Hedo in October??  

We made our first trip to Hedo April 98 and fell in love with the place, the people, and the Caribbean.  We returned the same week in 1999 and 2000, and each trip got progressively better with few exceptions.  One issue we had in April 2k was that we partied so long and so hard, that we got little sleep.  By the 5^th day, we were really starting to wear down.  We got on the plane to return home in Mo Bay, and both of us were really bumming.  So we decided why not do a quickie trip in the fall, and that way we wouldnt have to pace ourselves as much and be able to hang in there with the non-stop partying.  So we made the decision then and there to return in six months.  

Bev doesnt have all that much vacation, but was able to snag three days in October.  We were going to do four nights starting 10/14, but friends of ours from Buttcrack TOURS heard we were considering a return, and recommended we move it up a week and check with Lifestyles for a better rate.  We sure are glad we did, as we ended up saving over $300 by booking with Lifestyles and going 10/7 to 10/11.  So off we went for our 4^th trip to paradise.   

The Trip Down  

Our flight was leaving at 6:00 am, so we leave for the airport at 4:45am.  The temp was 38 degrees, but no way was I going to wear long pants and a jacket on the way to Jamaica.  Froze my butt off (Bev wore sweat pants and a jacket over her tropical wear, the wuss!  Lol!) but made it to the airport, no problem.  Flight to Atlanta gets away on time.  Air Jamaica leaves right on schedule, and we land at Mo Bay at 10:45am.  That warm humid air flowing into the plane felt REAL good after the rush to the airport that morning.  We usually take TimAir to Negril, but at the last minute decided to take the bus.  We hadnt done it since our first trip, and since we knew Lifestyles had their own desk set up with our keys, we were not worried about trying to beat the bus.  While we will continue to take the bus in April, we really did enjoy it going over this trip.  Met a lot of folks on the bus, and enjoyed stopping for a cold Red Stripe on the way.   

We still saw no work being done on the new road, but we did see some cement trucks loading up at a couple places.  So maybe they ARE working on it, just not where we could see.   

We arrive at Hedo, and I have never seen it as confused and crowded in the lobby.  We heard they were 30% overbooked, and it certainly appeared that way.  We checked in at the Lifestyles desk, but they didnt have our keys yet.  We went and ate, sucked down a few drinks, and about an hour later we were handed our keys to room 2145 in H block.  Many folks who did not book through Lifestyles ended up at Lido, so we done good.   

Lifestyles Week  

We are not lifestylers, at least when we are sober.  We had always wanted to go during a Lifestyles week just to see what it was like, but I dont think we were really prepared for the differences when compared to April.  We were not surprised by the PDA during the day.  We had expected that, and enjoyed our own PDA in the middle of it all.  When we go in April, we probably know close to 40 or 50 people, and are very comfortable meeting new people all during the week.  But this trip, we quickly realized that our normal social graces fit in a little differently from other trips.  Dont get me wrong on this.  Everyone we met was super nice, and we had some really great conversations, but a number of times the conversation begin to drift towards trading spit, and we would disengage before we had to say no thank you.   

If there was any significant disadvantage to being there during Lifestyles week, it was the crowds at the nude end.  Saturday and Sunday were as busy as Ive ever seen it.  At one point, it was a three deep wait at the bar for a drink.  Of course, waiting three deep with a bunch of nekkid people in Jamaica beats the hell out of room service in New York any day!  Lol!  It eased up some on Monday, but there were still a bunch of folks there.  Never did see anyone on the prude beach.  Its a shame they didnt just make the resort 100% au natural for that week.  The line for Roberts was over 30 minutes at times.  At one point, we just walked au natural to the prude grill, and there was no wait.   

Skin Skin Everywhere  

The Celebration of Body Arts crowd was winding down when we got there.  WOW!  Ive never seen so much ink and body piercing in one place in my life.  We even saw one girl with a pierced forehead!  Amazing.   

There is plenty of skin visible in April.  Certainly on the nude beach, and always some ladies with see through at dinner and at the disco, but Lifestyles week really brought out the nekkidness in the rest of the resort.  Lots of see through or just plane ol nudity in the non nude areas.  Monday Night topless night in the disco was GREAT!  Maybe 70% participation, and a real good time had by all.  Plus, not that many vinnies with cameras, which was nice.   

Figuring we would know very few people there this trip, we decided (Bev, actually) to get really out there.  We went to a local wig shop, and bought Bev and synthetic auburn wig.  She took it with intent to only wear to the PJ party, but lets just say we had a BALL with it in the room prior to PJ night.  I never had such great nookie with a red head!  On PJ night, I had gone to the bar for drinks, and some friends of ours from LA came in.  Bev waved them over, and Im sorry I missed it.  They had no idea who she was, at least until she started talking.  To summarize, we had a blast with that wig, and before next April we are shopping for a blond!     

One really special skin related memory from the week:  A couple weeks before we went I was going through some boxes in our basement and came across a box with keepers written on it.  Opened it up and found a bunch of keepsakes from high school.  In it was a red fishnet practice jersey from my senior year playing high school football.  I can remember I never liked to wear it during football as when you got tackled, the fishnet would give you abrasions worse than just a plane cotton jersey.  So it was practically unused.  I had thrown it in Bevs suitcase and joked with her she could wear it to lunch one day.  I dont think she was going to actually do it, but after seeing all the flesh during lunch, she figured why not.  Anyway, she wears it to lunch, and as we are walking up the path, I note people walking by us the other way (some nekkid by the way) always stealing a glance at her tits showing through that jersey.  So, I decide to walk about 15 feet behind her just so I can watch people walk past.  It was GREAT!  With all that nudity, I dont think I saw one guy who didnt look at those tits showing through my high school jersey.  Most of the women even looked.  Bev was in the salad bar line and I was at the hot bar, and one young stud just had to tell her how hot she looked.  We loved it, and you can bet that jersey will be returning to Hedo in April.    

The Good and Bad  

Delroy only gets better at making Dirty Bananas.  He was only there on Saturday and Tuesday of this trip, but he whipped one up on Tuesday that was to die for.  Never did see Scumba.  Must have been on vacation.   

What can I say.  Roberts Grill and Pastafaris were excellent, as always.  Even the hotdogs were good.  But the quality of food at the buffet continues to decline.  The salad bar always has tasty items to be found, and the desserts are killer, but the hot food line is average at best, and disappointing many times.  I dont think I put a single piece of beef in my mouth the entire time that wasnt overcooked.  And its a rare talent to be able to cook all the moisture out of a piece of chicken.  And speaking of food, we thought lobster was in season in October!  Never saw it, although they did have crawfish one night.   

You couldnt even buy a towel at the nude end.  Never saw any in the bins, and they only had them maybe half the time when we went to the trouble to walk down to the watershack.  Checked at the prude pool every time we were up there, but no luck either.  Hedo could also make an investment in some more beach chairs at the nude end.  Seems like there are fewer each time we go, and a number of them are in need of some serious repair.   

Must be clean living, but I can honestly say we had the best water pressure of any trip weve ever made.  Taking a shower at 7:30pm, and the temp stayed almost constant.   

They started paving the walkways during our trip.  Some of the blacktop was getting pretty rough, and very hard on feet that had been sitting in the hottub for a long time, so thats good news for sure.  

We got to see Marc on Monday night.  He had on long pants and a polo shirt, if you can believe that.  We spoke with him a few minutes.  He said he missed all the fun on the beach, and didnt like all the office time, but he sure enjoyed the increase in pay.     

Regrets and Memories  

Every trip preceding this one, Ive managed to put a hurting on my feet or toes, but mainly toes.  Stubbing them on the little step in front of the drink fountain at the hottub was standard fare until April 2000.  I managed to avoid stubbing my toes there, but one night in a drunken state I managed to kick the speaker at the hottub that looks like a rock and broke the middle toe on my left foot.  Six months later and the bitch is still sore.  But Im pleased to report that at long last, I finally managed to make it through an entire trip without hurting my feet.  Cool!  Maybe if we had stayed a week, I would have kept my string going.  Oh well.  Theres always next year.   

We were sitting in beach chairs on the point one night at about 4:00am, just staring up at the stars.  The moon had set, so they were showing through pretty well.  Suddenly, we see one of the most brilliant shooting stars weve ever seen.  That will be a memory we always keep.   

Maybe we were just lucky, but the percentage of vinnies seemed much lower this trip.  

Not sure if this is a regret or a memory, or both.  The last night there, we didnt go to bed until 6:15 am.  We had to have our luggage outside by 9:00am, so we crawled out of bed at 8:00am to get ready.  Every fiber of my body hurt, and cried out for sleep.  We got ready, packed, and had it out there by 9:00, and immediately went back to bed.  Got up at 10:30 to go check in with Air Jamaica, and felt a little bit better.  But we wont do THAT again!  Of course, it did make the trip home seem shorter.  We slept through all of it.   

That big crab that lives in H-block now has friends.  Before long, theyll be running in a pack!  Lol!   

The fan in our AC didnt run smoothly.  It would oscillate up and down at random.  Didnt really notice it the first day, but woke up that first morning to the sound of rising and falling wind.  Thought there was a hurricane moving in, the way it sounded.   

The last regret   we had to leave, and everyone else got to stay!  The short trip was fun, and we wasted less time sleeping, but 4 nights just isnt long enough when you are used to a week.   

Oh well, approximately 26 weeks to April, but whos counting.  Hedo, soon come!   

Dave & Bev