Cart food - Jamaica

We decided to branch out & try the local food. Mike had been on a snorkel excursion & the folks on it told him about the cooked lobster they had bought from a man on the beach. We decided to try it. We headed down the beach & hadn't gone far when we ran into him. He had several cooked lobster in a box & offered us one for $8 or two for $15. When we pulled out a $20 we automatically qualified for the two/$15 special - no arguing with him! He pulled out a knife and cut the lobster down the back so we could get at the meat. Unfortunately that cut the waste all over the meat. It was quite fishy tasting so we took it back to the room and washed the meat. It tasted much better. The food was definitely overcooked but edible.

That was good so we headed across the street to try the chicken. This man was very friendly and told us we would have to wait 15 minutes for it to cook. We gave it an extra half hour. When I appeared he was very happy to see me - letting me know that it was ready & waiting. I got half a chicken for $5. He cut it up and wrapped it in foil for me to take back to the hotel. It had the skin on it so we had to pull that off. When we did we lost a lot of the jerk flavor from the meat. What flavor it did have was good.

Both men thanked us for our support of their enterprises. Very friendly and happy to help then out.

Sunset on the cliffs - Negril, Jamaica

The West End of Negril has beautiful cliffs where people come to dive or just sit back and enjoy the sunset. We went to Ivan's to enjoy dinner and a view of the sunset. Mike planned to take a dive off the cliff but they said only registered guests were allowed to dive.

Ivan's got it's name after an unwelcome visit from Ivan the terrible in 2004. Suzanne, the owner, had proudly taken possession of the resort when, two weeks later, Ivan came barrelling down on Jamaica and parked it over the West End for about 33 hours,wiping out the resort but not Suzanne's dream. The result is a beautiful resort that attracts a crowd from all over.

When we arrived the cliffs were lit up in the late afternoon sun. They were stunning. We enjoyed a cocktail and watched the activity around cliffs including divers that we're staying in the surrounding hotels and party boats that came up to watch.

The food at Ivan's was reasonably priced and nicely presented. Mike ordered a jerk platter that included shrimp, chicken & fish (snapper). The food was nice & hot (not always so at all restaurants here) and easy to eat. The skin had been removed from the chicken. That is a big plus when trying to eat the chicken. It can be quite messy otherwise.  I had the Snappy Snapper plate. It was two large pieces of snapper in a fruity sauce. The sauce was a little sweeter than I am used to so I did get a little tired of it before I was finished. All in all it was  the BEST!!! dining experience we had in Negril. Definitely worth a second trip. Enjoy!

Blue Hole - Negril, Jamaica

Monday we took a side trip to the Blue Hole. It is a mineral springs in a limestone formation.

We left from Seven Mile Beach and ventured inland. We were delighted to travel on a road that actually had a center line painted on it plus shoulders that didn't drop off a foot or more. Then we turned off the main road. The secondary road wasn't too bad. Go slow, pull over where you can for oncoming traffic and you can manage to fit two vehicles on it.

We turned off at the Blue Hole Resort sign. It was a dirt road but passable if you go slow. We have learned that just cause the locals travel at a certain speed doesn't mean you have to go that fast!

It cost $10 each at the Blue Hole. Chris became our guide and as we climbed down the 30 foot ladder he did a dive. That's part of what you pay for -your guide looks after you and entertains you with about five different dives.

We had gone early so the longer we were there the more lit up the pool became. Chris called me over to the side and began a limestone rub on my legs and feet. He would dig out a hand full of limestone, crush it, mix it with a little water and rub it on me. I rubbed some on my face and chest. As it started to dry it would flake so I washed it off and enjoyed a swim around the pool.

Chris did a few more dives for us from various heights. He is an avid volleyball players so we spent some time talking about volleyball in Jamaica. One of the things they are planning for the resort is to host a Jamaican volleyball tournament. They play four man volleyball on sand. I bet they are fun to watch.

Chris took us on a tour of the facilities. They are working to get the resort open and they are getting close. The bedrooms have bamboo furniture but the bathrooms are the highlight. They were painted by a local artist from Negril. Everyone has a different scene that is very colorful. They are hoping to be open in February. After they finish with the facilities Chris told us they were going to work on the road. Good idea!

The Blue Hole, definitely worth a side trip. Very relaxed and enjoyable.

Food in Jamaica

We are in Negril Beach staying on the Seven Mile Beach stretch. Our hotel is beryl simple but for the price it is all we were expecting.

Our first night here we were exhausted so looking for food close by was a must. Just a couple door down was a hotel Charlesa so we decided to try their restaurant. I had a chicken dish and Mike had their lobster pasta yum!

My chicken was VERY tender and juicy. It was great. It was covered in a tomato sauce with onions and spices in the sauce. A treat to the taste buds. It was accompanied by two small potatoes and vegetables. Definitely the chicken was the star of the show.

Mike had the pasta lobster. The sauce was herbs and oil. He loved it. The lobster was plentiful and the herbs were a nice accompaniment. The restaurant is known for it traditional Jamaican fare with a French twist.

Our waitress was friendly and very helpful. I tried several drinks orders (first a Mojito then a G&T) before settling on Margarita (they had the ingredients for that).

And, oh yes, it faces onto the beach so you can enjoy your outdoor dining experience!

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving

Hi everyone

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I just get side tracked easily. I think it's part of the aging process. A thought pops into your brain and all else flies out! Drives me crazy but, hey, that's life.

So, it's Tuesday and it's bridge day with Peter. I'm looking forward to it. He just got back from a trip to Peru. I can't wait to hear about it. That's a long ways to go for a week but it sounds like he had a great time.

So, I am still cleaning closets. Yesterday I hauled everything out of the pantry & made room for some other stuff that had morfed it's way into the dining room. I managed to reclaim the dining room just in time for Thanksgiving but now there is very little room in the pantry! Just as long as I can get to all I need for Thanksgiving dinner I should be okay, right?

I'm off to bridge - wish me luck!

TGIF

Good morning.

Peter & I met yesterday over coffee to discuss new bridge strategy. He was away all summer & used his time wisely to improve his bridge game. He introduced me to something called Losing Trick Count and, fortunately for me, KISS (kept it simple).

It boils down to this - count your losers in a suit. Every missing AKQ counts as a losing trick. If you only have a singleton in that suit it counts as one loser, etc.
So, first count your losers. Open if you have 7 or less losers.
Partner - respond with 9 or less losers.

Agree on a suit and go from there.
I like it!!!!

After that, well, reality hit - mow the lawn, sweep out the garage, tackle the closet (I only got to one shelf!)

And finally, a delicious dinner with my gorgeous husband. Yes!!!

Bridge anyone?

Today I play in a bridge tournament with my friend, Phyllis. It was a good tournament for us because we are relatively new to duplicate bridge so we like to play against people who are also fairly new (translate that to inexperienced!).

We met this morning at our designated spot. I was the driver since we needed an easy tag & I have one on my car. We gave ourselves 1-1/2 hours to get there. The bridge club was about an hour away but since it was still rush hour we gave ourselves extra time. We weren't the first ones there but pretty close to it.

We played north-south. That just means our team stays at the table and the other teams (east-west) come to us.

In duplicate you are grouped into categories depending on how many master points you have. We are always thrilled to get master points and imagine our surprise at our first tournament when we learned you get different colored master points depending on the type of play it is. Today they were giving out silver points.

Generally you play about 26 boards. We played north-south. That just means our team stays at the table and the other teams (east-west) come to us. Every north-south team is competing against the other north-south teams. Since there were 14 NS teams we played 2 boards a round against an EW opponent.

Long story short, we had a decent day. I made a few errors, Phyllis made a few errors. We finished below 50% but we MAY have earned a portion of a master point. We didn't stick around to find out but I'll be sure to let you know!

Oh, and did I mention, we had a lot of fun. It was a great crowd. We love that 299r group!