Here’s one place you should definitely stop when you arrive in Jamaica, if you’re visiting the north coast. Ultimate Jerk Center is right on the main highway on the way to Runaway Bay, you can’t miss it. If you’re traveling east it’ll be on your left hand side and is always worth the stop.

Ultimate Jerk Centre Jamaica

We stopped here because one of my travel friends insists on finding jerk chicken within minutes of arriving on the island! I’m glad we stopped here instead of Scotchie’s because this was something new for me too. I’d never been to Ultimate before.

Ultimate Jerk Center Jamaica

The prices were very reasonable at Ultimate and the chicken was great! They had other food too, I noticed fish on the menu as well as everything jerk. And I had festival with my chicken. There’s also a good size bar here and it seems to be a popular stop for travelers. I think we even saw a tour bus stop here. Its a huge place really, plenty of room.

Jamaican jerk chicken

And my personal favorite was this napping doggy outside the place. He was so cute and was so busy being comfortable that he couldn’t be bothered getting up when people came by!

****Partial photo credits to Erin Cooper****

Ever had Jackfruit? Embarrassed to say that it took me ten trips to try it! I guess I just didn’t know about it but I’m sad it took so long because I loved it!! And I probably wouldn’t have tried it on the tenth trip either if my driver didn’t stop to buy it for me! There are always people standing on the roads selling bags of everything….cashews, sugarcane, any kind of fruit.

The way Jackfruit looks compared to the way it tastes and feels is a world of difference. I was surprised when I ate my first piece because I was expecting something juicy, but its not really. Its more sticky and super sweet! No burst of juice like you’d expect from a piece of fruit. The texture was odd but the taste is awesome if you like sweet stuff.

My driver told me his favorite way to eat it is salted….I never did try it that way but I’m really curious. As I was eating the warm Jackfruit I thought it would be much more appetizing if it were cold. So I refrigerated the bag of it later on and it was definitely better! More of a treat.

Looking at it piece by piece it looks more like a yellow bell pepper!

In September I went to visit the town of Nine Mile, in the parish of St Ann Jamaica. Nine Mile is better known as the home of Bob Marley. Its where he was born and grown and is now a famous tourist attraction long after he’s gone. Being in Nine Mile was like being in Marley-ville….everything here is Bob Marley! There is so much to see and experience here, unfortunately the day we went it was raining like CRAZY so we just sat on the veranda of the museum and took it all in.

Rasta Lion rooftop

The drive up to Nine Mile was something else, skinny mountain roads that I couldn’t imagine a tour bus encountering! Although I know several tours come up here all the time. The day we went the rain was so bad we didn’t get to enjoy as much of the scenery as was possible but this next picture is a preview of the breathtaking countryside and mountains we saw.

Countryside on the way to Nine Mile

The attractions in Nine Mile are owned and operated by the Marley family, and up until April 2008 Bob Marley’s mother, Cedella Marley Booker was often on site to greet people who came for the tours. She passed away last year at the age of 81. We managed to find this school named after her in the town though.

We spent a couple hours on the veranda avoiding the torrential rains and just taking in the spirituality of this place. There were several school children on the veranda playing dominos too. We watched them play and gave them a bunch of candy…always popular with the kids!

I think I’d like to go back to Nine Mile a second time and actually do some of the tour there. Its a peaceful and spiritual place and the scenery is amazing!

***Partial photo credits to Erin Cooper***