12-23-2013, 09:43 PM
<P>Day 2 started great enjoying coffee on the deck of our room at the Ridgeway guest house. After enjoying the brew we needed to feed, but there wasn't anything real close to the hotel. We wandered down to the road trying to decide where to go. There was a security guard manning the gate at a school next door, and right about the time we asked him about a place to eat, a fellow rode up on a bicycle. Apparently this guy could bring us breakfast, only take about 15 minutes. That sounded good as we were expecting our car rental guy to pick us up in the next 90 minutes or so. We gave him our order and decided to wait on a railing adjacent to the road, watching the traffic roll by. I know its hard to believe, but an hour later theres no sign of our food. Then Sonia from the hotel walks up and tells us our car is going to be here in a few minutes. So we go quickly finish packing and the car rental guy is there just as we finish. I asked Sonia if she had eaten and she replied no. So I gave her the money for our food order and told her enjoy when it finally arrived. We get in the van along with our luggage and drive about 10 minutes down the highway to the rental site. All is good till he asks me for my drivers license. No problem, just need to dig it out of my suitcase, where its in my wallet, along with my 2 debit cards and credit cards. The minutes went by as I searched and searched again, soon I was in panic mode - where the f***k is my wallet??? It absolutely was not in either of my suitcases. Did I leave it in the room? Did it even make it back to the hotel the night before? I couldn't recall putting it the safe the night before or taking it out of my pocket. I felt like I was going to puke walking into the rental office to tell the guy I can't find my wallet. All we could do is go back to the hotel and hope it was there somewhere. The drive seemed to take forever then we finally pulled into the lot. Sonia was in the yard hanging laundry. I told her I might have left my wallet in the room, she replied she had just been in the room, emptied the trash, but never saw it. My heart sank even further but she opened the room so we could have a look. First thing I do is go to the safe, the door wide open. I can see its empty but when I put my hand in and sweep the edge I come out with my wallet in hand. It was standing on edge so you couldn't see it against the side. You think I was relieved?? I gave Sonia a huge hug I was so happy. I asked her if the food had arrived yet, answer was no. I doubt he ever showed. Thankfully that was the lowlight of the day. We got back to the rental place, finished filling out forms and we were on our way. We drove approx. 1 minute to Scotchies, where we enjoyed some delicious jerk pork along with rice and peas.<BR>The drive to Port Antonio went very good.Including stopping for fuel as well as a scotiabank atm and store for drinks, it took 3 1/2 hours from MoBay, and we never got over 90k/hr. It would have been nice to make a few scenery stops but we wanted to get there before dark. Although I had an idea where our hotel was, we didn't exactly drive right up to it. After a couple wrong guesses we approached an older couple walking towards us on the street. I said to my wife, "those people look godly, lets ask them if they know where it is". Well they knew but the directions were pretty vague. After a couple tries at directions, the old guy says they will get in the car and show us. So next thing we have a sweet old couple in the back seat. While driving my wife asks them if there will be a Christmas mass? She said yes, and asked my wife if she was catholic. "Yes, I am"....Well YOUR church is over there, up the hill. I laughed as I thought it was quite amusing (I don't go to church). Soon we were at our hotel. I wanted to give the couple a ride home but they insisted they would walk. That was our first interaction with locals at PA. We checked in, had a shower and decided to do a bit of a walk and find a beer and food.<BR>Will continue tomorrow, time to relax.....<BR>Sorry for lack of pictures. Took plenty today but can't get them to download on this little netbook. Will try again in a day or 2.<BR>