West End

I felt like we had to visit the West End because that's what everyone talks about when they're not talking about West Bay (which is confusing because they practically have the same name). Vivian had given us a few recommendations for places to eat and drink, and we had to go back to the ATM anyway, so we decided to walk into West End and see what the fuss is about. And I can tell you that I'm still not sure. It's like one stretch of road along a beach, lined with bars and restaurants and tacky souvenir shops that all look basically the same. The photos I took don't really capture how crowded it was, but it's not particularly clean or picturesque or safe to walk without getting creamed by an ATV or a taxi. It's crowded and loud and people are way too drunk for daytime. It occurred to me that we could have made a terrible mistake and stayed in West End on this trip, and it would have been a really different trip. Maybe we would have gotten used to that scene? But instead we said "f*** it" and after we'd walked the length of the strip we got in a taxi and came back to our quiet resort and had a drink here instead. And it was so much better.Read more