Amos Jones of Meridian recently spent a week in Havana, Cuba, where he took in the city’s many cafes and museums.

For most of his life, Amos Jones has liked to travel.

“I just like seeing different things and different people, the surroundings and different communities,” says the Meridian native. 

That curiosity has taken him South of the border to Mexico and Peru.

But there’s one place Jones had never been able to go – Cuba.

The country was effectively off-limits to American tourists after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. That changed when the Obama administration eased the travel ban a few years ago. News of that change excited Jones, who, joined by a quartet of friends (Sean Omlor, his wife Alli, his brother Brian and Brian’s girlfriend Lisa Picasso) was finally able to spend a week in Havana in February.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind; (I) always had a desire to go to Havana, Cuba,” Jones, 62, said. “Just seeing pictures of it and different situations, I’ve always had a small desire to go. For the longest time it wasn’t permitted to go there and so when Obama made it ok, that was my opportunity. I said man, here’s the slot, so let’s go if we can. And luckily, we did it.”

The group flew from New Orleans to Atlanta, then landed in Havana. Once they arrived, they hit the streets, taking in the sights and sounds of Cuba’s capital city.

Jones, an artist, was first impressed with the city’s architecture.

“The architecture was amazing,” he recalled. “I’ve never been to Europe, but some of the buildings looked as if they were European style. I just thought it was so elaborate.”

“We went to a ballet and unfortunately, it was sold out; but the building it was in was just fantastic,” Jones said. “And the capitol reminded me of our capitol; it was a great dome, very similar to our capitol. Unfortunately, it was closed off – they were cleaning and refurbishing it.”

Another big hit for the group was the city’s many art museums, like the Museum of Revolution.

“It’s a beautiful building,” Jones said of the structure. “And we went to one museum and it must have had well over 2,000 paintings from the 1920s to 1950s, I guess. Most were paintings of people. It was amazing.”

Jones said one pleasant surprise was discovering Cubans’ affinity for American and British music.

“Everywhere we went, they had American music – anywhere from the Beatles to the BeeGees to Otis Redding,” Jones said. “We heard B.B. King in restaurants and bars…I mean everywhere we went was American music. It surprised me a little bit, I was expecting a little more salsa.

“One of the first nights we went to a Beatles Bar, on the walls were pictures of The Beatles, and the band there was so tight, superb,” he said. “You could tell that they had rehearsed for quite some time. Then we would go to another bar and it would have salsa music. It was just so tight.”

Another surprise, Jones says, was how travelers are welcomed in Havana.

“The people were great. We would walk out on the street at night and you didn’t feel the least bit intimidated,” he said. “The people were very friendly; you could walk for 15 minutes and someone would ask where are you from.

“One particular person stopped us and asked where we were from, and we said, ‘The U.S.’ He said ‘You have problems in the U.S., it’s money… In Cuba, you can come to our home, we will feed you, give you something to drink; you are welcome.’

“He made us feel at home – just a person on the street,” Jones said, adding “everyone was friendly…in most bars and restaurants, they spoke English, which helped a lot because I don’t speak Spanish.”

Daily dining was another highlight of the trip.

“The food was delicious,” Jones said. “We would go into a cafe and have to go back because the food was so good there. We ate pulled pork sandwiches with yucca; vegetarian sandwiches…breakfast with scrambled eggs on a baguette.

“Things were fairly cheap,” Jones added. “A sandwich was about $2.50; then a coffee on the side; the coffee was great.”

Even though he was in a foreign country, Jones said he felt safe, thanks to a Cuban law that protects tourists.

“There’s a certain penalty that they put on if you harm tourists,” he said. “There is a special penalty for that so they leave tourists alone. Also, in effect, tourists bring them money.”

To get around town, the travelers hailed taxicabs, most of which were American cars from the 1950s, before the embargo.

“The newer cabs you couldn’t negotiate with; the older cabs you could,” Jones said. “The newer ones had a flat price and no negotiations. They were newer cars, of course; the older ones allowed you to negotiate. There were three wheel bicycles we got on, you could negotiate with them.”

Jones said because of the embargo, much of Havana felt unchanged since the 1950s.

“The place we stayed had 16-foot ceilings,” he said. “So much of the city kind of reminded me of New Orleans. The streets did, except they were much narrower and they were one-way streets.”

Jones was so amazed by the city he hopes to return next year.

“We may go back next year and experience it again,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll go back in February, because the weather was great.”

Looking back, “the trip was just something that I will never forget,” Jones said with a broad smile.