When our cruise ship Freedom of the Seas pulled into the pier at Falmouth, Jamaica we didn’t quite feel like we were in the beautiful country that we visited just three years ago. We spent a week at the Beaches resort in Negril that was unanimously voted as ‘the best family vacation ever’ by our two boys.
Falmouth isn’t the Jamaica we remembered. We immediately missed the white sand beaches, the friendly Jamaican people and the authentic jerk grub. Falmouth is obviously a small corporate built ‘cruise-ship’ town with little charm and local flavor.
Once off the ship, we decided to bypass the barrage of ‘ship sponsored’ shopping venues in search of ‘our Jamaica’. The Jamaican people tell you if you’ve been to Jamaica, you are officially Jamaican. This is exactly what native, LeRoy Brown told us when he pulled our small family aside to present us with a variety of site seeing options for a nominal cost. Was his tactics on the up and up? I don’t know…but we liked him. We decided to forgo the typical excursions and tourist traps that were also available through the ship in search of a private tour of the ‘real Jamaica’. LeRoy obliged and personally escorted us two blocks down the street to a disserted church parking lot.
He opened the door to a gray van and introduced us to his brother, Johnny Green. My Jon, introduced himself to LeRoy Brown and Johnny Green as ‘Jon Gray’. So with Brown, Green and Gray we thought it was a perfect match. Nothing to fear. Jon Gray negotiated with LeRoy Brown and we were off to our private tour of Jamaica.
Within the first five minutes of our drive we learned about Johnny Green, his family, his work life and his passion for music. He has a DJ business ‘on the side’ and loudly turned up his wide range of Reggae music for us to enjoy. “We go to the Beach, Man. Get something to eat, Man. And go shopping, Man,” he told us. “No problem, Man.”
It was a national holiday for Jamaica so the beach was packed with natives enjoying their ‘fun day’ in the sun. This wasn’t the tourist beach – and we loved that. Hundreds of Jamaicans enjoyed the blue waters of Montego Bay dressed in their white tee-shirts. Johnny told us to find a seat in the restaurant and order a drink and the jerk chicken while he parked the van. Apparently Johnny knew the owner of the restaurant as they fed him well for free while his out of place tourists spent their American money.
After a wonderful meal and several Pina Colladas (with Appleton Rum) Johnny took us to the ‘real shopping’ of Jamaica. We passed the tourist traps such as Margaritaville and giggled as we passed by the suckers that paid far too much money for their commercial adventure. Deep in the heart of Montego Bay, Johnny parked the van and told us, “Here is where you shop, Man.” It wasn’t exactly what we had in mind, but the store was clearly stocked with the typical knock-off items and trinkets that our boys were looking to find.
As we walked toward the store, the owners unlocked the door and let us in. It felt a bit creepy, until we were greeted by none other than our friend, LeRoy Brown, who we left back in Falmouth. LeRoy let us know that he had made special arrangements with the owner to provide us with the best deals in Jamaica, Man. The boys looked at me as if we were in some kind of strange movie. I whispered to them and smiled, “things work a bit differently in other countries.” They wasted no time and began to rifle through the knock-offs in search of some cheap Oakley sunglasses.
We left the store with our trinkets and some cash for the driver (thanks to LeRoy’s buddy the store owner – we didn’t have enough cash with us for the adventure – and Johnny didn’t take plastic). But we had one more stop to make – the petro station to gas up the van and let Jon Gray use the facilities. As the van was being filled, Johnny Cool told Jon Gray to ask the station owner for the restroom key. “What you need to do, Man? Go pee, Man?” asked the owner. “Ok, Man. I’ll show you the bathroom,” he went on. He took Jon behind the station to a tree and said, “You go there, Man. It’s the Jamaican way. No problem, Man.”
So off we went back to the ship. We thank Johnny Cool for his stories, singing, adventure and laughs.
Here is a bit of flavor of Johnny’s experience. (Video we found on YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C-JPBzBsq0
