Irie!

Irie is Jamaican patois for "doin' alright" and today that just about sums it up. We didn't do much but we were Irie aalll the live long day.

Having skipped our snorkeling trip, we read the skies and headed for the beach. It was a scorching hot day, the only one so far without an afternoon storm, and we sure made the most of it. We floated, we sun-bathed, we ate, we drank, we floated, we sunbathed, we drank, we floated, we drank, we... um... well you get the picture. At about 2pm the picture looked decidely pink - the color of our noses and shoulders - so we put on some street clothes (something not damp, hallelujah brother!) and head out to the craft market about a minute's walk outside the resort. I say "craft market" but basically it's a series of concrete huts rented out by desperate natives all hawking their version of the same tourist crap: Come to my store lady; Sweet lady I'll give you a good deal; Stay here sir, I'll give you the best deal. If I sound bitter and twisted it's not true - I'm just telling you like it is. I like trawling for the best deal on the cheesiest tourist crap,

The most amusing part of the trip was Hubby's inability to ignore a manufactured sob-story. As the only tourists in the whole place, he bought something at almost every store we visited, affected by the "woe is me" stories of the store owners. Meanwhile, I made the rounds, said my thank yous and went back and bought only the things I most liked. To the outsider it would have provided a great superfluous summary of our personalities and relationship. Hubby was also magnate to the eager drug dealers and was presented with the largest bounty of coke and "e"he'd ever seen. No, we didn't buy any. Not our style.

Late this afternoon we cleaned our sunburned bodies up, washing away the layers of suntan lotion, salty water and bug spray, and head out to Rick's Cafe, a Negril landmark since the 70s. A visit to Rick's for the Negril sunset is almost a must for any visitor. They have great fruity drinks, a cliff-top vantage point on the west-facing ocean, and live reggae music - the perfect trilogy.

It's about 9:15pm right now and we're ready to hit the main entertainment area for the staff and visitor talent contest, the staple of the "joiner"resort. Needless to say neither of us are competing; we plan to make fun of others instead.

This evening we got a sad delivery - our check-out itinerary for Friday morning. It's already that time. God, it's gone so fast.

Until tomorrow... our last day...