Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

[QK13]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Sorry to be so rude Tigerinatrance... and I won't EVEN tell you how I was going to abbreviate your name!! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Anyway, I look in here every day, just haven't thought to comment til Laurel just shamned me into thinking about it... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70361-embarassed.gif[/img]

This is a great report and your photos are lovely.
Keep it up.

[ohliz]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

I'm really enjoying the report and the photos!!

[Laurel]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Originally posted by Q.K:
[qb] Sorry to be so rude Tigerinatrance... and I won't EVEN tell you how I was going to abbreviate your name!! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Anyway, I look in here every day, just haven't thought to comment til Laurel just shamned me into thinking about it... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70361-embarassed.gif[/img]

This is a great report and your photos are lovely.
Keep it up. [/qb]

ABBRIVIATE HER NAME [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] Let me guess!

I certainly did not mean to shame anyone - I was thinking maybe cuz so many have left the board it was not cool to chime in randomly anymore ... I thought maybe I was being annoying & rude - well, like I care what anyone thinks - [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Actually - I spent way too much time searching other web sites on Jamaica Inn wondering how I would ever be able to swing something like that one day .... ya right - as if that will ever happen. So I have savored every step thru Tiger -

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

You can swing it, they run deals, and it is half price in the summer time. There are less expensive rooms that are not on the water - but that was most of the experience for me.

At some point, agree to treat yourself. If you take your dream vacation money and pay a bill with it, you come out of it eased, but only until the next bill.

With a vacation like the one we took, I will never forget that week, and the people I met, and the experiences - and, how much more relaxed we are. And, one day I will forget how much it cost.

Also, I would have forgotten for which bill I used the money if I had done so, and I will never forget Jamaica.

There - I justified it. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Oh, and I use TIAT

(you forgot the "A" - I'm roots, not slackness!) (I will explain that very shortly)

I use TIAT all the time because I have a business by the same name.

Or, you can use what I do - A.

I have seen tiger as well

[ohliz]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

There are a couple of nice Jamaica Inn reports I've read:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages....ext=jamaica+inn

Photos:

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100504

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100596

[AngieB]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Tiger, great report. The pictures are lovely as well. I have agreed to treat myself to JI one day soon.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

OK, last of the coyaba photos:







These fish would come right up and look at you (looking for food, I imagine)

[Rebycman]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Wonderful pictures and report! Great read, thanks for keeping our spirits up [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

-Reby

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Then, Earl dropped us off at Island Village. We had some jerk chicken and rice and peas at the place next to Jose’s, and we watched these guys with steel drum, bass, keyboards and percussion. The one guy was really expressive.



I love these blow up things - mainly because of a funny story that Scott told me about being in Atlanta and at 6 Flags they had these blow up things, and on one of them, the hand had gotten caught between the legs, and it just looked rude - and everyone was laughing.

Anyway, I had never see one with dreads.

We walked around, Scott went into the cigar store, and Scott heard the girls talking about him (what do you think of him?), Scott sees them both look over, and somehow, they ended up flirting all the way to somehow “getting married” and Scott met his future sister-in-law, pictured here with the bride to be. As you can probably figure out, we like to have fun, and when we are having fun, it’s hard not to join in.





We cruised around, talked with the bass player from the band. We went to the Hemp store and got some t-shirts and belts, met up with this guy who made me a bird on a strand of palm, and who named me “Tutti Frutti” and Scott something that we can’t remember.





We also had to stop the bootilicious ladies for a picture or two.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos



We went to Reggae Xplosion, talked with the guy who showed us in for a while, and then toured the place. Not bad, but I could not spend the day watching videos and listening to audio clips when I was in Jamaica. Maybe if the museum was in someplace rainy and cold, sure.

[Laurel]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

[img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Enjoying your sense of fun!

[img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] At Scott's blow up story ...

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

We left Island Village and headed down Main Street. Next time, I am going to take a sign that says “ (1) I AM NOT ON THE BOAT (2) IT IS NOT MY FIRST TIME HERE (3) I DO NOT NEED A TAXI.” I am thinking of making a T-Shirt they can sell in the shops that says this, especially when the cruise ships are in. Not that I thought it was nearly the big deal people tell you about, and all the “hustling” warnings you get in the travel books. I just got tired of saying the same thing, over and over –although, it is part of the sites and sounds of my trip. Another vacation moment.



Now, one of my favorite vacation moments. We are walking back toward Taj Mahal from downtown, and we get stopped by a guy with CDs. I always pick up as much music as I can when in the Turks and Caicos, so you can bet I am going to pick up what is hot on the streets in Jamaica.

They guy has 3 cds – 2 dancehall, 1 slackness. I tell him right off the bat – I don’t like dancehall, I don’t like slackness.” He can’t argue with me about the dancehall. He knows I know. I think I catch him off guard with the slackness thing, and he says “Nuh Mon, dis IS roots” (I had told him I liked roots reggae). He is insisting the slack CD is roots. So I point to a song and say “You mean to tell me that Put It In My ***** is a roots reggae song?” (really, that was the song title, or something really crude like that) He was losing his patience with me.

He calls over his buddy, eventually we settle on two CDs, both culture/roots style, and then we get to the negotiating. I think we started at $25.00 for two. We ended up at 2 for $10.00 which I was told was about right. Believe me, it was a little bit of a battle getting there, haggling over $2 (they wanted $12) for more than a while. It was resolved with a “I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you back your CDs and you give me back my $10.” $10.00 it is. One of the CDs was a culture mix – pretty good. The other is just OK.

We head over to Taj Mahal, and considering that it has been at least what? 2 hours since our last dose of jerk, we order some wings at Taj jerk, and hang out on the table near the sidewalk, watching Ocho Rios.
Earl came back and got us, and we went back to JI. I think we hung out for a while and then had dinner.



The neatest part about the day was that we met Earl, who, is an active member of the Ocho Rios Rotary Club. He helped establish a skills center in Ocho Rios, where the students are given stipens, and he was working with several schools in the area, renovating the kitchens and such. I mentioned the school supplies, and that was it – we had a date for Monday – we would be heading to Retreat Basic School. He would phone ahead and tell them we were coming.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

I have to tell everyone that I am smiling from ear to ear right now (as the snow literally blows and swirls outside my office window)

I got a call from one of the busers from Jamaica Inn, calling to thank me for the tip we left (he called Scott too - although tipping is included at JI, you can leave extra if you feel it is deserved. We loved the staff, and they made our day when we came up for meals - and so we did leave a likkle some ting extra)

Anyway - he did not need to call - but he did. How nice. And I know it cost him a pretty penny calling from his cell phone.

He wanted to know when we are coming back.

I told him I'd like to come back next week.

<sigh>

[nattydreadgirl]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Tigerinatrance,

great trip report and the photos are lovely. i purchased a tee shirt in Negril (i think) it says NO: I don't have any spare change