Music of the Night

This is another interesting article that Markospoon posted on negril.com a while back. He sure has a comfortable and comforting writing style doesn't he?

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Anybody in Negril ever go out in the morning, eat, swim, take a ride, drink some cocktails, go back to your room and take a nap?

I did.

I didn't wake up until about 7 PM.

Man, I missed the whole day!

I jumped into the shower and threw on my glad rags. I opened the door and it was almost dark out.

It's a whole different world at night. The frogs were awake and calling each other (no cell phone needed).

Leaving my hotel, there were all kinds of people walking up and down the road, in the early evening. Cool cars out cruising around, showing off.

When I got to the beach, I could look down the shore and see all kinds of different size and colored lights twinkling away.

When the sun is going down, the shade of orange is so magnificent. The reflection on the water, with that bluish/greenish/orange color is mezmerizing.

It just seems like everything fits, like it's supposed to be.

The smell of dinners being cooked, the music from places that may have been closed or deserted during the day, but are open for the evening crowd.

There is a certaln vibe, electricity in the air at night. It's almost magnetic, in the way it draws out your imagination.

I picked a bar, ordered a cold one and just chilled. Even if nothing is going on, just being outdoors, at night is so cool.

All of the sudden, you are a secret agent, on a mission to find the coolest crowd, coldest beer, prettiest ladies and best tasting food.

Good thing about the beach, you can just walk and walk and walk. No car traffic.

Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation! Darkness stirs and wakes imagination, Silently the senses, abandon their defenses! The Music of the night!

Ted's Hand Woven Jamaican Grass Mats

This is an article from Jamaica My Way - a blog wherein you will find out about how to get around for less, stay for less, see more, meet Jamaican people, experience Jamaican culture, and eat the best food.

Jamaican Craft

About 5 years ago I cyber-met a really cool American lady, Alice, on a Jamaican chat forum. Over the years we got to know each other really well by conversing online and by phone, and she eventually retired to Jamaica. My mission was to meet her on my very next trip and so it happened.

Alice, me and Ted at their home in Negril

I have now met and stayed with Alice and her boyfriend Ted on two separate occasions, once at their house in Montego Bay and once at their new house in Negril. I love Alice like a second mother and even though he’s quiet and shy, I’ve grown fond of Ted too. This is why I’ve decided to feature Ted’s beautiful craft of grass mats. I’ve watched him tediously weaving and braiding grass and seen the final and beautiful finished product.

A finished product

Drying grass before starting a mat

Pile of grass ready to start braiding

Alice and Ted have them all throughout their houses, at the front doors, as bath mats, out on the veranda, etc. Such a nice addition to any room really.

Ted has a regular spot at the Negril craft market where he sells his mats and will also take custom orders. Some of our forum friends who have met Alice and Ted, have taken home a mat or two. I have yet to take one home because I still think I’m just moving to Jamaica and will have them all over my house there LOL.

Ted braiding grass for a mat

If you’re ever in Negril and would like to see Ted’s creations, you can head to the Negril craft market. His spot is kind of tucked away and hard to find but if you ask the other vendors for the Rasta Ted with the grass mats they’ll be sure to take you there.

***Partial photo credits to Lula Carter of www.reliabletoursofjamaica.com***

Reggae Music Everywhere in Negril

This article was written by Markospoon, a regular poster on negril.com message board who IMHO has very good writing talent. He is another one there whom I would encourage to start his own blog on Negril because of his great love for the place.

Reggae music everywhere, I went Reggae music. I have always heard reggae growing up, but never got into it. In Negril, it is of course everywhere.

It took me a while to understand Reggae. It is a powerful, soul inspired sound. Being in Negril or on the Island, is what I needed to understand it.

Sure, it has a good beat, rythym and soul stirring sounds. Those are 3 pluses, but my fav was Jazz. Coltrane, Miles and Bird (aka Charlie Parker)

It was maybe my 3rd solo trip, that I got into it, understood it, felt it. I met a gentleman and started to "hang" at his place. I would wake up, eat a biiiig breakfast, buy a bottle of OJ, then head down to his spot. Sitting, talking to him, hours and hours, day after day. That was 9 years ago.

The way he lived, how he was raised, the trials and tribulations that occurred during his life and the life of his ancestors. How he relates to his environment, the surrounding forest and hills, the veggies and fruit, the birds and butterflies. How they prepare and cook their food. The aromas and the sea air. The way it rains and the sun and the sunsets. The older people and the little kids, how they talk, how they walk far, and run fast. The weddings and funerals, its all connected.

All of this is in Reggae music. At dusk, when the sun is going down, sometimes all my reflections come together and I get it. Now, I gotta have it, here at home, or there on the Island.

On my cable TV provider, (Comcast) there are music channels, all kinds of music.
What I do at home in Chi-town is turn on the Reggae station, loud, jump in the shower and take a nice loooong one. When I finish and open the bathroom door, the music hits me!

For a moment i am in Negril, and all is well with the world.

I still love jazz and R&B music, but now I can add Reggae to my list of soul stirring sounds!

The Patty Man on the Beach

"BEEF-VEGETABLE-CHICKEN-COCO BREAD"

(please credit this entire account and the photos of this fine man to Rambo and his wife CoComando (Ray and Jules Edwin) who are frequent visitors to Negril)

"PATTY MAN" is what he is normally called.....His real name is Neville Stewart, a man small in stature, but not in dreams or work ethic's.

He is a widower of six years from this writing (2009), and a father of 6 children. He lives in Grange Hall and leaves his bike near the beach area that he works each day, rarely taking a day off. He brings the "Patty Box" with him each day, loading it up in the morning with fresh pattys and returning at night filled with supplies for the next days sales.

His bike is safe-stored at the end of the beach, near where he starts and finshes each day. He has been pushing his bike through the beach sand for over 16 years now, and is in the process of fixing up a "scooter" to help him to get to work and home to cut down on his expenses so that he wont have to raise his prices........(smart man!).

His day usually starts about 5AM with the cooking and preparing of his days worth of patty's. A patty is a pastry shell filled with BEEF-VEGTABLE-CHICKEN-COCO BREAD, and then deep fried to a golden brown (like a brown taco) only soft and warm with a very light and flaky crust.

The patties filling varies with the choices, as does the prices...with the CoCo Bread being the cheapest. Normally we are talking about 1 US buck to a buck and a half a piece.......BIG Discounts for volume..LOL!

All the fillings are GREAT, with all being able to put that "certain" Jamaican "hot-ness" on the end of your tongue, which is washed away nicely with a Red Stripe or a Heinekins.

I made him a shirt with his photo on it and we gave it to him on our last visit so if you see a guy on the beach with a bicycle wearing a shirt with him on it - you have just run into the Pattyman!

As all Jamaicans do more than one job and so does the Patty Man. He will also will cook you a fine Jamaican Meal at your place or elsewhere, and deliver it to you.

We asked him for BIG LOBSTERS,,,and Mon did he deliver! We were taking a dip in the pool when he arrived at about 4 in the afternoon one day with a bag, in it were 3 of the BIGGEST JAMAICAN LOBSTERS we had ever seen. They were maybe 2 to 3 lbs of tail meat each!

A good sales day for Neville is 70 patties (when Spring Break is in session) going down to an average of only 35-45 per day during these slow times. He very rarely brings any back home with him, giving the last away or trading them for rides.

When he gets back home he does his "chores" and gets ready for the next day. When he's done he'll say his nightly prayers, and finally close his eyes...it will be around 11 PM!

So when you see the Pattyman, pushing his bike full of patties along on the sand in the blazing heat why don't you get up and go over and buy him out....and help him get that "scooter" on Di Road!

And as you watch him walk off, you can feel proud and honored that you have just met a real "Jamaican Legend".

By the way, this is the second article from Rambo (The Fruit Lady was the first)and we are encouraging Rambo and his wife to start a blog of their own so a few encouraging comments below from you readers here might help to convince them to do so.

The Fruit Lady in Negril.

"ANYBODY WANT FRUUUUUUUUITS"?

This is one of Jamaica's unsung heroes that tourists should know about. Please credit this entire account and its photos of this fine woman to Rambo and his wife CoComando (Ray and Jules Edwin) who are frequent visitors to Negril and who often post on negril.com's message board.

The fruit lady's name is Mrs. Gem Gidden and she truly is a gem! She lives in St Elizabeth so she travels by route taxi about 3 hrs to work and 3 hrs home every day. She wakes around 5AM and by 6AM she has bought her days supply of fresh picked fruits at the farmers market and is on her way to the Beach.

She arrives about 10AM and walks the beach from Roots Bamboo to Coral Seas (shown in map below) repeatedly until her day ends around 6PM and she gets back home by 8:30-9:00PM.

She and her husband of 32 years have raised 14 children. At 55 years old, she is the sole provider for her family and she does so by selling fresh fruits which she carries in her basket and her 2 hand bags...the basket weighs about 25-30 lbs, which she carries and balances on her HEAD! Her BAGS will weigh about the SAME each!

She does all of this while walking in thick beach sand under a blazing sun only stopping to rest now and then. So when you see her please lighten her load and buy a few things from her because she has many steps to walk selling her fruits before she can rest.

Mrs. Gidden has traveled extensively for the Jamaican Tourist Board in Jamaica and elsewhere. She has a "BEAUTIFUL SINGING VOICE" and is called upon professionally for weddings and events.

So the next time your sleepin on the beach, and you awake to hear this strange sound...."Anybody Di Fruuuuits"????????", get up and walk over to her and help her out by buying a few of things and please TIP HER WELL!

You might even get treated to a little song? She has an amazing voice!

By the way, we are encouraging Rambo and his wife to start a blog of their own and a few encouraging comments below might help to convince them to do so.

Negril's World Renowned 7 Mile Beach

The 7 - mile beach in Negril is one of the best beaches in the world according to many, many travel critics. It is actually 2 strips of beach but it is considered as one continuous beach by Negrilians. It is about 4 miles long along Negril's Long bay and then another 3 miles long along Bloody Bay. This is nicely shown in the wonderful adjustable Wikimapia map below.

The northernmost 4 miles of this 7 mile beach area are where the newer, larger, all inclusive resorts are located as well as most of Negril's nude beaches (which are restricted areas on the property of the couples only type of resorts).

The southern 3 miles of beach contains about 60 colorful and uniquely styled boutique beach resorts of all sizes, most of which are Jamaican owned and operated.

Here may also be found some of Negril's dance clubs, entertainment centers and quite a few beach bars and beach restaurants most of which continuously play great Jamaican reggae music.

On this beach there are also many small shops of various kinds and an arts and crafts market with about 50 stalls of locally produced goods which is situated just outside of Negril's downtown area.

Here may also be found for-hire glass bottom boats from which to fish or snorkel or just observe the bay's interesting underwater features and creatures.

Para sailing services are very popular and may be contracted here. Para sails givs you a birds-eye view of the beach and its bays.

Jetskiing, waterskiing and catamaran services may also be found here.

photo courtesy of Wild Thing Catamarans

Booze cruises and sunset cruises on the big catamarans that are for-hire here are very popular pastimes for tourists because of their tremendously romantic and / or relaxing effect.

This lower 3 mile section of the beach is where tourists who are familiar with Negril love to walk and browse around much of the day.

At night it's also the area where most of Negril's beach action occurs so the tourists gravitate to its clubs, bars, restaurants and entertainment centers for party time activities.

Their parties begin at about 8 pm and last up until about 2 am when almost everything in Negril totally shuts down. Just a few places like Mi Yard stay open all night for partying.

Some of you might wonder why most clubs and entertainment centers shut down so soon but if you think about it a minute you'll realize that they are open every night, so much later activities will conflict with their tourist's next day's beckoning call back to the beach. After all, spend a day in the sun and surf and then all night partying and it won't be but a day or two before you'll have had enough and need your rest.

One of the reasons that this 7 - mile continuous stretch of beach in Negril is so famous is that for about 100 yards out into its 2 bays it has very clear, shallow water. Additionally it has cool, white sand all along the beach itself even on the hottest days. Also, its warm, shallow waters are usually quite calm so it's a very safe place for children of all ages to play.

Every resort along this beach sets out beach chairs and lounges for their patrons but they also welcome beach walkers to use them. Beach walkers are also welcome to stroll into any of the beach's shops, bars, restaurants or clubs as well any of the the beach's resorts grounds. Encouraging walk-ins is all a form of advertising in which the owners of Negril's enterprises engage. This is another reason why Negril is called the Capital of Casual.

One visit to Negril's ultra friendly 7 mile beach will capture you for the rest of your life! It is highly addictive because of its great Jamaican vibe. Yes, there are beach scammers and aggressive gigolos to pester the tourists but they're just trying to make a living and they do add to the beach's ambiance, even though no one really looks forward to encountering them.

Negril's beach resorts are wonderful places to spend your winter vacations or your springbreak or to propose to your fiance or have him (or her) propose to you! It's also a great place for wedding ceremonies or to renew a couple's wedding vows.

Isn't this a couple's to die for wedding photo?

Photo courtesy of FG Photos & Videos

Here couples can also honeymoon or celebrate their anniversary in a gorgeous, lush, tropical setting.

Words nor photos nor even videos can ever adequately describe the wonderful experience of staying at a resort on Negril's fabulous 7 - mile beach! Whatever reasons might prod you initially to go there, you will find your visit to definitely be a life changing experience for you just as it was for me! Do you want proof? Take a look at me now!

Now that I'm completely Jamaicanized I'm ready to put the reggae into the reggae, mon!!!