alia michèle blog

"Al...do you know the directions to where we're going?" D.W. said. The answer was no!

The first day that I saw an image online, of this particular lighthouse, I remember I was sitting at my desk in my New York office. It was quite a cold day, and it was getting dark a bit too early, due to winter quickly coming around. The page on my Mac finally loaded, and my breath was immediately taken away. I fell in love with this lighthouse like it was my future husband standing right before me. Then I stared at it for a long time, and even closed my eyes, imagining that I was right there! This lighthouse my friends, is the Galina Lighthouse!

If I had to choose between all the lighthouses to see on this island, this would be the only one that would fulfill my every desire. So it was only right to ask my girls to come with me to see my dream! We woke up early (after quite a late night), got dressed, and headed on route through Junction, to St. Mary. I hadn't driven this way in so long, that as I looked through the window as S.J. drove, I felt like the child in the back seat of my parents car, as they took me and my siblings to the country. On a side note...when the highway was built in Jamaica, I was so devastated that they didn't leave all of the old roads for one to drive on. I have so many memories of naming each town we drove through, and playing  i-spy. Driving through Junction definitely brought that feeling back again.

I looked at all the trees swaying in the wind, the wooden houses I love oh so much, and the small bars on the side of the road with the number one customer sitting inside, drinking straight white rum! And as we passed each town, we all called out the name like we were reminding ourselves that we could read! haha!

As we continued to drive, D.W. kept asking where we were going....if she only knew I never emailed anyone to ask for the directions. But S.J. saw the pictures, so we figured we could find this place with ease. After all, it should just be on some coast....right?! After we passed through Port Maria, I swore blind that I saw the lighthouse in the distance, despite D.W. saying that she's not so sure that it is. As we got closer, it was just a cell tower....WOMP! We laughed so hard it was ridiculous...but the search continued as we knew this landmark was nearby! In Galina, there's only bush, and very few homes, so as we drove about half a mile, we figured that we had gone too far. It was time to ask for directions!

"Tun back, an when yu si di sign for the Lock Si-Mit, you tun pon dat road", the helpful young man said! We saw the small sign and we all shouted LOCK-SI-MIT! HOORAY! We turned on a very small dirt road, and as we passed homes, we waved and said hello to our fellow countrymen and women! We drove some more, till all we saw was bush, and all the scary movies I had watched in my life, flashed in my mind. We all wondered if we were going the right way, as we were the only 4 girls in the middle of nowhere, and I doubt anyone knew where we were really going. M.J. suggested we walk since we didn't know how bad the roads would get, and she got a very big UH UH! We finally got to an abandoned home, and the only way to turn was right! The wheels turned, and through all the branches and leaves, there it was. It stared right in my eyes like it had been waiting for me forever, and I felt this joy come over me, as I was so excited to finally see the place that took my breath away on that cold New York evening.

We got out the car, and obviously New York was mad I left her for someone else, so she sent some cold winds to keep my time with my new love quite short. I told the bffs my secret little dream, while we walked across the rocks that pricked our feet (we should have worn sneakers). We looked in amazement at how beautiful the crashing waves looked, but were kinda over it when they splashed us with very cold water! The ocean was obviously in a bad mood. S.J. made a good point that in the pictures, the Galina Lighthouse looked a lot bigger. It was much more statuesque in the images, and I realized that quite a bit had been destroyed, I'm guessing due to weather and those darn waves! After shivering quite a bit, and seeing a freshly eaten orange on the ground, which did not belong to us...we decided to head back!

Everyone said that this was one of the best days they had this Christmas, and I had to agree. It lifted everyone's spirit, despite the clouds that were in the sky that day. The great thing about this day for me, was experiencing something that meant so much to me, with some of my best friends. I always thought that this idea of visiting lighthouses, wouldn't interest anyone, but the great thing was that at the end of the storm, everyone stood by my side, and agreed to come along on each of these adventures with me! Enjoy!

P.S. Girls, I'm just letting you know that after all the lighthouses have been seen in Jamaica....we're taking it overseas. First stop? Tillamook Rock Lighthouse!!