Chris & Liz - November, 2008
Chris & Liz - Hedo II November 7-16th, 2008 – trip # 25
This was our 25th trip to Hedo and our 8th in
early November. As always, the early November
crowd rocks with a high level of repeaters & friends and a good mix
of newbies and folks who are trying out a new time of year to visit
H2.
This trip we stayed at the cliffs first and then went to Hedo. We’d
only done that once b4 and vowed never again, now we remember why –
it’s so nice to have that relaxing time after Hedo to chill and
spend time together! The cliffs was great
fun though & a wonderful place to be for the election….I’ll try to
do a separate report on our trip there.
Thanks to G&L for their visit to da cliffs, just prior to our
brush with the outskirts of hurricane Paloma.
The hurricane brought in some crazy weather for a few days, with 7-8
foot rollers pounding the cliffs and 15-20 footers around Booby Cay.
We worried a bit whether Hedo would be getting pounded as
well, but it (and the whole
The groups that go during early November add a creative flair to
each night with various theme nights and so many fun people … it
truly is a wonderful time to visit and meet new friends and see our
old H2 friends.
As tends to be the case after the slow summer months and hurricane
season, the message boards were full of doom and gloom before we
arrived. We’ve seen that before though, so figured things were as
they usually are and…yup…they were. We did hear from friends that
Anniversary was fairly slow this year, and the folks on the cliffs
all agreed that this year has been much slower than usual.
Random thoughts in no particular order…
Most days we had no trouble finding towels (the maid stocked us with
bath towels and beach towels were available in the usual places).
But after a few days it seemed that the maid kept taking our gently
used bath towels (that we had hung up to ‘hold and reuse’) and not
leaving any new bath towels.
Many folks were left with just a few washcloths…it was
getting rather dire & we did all complain
about it. The management
mentioned that Superclubs’ central laundry service had a breakdown,
and a note was left in each room a day later explaining about the
problem. Towels were
like gold at that point.
Within a day or two the problem was fixed & we all had plenty of
fresh towels again (just in the nick of time).
Lorna Clarke spent several afternoons making the rounds at lunch
time to the various tables to check in and see how guests were
doing. We thought this was great. We also had a chance to wish her a
very happy birthday and were thrilled to find out she’d be staying
at H2…she’s a gem!
The new AC units seemed to be working fine in all but a few rooms.
They are easy enough to turn off & on by adjusting the temp.
Hurricane Paloma brought some rainy weather and some of the biggest
waves we’ve ever seen in Negril. That didn’t stop the party, but did
make for some interesting body surfing once the waves quieted down a
bit. And those that asked had a rain voucher waiting for them upon
check out – amazingly efficient considering past issues.
Once the hurricane had passed the water was sparkling and gorgeous &
the beach was quickly cleaned up by the wonderful staff (including
digging a huge 10 foot diameter hole to bury all the seaweed).
The weather from then on was perfect and being on the beach
at 7am is truly a little slice of heaven.
So
peaceful & warm in the early sun, seeing another vacation day begin.
Sigh.
Decorating the beach is a time honored tradition in early November &
though the storm made us wait a few days before we could, we had
great participation once we were able to. It was pretty funny that
so many people kept asking when we were going to start decorating. I
guess folks just like blowing up balls!! Plus the Hawk had an
excellent arm for shooting the string over the palm branches (and
his new squeeze Boopsie is a doll, panties or not).
Those beach sitters are the best….even Sandy Hook Bob.
(He’ll be wearing the drink vest doing cabana boy duties
before long we predict.)
J
The food was okay. It’s been better and it’s been worse. It seemed
to be trailing off by the end of 9 days, but I imagine we were just
getting sick of the same old, same old. The prude beach grill is a
shining spot in the day time/afternoon food area. You are served at
a table if you wish and drink orders taken & delivered. They have a
wider variety of food as well, including a few classic Jamaican
dishes occasionally like curried chicken or goat, or stewed beef.
It’s a good spot to relax for an afternoon plate of chicken or fish.
The authentic Juicy Patties were available at both beach
grills each day which was great. Bananas were around the entire trip
& the apple martinis, lemon drops & cosmopolitans did the trick at
night (though only the main bar routinely had apple mix).
Alas, tequila was limited to the bar-brand Rosado.
No Jose Cuervo white (or gold) this trip, though Rasta Bill’s
Patron helped fill in that gap nicely one day!
Dinner on the beach coincided with our Naughty School Girl night &
put a damper on wearing high heels and the picture taking / giggling
gaggle of girl opportunities.
The food was ok, but nothing to get excited about that night
– though there was a roast suckling pig which was good. Oh well.
Other dinners were good & we enjoyed a very good meal at Pastafari
on our last night.
The grand gala buffet was adequate on 11/7.
The one on 11/14 is was very good, including some excellent
carved prime rib and plenty of grilled lobster tails, along with all
the other usual stuff.
The sushi assortment on both nights was more extensive than
in the past, including some nice-looking tuna and roasted eel.
The nude pool music was so freaking loud it would drive the happiest
of us nuts….especially during the water aerobics in the morning
(which was very well attended). Ditto
for the EC’s announcements and games – way too loud for the
peace-loving beach dwellers.
(They’re using a portable DJ system, located by the side
window of the grill, so they need to crank it for the pool folks).
Hopefully they’ll work out some other sound system at the
nude pool soon!!
The staff were in good spirits and we had
excellent service throughout the trip.
The bartenders, wait staff, room
attendants were all doing a great job & the grounds were
fantastically maintained and cleaned. We were even able to find the
watersports guys to turn on the waterslide for us at night!!
Amazing!! Tista
was great, dancing and spreading lots of good cheer while tending
the main bar (then the nude bar early the next morning too).
That really added to the fun for everyone.
Kudos Tista!
Many of the ECs were having a tough time of it…either low energy,
not feeling well or just not up to the job. We miss the high energy
of the ECs from days gone by…but this too shall pass I imagine.
Winston is a bright star among the ECs and it has been a joy
watching him mature from his first few lacksidasical days at Hedo to
where he is now. We shared some fun stories with him from his early
days. Munga continues to bring high EC energy & joy to her work & is
a pleasure to hang with. Sunshine was working it as well. Dean had a
knee injury, but was in good spirits. Mega was out & about, but
seemed to be struggling somewhat to find his niche as manager of the
ECs…we hope that works out for him. We definitely missed Sarge!
Chris was able to enjoy his diving once the waters cleared and saw
the biggest sea turtle he’s ever seen in Jamaica – about 3.5 ft
long. The dive boat was packed for many of the 11:30 dives once the
weather settled down.
The piano bar was hopping with Dion from Roots Explosion busting his
move on the piano and the ladies of Hedo doing what they do best. It
was truly like old times & quite the scene. Thus the disco was dead
again as it usually was when the piano bar was the destination after
the dinner shows ended. I know many people were very pleased with
the new piano bar vibe!
The pool tables had been refelted and new cues were there. I had one
spectacular night of pool where I schooled Cole & Gemini…other than
that, my pool playing sucked as always. I did play a very sweaty
game of ping pong with John….that was about the most exercise I got
all week (well, outside of the room).
There was some confusion with the spa staff about cashing in my
Hedonistic Delights credit of $100 for my massage, but a quick call
to Denny took care of that for me and for Lexi too (even though she
had booked through GC). Kudos to Denny for such wonderful service!!
Rosilyn gave me a fantastic massage AND a salt
scrub so that I’d use all my credits…bless her!! Thanks to
Spidercat for the suggestion of Rosilyn…she’s the best!
Dwight from the spa was on the beach a lot giving teaser
massages….he’s a gem as well & thanks to him for all those mini
shoulder rubs!
The theme nights were loads of fun….Red Hot Night being a particular
favorite. As Mona says, something about those red dresses brings out
the wild in you. A night to remember indeed!!! The talent show was a
trip with V, Jimmy, Dave & Spidercat
bringing down the house. Thank you all for making us smile & cheer
so loud!!!
The Pinpals annual champagne toast is always fun & this year was no
exception. We all missed many of our H2 friends who couldn’t make it
and the toast is a good way to remember times past and celebrate the
day. Lorna Clark
joined us all and added her thanks for the many years of support and
fun that the gang has brought to Hedo.
Val’s Pal’s auction was a big hit one night during dinner… kudos!!
We’ll have to get around to that big group dinner one of these
trips!!
A special shout out to Anita the Diva on her first night and our
last … being able to sit and chat with me after I’d been there for 2
weeks (like I was making sense) must have taken a will of steel of
several hefty drinks … it was wonderful to have the time to chat AND
to get that foot massage from Art!!
It was also a treat to overlap with Gordon that day.
We’ll have to work on more overlap time next year.
J
It’s the people that make the trip and this trip was no exception.
We often talk about moving our dates a little further in November to
take advantage of the Thanksgiving time off from work…but we would
miss so many of our early November friends (to say nothing of Gary &
Lora’s anniversary!!! The horror!).
There are just so many people
who make November the special time it is. And meeting new folks
(especially those bearing gifts, like T&T…grin!) is a treat as well.
And before I forget…apologies again to “the other Art” for missing
the annual Survivor party! We owe you one!
(If only we’d thought faster and given
you the immunity idol!!!)
We sure enjoyed chatting and schmoozing with you – as always!
It seems as if there is never enough time to spend with everyone and
this year was no exception. If only we could all stay for a month
then maybe I’d feel like I had a chance to really chat with everyone
(and perhaps even coherently!!!). We love seeing everyone at Hedo
and we always come home feeling like there were a few folks we just
didn’t get to spend enough time with….I guess that means we’ll need
to go again…
And just so I don’t totally forget, here are some of our
highlights….
Vow renewals
of Rich & Linda and Bill & DD … both very sweet! Congratulations!
We sure did miss Debbie & Dave, especially when blowing up all those
balls for the beach, we send our best wishes!
Woo-woo shots on the beach!! And the disco!! And the main bar!!
Jamaica Joe bustin' a move at the disco in his little black shorts!
V’s fantastic shoes and
boots….the girl has it going on!
Arts and crafts
making visors with the girls on the beach. Thanks DD!
The International Supermodel Lora's cat crawl
on the stage during the fashion show. Hello kitty!!!!!
J
And all Lora’s other great work filling as as guest EC.
You’re hired!
Naked waterslide!!
Talent show night - V's song,
Jimmy's song, Linda's dance, HedoDave on drums! We're a talented
bunch!
32 toes for RastaBill
Chris, Dave, Darrell and RastaBill Kayaking to
da island
"Reality check!!!"
Election night on the
cliffs with Chris!! What excitement and joy!!!
Visting Stowe, the Ozarks,
Making up our Hedo names!
A super super Red Hot Night with the Pinpals in Pastafari.....Mona
and her story of the pinking sheers and her dress lining!!!
Sheers to everyone!!!
And a special thanks to
those early beach risers who so generously left us ‘the usual spot’
when we slept late….you shouldn’t have…but we’re glad you did!!
Remember….sometimes you
just have to say, “Huh?? What???”
Til next time,
Liz & Chris