myLovetripper

Old Country, New City

by Joy Polanco, Queens, New York

For repeat visitors to Jamaica, Montego Bay offers something old with something new!

On my past visits to Jamaica, I've vacationed in Ocho Rios, the destination for many newlyweds who choose to "honeymoon" on this photogenic Caribbean island. I love Ocho Rios but hate the long, winding drive on Jamaica's northern coast to get there. This drive can easily take one or two hours depending on how far into Ocho Rios your hotel is from the nearest airport.

Jamaica has only two airports used by the major airlines, Norman Manley International Airport in the capital city of Kingston and Donald Sangster International Airport in the resort town of Montego Bay. Sangster Airport is the one you'd use to get to Ocho Rios but for this trip, I was able to get off my plane at Sangster and head to my hotel just five minutes away. This time I chose Montego Bay, affectionately called "Mo Bay" by native Jamaicans, as my vacation destination.

Just knowing that I would go from collecting my luggage off the conveyor belt to sipping on a frozen pina colada in less than an hour was a great feeling. My home for the week was the Royal Decameron Montego Beach Hotel. The resort is part of the Decameron All-Inclusive Hotels and Resorts located throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Montego Bay's Royal Decameron is designed to give all guests a front-row panoramic view of the Caribbean Sea. Having stayed at quite a few all-inclusive hotels in the past, this one had all the amenities (and trappings) common of all-inclusives.

Upon my arrival, I was impressed with the West Indian décor of the lobby. Vivid bright hues, natural-colored bamboo furniture and a central statue of a Rastafarian man squatting and smoking an "exotic" pipe, were all there to greet me. The airy, open lobby has a nice-sized bar on the opposite side of the registration counter with comfortable cushioned seating surrounding it. From there it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to the hotel's main restaurant call The Passa Passa, the small but cozy beach, as well as two inviting pools, one with a swim-up bar.

Unlike some of the reviews I read about this hotel prior to my trip, checking-in went fairly smoothly and the interior-decorating of my clean and spacious room pleasantly looked like an extension of the lobby. My one complaint was that the bathroom desperately needed renovation. Otherwise, everything in my ocean-view room was as expected, including the breath-taking view of the sea from my balcony, perfect for creating post-card caliber sunset photos.

Montego Bay was originally called by the Spanish "Bahia de Manteca" or Bay of Lard. Lard was an early major export of Jamaica. Montego Bay is on the northwest coast of the island and considered to be the more "hip", more vibrant tourist town, as opposed to Negril on the west-coast of the island, known for being a quieter, more lackadaisical resort area. Since this was my first time staying in Montego Bay, I was determined to see the attractions it had to offer. Luckily for me, I took my trip during the spring when the weather in the Caribbean is mild and warm, not unbearably hot. I had blue skies throughout my trip and therefore had no trepidations about venturing outside the shelter of my resort.

I decided to visit Rose Hall via one of the many taxis waiting just beyond the main gate of my hotel. Rose Hall is the name of the lush resort area just a 15-20 minute drive east of the airport in Montego Bay. The Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa Resort is located here. The beautiful and immaculate golf course just begs for golfers on the level of champions, to play on its pristine and luscious green course. I, unfortunately, am no Michelle Wie, so I made my way over to Rose Hall Great House, which was the reason for my visit to the area.

The great house is actually a Georgian Mansion built between 1770 and 1780. In the 19th century, it was home to Annie Palmer, who is said to have dabbled in witchcraft while also murdering her husbands and countless lovers. She was dubbed the name, White Witch of Rose Hall, which became the title of a book later written about her. Annie is rumored to be one of the many ghosts which haunt the house. A placid tour guide takes you on a walk throughout the two-story home that naturally had to be re-built and repaired over the years. However, just being in the historic residence, gave me a sense of what life must have been like back in Jamaica during its period of slavery.

Like other countries in the Americas, slavery afforded a pampered life for the slave owners but a miserable life for the slaves. Eventually that misery led to a slave uprising at Rose Hall, which resulted in the killing of Mistress Annie. You end your tour by visiting the mansion's dark and damp cellar/dungeon, which is a stark contrast to the beautiful courtyard it opens out to. Lily ponds and bright pink azaleas surround you as you conclude your eerie visit of this massive former sugar plantation.

My next venture was within walking distance of my hotel. This time just a short 7-minute stroll brought me to a long-standing tourist attraction called Doctor's Cave Beach. Considering how small the beach was at the Royal Decameron, which I'm sure is becoming quite a common sight, as more and more beachfront resorts spring up demanding their piece of the shore action, it was a welcomed relief to see a large beach with all the room I needed to spread out and relax under the sun.

Doctor's Cave located right off Gloucester Ave., a.k.a. the "hip strip", is listed in tour books as one of the best beaches in the West Indies. It was once the property of Jamaican tourism pioneer Dr. Alexander McCatty. A small fee of $5 U.S. will allow you to enter and from there you can enjoy what you imagine a Jamaican beach to be. Clean sand and clear blue-green water. The sea was calm and at the perfect temperature for my visit. I was able to see cruise ships in the distance and was grateful they did not dock too close. I believe these mega-floating hotels, however luxurious, create muddied, polluted sea water which is becoming all too common in certain parts of Jamaica.

Doctor's Cave also features a small café, as well as chairs and umbrellas for rental. All you need to bring is your desire for sunbathing. During my mid-afternoon visit, the beach wasn't too crowded and the sun wasn't too high in the sky but that was okay with me. I was able to swim unfettered and overexposure to UV rays aren't good for you anyway.

Along the hip-strip is where you'll find many souvenir shops, which are essentially mom and pop stores which will compete for your patronage by meeting you on the street and asking you to take a "look-see." Although the prices are right, especially at the small supermarkets where you can buy Jamaican-made condiments, the famous Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and bottles of rum, the prices are better at the airport, where you can buy many of the same items duty-free. However, I would recommend buying t-shirts and other clothing items at these souvenir stores since I think you get a bigger and better selection with the opportunity to haggle.

Finally, how could I leave Montego Bay without stopping by what has become a well-touted hot spot in Jamaica--the increasingly popular Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. The bar and grill is just a short walk from Doctor's Cave Beach. It looks like just another store-front but as you get closer you eventually discover the elaborate set-up, which includes an open-air bar, a huge waterslide and floating trampolines.

Margaritaville commands its own section of the Caribbean Sea. The two-level hotspot attracts tourists from both sides of the hip strip. In the afternoon, you can snack on a hefty plate of nachos and enjoy one of the 52 varieties of margaritas while listening to American dance music under the sun. Late at night you can re-visit and have a Red Stripe beer while listening to more American dance music under the stars. You can also head to the second-level for a live band singing and playing home-grown reggae music, which is the moment when it finally dawns on you that you're in Jamaica, you have left all your worries behind, and everything's gonna be alright.

Photo by Lovetripper.com

Labels: Caribbean, Jamaica, myRomantic Getaway

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