Rafe and Laurie 9/29/98 to 10/4/98
To start off with, we had a great time, and hope to be back within a year or so.
The flight down was uneventful, customs was a breeze, and we only waited 20 minutes for our bus. we were first timers. On the bus we met Ray and Karen on their 6th trip. Meeting them made our transition to Hedo a piece of cake. OK, that's Rafe's opinion, Laurie's transition took three or four pieces. Our bus driver was Pierce, who asked if he could have permission to give us a tour on the way to Hedo, and boy did he, every banana, coconut and other tree was pointed out, as well as every school, post office,etc. At least his banter kept us distracted from his driving.
Check in was also uneventful. We were welcomed home by Michael, escorted to the desk, given the key, and he drove us and our luggage to our room which was on the nude ocean side, yet we booked and paid for nude gardenview. We didn't ask any questions!
OK, now for the moment of truth. We were accustomed to sunning naked, but had never done so in public. I wrapped a beach towel around me, Laurie wrapped a sheer pareo around her waist, and after a few false starts, off to the nude pool bar we went. As soon as we rounded the corner, all we saw were nude bodies, on the beach, by the bar, in the pool, walking by us, drinking, laughing, and quite frankly acting perfectly normal. I felt overdressed and dropped the towel, there went my piece of cake, Laurie opted to make for the bar and belly up, still wearing her pareo and looking quite sexy. We were lucky again, 'cause at the bar were Ray and Karen from the bus, so transition to standing at the bar naked and near naked was once again almost a piece of cake. Immediately met Delroy who was personable, but during the week we enjoyed the bartending of Wayne much more. He was significantly more attentive and friendly, and appeared to genuinely enjoy what he was doing. We arrived at the bar around 4pm, and stayed till 6pm or so. I must have moved away from the bar at least three or four times, Laurie stayed put, still trying to figure out how many pieces of cake it would take to reach a comfort level. Back to the room we went to get dressed for dinner, all in all, not a bad start.
I'll summarize for a bit. Off to dinner, we celebrate Laurie's birthday, thanks to the able assistance of Debilee and David who set up the surprise party for her. We met our other internet friends at dinner, Paul and Diana, and then we really started to meet people, and that never ended for the six days we were there.
The buffet was at best OK, so don't come for the food, Pastafari's was better, Veronica's was fun and very well Air Conditioned, so if you needed to cool down, it was a great place to get a cocktail. Entertainment was OK, but not an issue for me. Lunch time spin was entertaining. Now let's get down to the rut we got into, and what a wonderful rut it was.
Up at 7am, on beach by 7:30, coffee and banana bread and fruit on nude beach for breakfast, to hot to sit on beach, so float (bring one or two along) in the Caribbean till clouds moved in, usually between 12:30 and 2:00pm, make a mad dash to nude pool bar before afternoon downpour, drink Dirty Bananas, Yellowbirds and slushes till 5pm, take a very necessary 2 hour nap, dinner at 8pm, hot tub or cool tub at 10pm, back to room at 3am, and start all over the next morning at 7am.Except for the 2 hours between 8pm and 10pm, and the additional time spent at the PJ and Toga parties, the rest of our time was spent naked on the beach, by the pool, at the bar, in the hot or cool tub, and always, and I mean always in the company of some wonderful people, who started out as strangers and who in a few minutes became part of whatever group you were with at the time.
Oh yeah!!, before I forget, 'cause I know you are waiting for the info, it was less than 24 hours after we arrived that Laurie's piece of cake arrived, and she was just one of the regular naked people at Hedo.
A few more specifics. We enjoyed the large Hot tub and the lively conversations with other folks. We enjoyed watching the British/Australian Wally from the film crew who just kept his eyes above hot tub water level and stared at everybody. We just called him the "english guy", and he seemd to appear next to any couple who started to cuddle or kiss or ***. Most of the sex that occurred in the hot or cool tub was discreet, tasteful and romantic. There was one night when a group of 7 or 8 folks, in one of the cloverleaves of the hot tub put on one heck of a show, some folks left, most of us watched the show in amazement. But hey, to each his own, and it was an interesting diversion.
All in all, the hot and cool tubs were romantic, social, and a great way to spend the last few hours of the evening winding down, drinking Redstripe, and meeting more new people.
So, the people that we met that we need to thank: Debilee and David for all the pre-hedo e-mails and for arranging Laurie's surprise party; Diana and Paul, for their pre-hedo e-mails, their great diving stories, and for joining us on our birthdays (yep, I got to celebrate my 52nd at Hedo); Ray and Karen for the bus ride, the first day at the nude pool bar, and for giving me my first ever Cuban cigar for my birthday; Ralph and Beth; Chris and Chris; Gary and Sharon; Patti and Jim; Cindy and Dan; Randy and Alison; Thierry and Christine; Leslie and Madelaine from the Bahamas; and Richard the accountant. And, on the net Kenny, Jessica, Chris and of course Denny for his message board. We thank all of you for the great conversation, laughs and info.
Can't wait to go back home.