Travels to the Caribbean

Tamisha Blake and her fiancé love to travel with their family and friends.  Every year they love to take a vacation for couples only.  The reason for theses vacation is to relax from the normal day to day activities and to just have simple fun.  One of the main reason for their travel experiences to learn about the cultures and food within the desire destination of their choice. The couples are excited to taste new entrée’s from different countries.  Basically, she travels to learn and experience food from all over the world.

Every year my fiancé and I, his brother and wife plan a seven day vacation to a Caribbean Island.  We leave the children at home and the vacation is an opportunity to relax and unwind. We call our vacation the Couple’s Get Away Trip.  We visit a different island each year to meet the people, learn and explore the island’s foods, beaches, resorts and island activities to better understand the local culture.

August of 2009, we decided to travel to Negril, Jamaica.  In the past we have traveled to different parts of Jamaica where there is a huge party atmosphere but this time we wanted to visit a place where it’s more peaceful and clam.   So we decided to visit Negril, Jamaica.  The atmosphere here was indeed very relaxing, settled, and full of fresh air.

As we traveled to our resort I noticed the locals were cooking chicken quarters (legs and thighs) in a case iron grill on the corner of every block.  People would crowd around the grill waiting for their freshly cooked meal and their cold red stripe beer.  I found out later during our visit this infamous meal is call jerk chicken.  This chicken is very, very spicy due to its ingredient of cayenne pepper.

Before we reached our resort we stopped at the “Seven Mile Beach” which is considered the “Island best”.  The Beach was filled with pretty white sand that curled between your toes.  The sun was bright and warming as it covered our skin while leaving a beautiful glow over our bodies.  The most fascinating part of this Island is the water.  It was extremely clear and clean of debris and trash, unlike the Jersey shores.  The ocean water colors were a bluish and green sea color.  My breath was taken by this beach. My thoughts were how beautiful this place is and all I could do was imagine what the resort and the rest of the Island looks like.  I was full of excitement to see this Island.

                                                                                            

As we checked into the resort we were greeted by a hostess who offered us a glass of orange juice mixed with champagne. Ahh, it was quite refreshing.  I was quite surprised by how well the orange juice and champagne combo tasted because I thought the combination was odd.  The hostess explained this was their between breakfast and lunch specialty drink.

We sat in a huge lounge chairs enjoying our sweet and sparkling beverage while waiting for our hostess to escort us to the room we noticed the activities the resort had to offer. There was a night club, shopping center, a piano bar and several restaurants along with several amenities.

After we settled into our rooms we freshened up for lunch.  Lunch was located in the main dining hall.  Lunch was buffet style.  It included a Caribbean station, an Italian cuisine station, and an America cuisine station.   The Caribbean cuisine included curry style meats such as; goat, chicken and lamb. The side dishes contained plantation, rice and gravy and potatoes. The Italian station included Alfredo cheese sauce and a tomato sauce with spaghetti, fettuccine and penne pasta of your choice.  There were huge beef meatballs mixed in a brown gravy sauce or severed plain.  Then there was pizza with several vegetable toppings and mozzarella cheese. Last but not least, on the buffet style lunch station was the American cuisine.  Here you could find all American beef hamburger, pulled pork, French fries, mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley.  Lunch was full of varies and very tasty.  I don’t care for the curry style stew meats due to its unique taste that does not appeal to me well.   I do love Jamaica’s infamous jerky chicken which can be extremely spicy and hot but mellows out towards the end.

This resort has five restaurants of your choice to dine for dinner.  Three out of the five restaurants has the same cuisine as the lunch buffet. Then there’s French and a Japanese restaurant.  My ultimate favorite restaurant of my choice was the Italian place.  My favorite dish was the turkey spaghetti bolognas with garlic rolls. OOOH-LA-LA! The sauce was filled with delectable chucks of fresh sweet crushed tomatoes, basil and garlic.  The sauce appeared to be stewing for a period of time due to its rich flavor.  I couldn’t resist this delicious dish therefore; I had it every day for lunch and dinner it was just full of flavor.  I fell in love with this resort due to its wonderful restaurants and their menu options.

Towards the end of our vacations we decided to visit some of the local restaurants to experience some of their cuisine.  The local restaurant of our choice was a small place named “Olivia’s”.  This place was very Caribbean and the staff which included the owner, her husband, and their two daughters. The restaurant was in a colonial style house.    As you enter there was a living room which was considered the formal dining room area with about six or seven tables that seated five people per table. When I viewed my menu for a meal choice I decided to step out the box and try the curry stew goat.

To my surprise I enjoyed it! The meat was tender and juicy and the flavor of the curry was not too spicy. I really enjoyed that dish. At the end of our meal I gave the owner positive feedback on the tasty curry goat. She was delighted to know we really enjoyed our time at their restaurant. At that moment I didn’t fill that I was a Caribbean food lover but, I was able to taste something new that I really enjoyed for the first time during my visit.