By Peter Brookes The end of winter and the arrival of spring means many things to many people, but to Virginia’s tidal river anglers it means primarily one thing: The shad are coming! Yes, America’s "founding fish" is coming soon to a Virginia tidal river near you. Anyone who follows the annual shad run in the Old Dominion is aware of the famous fishing opportunities on the James … [Read more...]
Destination Jamaica
It was our anniversary and we wanted to get away for a few days. We wanted someplace warm and inviting, maybe some place we had never been. How about Jamaica? Why not? We drove to Richmond on a Wednesday night as our flight to Miami left the next morning at 6-ish and we were supposed to be at the airport for international flights three hours early. We landed in Miami in less than three … [Read more...]
Secure Our Borders
I have a sure-fire way to secure our borders and prevent anyone from entering our country illegally. Make them go through customs in Jamaica. “Okay you guys who have just waded across the Rio Grande, you can stay here in America no questions asked. But first you have to clear customs at Montego Bay.” To clear customs, you would first have to have a passport, which means going to the Post … [Read more...]
Speaking of Jamaica
When we had twin grandsons, I discovered something called “twin speak”. Twins often communicate with each other in words and sounds that they can understand, but others can’t. Jamaicans also speak that way – it’s their dialect and when visiting their interesting island, I learned a little about how to speak in the Jamaican dialect. For starters, almost every conversation and sentence begin … [Read more...]
The Birds of Paradise
We had three days to kill in Jamaica. Mostly we wanted to do nothing, just lay around and soak in the Caribbean beauty. If we chose, there were lots of things available to do or see – white water rafting, horseback riding, deep sea fishing expeditions, tourist stops and snorkeling over the reefs. Snorkeling was out. The last time we went snorkeling, we freaked out all the clown fish in the … [Read more...]
A Lazy River Float
After our wonderful tour at the bird sanctuary, we decided we were up for one more activity so long as it wasn’t strenuous, and no snorkels were involved. Our terrific guide, Omar (pontimetours@yahoo.com) said he had just the thing in mind – a bamboo raft float down the Great River, Jamaica’s longest waterway. He said the river flowed so slowly this time of year, that you could walk faster than a … [Read more...]
Full Moons Arising
We spent a good bit of the time at the beach and along the pools of our hotel. We wore modest bathing gear, for sure, but many didn’t. There were quite a few, how shall we say, plus-size ladies and their swimwear left little to the imagination. Try as you may, no matter where you looked there were large and mostly bare derrieres. Forrest Gump would refer to them as large buttocks. They were big … [Read more...]
All Inclusive Hotels
You see them advertised constantly on TV – All Inclusive Vacation Resorts where everything is included in the price – rooms, drinks, and food. Except for the upgrades. This was my first experience with an All-Inclusive Hotel and probably my last. I’m uncomfortable at an all-you-can-eat restaurant and when there are “upgrades” offered at an all-inclusive resort, that means you are … [Read more...]
Royalton White Sands: Wasted Caribbean Beauty
Nancy and I had a wonderful time during our short stay in Jamaica – despite our hotel, the Royalton White Sands. It was post-card beautiful but lacking in integrity and quality. The hotel advertises ocean front rooms and that was critical for us. We specifically stated that we wanted a room with a view of the Caribbean. We didn’t get what we asked for. There were perhaps only 3 or 4 rooms out … [Read more...]
Pyromania Rules
I come from a long line of pyromaniacs. One of my earliest ancestors, Grog Brewer, was a Southern Neanderthal. It is written on some cave walls that he discovered grits and flint stones with which to start fires. After Grog had invented grits by grinding corn, he needed a way to cook them so they wouldn’t get stuck into what few teeth he had. That’s when he found a sharp flint stone and tried to … [Read more...]
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