Return to Jamaica 2018

L-R, Taureans Hector, Joan, Kippo, Delroy and MC Audley

Although I have been residing in Florida since my retirement from radio, an annual May visit to Silver Sands will always be on the agenda. For you see, my brother Bernie is a party animal who never needs a reason to host one, so my birthday has been hosted there, compliments of he and his wife Judy,  every year for around eight years now.

Coretta looks fabulous in her bikini

This year was no exception. The pleasant addition though was having my niece Coretta from Canada, joining us there for a week.

Others in-house for the week too were Bernie's friend from days at school at Cornwall College, Howard Johnson aka Kippo and his wife Joyce.

The usual Taureans were in attendance except for my good friend, Michael James who had some health issues. Delroy and Hector, the other regulars, cut the cake along with a newcomer Kippo. It was quite funny though, for in calling up the Taureans, MC Audely forgot his own daughter Kim, another Taurean, who was very much in attendance!

She, therefore was out of the cake cutting this year.

Coretta and I pose at Noisy River

As usual, when we hang out at Silver Sands, despite the fabulous beach which is always inviting, we do go out touring.

We were all therefore extremely disappointed on the Labour day holiday when we drove all the way to St. Elizabeth to visit YS falls, only to find it closed. It seems to be the tradition in St. Elizabeth to close their attractions on holidays, for we drove over to Appleton to do the rum tour and that too was closed.

The magnificent Good Hope great house in the background

As we were near to Middlequarters where my grandparents had lived, we visited their old home, a place about which I have fond memories. Their old house was sold and is so beautifully remodeled that no one would recognize the place. The Moravian church built on land which my grandmother donated is still there though as are the tombs of my grandparents, their two daughters who died in infancy and my uncle. Coretta has land there so we got lots of papayas from the gentleman who looks after her place.

We also visited Noisy River which is always open and saw them setting up sound equipment for what would no doubt be an exciting day of frolicking for the thousands who often flock that venue for a swim and general lyme later.

Bernie relaxes at Good Hope. One of the former slave quarters is in the background

We did not tarry there, however, instead headed to the popular Bluefileds beach in Westmorland only to find it jam-packed.  In fact, it was so crowded that we could barely maneuver our way back out to the main road after driving down to the beach.

Bernie and Judy enjoy the fabulous view

What we discovered on Labour day was that there is an ackee shortage in western Jamaica. It was really shocking for we traversed four parishes, St.James, Trelawny, St. Elizabeth and Westmoraland but although everyone was looking out for some,  we could not find one vendor selling the main ingredient in Jamaica's national dish! That is extremely abnormal, for it is customary to always find people selling this popular product on the sidewalks.

We later learned that there is no similar shortage in the eastern side of the island though for we easily found some in Kingston and heard that in places such as St. Thomas, it is always available.

On another trek, we visited Good Hope great house in Trelawny from where you get a  scenic view of our important national treasure, the Cockpit Country.

Everyone believed the washerwoman was real!

This was once a brutal slave plantation but today it is operated as a small hotel and there are numerous attractions on the grounds. Of all the attractions, my favorite was this carving of a washerwoman. It is so lifelike, that when I posted the picture of me standing beside the carving on Facebook, it fooled everyone into believing she was real!

We also went over to Negril to visit friends there.

Hanging out at a rest stop on  the way to Negril

Boats anchored at Negril beach

Later, we journeyed to Kingston (minus Coretta who had to go back to Canada), to attend my former in-laws' family reunion. By then, my daughter Michele, granddaughter Maddy and daughter in law, Michelle had already flown into Kingston to attend.

 This is the second occasion on which I attended such a gathering,  for although I have long divorced my ex-husband, his family remains near and dear to me.

No one believes aunt Gladys is 90 years old!

In fact, his mom, Hazel has been my best friend and alternative mother for decades.

Posing with my friend Hazel

She is now 96 years old and extremely alert although she cannot move around by herself due to having a stroke some years ago.

She is well taken care of by her son Chully who ensures that she lacks nothing and can live out the rest of her life in peace and comfort.

Her sister, aunt Gladys also attended the reunion. At 90 years old she looks phenomenal, not a day over 60 and I hear she still drives when at home in Canada. Her family was well represented too as some 15 of them, including children, their spouses, and children, traveled to Jamaica for the event.

After the reunion, my daughter, granddaughter

Overlooking Montego Freeport

 and I went to Montego Bay for a few days at what she describes the Pirate hotel there, for it really caters to children.

It was another unforgettable vacation at home, spoilt only by the fact that we have an extremely lousy member of parliament in Kingson, one DelroyChuck, who has made no effort to fix the roads in the area where my home is.

Here the potholes have become so large and disgraceful that some of them have even taken on distinctive shapes......like the one below which is shaped like a heart.

In this case, the heart is definitely not the symbol of love!