Sunset Cove and Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Here's our Jamaica Crew minus 1, who I assure you wasn't passed out on rum or anything—he's simply 10 years old, and opted out of our Olan Mills shots.

We're a pretty sophisticated and stuffy lot.

We stayed at the Grand Palladium Resort in Jamaica, which offers both a pool on sight, and a short shuttle ride to a fantastic beach called Sunset Cove. Our team was split between those that preferred pool and beach; for the most part, we all did our own thing, and met up at both places every day.

My vote, if you haven't guessed, was for beach. Give me sand and salt water!

 

It wasn't much busier than this on any day. Lounge chairs for 12 were easy to scrounge up, and once we scrounged them, our work was pretty much done. Sun. Shade. Sand. Water. Sometimes we scattered, and others we came together. Here, for instance, is a photo of the women Detoxing on the last day of the trip:

After a salt-water rinse, we opted for the same lunch we had every day: Jerk chicken.

Irie! The jerk chicken!

Every morning this guy bellied up to a wok and a smoker, and we were there on some days early enough to watch it happen from the start. We watched him drop in peppers and mussels and shrimp early enough that the flavors permeated the rice by a noon opening.

 

Resting on the beach, we knew that lunch was ready when the sound of this cleaver hitting the cutting board echoed through the cove.

Photo credit: This photo ripped off from Jen Carr's Jamaica 2013 Album.

Hot sauce or mild?

HOT! Everyday hot, and the upset tum-tum 3 days in to the trip was well worth it.

 

Jerk chicken, jerk chicken, every day jerk chicken, that's the whole story.

Here's a crab for you.

Jamaica, Mon: Streets—The End

This will be it, for Streets. There are more that I like, but have nothing to say about them, really, so I'll post those I have commentary on, and be done with it.

I like the busy photos. In the downtown areas we rode through, all of the photos were busy; there's a lot going on in Jamaica. This photo, for instance:

I like it in it's entirety, but I like it also because of this couple:

And this man:

And I like it for the little tyke in the plaid shorts at the end, and the fruit stand in the back, the gorgeous young girl on the left, and the elderly man looking at her. I like that the women in green and yellow tank tops are wearing flip-flops that match their shirts. I like polka dot skirts and big hats. I wonder if the big guy on the left lifts weights. I like it for the kid that is exiting stage right.

I like the busy photos.

Bus stops:

I'm a sucker for even a bad photo of a fruit stand.

Pink, blue, lime green, yellow building. Yellow, pink, purple clothes. I really need to weed out my neutral closet.

Just...like.

A break from gardening:

The flaless fashonz are cool, but I want to see what's in that farm store. It's almost time to start planning this year's garden.

Sea View Bar

Busy. I'm intrigued with the way this couple holds hands. He is much taller than she. What's in that cart? I want to eat it.

Colorful. Beautiful. I notice her wedding band.

Primary colors:

More fruit. I shouldn't blog when I'm hungry.

Up/Down

Breezy office windows and doors.

No food.

Time to get my hairs did.

Sour sop and beat root.

Vroom!

Hey! I like your tricycle!

Basket shack. I brought home two baskets, not from this place, but still handmade by the ladies that sold them to me.

There ye have it. 3 posts of pix out the bus windows. Get ready, then, for friends, snorkeling, dune buggying, shopping, jerk chicken, hermit crabs, and beach-side spa photos. To name a few.

Jamaica, Mon: Streets, Deux

I remain surprised at how converting to black and white saves the photo when Jamaica is so colorful. Clothing and buildings and wares are bright. The neutral whites and tans and blacks that we consider "classic and sophisticated" are so, so boring. Let's all just up and painted our homes aquamarine, hot pink, and bright yellow. Imagine our spring tulip beds against a lime green country house!

I'll reiterate that I was shooting into the sun, through a window, at x-MPH for the street shots. I came home with bits of color laced with too much light and reflection. Take this photo, for instance:
 

 

Keep admiring her; I don't want to give it away....

See the spotted pattern on the path in front of this lady? That is my dress, reflected in the bus window, and the original photo is a hot mess because of it. Strip the color and it's barely noticeable.

 

I monkeyed with this photo for quite some time, increasing the saturation and converting to black and white, changing brightness and contrast. I almost deleted it, but I like the guy in the yellow pants and purple shirt, so decided to keep.

This was deplorable in color. The lights above is all bus window. Converted to B&W, however, I think it makes this Cigar Club look very "your daddy's rich and your mama's good lookin."

I barely touched this one. You see, the color?

Cropping only on this one too. Taken mid morning, I wish I knew where they were going. Is this a school? A daycare?

This one reminds me of a conversations on the bus: Clint and Ryan talking to one another: "Did you see the steering wheel on the handcart?" And also the women screaming "Bananas! I haven't seen a banana since we got here!"

I love this. I saw so many parents walking their children to schools and highway bus stops,  hand-in-hand.

Here's a prime example of why it was so difficult to edit these photos. It's light, it's dark, it's bright, it's drab. This photo is untouched; anything I do to fix one thing skews another. So. It is therefore perfect as is. I like it also just because it was a shot down an alley from a bus going 30 mph.

Snoop Dogg! Celebrity Point for me!

I increased the saturation in this one, but only slightly. I missed the shot I was after, and got more wall than folk. Composition: zilch. Yellow walls, blue shirt, melon tank top, and people standing around talking? I like.

Too bad this one looked better in black and white. The original is blurry and glare-y. Take a gander at his clothing, and imagine how brilliant.

Color untouched. Ridiculous how beautiful, yes?

Color brightened, and contrast tweaked to increase readability. You can see reflection of bus window in the sky on the right:

More street pix to come, and rest assured after that: Pix and tales of the besties. You just wait.