The St. Andrew Parish Courthouse is located in Half Way Tree and is popularly referred to as the Half Way Tree Courthouse. Built in 1807, this Georgian style building has louvered windows and a closed verandah. It was damaged in a storm and repaired in 1882, then repaired several times after. Miraculously, it escaped damage in the 1907 earthquake. The Courthouse was the setting for the trial of Alexander Bedward (1859-1930),...

I love when I happen upon a beautiful Jamaican church such as this one, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in St. Ann. My cousin and I were taking the kids to the beach when she spun the car around and said she wanted to show me something. I jumped out of the car before she could come to a complete stop. Thankfully, I had my camera — I hardly leave home...

This past Monday, August 6th, Jamaica celebrated 50 years of independence from Britain. The festivities here got off to a slow start primarily because we had a change of government in December and the word on the street is that the previous plans were scrapped. There was also a lot of talk that the government didn’t have the funds — at this moment, I have no idea where we stand...

New York City is full of little gems waiting to be discovered. Truthfully, though, we become so dazzled by the lights, mesmerized by the skyscrapers or are in such a mad rush to get from one place to the next that we miss some of the more obscure jewels that are in plain sight. One such jewel is Library Way, a two-block long stretch of 41st Street between Fifth and...

China’s Terracotta Warriors have been dazzling the world since they were discovered accidentally by a farmer in 1974. Now several of them, along with artifacts and treasures dating to 221 B.C.E., are on view at Discovery Times Square until August 26, 2012. Standing more than 6 feet and weighing 600 pounds each, the soldiers were created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huangdi, China’s First Emperor, in the afterlife....

I love Times Square, especially in the summer when I can grab a seat and watch the world pass by. It’s not hard to spot the visitors — in Times Square, they outnumber New Yorkers. You never know who you’ll spot in the crowd. Shortly after I took this photo, I glimpsed the Naked Cowboy strolling across Broadway. An eager crowd surrounded him as soon as he got to the...

Toronto’s street art. New York is considered the center of the art world but whenever I visit Toronto, it’s their art scene that I’m most interested in experiencing. This time around, I was taken by the amount of street art I noticed mostly on the sides of buildings. Here in Toronto, graffiti is legal provided it is approved by the property owner or occupant. It must also enhance the surface...

Appleton Estate is the oldest sugar factory and rum distillery in Jamaica, the second oldest in the Caribbean. The sprawling 11,000-acre estate dates back to 1655, however, it did not start producing rum until 1749. Appleton Estate’s location in St. Elizabeth‘s Nassau Valley provides the perfect combination of characteristics — a special soil composed of a limestone formation, known as Cockpit Karst,  and favorable climate, sunny mornings and tropical afternoon shower...

In my post yesterday, I made a brief mention of Treasure Beach Jamaica, a place I’ve written about several times. Treasure Beach is a small community that is located on Jamaica’s south west coast, in the parish of St. Elizabeth. It is a close knit community where everyone knows everyone else. It reminds me of the district, that’s what we call them, that I grew up in – the kind...

My YS Falls adventure begins as soon as I board the tractor-drawn jitney that would take me from the main entrance of YS Estate, a 2,000-acre, privately owned stud farm, to the falls. It’s a leisurely 10-minute ride through lush vegetation that stretches as far as the eye can see. Pass logwood or bloodwood trees, which the estate used to export to Europe back when dyes couldn’t be made without...