Roosters Bar at Spur Tree Hill

On a day in November I was driving from Negril to Ocho Rios the hard way – meaning cutting clean through the middle of the island hills instead of sticking to the main roads and going the fast way. We planned to have NO plan that day and just drive, and stop where ever we felt like stopping. We ended up passing through 6 parishes in one day and one of our favorite stops was in Manchester.

Coming out of St Elizabeth at the bottom of the island we cut up the mountain heading for Mandeville. After driving uphill for what seemed like forever, when we approached the top the most stunning view hit us on the left side of the car! We immediately pulled over so my friends could take pictures. After we took some pics and drove up the hill about 25 more feet we discovered a MUCH better lookout point AND a bar! Perfect because it was almost time for a refreshment!

We parked in front of the bar and got out, the place was deserted except for the man who runs it – Rooster. I’m sure our carload of 4 white girls made his entire day! When he noticed we were just taking pictures of the view he told us to come in the bar and walk through the back door. WOW!!! This man has the best piece of real estate on the mountain! I felt like we were looking at the entire country out his back door!

The only thing that could have made this stop any better was a clear sky……AND some rum. So I said to the girls it’s time for a drink! Rooster proceeded to bring out the white rum and Pepsi and serve up a few cold ones.

And aside from liquor and snacks the only other things Rooster sold were steering wheel covers and brooms – so random!! The bar was small but very interesting. There were so many odd and random things painted on the walls inside this little place.

The vibes up here were nice and relaxed, nuttn nah gwaan at all, and about midway through our drinks it started to downpour outside so we ended up staying much longer than intended. I was actually glad to have been under the shelter rather than out on the road because the rain was HEAVY and Rooster was great company!

Funny thing, a couple of us really needed to use a washroom and we asked if he had one. He didn’t but he told us we could go to the house next door and down the hill and ask. I had to laugh because honestly, in Jamaica this would be okay however, we just didn’t feel right going to use a complete stranger’s facilities LOL. I’ve done it before but today didn’t feel like it was worth the effort. I could wait til Mandeville which was only another 15 minutes up the road.

The rain soon let up enough for us to run out to the car without getting too wet. We said our goodbyes to Rooster and I actually felt kind of bad leaving him because the weather was crappy enough that I wondered if anyone else would stop there the rest of the day. I always love meeting random people in Jamaica and wonder if they wonder if they’ll ever see me again….or will I ever come across them again? I guess it depends if I’m ever driving the same road again in the future.

If you’re ever driving up through Spur Tree hill on your way to Mandeville please stop and say HI to Rooster! If you do stop, please tell him the 4 Canadian girls say HI!!

[ad#in-post]