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As the cold winds of Chicago begin to chill the body again and the brain tries to relate to reality, the memories of our trip fill our minds and bring many smiles to our faces. What a GREAT trip we have to remember. Due to the fact that we got married at Hedo last year, it would be tough to rate this trip as "more special" than our last trip. But this trip definitely had to rate as much more relaxed and fun!
Almost immediately after our last trip to Hedo, we started to plan a return trip for our anniversary. Once we had the dates established, we found out that the beginning of our stay would overlap with the end of the WWW winter trip. Great a chance to meet some people and have some fun, but we never were expecting it to have such a profound impact on our experience.
In the months and weeks prior to the trip we exchanged e-mail, stories, time in the chat room and such, letting the excitement build and build. In fact, we began the daily count down all the way back in June. At first it seemed silly to walk into work every morning and see an e-mail waiting from my wife Deb with the number of days until our return, but as the time grew closer, it was a requirement before I could begin my day.
Finally 3:00am the day of our departure arrived. Waking up with so much adrenaline and huge smiles on our faces, we weren't thinking much about the early hour, our minds were focused on the fact that in only a few hours we would finally be back at Hedo. At 4:25am the taxi showed up and whisked us off to the airport, you have never seen two happier people.
The only comment about the flight down is that this year we took Air Jamaica. It was GREAT!! It seemed that they do a few things to make the flight to Montego Bay more relaxing, the food is better than on most airlines and of course they serve Red Stripe to really get you in the Jamaica spirit.
Upon arrival it was a beautiful 87 degrees and sunny, luckily we had packed our shorts in our carry on and changed at O'Hare prior to boarding the plane, so we were set for the warm weather. I think I can safely say that I was the only person at O'Hare Airport that morning with a pink flamingo shirt and shorts on. You just can't beat getting on a plane in snow and cold, and then getting off the plane in weather like that. Immigration, baggage and customs were a breeze, less than 15 minutes after landing we had our bags and were done with everything.
Last year we took the bus both ways, so this year we booked Air Jamaica Express over to Negril, definitely a better way to go. But one warning about the Express, it runs on Jamaica time. They have a schedule simply to have one, not to run by.
We landed in Negril got our baggage and took that "long" taxi ride to Hedo. We had to laugh as it takes all of 30 seconds to get from the Negril airport to Hedo, not hardly worth even climbing into a taxi. But we did and after months of waiting we were finally pulling up to Hedo at 1:45 pm. We were greeted at the curb with a big smile, hug and welcomed home. It felt so good to be back!
They were just getting the list of clean rooms when we arrived, so we had to wait for a couple of minutes. Not wanting to waste anytime, I ran to the bar and got two purple rains to begin our celebration. Surprisingly, in less than 10 minutes (or half a purple rain later) they were organized and ready to assign us a room. We got lucky and were assigned 2276 and sent on our way. So happy to be there and soak it all in, we walked slowly to the room, in fact the luggage arrived at the room the same time we did, what great service. We did a quick once over of the room, everything was there and the safe was working properly, so we threw the luggage on the bed thanked the bellman and then we just sat and giggled. The view from our room was great, it overlooked the bar and grill and had a great ocean view...what more could a person want, except of course to be down in the action. So we shed our clothes and headed down to begin the fun.
It didn't take long to start to relax. As soon as we trotted down the stairs and turned the corner to the hot tub area we could just feel the tension leave our bodies. Total time from arrival to the hot tub, not bad...20 minutes. Before finding our friends, we had important things to do like getting our drinks refilled by Scumba and Delroy and getting french fries at Roberts Grill, these turned out to be two of our favorite past times.
Once we had those needs taken care of, we hit the hot tub for a few minutes and then headed to the beach. We met up with Diane and Denny and some of the WWW group at the beach. It was great to finally meet so many of the people in person. Deb and I got our tattoos and then the fun really began, we were now "branded" and set for fun. Some of the group was headed off to see Mike and Karen renew their vows, so we went along with. You can't beat a wedding or vow renewal at Hedo; it stirs so many romantic emotions.
>From then on, the first day begins to blur...meeting so many of the WWW group, drinks, hot tub, more drinks, meeting more people, more hot tub, more fries, and of course jerk chicken. Roberts Grill is definitely one of the little sinful pleasures of Hedo. He and Indiana do a great job and are so friendly.
Since it was Toga night and we had missed the toga tying demonstration, Denny and Diane were kind enough to help Deb and I with our togas. Some where along the way, getting up at 3:00 am and the first day partying caught up with Deb, so she called it an early evening, but she insisted that I go have fun with the group. My adrenaline was still pumping and I was set for Toga night, so I headed out with Denny and Diane and company for dinner and Toga party activities.
One of my few suggestions is that I wish they would play a little bit more upbeat music at dinner, the soft mellow music tends to lull the crowd into a coma before the evening activities commence.
Finally the Toga party activities commenced, it was fun and the contests were entertaining. Afterward, I checked on Deb again, she was still tucked into to bed nicely, so I went and sat on the beach, looked up at the stars and giggled a lot about being there. One more trip to the hot tub to say good night to the gang and a couple of drinks later it was time for bed; the day had finally caught up with me.
Day 2 - Friday
The only bad thing about Deb crashing early was that she was up early...me, I felt the effects of the first day, that was of course until I looked out the window and remembered where I was. Being in paradise, one tends to get over the night before quicker than at home.
Off to breakfast and then a stop by the dive shack to pick up snorkels and masks so we could go snorkeling around the point. Last time we didn't snorkel close to shore and the rocks, only out at the reefs. I'm glad that we remembered to try it close to shore this time, the kind of things that you see around the point are different than you see out at the reefs and, you can see things really up close.
After snorkeling we had to head up to meet with our Air Jamaica vacation representative....who never showed up (later we found out she was sick). After waiting for about an hour, we decided to head back to the beach.
We found the WWW gang at the beach and spent the rest of the day enjoying time with them and snorkeling around the point some more. As the afternoon faded and evening approached we invaded the hot tub for fun and frolicking until they closed it for cleaning, which of course is Hedo's way of telling you that it is time to go off to your room for a nap before dinner.
A large part of the group was leaving on Saturday so they had their farewell dinner at Pastafari's. Since Friday night was circus night and we hadn't seen that last year, we decided to eat in the main dining room and watch the show. The beginning of the show is really awesome when the lights go out and the torches are lit. The rest of the show had some parts that were entertaining and some parts that were pretty lame, but over all it was enjoyable show, especially seeing them stuff a full sized human into a small box. Once the dining room part was over, it was off to the beach for the trapeze part and the beach games. Deb and I played the beach games, it was pretty entertaining, and of course a great way to win some Hedo bucks! After that we headed back to the hot tub and ran into many of the WWW gang there. Great conversation, great drinks and a relaxing hot tub are definitely the way to end a day.
Day 3 - Saturday
Today both of us are up early 6:30am, all I can say is that it is nice to see the day come alive before your eyes. Even though we wake up early, it doesn't mean that we getting moving that early. It's nice just to lay in bed and thinking about how great it is to be at Hedo.
Off to breakfast and then a walk down the beach. Little did we know what envy awaited us. You see once you leave Hedo and walk over to Sandals beach, sand envy sets in. Sandals has that nice baby powder sand that your feet just sink into. We looked and looked all over Sandals beach but were unable to find any rocks under the water like on our nude beach. As we walked along we did notice the difference in people. At Hedo people talk to each other and "group" on the beach. Over at Sandals no one is talking anyone. While they may have a better beach, we'll take atmosphere and friendliness over their beach!
The catamaran cruise over to the caves was Saturday, it wasn't too full, but in many ways that was nice because we got to know everyone on the boat. The snorkeling on Saturday at the reefs was fun, but since it was a bit cloudy the water seemed hazy, so it was not a good day for those brilliant underwater photos. It was good to see Rasta Ralphie again, and of course as always, fun to participate in his activities and conga line. The caves are as beautiful as ever and definitely well worth the swim, even if you don't go up to the Pickled Parrot.
Saturday afternoon was sad, telling a bunch of our new friends "Good bye". Once we had sent them on their way, it was off to find more adventures. We decided to go shopping in Negril, another thing that we didn't do last year. If you want some good bargains without the hassle, go down to Time Square, it is a great place for that. It is beautiful, clean and sort of like a little strip mall. But, if you really want the true flavor of Negril shopping, then go to the Craft Market. The vendors at the Craft Market display their wares outside their one-room shacks and they all strongly invite you to take a look at their merchandise. At first it is cute, but then it begins to wear on you. We would also suggest going with at least one other couple, that way the vendors can't overwhelm you too much. Also, make sure to negotiate a price. We went with Wayne and Julie and they were looking at this item, the price was $130.00. By the time we moved on to the next shack, the price was all the way down to $50.00. If you are looking for fine wood craftsmanship, this is the place to go.
Shopping was so much work that we headed back to the resort and hit the hot tub and Delroy's bar, once again a worthwhile and entertaining activity. The rest of the WWW gang was leaving the next day, so a bunch of us went to Pastafari's for dinner. Pastafari's is still excellent, and believe it or not, the service wasn't very slow. Either that or we were having such a good time talking to JJ&Debra and Boomer & Steph that we just didn't realize it.
Day 4 - Sunday
Time to see the rest of the gang off. We found ourselves feeling really sad today. It was so fun to get to know so many people and now the last of them were leaving. It seemed strange yesterday not to see so many people we knew; soon it would be stranger.
Once again up early, I think we managed to stay asleep until 7:15am this morning...LOL!! Another beautiful day. Off to breakfast and a nice long walk along the beach, still major sand envy hits us, but it is nice to walk back through the gate and be on Hedo ground again.
We catch the 11:30am snorkel boat and enjoy the snorkeling around the reefs, the sun is shining brightly today, so everything looks clearer. The highlight was when we saw a family of squid swimming by. Two big ones and 3 little ones, I'm glad we had our underwater camera with us at the time. (Note: Definitely pack underwater cameras, we brought three with us and used them all.)
Once back to shore and after a great lunch, I decided to try my hand at sailing. A special note: Guys, if you have never done this before, it might be best to try it for your first time alone, without the aid of a female telling you what you might or might not be doing properly. Or gals, if you are going to go along, just remember that it is very easy to lose the wind, and no matter how much a guy tries to catch the wind, sometimes it just doesn't happen. All I can say about my first effort was, thank goodness there was someone out there on a jet ski to help us get back in.
After that, sand gravity and depression effected us as the group left. The resort was getting slower due to Christmas, so the beach wasn't very busy at all. It was aerie to look down the beach and not see anyone from the WWW group on the beach, in the pool, in the hot tub at the snack bar or of course at Delroy's bar. But not to worry after spending the afternoon relaxing, reading on the beach and eating fries from the snack bar we met some of the new arrivals, so our spirits picked back up. In fact my spirits picked back up so much so that I had to call it an early evening, so we never made it up to the dining room that night.
Day 5 - Monday
S.O.P. - up early, to breakfast and then our walk along the beach. Since today was our anniversary, it was a special day. We found the spot we got married at and reminisced about our wedding. Sort of a sappy but romantic moment for us to share at Hedo.
Okay enough of that, time to get active again! Since the sailing didn't work too well for us yesterday, today we decided to try our hand at kayaking. This seemed to work so much better, so we paddled out into the middle of the bay and just relaxed for awhile. It was fun to check out the water at our own pace, rather than sitting in a big boat cruising along fast. One thing that we really like about Hedo is their variety of watercraft; you can go out on the ocean in a wide variety of ways and craft.
Okay, today the resort is really slow; rumor has it that there are only about 100 guests at the resort now. One can really tell the difference. But you do see more bonding of the people that are there. It is easy to get to know everyone when there are so few there. In fact that night at dinner only half the tables were set, so we knew it was slow.
Since it was Reggae night, we stuck around for all the activities and then headed to the hot tub. Wow, was the hot tub ever deserted, only two other couples and two single guys. Once the shock of it being almost empty wore off, it was nice having the hot tub sort of to ourselves.
Day 6 - Tuesday
Another early day, we tried to sleep in since we knew that PJ party was tonight, but we just can't sleep in. So, off to breakfast and a stroll along the beach. After that we spent time snorkeling around the point, we do like to get our morning exercise in before sand gravity hits us in the afternoon! While snorkeling today, we saw a huge starfish and this really huge flat fish that was laying on it's side. More great shots for the scrapbook!
More beach and floating time, the only bad part came when I ran back to the room to get something, and there it was...THE EVECTION NOTICE. That dreaded piece of paper that makes you remember that you do have to go home. We had been so busy and didn't want to wait until the last minute to get our photos taken, so we walked around and took more pictures to remember our time at Hedo. Then off to the room for some serious naptime!
I couldn't sleep so Deb sent me out to sail alone, that was she could get a good nap in. Sailing alone was a fun time!!! Everything worked out really great with the wind. I was able to navigate the craft back and forth across the bay under control and at a reasonable speed. It was such an exhilarating activity. I came back to the room so excited and found Deb was just waking up from a restful nap so everyone was happy.
Lobster night in the dining room. Of course the lobster was great and there was so much of it, definitely our favorite night of feasting. Then onto the battle of the sexes. I was on the guy's team so Deb took pictures and she was used to win points on several occasions; we both had a great time. On this trip, the guys won!
Finally...PJ nite! Deb and I had been looking forward to this night for since last year. You see, last year Deb won second place in the Sexiest PJ category, so this year she was "determined" to win first place. She had on a very sexy outfit for this night; it covered very little and was nice and tight. She even had my head turning. While my outfit didn't turn heads it was made in the spirit of the season. I had sewn Christmas tree decorations and balls to my naughty boxers and had made tinsel suspenders with a big red foil bow tie and a Santa hat. I guess something worked because Deb won first place for the sexiest PJ's and I won second place for the funkiest outfit. A fun time was had by all. It is just too bad that the music in the disco almost destroyed the party. The staff and maybe 6 of the guests enjoyed the music. It was too techno, too loud and not fun stuff to dance to. It would be nice if the DJ would play music more appropriate to the crowd. Last year on PJ night they were playing oldies and some disco stuff, that music had the place dancing and having a good time. This year everyone was sitting around looking at each other and an empty dance floor.
Day 7 - Wednesday - Time to go home!
Even though we got to bed about 2am, once again we were up early...6:45am, so we never did sleep in later than 7:15 the whole trip, oh well, maybe next year. But, it was time to pack and get organized before they came for our bags at 9:00am.
Kept things a bit mellower today, just hung around the pool and hot tub and tried to think of ways to not have to go home. We found out that the resort was down to 80 people and many were leaving today. Of course the only time one really worries about the temperature back home is when you have to go back to it. We found out it was -2 degrees back home, that didn't help us feel motivated to leave.
We had lunch in the dining room, assuming that we could go without the hot tub and pool again. But right after lunch we had to head back down for one final drink and to say good bye to other people we had met since the group had left.
1:45pm arrived and it was time take that long walk back up to the lobby. It funny how that the walk down to the hot tub area doesn't seem as long and sad as the walk back up to the lobby for departure. One last look around and then off to the airport.
The few comments I have about the rest of the trip are that it seemed like we saw most of the people from Hedo at the airport. It seems that occupancy was really going down that night. I know that things were so slow over at Lido that they sent 5 couples over to Hedo and rumor has it that Hedo III was so slow they were busing the handful of them over to Hedo II. It's sort of funny that even when things are slow, Hedo is still the place to be.
While waiting at the airport, power was lost for about 20 seconds....sort of interesting to see the airport dark, but just as I was thanking my lucky stars that they might have to keep us over one more night, the power came back on.
The flight back was so empty that everyone was boarded and accounted for by 5:50 for a 6:15 flight, so they took off at 5:55pm, a whole 20 minutes early...definitely not running on Jamaica time! The flight home was uneventful and several hours later we landed and where back in the wind and cold of a Chicago winter night. Only 51 more weeks to go until we go back :)!!!
GENERAL COMMENTS:
The weather was great. The temperature was usually in the middle to upper 80's during the day and low 70's at night. Although it was cloudy a lot, it only rained once and that was for about 30 minutes. The clouds were actually a blessing as it allowed us enough sun to get good tans, but not enough to burn.
While you can see signs of aging, the property seemed to be in great shape. The staff is still meticulous at keeping the grounds clean and in shape. In fact, our last night there we heard large dump trucks on the beach, we looked out and they were dumping fresh sand. The next morning huge piles of sand were all over the beach. As the staff worked the sand out onto the beach we realized it was the nice and soft sand, just like Sandal's beach...there must be a big hole somewhere over at Sandal's right now...LOL!!!.
Our room was in great shape, nothing missing, nothing broken and we even figured out how to run the new AC. It took a couple of nights but we got the hang of the setting so we didn't freeze ourselves out.
Even though we ate down at the grill many times, Deb had her french fry cravings about every hour or so, the few times we did make it to the dining room, we found the food was better this year than last, especially the chocolate desserts.
The staff all over the resort was nice, professional and helpful when necessary.
While Mark was great as usual, the rest of the coordinators seemed a bit lost and lacking energy this year. During the last part of the stay we never even saw a coordinator come down for any of the scheduled activities on the nude side. This disappointed us, as we were all set to play naked twister and naked volleyball.
As mentioned earlier in the report, something needs to be done about the music in the Disco...most people go there to have fun, not to be cool....so play some fun music that normal people can dance to, not this stuff that most people can't and don't dance to.
During the last part of our stay we saw a few very disappointed single guys. Due to the low occupancy there were very few people for them to meet, and since the coordinators weren't having the scheduled activities there was less interaction. That was fine for the couples, as it was sort of romantic to have the place slow and almost to ourselves. But most singles look for a place to be a bit more active so they can have the opportunity to interact with others. Should single guys go to Hedo...yes! Will they have fun at Hedo...yes!!! But this time of year is a bit slower and all activities reflect that.