Hedonism II Trip Report for Halloween/Anniversary (10/28 - 11/5)
Flew on Air Jamaica from JFK on Saturday, 10/28. It was an uneventful flight. The flight arrived on time in Montego Bay, where I ran into Tasha and Jeannie at Luggage Claim, who were sharing my TimAir flight to Negril. Tasha and I found our luggage with no problems, but Jeannie's duffel bag was hopelessly LOST! Oh, well. Who needs clothes at Hedo anyway? She filled out the claims paperwork and we finally trudged over to TimAir with some Red Stripes to help us wind down. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a plane, since we missed the first one. We finally got to Hedo as lunch was ending. Thank goodness we didn't have long to wait for our rooms.
The weather gods were smiling on us this week. This was my seventh trip to Hedo, but it was the first trip where I enjoyed absolutely PERFECT weather all week long. No rain clouds, no threat of hurricane, not a single drop of rain !! Woo-Hoo.
I actually left the compound for dinner quite a few times during this trip; another first for me. One night my friend Carolyn and I went to eat at Xtabi's. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was very elegant and romantic. The only disappointment we had was that there was no conch available, as it was no longer in season. We had both in the mood for conch fritters. Sigh. We had lobster and shrimp cocktail as appetizers instead, and filet mignon and seafood medley for dinner. We shared everything, and it was all delicious.
On another night most of the "Bitches of Hedonism" (see previous trip reports or my web page http://mypage.goplay.com/ILoveHedo to find out who the bitches are) went out to dinner at a friend's house in Negril. The mood was relaxed and casual, and the food was HOT, HOT.SPICY HOT!! I liked it; everyone else found it too hot to handle. Dessert was home-made marble cake, and we washed everything down with a delicious punch (which I later discovered was Tang mixed with fresh lime juice.) It was very nice to get off the resort and visit with our Jamaican friends in their home.
My friend Jaime and I spent his birthday (Nov. 2nd) having dinner at Rick's Caf. I had only been there once before for drinks. This was the first time I was eating there, and the food was pretty good. We shared spicy buffalo wings, and had a mixed grill with beef, chicken, and fish. Neither of us liked the chicken very much, but everything else was very good. We drank Tequila Sunrises and Strawberry Margaritas and enjoyed the view. We got a nice table for two overlooking the ocean and the party boats, whose passengers kept flashing us as we encouraged them with loud cheers. We got see the most spectacular sunset I had ever seen in Jamaica in October. There were no low-lying clouds (which always seem to be present when watching the sunset from Hedo) to obscure the sight of that beautiful big orange globe sinking into the ocean. It was truly breathtaking.
I also ate one night at Margaritaville. The food was good, but the music was too loud for conversation. I have a feeling that Margaritaville would have been a better choice for lunch, as I imagined the view to be very pretty in the light of day. Maybe next time.
I did not try out Pastafari or the new Scotch Bonnet during this trip. I already know I like the Rasta Pasta, but maybe next time I'll get around to the Scotch Bonnet. I also did not make it (again) to the Island Picnic this year. Every year I say I'm going to do it, and I never do! Sheesh.
Saturday night was the King Pimp and Mistress Party. It was such a hoot to see all the guys dressed in their interpretation of pimp suits. Their mistresses were equally delightful. Prizes were given for the best couples. Truly hilarious.
Sunday was the Old School Celebration. Many guests wore outfits from the 60s and 70s: pyschedelic mini dresses, bell-bottom pants and afro wigs. An Oldies dance competition was on the schedule, but I don't remember if they had it or not. If they did, I missed it.
Monday was PJ night. I wore a black lace thong and camisole top with my black platform sandals. Of course, I was also liberally covered with body glitter, my favorite from Frederick's of Hollywood. Danced all night in the disco.
Tuesday was Halloween. Of course, there was the usual assortment of Halloween costumes displayed that night. Harem girls, French Maids, Witches of all sorts (naughty and nice), monsters, ghouls, and fairy tale characters. I did not bring a costume, but I was recruited to help my friend, Rasta Bill, with his Halloween presentation. He was entered in the Most Original category as Rasta the Snowman.
He spent a whole year designing and planning his costume, and had it shipped in a crate to Hedo prior to his arrival. The basic idea was that he would climb into a snowman outfit constructed out of chinese paper lanterns which comprised the torso and bottom of the snowman. The head section was some type of balloon or inflated bag, I'm not sure. The internal framework was wired with hundreds of tiny white Christmas lights, and the outside of the three sections were covered with white sheets, with a snowman face painted on the head section. After being pluggef-in, the lit up-snowman would dance around the song "Rasta the Snowman" (sung to the tune of Frosty the Snowman.) My job was to place the "magic tam" on his head during the appropriate moment in the song. Unfortunately, before the show started, the head section deflated, and Bill had to scramble to find a way to keep the head looking like a round ball. He stuffed the head with a pillow and some towels. When it was time to put on his act, I helped him down to the dining room floor and he climbed under the suit, but the head was too heavy and immediately fell to the ground. Oh shit! I felt so bad and I panicked.didn't know what to do next. Bill, being the good sport that he is, just told me to have them cue the music and he would do his little dance anyway.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. very much to Howard W. who came out of the audience and held Bill's snowman head up while he danced. That was such a nice thing to do. Both Bill and Howard are very tall (or maybe I'm just a shrimp) so Howard was able to stand behind Bill and hold up the head while following him around.
Prizes were given out in many categories including Most Original, Most Hedonistic, Most Horrifying, and Most Disgusting. Despite the snafu with the snowman head, Rasta Bill won a prize for his lit up Rasta Snowman. Yippee! Congrats, Bill. I know you worked very hard on the concept for a whole year. Can't wait to see what you come up with next year.
My favorite presentations were the "Playboy Mansion -- A nightmare" and the "Rock - N- Roll Heaven", which won best over-all presentation. In Rock-N-Roll Heaven some of our favorite performers were resurrected from the dead to give an all-star concert at Hedo: Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, "Mama" Cass Elliot, Sonny (I Hit a Tree, Babe) Bono, and the KING -- Elvis Presley.
Wednesday was Hedonism II's 19th Anniversary Gala and the Miss Hedonism II 2000 Pageant. My main "bitch" Lucille was entered in this year's pageant (she had entered the previous year, too.) The theme was the Olympics. The pageant officially began after a torch bearer (yea, Louie!) ran to the stage and lit two big torches. All the contestants jogged out onstage wearing swimsuits provided by Hedo. They practiced their choreography for two days and did a cute little dance number to entertain us. Then they changed into their dresses and did the interview portion of the competition. Lucille won the competition and the Bitches were deliriously happy and out of control!!!
During the weeks prior to this trip Rasta Bill had put the word out on the Internet that the schools in Jamaica were in desperate need of supplies. Many generous Hedo guests donated supplies and Rasta Bill, Miss Hedonism, and a small entourage visited a school in Negril and handed out the much-needed pencils, notebooks, backpacks, etc. Hopefully this will become an annual event, as the schools are severely under-funded and in desperate need of basic supplies. Thanks to Rasta Bill and everyone who participated in this event.
This is the end of this trip report. Can't wait to get back to Hedo again. How long is it until the next trip??? Soon come? Not soon enough for me.
Irie vibes!