways for 15 minutes and attempted several times to check in I figured out that my ticket was really for American Airlines, which was at another terminal…oops! A quick 10 minute walk with my tail between my legs brought me to the US Airways terminal and a very quick check in.. Going through the TSA security checkpoint was also very quick; all of my pre-trip stress points were gone almost like I was in a dream.
The first leg of my trip to Miami boarded on time and since I was seated in the back I was able to board first so there was no risk of my carry on luggage needing to be checked. At 520 I was in my seat with my eyes closed until 720 when I woke up to type this part of my trip report, now back to sleep for another hour or so.

The flight from Miami to Jamaica was a breeze! It was like a dream flight, nice and short and from the time that we landing until I was being picked up was just a few minutes. Walking out the front door of the airport and feeling that warm air...........and having a ride waiting was such a nice feeling.

[ECO]

After we left the airport we drove around Montego Bay taking care of some errands before heading over to Negril.

A few random pictures of Mobay;

[Raggamuffin562]

Great start so far Eco

[Rose21]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report ECO

[MZKUMA]

Very interesting readings. Can't wait to see more.

[GhettoGurl]

Yippie yu ave GG locked

[ECO]

After arriving in Negril, we checked in at the Xtabi which is located on the cliffs out in the area of the lighthouse and Rick's tourist trap. After checking in we walked around the west end getting supplies and chatting it up with some of the locals. IMO, the west end is so peaceful compared to other parts of Jamaica.......nobody pestered us (buy this, smoke this, snort this, give me money....).

I went swimming for a few minutes and checked out the caves at the Xtabi and then took a short nap to prepare for a long night. For dinner we ate at a roadside stand which cost $300 each for chicken and rice&peas, oh yeah, we carried our food into a local bar and bought a beer so we could eat at the bar.

For entertainment Tuesday we went to Alfred's. At some point while at Alfred's I felt the need to take my shoes off and take a walk in the ocean, some sea urchin was also out for a midnight walk and we ran into each other, now I have 7 of his spines stuck in my foot.....not sure what he made off with.

I can't give a review of Alfred's since I had ants in my pants and kept leaving to go other places to do other things so I guess if I kept returning it was not that bad and if I kept leaving it was not that great. Later at night I got some food from a pushcart vendor and chilled out by the road while some douche was trying to sell me pills......lol over the counter pills saying they were X.

A couple pictures of the Xtabi:

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[Wahoo]

Bummer about that sea urchin, Eco. I didn't even know there was sea urchins at that part of the beach. Don't worry, though...the spines will slowly dissolve natually over the next couple of weeks, and you'll soon be good as new. Meanwhile, milk your mishap for all you can, having your wife & daughters cater to you while you sit back and wince and moan painfully at appropriate moments, and in years to come you'll have a great tale to tell your grandkids.

[Wahoo]

Can't do that, Tinks. Those mofos are buried deep, and the spines just keep breaking off in pieces, I suppose, if you try to tweeze them out. Better just to let nature take its course...and maybe have a bokkle of single-malt scotch on hand, to ease the pain, while that happens.

[ECO]

After 8 days they are really not a big deal at all. For the first few days they felt like they were sticking out of the bottom of my feet causing some discomfort and like Wahoo said it's hard or impossible to remove them. Now 3 of them are still black dots while 4 of them might be infected (larger sized dots since yesterday). Lol, I think it was Wahoo who suggested that I bring some water shoes

[Wahoo]

I don't have urchin spines in my toes, but I'm looking for an excuse to buy a bottle of single-malt scotch to ease my pain this weekend...I'm sure I'll think of something.

[Wahoo]

After 8 days they are really not a big deal at all. For the first few days they felt like they were sticking out of the bottom of my feet causing some discomfort and like Wahoo said it's hard or impossible to remove them. Now 3 of them are still black dots while 4 of them might be infected (larger sized dots since yesterday). Lol, I think it was Wahoo who suggested that I bring some water shoes

You must've been really wasted that night at Alfreds to leave your shoes at the bar and go traipsing out into the surf barefooted (sort of like I did at Canoe)!

Don't feel bad, Eco...been there, done that, bought the T-shirt!

[ECO]

Wahoo, I tried Dewars (blended scotch) and it did not work, Wray & Nephew did the trick!

In reference to Alfred's, come up to Leesburg the 17th and I'll give you the details

[ECO]

Wednesday we woke up and took a 15 minute (guessing) stroll down the west end in search of Sips & Bites which someone recommended to us. The food was cheap......gotta be careful with that, the Canoe doubled their beer prices after we ranted on here about them being too cheap. The food was great and the service was normal for Jamaica.........a meal is a 40-60 minute experience.

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[Wahoo]

Wahoo, I tried Dewars (blended scotch) and it did not work, Wray & Nephew did the trick!

In reference to Alfred's, come up to Leesburg the 17th and I'll give you the details

Leesburg the 17th. I passed Route 15 to Leesburg, on Route 66, twice in the past two days. Well, I've inked in Oct. 17th on my Marine Corps Association ("The Professional Association for all Marines") 2009 calendar. I cain't wait to hear the details!

[MZKUMA]

Ummm. That Ackee n salt fish looks sweet.

[ECO]

After breakfast we explored some of the little shops and spoke to some of the locals about life and light topics. It was a fun morning not getting pressured into buying anything. I'll have to post a picture at some point of my bracelet that I got from a lady out there who makes them with her daughter, she said something like "I would like $700 for it but I will settle for $400, the more you give the more days my daughter can go to school"........I'm weak!

Outside of her shop I took a bunch of pictures of guy with the promise to mail him copies since he doesn't have a photo of himself.

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[Wahoo]

After 8 days they are really not a big deal at all. For the first few days they felt like they were sticking out of the bottom of my feet causing some discomfort and like Wahoo said it's hard or impossible to remove them. Now 3 of them are still black dots while 4 of them might be infected (larger sized dots since yesterday). Lol, I think it was Wahoo who suggested that I bring some water shoes

You must've been really wasted that night at Alfreds to leave your shoes at the bar and go traipsing out into the surf barefooted (sort of like I did at Canoe)!

Don't feel bad, Eco...been there, done that, bought the T-shirt!

Actually, I didn't buy the T-shirt. It was a gift, courtesy of Eco and Jamaica & Beyond.com, for which I remain eternally grateful...expecially since it's one of the few T-shirts I own that still fit me!

[Wahoo]

I'll have to post a picture at some point of my bracelet that I got from a lady out there who makes them with her daughter, she said something like "I would like $700 for it but I will settle for $400, the more you give the more days my daughter can go to school"........I'm weak!

Sucker! I can't believe you fell for that line, too, like I did on the Hip Strip on my first trip to Jamaica! I still got that bracelet pinned on my cork board in my office at work--I think it cost me something like $8.00 US! Maybe even more!

[Wahoo]

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That plate is almost identical to the one I had at that eatery close to Miss Sonia's that I mentioned in one post, except I had curried chicken instead of ackee & saltfish. I've eaten all the things pictured on that plate, but to confess to still being a rookie on things Jamaican, I'm still not sure what a couple of those items are. I recognize the calaloo and boiled banana and other stuff, but what are the two things next to the banana? Cassava? Breadfruit?