Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/156165
CARIBBEAN L adonna Findlater and I walk among the weathered headstones and tombs surrounding the austere ramparts of William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church. This cemetery would be fit for a gothic thriller if it wasn't for the reggae music floating on a soft Caribbean breeze from a nearby house, which is festooned in the black, yellow and green of the Jamaican flag. Here, in 1838, on the steps of this church in historic Falmouth, the crusading minister and abolitionist William Knibb shouted to a euphoric crowd gathered on the grounds: "The monster is dead!" His emphatic declaration heralded the end of slavery and the emancipation of Jamaica's black population. Falmouth scenes (clockwise from top left): William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church; Franco's Nice Time Bar; the Georgian-style courthouse; a street-side coconut vendor; a truck transporting Red Stripe, Jamaica's national brew. TODAY THE CHURCHYARD is peaceful and quiet. Findlater, my vivacious, impeccably attired young tour guide, knows her history. Falmouth, 37 kilometres east of Montego Bay, is where slaves were freed and ships docked to fill their holds with sugar cane at what was once the busiest port in the Caribbean. It's a town that had running water before the city of New York did. It's also a living museum of classic Georgian architecture, a symmetrical style that proliferated throughout colonial Great Britain between roughly 1720 and 1840; characterized by meticulously planned town squares and fountains, two-storey stone manors and civic buildings detailed with elaborate cornices and decorative moldings. Falmouth is also the capital of Trelawny parish, at one time the most productive district on the island for sugar cane. Today, it's better known as the birthplace of sprinting superstar Usain Bolt (legend has it that there's something special in the yams grown here that produces sprinting sensations like Bolt). I have come to Jamaica's north coast to explore a fascinating past, when sugar cane was king and Falmouth was the cultural and economic powerhouse of the Caribbean. The town's Georgian buildings are in various states of restoration, thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Falmouth Heritage Renewal society. After leaving the Baptist church, Findlater and I wander together along bustling streets. Two young men pass by and share an inside joke with my guide. "Friends salute me because they think I look like a police officer," she says. We pause across from Franco's Nice Time Bar, whose whitewashed exterior is punctuated by rickety wooden shutters on the windows. The dark interior has seats for a dozen or so souls. "It's the oldest bar in town. Upstairs there was a special room where sailors would go to sober up," Findlater says. Farther on, we pause outside the old military base, Fort Balcarres. An interpretive sign explains the fort's function to protect Falmouth "from Spanish and drunks." Next stop is the commanding courthouse. Though it's a replica of an original 1815 structure that was destroyed by fire in the 1920s, with its impressive four columns above the grand entranceway and mustard-yellow-and-white paint job, it remains the pride of Falmouth. "The courthouse was the centre of Falmouth society," Findlater says as we climb the stairs for a view over the port. It still is. A trio of lawyers congregate on the steps, engaged in heated conversation, before Findlater distracts them from serious business. "Yeah mon," one of them says to Findlater and I, deploying that characteristic, laid-back, genderneutral Jamaican greeting. They chat in colourful Jamaican patois, to which my ear is slowly becoming accustomed. When the lawyers step back into the courthouse, Findlater reverts to an idiom I can understand. Jamaican Dollars? Members Dan & Stephanie Stevenson, Edmonton: "Don't exchange your money for Jamaican currency. At the airport, you're encouraged to go straight to the exchange counter, but American currency and credit card are the preferred methods of payment." AMA says: Only exchange a small amount of currency if you need Jamaican dollars – at a bank, cambio, ATM or hotel; never on the street. And try to avoid leaving the country with Jamaican dollars; most Canadian banks won't buy them back. F A L L 2 0 13 | W E S T W O R L D A L B E R T A 31 p04-09_MstH_NewFace.indd 6 13-08-12 9:53 AM