October 23rd to November 3rd - 9th Trip
This is our 1st trip report - better now then never, right?
We had to overnight in Atlanta because of all the plane schedule changes since September. The airport was very quiet and the hotel was virtually dead. The restaurant was closed and we were the only 2 in the bar for about 2 hours. Then one other couple came in. The flight from Atlanta to MoBay was about half full, both in first class and economy.
We were happy to have our bags checked numerous times (and they were). There was definitely a military presence at the airport. We saw at least 3 very large gentlemen in greens at security. They asked us specifically if we were bringing any gifts, etc. that we planned to leave in Jamaica. They never asked us this before. We said NO. Our bags were picked at random in MoBay (we were the first ones to get our luggage) so they x-rayed all four bags and asked us to open two of them. The bag they did not open was the one with 5 packsacks, childrens bed linens, crayons, etc. WHEW! The TimAir flight was fast and efficient. We made it from landing in MoBay (10:30am) to the Hedo check in desk (11:30am) in record time. Our room was even ready!!! Im sure well pay for all of that in 'karma' over the next ten trips..LOL
Breakfast and dinner the first few nights was spooky. Half the dining room was not set up since the resort wasnt full. Weve never seen that before. There were no line-ups at Delroys and no problems finding a chair on the beach. This is very weird for Halloween! The salad bar was only half its normal size for most of the trip.
We met up with our 3 time Halloween friends Laura & Audie within hours and they introduced us to Scott and Jill. What a blast they were! They left Hedo 2 to go to Hedo 3 a few days before Halloween and we all missed them dearly. We also caught up with Walter and Jan on Thursday it was so great to see you both again. Rastabill, NuedMike and Louie had been abusing the staff for days by the time we arrived. The rest of our Bubbly Bare friends arrived over the next few days. I believe we were 84 strong by the weekend. A special thanks to Darrell & Carolyn, Bill & Karen, Doc & Jane and Tom & Joyce for ALL the hard work they do for the Bares. You really do make it a wonderful trip and your efforts are appreciated. Howard it was great meeting you and we look forward to seeing you again. You can certainly make the ladies do amazing things (you should write a book).
One of our favourite parts of Halloween at Hedo is the FatCat band playing on the beach. Again - they did not disappoint!! Its really great to be able to dance nekkid on the beach to a rockin band!! They got rained on about 5 songs into their last day on the beach which really sucked! Thanks for playing again this year youre fantastic. We trust well see you next year George, Bob, Dave, Tom, Fritz (and Chick). We can't forget the women behind the band - Kathy, Judy and Leslie. It was great seeing you again. Toni and Alysha (sorry about the spelling) really relaxed after a few glasses of 'courage'! It was nice to see the BIG smiles on your faces as you danced!
The construction caused quite a walk. We were in the 2nd last nude ocean view building and had to zigzag hike up past H-block, over (or around) the badminton courts, around the tennis courts and past Veronicas several times a day. With all the rain we had, there was mud, mud, mud and oh, yes MUD. Most women walked up barefoot, washed their feet in the washroom sink near Veronicas, and then put on their heels. Us guys just sloshed through the mud. The disco was in the squash court. We are usually in there every night but only went once this whole trip. We saw Dave in the piano bar every night he played. We love Dave and he put on a great show every time. Veronica is definitely gone, but Alicia (shes so cute) and Matta took great care of everyone. Its still very smoky and we woke up every morning with a scratchy throat.
We learned this year about Docs Overproof club. If you down a shot of 151 proof rum with him, youre allowed membership. Please realize that gasoline tastes better than that stuff. I saw people like Doc and Bill do numerous shots; and I got numerous invitations, but I declined. My wife Anne however said SURE! Doc was leading her to Delroys within seconds. Anne has had the Hedo tequila shots before, which actually IS gasoline, so I was sure she was up to the challenge. She put the shot back as quickly as Doc did and the look on her face said Is that all you got? I believe Doc was quite impressed. Im such a proud husband!!
We were in the Halloween show so didnt really get to see any of it from backstage. It ran very smoothly and we cant wait to watch the videotape. We heard it was a great show. We didnt win anything, but had a great time anyway. We were disappointed Darrell, Carolyn, Bill & Karen didnt do a skit this year, but Im sure theyll be back in full force next year! The weather was the poorest weve seen it in a long time. It was warm, but very overcast and rained more than usual. We went scuba diving a lot less than usual because of the rough weather and waves. We still had an amazing trip because of all our friends. We thought the weather would hold out for Anniversary, but it poured down hard. The food was amazing and I pretty much stuck to the lobster and fresh crab legs (even though they were twice the size of the plate). The miss Hedo contest seems to be getting less formal. It also didnt take as long as it did in prior years.
The main dining room had leaks everywhere. I would rather see the leaks fixed before an ice-rink is installed. The table next to us one dinner had water dripping out of the LIGHT FIXTURE! We promptly left and went to Veronicas.
Thanks so much to Joseph Smith and Donna Grant. They were very visible and always smiling. Donna did a great air guitar number with the band on the beach and Joseph accompanied us to the Grand Lido the night of Jimbos Bimbos for a parade.
One last thanks to all the Bubbly Bares. We love being involved with such a great group of people and cant wait to see you again. Denny posted some of our construction pictures on his construction page. Here are some pictures of the prude pool (with sailboat) for Anniversary, the Halloween stage, and the dive boat.
Take care,
Brian & Anne
