A good roadhouse should be halfway between somewhere and someplace else, should serve good food and cold beer.
Back in the day, JB’s filled that bill admirably. Halfway from Belize City and the mountains and San Ignacio it was a favourite stopping place for the army on their way to and from jungle training and for the BFBS engineers going to service the Cooma Cairn transmitter.
A tradition had been started in the early 80′s of having your regimental board pinned in the thatch and in 1988 BFBS had its sign added to the rest.
The old JB’s was abandoned in the early 90′s and a new incarnation opened up about a mile away, called Cheers. The thatch is now wriggly tin, the wooden walls are now concrete but the old BFBS sign still hangs above the bar.
T-shtrts rather than regimental signs are now the main decoration, but among them you can chart the history of the station.
Baz & the team back in 92 and Alan & Mark Phillips in 97.
And in this decade Chris Pearson in 2004, and who’s just about to leave for Cyprus.
After a nostalgic lunch and a chat with the owners about old times it was down another 3 miles to the zoo, our home for the night.
The Pond Houses are not in the zoo but across the road in the educational centre.
for US $70 you get a room with a view, supper and breakfast. And it’s a great view.
After supper we headed into the zoo for our night tour. Just 4 of us with a guide and all the nocturnal animals coming out to say hello.
If you get a chance to do it – take it. We went back in daylight the next day and that was great too, even in the rain.
We’ve handed the car back and are now with David & Debbie for our last four days in Belize.
I remember many a day at the old JB’s. On some day’s the U.S. Army would land their Huey’s out back and come in for lunch. I was part of building the new Southern Belize Regional hospital in Dangriga (I never went to the White Swan or Raul’s Rose Garden LOL) The doctor there was a former brit that stayed after his enlistment, he was known as Dr. Pete. The place I was staying in was on the Northern highway in Belize City (I believe it was the Best Western), it had a night club on the second floor which had Cuban entertainers. My wife would come down from Miami on some week ends, on this one day, I took her to the airport for her return trip. As her plane left another came in. It was a RAF transport with replacements. They never let the incoming troops have visual or any other contact with the outgoing. That night some of the new troops where at the night club. I left the club early, but the next day I found out that seven of them where arrested for being drunk and disorderly at the club. LOL
By: Frank Baltra on January 30, 2012
at 2:10 pm