More Than Sun and Sand - Negril’s Seven Mile Beach

Living at the Jersey Shore, we’re very familiar with the beach during the summer months. The traffic, the beach badges, the crowded sands, the lists of rules. Michele and I took our first trip to Jamaica in April of 2009 and stayed at the Negril Beach Club, located on Negril’s Seven Mile Beach. We soon found out that it was a whole different world when compared to the beaches of the Jersey Shore that we’re used to! Here’s the travel tips you need to get the most out of your experience on the Jamaican beaches. Even if you’re staying somewhere other than Negril, the same general info applies.

We were fortunate to be staying at a beach club with direct access to the sands. A simple walk down the stairs from the room, a right turn, and about a hundred yards away was the beach, making it a short and sweet trip.

Staying on the west end of Negril or not at a beachfront property? No problem! By law, all beaches in Jamaica are open to the public to enjoy. It’s considered a right of all Jamaican citizens and visitors to enjoy the beaches without charge and the properties along the beach provide an access from the road for people to walk through. From there you can walk up and down the beach to find an ideal spot to spend the day.

Compared to most east coast beaches in the summer, Negril would be considered vacant. There was always a good amount of open space, even at the Beach Club that catered to travelers. A lifeguard was present at the club, however he was not the whistle-blowing rule enforcer we’re generally accustomed to. His main job seemed to be public relations; he would sit in the lifeguard chair and chat with people, then every couple of hours come down and walk around the beach, introducing himself and making sure beach patrons had everything they need, bring more beach chairs, and so forth.

A small bar was located on our property, nice for getting cold beverages to enjoy on the beach. Many of the adjacent properties also had similar bars. You can easily walk the sands to get your fill of Red Stripe and rum!

Because the beaches are public, it offers something you won’t see in the United States, the beach vendors. This may be a fond or unpleasant experience depending on how you view it. Vendors walk the beach selling everything from lobster and fruit to aloe, sandals, and jewelry. Of course, you haven’t been to Jamaica until a beach hustler tries to sell you the ganja! Beach vendors may be persistent, however if you tell them no a time or two and then ignore it, they will continue on. Engage them, and they’re likely to start a hard negotiation. Haggling is generally always acceptable to negotiate a price for goods.

The benefit is that you can spend the entire day on the beach and not need to leave your chair! In the morning, Jamaicans selling fresh squeezed juices would wander by. Once or twice a day the fruit lady would walk past with a large basket of pineapple, mango and coconut and cut it fresh. Around noon the Patty Man would make an appearance, riding a bicycle with an insulated container on front selling Jamaican patties, a delicious spicy meat filled pie. One of our favorite beach walkers was a gentleman that one of our cab drivers told us was referred to as ‘The Mighty Bass’. He walked the sands of Seven Mile Beach with a portable megaphone and would announce upcoming shows to crowds of sunbathers, always saying the show was going to be “HOT...Hot...hot”. His assistants would follow and hand out fliers promoting the upcoming concert.

Had enough sun and swimming and want to check out a jet ski? No problem! You can rent a jet ski, go parasailing, or take a glass bottom boat ride as well! Your biggest obstacle will be negotiating a price, and after that you’re free to go.

I have just one word of warning - once you’ve experienced the beaches in Jamaica the ones back home just don’t compare! Better keep your passport handy for another trip to the islands!

TRAVEL TIPS:

Bring all of your standard beach accessories including plenty of sunscreen!

All Jamaican beaches are public, no badges or fees are required and beachfront establishments have access paths to the sand. Taxi transportation is easily found; use only vehicles with red license plates and be sure to negotiate fares.

Alcoholic beverages may be consumed on the beach. Glass containers are acceptable, be courteous and take empty bottles away.

Beach vendors sell a variety of items and haggling is acceptable. Vendors will attempt to sell you many items including food, juice, jewelry, trinkets, aloe, and ganja. If approached and you are not interested, say no and you will generally be left alone. Be persistent with saying no if the seller continues, and they will walk on. Use common sense when buying; contrary to myth, ganja (marijuana) is illegal in Jamaica and while the laws are seldom enforced you may be subject to penalties if caught by authorities.

Lifeguards may or may not be present, depending on where you stay. Remember to swim within your abilities.

Topless sunbathing is permitted. More than that is a general no-no.

Jet skis, boat tours, parasailing and other activities are available. Be aware that these activities are generally not regulated like in the United States.

Fall Foliage - New Jersey Style

When autumn begins and the talk of foliage starts, most people immediately think of the New England states and scenes from secluded rural villages. However, the entire northeast offers fall foliage that can be an easy day trip instead of venturing to a place such as New Hampshire or Vermont. In New Jersey the fall colors tend to peak in the middle of October and the leaves are on the trees until early November, making the period around Halloween a great time for a foliage trip.
Having traveled to the northern part of the state the previous year, Michele and I were looking for a different location to visit this year and decided on the western part of New Jersey along the Delaware River. Here Route 29 begins and parallels the Delaware to its ending point in Frenchtown.
Driving across I-195 we picked up Route 29 around the capital of Trenton, and once passing the metropolitan area the road became a two-lane highway. Here the urban development is sparse and things take on a more rural feeling only a few miles outside of the city. Our first stop was Washington’s Crossing State Park.

The park’s place in history is solid; George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River on Christmas day 1776 and landed near this location to march to Trenton and win a key battle in the Revolutionary War. Today, the park has well maintained roads and hiking trails where visitors can enjoy the scenery as much as the history. One of the nice features is that the terrain is not overly steep and rugged on many of the roads and trails, making this a nice destination for folks who might not do a lot of hiking and don’t want to be exhausted. The tree-lined roads throughout the park feature old oaks and hardwood trees, some nearly a century old as indicated on the plaques near their bases. We had arrived at the park fairly early in the morning, it was cool, sunny autumn weather, so there were a fair amount of people out and about. However, the park is relatively large so it’s not overcrowded and people have plenty of room to roam and find a little solitude. That made for a nice relaxing morning stroll while taking pictures of the foliage.
After a couple of hours at the park we continued north on Route 29 to our next stop, the city of Lambertville, located on the banks of the Delaware river and joined by bridge to New Hope, Pennsylvania. It may be classified as a city, but Lambertville has a traditional small town feel with Victorian and row houses, tree lined streets, shops and a church. I was able to good shots capturing the small town charm and we enjoyed visiting the unique downtown shops that included rare and out of print books, antiques, art and home collectibles, and a pet store. Parking was not difficult to find, and traffic wasn’t overly heavy.

We figured that we would find a restaurant across the bridge in New Hope, Pennsylvania to grab lunch, but just a quick drive across the bridge proved otherwise. Traffic was heavy and parking scarce, so we decided to bypass New Hope and head directly to Peddler’s Village. Just a short drive from New Hope, Peddler’s Village was the most crowded of the places we stopped, probably because of the weather, however we had very little trouble finding parking or getting around. Peddler’s Village was a destination that Michele was very interested in visiting during our day trip to browse the various specialty shops. We picked up a map of the village and Michele marked out the places she wanted to see while we ate a sandwich at the Cock & Bull Pub. The shops are mainly in building clusters with common areas between, and it just so happened that there was a scarecrow contest underway with scarecrows that had been constructed in the common areas by the individual businesses.
When Michele had finished browsing the stores we drove to our final stop of the day, Frenchtown. Frenchtown is a small borough on the Delaware River and the terminating point of Route 29. Much smaller than Lambertville, it still has much of the same small town and rural charm. We had dinner at the Cocina Del Sol which featured good Mexican food at a very reasonable price, the place is BYOB but there is a liquor store a short walk down the street to pick up bottle. Frenchtown was a good spot for photos of the Delaware River from the bridge to Pennsylvania, and we took several before heading home.





We managed to pack quite a bit of exploring into a day's trip. It was a great mix of both peace in nature and small town America charm. And, it was nice to be able to do this on a day over the weekend without having to travel a long distance or drop a big sum of cash in the process. Cities have their place in my travels, but when autumn comes around it’s the season to go rural!



TRAVEL TIPS:

Route 29 runs from Trenton to Frenchtown , New Jersey and is accessible from Interstate 195 or 295 in New Jersey or Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania . The approximate distance from Trenton to Washington ’s Crossing is 7 miles, to Lambertville is 15 miles, and to Frenchtown is 30 miles.

Washington ’s Crossing State Park is open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM daily. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day there is a $5 per vehicle entrance fee. Follow the signs from Route 29 to the park entrance.

Lambertville and New Hope are easy to explore on foot and on-street metered parking is available. One word of caution, traffic can be heavy in New Hope!

Frenchtown is also good for walking and a municipal parking area is located east of the intersection of Route 29 and Route 12.

Peddler’s Village is located in Lahaska, Pennsylvania. From New Hope, follow Route 179 through town until it ends at Route 202. Turn left on Route 202 and travel approximately 3 miles to Peddler’s Village. Shops are open by 11:00 AM daily, excluding holidays.