How much can you fit into one day? – The Journey Through Kingston Jamaica!

All right, so where did I leave off? Oh yes…….

“We have a meet and greet at The Pegasus at 6:00 pm, could you meet us at 5:45 pm?” “Ummmm, that is only 10 minutes from now!” “Yes it is,” he said already laughing at my dismay. “Hope you can make it!” I dropped the phone and began to frantically get dressed.

I quickly got dressed, and while doing so, I noticed they had left a letter addressed to me. “It is with a great pleasure that we welcome you……… Alexander’s Sunrise breakfast… Wednesday Nights Jerk… Complimentary WiFi,” I read hastily, as I threw on some clothes. I noted that this was a nice touch; it made me aware of all that the Courtleigh had to offer.

I grabbed Trish, and we headed downstairs for our night out. We met the rest of the group who had arrived before us and exchange pleasantries. Shortly after, we headed over to The Pegasus. When we arrived, I was able to take in what a magnificent hotel The Pegasus was. We were ushered over to the right-hand side of the foyer into what looked like a lounge. We were greeted by the staff and introduced to Peter Hilary, the General Manager of The Pegasus Hotel.

I was tired, but I perked up instantly when I saw the spread they had prepared for us; it was quite a lovely sight, and I was ready to indulge. I began snapping pictures when Peter (General Manager), walked over to me. We began to discuss the purpose of the trip, and he shared the story of what brought him to Jamaica. He had left and returned because he had become caught up in the mystery and enchantment of the island. As we were talking, he mentioned to me that they were the most sought out hotel in Jamaica; whenever movie stars, pop stars or dignitaries came to Jamaica, The Pegasus was where they would come. He also threw in that Saturday was the Miss Jamaica Pageant Finals, and it was being hosted at The Pegasus. “Would you be interested in coming?” Peter asked. “Ummm.. Yes! Of course! Is it possible to bring my team member with me?” I questioned. “The more the merrier,” he replied.

I thanked him and ran over to Trish, “Girl, we have an invite for tomorrow,” and I repeated what I had learned, and told her about the invite. “It’s cool, but we have a hectic day tomorrow, so we are going to have to see how things go!” I already had it in my mind that I wanted to go, so I knew that was going to happen regardless.

The journalist team was gathered up and we headed over to the Summerhouse at the Liguanea Club, which is located right across from both hotels. I had no idea how I was going to fit any more food into my stomach, but when we arrived, I realized that I would have to make some room. The menu included: Curried Mutton with coconut, Snapper Journey Cakes, Creamy Callaloo Dip, Penne with Ackee and Coconut cream, and Sherried Pumpkin Bisque. In true gluttonous fashion, I indulged in a little bit of everything as we listened to the story of Suzanne and Michelle Rousseau, two sisters who expressed that, “Female collaboration has its own kind of magic.” The Summerhouse at The Liguanea Club opened on May 25, 2018. The idea was to bring together the very best of Caribbean dining in one, memorable place. Along with establishing themselves as respectable businesswomen, and restaurant owners, they have also written a cookbook called “Caribbean Potluck” which has received critical acclaim and was named one of the Best Books of 2014. I will say this, I was very proud not only because they were women, but also because they were Jamaican women. After dinner, we were all pretty tired, so we head back to our hotels. I passed out and had the best sleep of my life.

I had forgotten the hour time difference and got up way too early. I took this time to get dressed and prepare for the day. I knew we were going to be doing a lot, but I was not ready. I will warn you; from this point on, everything is going to go very quickly. You ready? All right, let’s go! First things first, if you have any sort of motion sickness issues, bring some Gravol with you. The trip up Blue Mountain twisted my stomach up and down, and I was nauseous for most of the day. I am glad that it did not take away from the experience. Our first stop was the Blue Mountain Culinary Trail. I won’t go into too much detail here, but if you are a coffee drinker, you might be interested in reading my article in The Better Tomorrow section of the paper.

After the most informative coffee experience, we made a small stop at Etis Café, a quaint little restaurant located on Blue Mountain. Standing at the mid-point of the mountain was quite the experience. The trees, the birds, the serenity was to die for. The stop was short because we had a few more things to do that day. On our way to visit Trench Town Culture Yard, we stopped by Tastee’s Patties, and we were introduced to the Juici Patties experience. Again, so much choice in such little time; I settled for a shrimp and cheese patty, which felt so good now that my stomach had finally settled.

The final stop on our Kingston tour was our visit to Trench Town Culture Yard, where you were literally transported back to another time. The rich history of Trench Town and its obvious magnetic pull has made it a tourist attraction for many years. One of the obvious reasons is because it has housed, and introduced to the world one of the biggest stars of our time, Bob Marley. We were able to see Bob’s original room in Trench Town, as well as his minibus. There are really no words that will do justice to the experience of being there; you will have to go for yourself to feel the energy that radiates from every brick and mortar that was used to build the town.

So, we are done with our Kingston tour, and we were only able to do some of what Kingston has to offer. Guess what? We ended up going to the Miss Jamaica Pageant, but if you want to hear about that, you will have to join us next edition. Trust me, you have no idea what I have prepared for you.