Food & Red Stripe Takeover

This whole campaign was really an overdue road trip for me if I'm being honest. It's almost like Red Strip was reading my mind.

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The First Stop - Castleton Gardens

After heading out from the pick-up spot in Kingston we drove through the cool hills of Stony Hill to Castelon Gardens where we were met with a true Jamaican breakfast. Now full transparency, I wanted ackee but it done pan me. I did however, get some really good peanut porridge from Del's Delight. It wasn't a full belly mission because we had to be strategic. After all, we had a whole day of food and Red Stripe ahead of us. I may or may not have had more than my fair share of salt fish fritters but we don't need to talk about that.

Big ups to the police at the station for letting me pee before the bus left! Imagine me trying to hold that until we got to the next stop!?

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The Second Stop - Boston Jerk Center

We waited patiently for another 40 or so minutes to get to Boston Jerk Center...or we should have. Tika from Being Jamaican had to challenge of keeping us engaged and entertained along the way and that she did. She hit us with facts and updates about the beautiful parish of Portland along with games to get everyone on the bus acquainted. Definitely check out their Instagram account for more info an how to get in touch. (ps. I really wanna get one of their branded shirts).

Boston Jerk Center had a fresh new look! The Boston Jerk Center I knew from my childhood was in deep need of a facelift and facelift Red Stripe did. Forgive me for not being to excited about the food but I'm an almost daily eater of Jerk Chicken. The beer however, it was an awesome combination with the pepper on that chicken. There is really nothing like an ice cold Red Stripe and some jerk chicken with scotch bonnet pepper sauce.

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The Third & Final Stop - Oshea's 876 Kitchen

This part of the trip was really a mystery to me. On the bus I kept asking, "where are we going after Boston Jerk Center?" but I kept getting some weird answers that made sense to me. One person said we were going to the beach, another person said we were going on a picnic, I even heard someone in the back saying we were going to a dance.

Well dear reader, I can safely say everyone was right. We left Boston Jerk and started going back in the direction of Port Antonio. Around this time the food and Red Stripe started taking its effect and as the sleep heralded and I slouched back in my seat the bus began to come to a stop at what seemed like a random side road to me. "Does some need a bathroom break?" I thought to myself. We parked and the door opened only for me to realize we were at the top of hill that led down to all the things I heard on the way.

Oshea's 876 Kitchen was all that and more, a beach side picnic, with live music, good vibes, amazing authentic Jamaican style seafood. Best believe I was one of the first people off the bus and down to the water. What sleep? My ethnic fatigue (niggaritis) was cured! We played dominoes, danced and splashed in the water like big kids until the food was ready and trust me, when it was ready we went to town on the servings. It was such a heart warming scene to see a group of people, who were strangers only a few hours prior, all sitting at a table on the beach laughing and trading stories  like old high school friends.

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The Collage

Through out the day I used my iPhone to snap different moments and scenes that resonated with me. I didn't start the day with the intention of designing a collage at the end of it but I felt like I needed to enshrine the day in some way and with the help of some additional photos from the Red Stripe team I put together this unorthodox story board.