Day 4 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica... mon!
Category Vacation
Today was the port call of Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Home of reggae, taxis, tours, and weed...
Instead of signing up for a tour, we (Sue and I) decided just to check out some of the shopping areas around the town. We got off the ship around 8:30 and immediately it started to rain. Not a good weather day. The locals are *extremely* aggressive with offers for tours and taxis. Couldn't go more than 100 yards without getting someone asking you if you needed a ride. We hit a couple of the main shopping complexes, but everything was pretty much the same. Unless you were looking for jewelry or cheap hooch, there wasn't anything you couldn't live without. Plus, the merchants would follow you from counter to counter in the shops. You couldn't look at anything without them trying to start the selling/bargaining process. Island Village was a little more interesting, with a tropical themed area including one of my favorite restaurants, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville! It was still early (around 10:30), so we decided to walk back to the ship, get the boys, and take them to lunch...
Since they woke up late, they had pretty much just had breakfast by then and weren't ready for another major meal. By around noon or so, they were ready to go, but Sue was feeling tired. So the three of us trooped off to Margaritaville, dodging tour and taxi requests the entire way. Fun times, good music, and the boys enjoyed it. On the way back to the ship (running the gauntlet again), I mentioned to Ian I was surprised we hadn't been offered drugs. "What do you mean?", he said. "The count's up to seven times now." He was about four paces behind me, and I was oblivious to the fact that the offers for taxi/tours turned into offers for smoke/weed as he brought up the rear. Sheesh...
I spent some time in the fitness area trying to work off a bit of the Cheeseburger In Paradise, and then lounged around doing some reading. There really wasn't much else to do, as it was raining most of the day. Not just the "rain for five minutes and clear off" stuff. This was rain, then stop, then mist, then rain again. Not very pleasant. Warm, but not pleasant. Dinner (casual Caribbean style) at 6, and a little gambling to round out the evening. The main attraction this evening is the ice show, but we saw that Monday. So it's quiet kicking back, and perhaps an early turn-in, as we're going to try some shore excursions tomorrow in Grand Caymans.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate...
Random thoughts...
My favorite t-shirt: "What part of NO don't you understand? No, I don't want my hair braided. No, I don't want a taxi. No, I don't want a tour. No, I don't want any weed."
Poor Cam... when we were walking around, he wasn't old enough to get the taxi spiel (that was mine) and he was too young to get the weed pitch (that was Ian). He didn't even get the free shot coupon for Margaritaville. :-)
Today was the port call of Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Home of reggae, taxis, tours, and weed...
Instead of signing up for a tour, we (Sue and I) decided just to check out some of the shopping areas around the town. We got off the ship around 8:30 and immediately it started to rain. Not a good weather day. The locals are *extremely* aggressive with offers for tours and taxis. Couldn't go more than 100 yards without getting someone asking you if you needed a ride. We hit a couple of the main shopping complexes, but everything was pretty much the same. Unless you were looking for jewelry or cheap hooch, there wasn't anything you couldn't live without. Plus, the merchants would follow you from counter to counter in the shops. You couldn't look at anything without them trying to start the selling/bargaining process. Island Village was a little more interesting, with a tropical themed area including one of my favorite restaurants, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville! It was still early (around 10:30), so we decided to walk back to the ship, get the boys, and take them to lunch...
Since they woke up late, they had pretty much just had breakfast by then and weren't ready for another major meal. By around noon or so, they were ready to go, but Sue was feeling tired. So the three of us trooped off to Margaritaville, dodging tour and taxi requests the entire way. Fun times, good music, and the boys enjoyed it. On the way back to the ship (running the gauntlet again), I mentioned to Ian I was surprised we hadn't been offered drugs. "What do you mean?", he said. "The count's up to seven times now." He was about four paces behind me, and I was oblivious to the fact that the offers for taxi/tours turned into offers for smoke/weed as he brought up the rear. Sheesh...
I spent some time in the fitness area trying to work off a bit of the Cheeseburger In Paradise, and then lounged around doing some reading. There really wasn't much else to do, as it was raining most of the day. Not just the "rain for five minutes and clear off" stuff. This was rain, then stop, then mist, then rain again. Not very pleasant. Warm, but not pleasant. Dinner (casual Caribbean style) at 6, and a little gambling to round out the evening. The main attraction this evening is the ice show, but we saw that Monday. So it's quiet kicking back, and perhaps an early turn-in, as we're going to try some shore excursions tomorrow in Grand Caymans.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate...
Random thoughts...
My favorite t-shirt: "What part of NO don't you understand? No, I don't want my hair braided. No, I don't want a taxi. No, I don't want a tour. No, I don't want any weed."
Poor Cam... when we were walking around, he wasn't old enough to get the taxi spiel (that was mine) and he was too young to get the weed pitch (that was Ian). He didn't even get the free shot coupon for Margaritaville. :-)
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Comments
I got my first chance to buy dope in the airport men's room, ten minutes after landing, and was continually solicited (successfully, finally) throughout our stay. Wish I could remember more.
Posted by Dr. Lavine At 21:13:36 On 31/12/2004 | - Website - |
Posted by null At 20:52:09 On 24/05/2009 | - Website - |