Yvette and Jesus
May
22-29, 2001
I think the most organized way to write this trip report is a short
description of our daily events pointing out things that made our first trip
to Hedo unforgettable. I agree that sometimes trip reports get too
personal
and lengthy, so if you just want tips, scroll to the end.
Days
leading up to our trip:
January 2001 through May 2001: We met Chad and Rita online and met them
up
for dinner to chat about Hedo and what it was all about. Became friends
and
booked for the same week of May 22-29, 2001. Posted on DennyP, Hedo-Online
and Mikey's site. Met tons of people before our trip. Became part of
Jamaica
Jim's Annual Vernal Reunion. Ultimately the best thing we could have done
for our trip.
Our
trip:
May 22, 2001: We flew American Airlines and had a very good flight!
It took
us 37 minutes to get to Miami from Tampa. We waited for about a half an
hour
for our next flight which lasted and hour and a half. The second leg was
even better as we were given an early lunch and had televisions on our plane
where we saw "Everybody Loves Raymond." Thank God because I hate
flying! A
good sign was when I turned the station to hear the song "Everything I Do,
I
Do It For you" by Bryan Adams, which was from our first date exactly 10
years
ago this day!
We got to the airport and within 15 minutes were at the Superclubs desk.
We
met Shaughn and Melanie at the airport and rode with them, another couple,
and Benny and Dominick, a couple of the nicest non-vinnys at Hedo. The bus
ride was bumpy, but fine. It was nice to see the towns and the school kids
walking home. It took a good 2 hours and we didn't make any stops. I
have
to admit, I was pretty car sick by the end.
When we arrived at Hedo, we filled out some easy paperwork and, no lie, 15
minutes later we were walking to our room. We were upgraded from nude
garden
to nude ocean view. Our room was 2122 and it was right behind the
volleyball
net. I loved it!
We left our stuff in the room and walked toward the beach. Luckily, we saw
Shaughn and Melanie already in the nude pool, so we left our suits on a beach
chair, and walked naked, for the first time ever, in public, to the pool.
That's all it took! Not even 10 minutes later Amy walked over to us and
asked, "Aren't you guys Yvette and Jesus from Mikey's site?"
With her were
Mike, Alan and Jackie, Tom and Patty, Chris and Jamie and Paige and Steve.
We suddenly were part of a big group. We hung out in the pool all
day until
dinner time. We had dinner in the main dining room, during "Battle of
the
Sexes." It was also PJ night, but we crashed early.
May 23, 2001: Our 3 year wedding anniversary. This day we
notice a group of
about 100 angry people who had been bumped. They were overbooked by about
75
rooms and an entire tour was split into 3 other resorts. They all were
allowed daily access to Hedo. We basically hung out at the pool all day and
waited for Chad and Rita to arrive. We were on our way back to our room
when
we saw them coming. It was a little awkward as we all were completely
naked
in front of each other for the first time since we met. But that wore off
in
2 minutes. That day I discovered Robert's famous fries, my main meal
throughout the rest of our trip. That night we had reservations at
Pastafari
joined by Shaughn and Melanie, Chad and Rita and Tom and Patty. We crashed
again early that night.
May 24, 2001: Toga Night The day started as did all the other
ones,
breakfast in the main dining room, a little ping pong, hanging out in the
pool, eating fries. We went snorkeling and surprised the Sandals people when
half of our boat stripped before getting into the ocean. We also met Ross and
Debby that day. There was the traditional 4 pm volleyball game, in which we
were given a nice show from one of the upstairs windows. Then we all went
back to our rooms to shower and everyone met in our room to get our togas
set. The guys were easy...two minutes each. The girls took much
longer,
especially me, but once we were settled it was really fun. Melanie won
most
revealing toga. Then we went back to the beach for a night time toga
volleyball game. Again, we crashed earlier than the rest.
May 25, 2001: Friday is somewhat of a blur to me as I can't
remember much of
that day. I do remember walking to the hot tub during a show in the
afternoon, eating jerk chicken and having dinner with Shaughn, Melanie, Chad
and Rita at Pastafari. This was the day that some of our friends were
leaving and we spent most the day saying our good-byes to them.
May 26, 2001: This was Shaughn and Mel's last day and we all hung
out in the
pool until noon or so when they had to leave. That day we participated in
a
group body painting activity. There were 8 girls that spelled out
"Happy
31st Birthday Michael." Jesus had a great time painting the women. He
particularly enjoyed watching the girls wash off our paints in the showers by
the pool. After the evening volleyball game, a few of us stayed out by the
beach for a while. Later on we headed to the hot tub. An afternoon
rainstorm hit and most people found shelter. Our group stayed and I guess
one thing led to another and there was another hot tub party. Afterwards
we
all went to dinner in the main dining room, joined a dance contest, hung out
in the piano bar, and Jesus convinced the luggage cart driver to give our
group of 16 a ride (all at the same time) to the dining room. Tommy and
Elissa showed up that night. We went back to the hot tub afterward, but
didn't stay long enough to see a lot more action.
May 27, 2001: The day started out as great as the one before. Rita,
Debby,
Beth and I made a tower of women for butt shots. That afternoon some of us
went on the small catamaran and sailed for about an hour. I believe this was
the day that we planted Rita and Mary at the prude beach while at least 10 of
us ran chanting "we want women" and kidnapped them. Very funny!
Also, due
to the overbooking and bumping the pool was packed all day with people using
their day passes. They didn't have a room to go to, so they had to stay in
the pool all day. It was very crowded! That night we had a big group
dinner
at Scotch Bonnet, which ended kind of badly, but that is a whole other story.
Jeff, Lynne, Ross and Debby....we wish that you guys could have joined us
that night. Then we went to the hot tub, which was pretty dead. Most
of our
friends headed to the disco, but we went back to our room.
May 28, 2001: The last day of our trip was really the pits.
We woke up
late, were dead all day, and had to leave the resort at 3 a.m. to catch our 7
a.m. flight! I believe this was the day of the wet T-shirt contest.
Jenny
did great and came in 3rd, but we all knew she deserved 1st place! During
the day we heard the story of "Cheekco the Aquatic Chicken."
That night we
saw Debby and Alan sing duets in the piano bar. Our wonderful friends not
only put up with our sobriety, our exhaustion, and our last night depression,
but also stayed up with us until our bags were picked up. We sent them all
to bed and Chad and Rita waited with us until our bus showed up.
Bus ride home back: THE WORST! The streets were even worse
than in the
first day. We had gotten no sleep and had 2 hours of terrible road
conditions. I wanted to die. We finally got to the airport at 5 a.m.
We
didn't sleep until 7 that night! It took us 3 days to recover!
Things
to point out:
~~Do not book flights leaving Jamaica two hours or less after sunrise. You
have to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight and TimAir is not an
option until sunrise.
~~Phonecalls are relatively inexpensive. About $1.55 per minute.
Calling
card calls cost $3 for connection, even if there is no answer. Just pick up
the phone, dial 0 for the front desk, and they will connect you.
~~Make friends before you go. You will definitely enjoy your trip so much
more that way.
~~Go with an open mind. You will see things you never thought you would,
and
you will probably enjoy things you never thought you would.
~~Bring a watch that you can attach to your mug. It is hard to know how
fast
time flies when you are in the pool all day. especially when you have dinner
reservations.
~~Beach towels are hard to find, so once you get them, guard them with your
life.
~~Take the day after you get home from Hedo off of work. You really need
this time to recover!
Vinnys:
Yes, we did see vinnys on our trip. NOT ALL single men are vinnys, and we
met and hung out with quite a few non-vinnys (Alan, Patrick, Dominic,
Benny.....) However, you have to be completely oblivious not to notice how
many vinnys there were. There was one touching himself in the shallow pool
one day as he stared into the grotto at a couple getting it on. Another
vinny took a guy's friendliness as a "go" to lick his girlfriend's
nipple.
Good thing the boyfriend was calm and just walked away. My opinion
is this:
Just like everyone has the right to go to Hedo, couples have the right to
choose only to hang out with other couples if that is what makes them feel
comfortable. It does not mean that they are snubbing single men. Guarantees
of friendships are not handed out with your room key.
Food:
Personally, I didn't really enjoy the food. I mainly dined on fries and
grilled cheese sandwiches from the nude grill. They only serve Pepsi, so if
you like Coke, you have to buy it at the gift shop. The desserts, in my
opinion, were not good.
Main Dining Room: Buffet style, you are sure to find at least one
thing you
like.
Pastafari: Not bad. Feel free to order another entree if you don't like
your
dish.
Scotch Bonnet: Pretty good, a little slow, take bug spray, and be
wary of
topics of conversation (inside joke).
Prude grill: We had a terrible experience, the cook was rude, the food
was
bad.
Nude grill: Awesome! How could one guy's fries taste better than another?
Just ask Robert.
Room:
Our
room was fine, shower pressure was good, water temperature fluctuated a
little, not bad though. Some people complained of insects, we didn't have
any. I do wish the rooms had TVs, though. Sometimes you get so wound
up, it
is hard to fall asleep. We didn't get towels until late sometimes, but if you
called housekeeping they came right away. We didn't get sheets for toga
night, but again we called and they brought them. No complaints!
Don't
Bring...:
Save luggage space and don't bring
~~beach towels
~~rafts
~~blow dryer
~~iron
~~a video camera
Do
Bring...:
~~an insulated mug
~~a watch
~~medications you might need
~~nail polish to paint a rock
~~sunglasses
~~a hat
~~insect repellent
What
Would I Do Different?
~~Not bring so many shoes and underwear
~~Take more pictures
~~Take power naps and stay up later
~~Give the volleyball teams the window show they begged for ;-)
~~Use the "down time" to go sailing/kayaking/napping
~~Not book such an early flight home
~~Stay only 5 nights and go back twice a year
~~Try not to miss the baby so much and bore everyone to death with it!
Finally...
I want to thank the following people for making my trip so memorable:
Shaughn and Melanie~~Chad and Rita~~Tommy and Elissa~~Tom and Patty~~Jeff and
Lynne~~Kenneth and Beth~~Chris and Jamie~~Mike and Amy~~Steve and Paige~~Alan
and Jackie~~Krystal and Clay~~Jamie and Jeanie~~Sean and Mary~~Ross and
Debby~~Ray and Jenny~~Chris and Isa~~Mikey and Judy~~Joe and
Diane~~Don and Becky~~Simon and Lisa~~Mike and Teresa~~Alan from
Allentown~~Dominick~~Benny~~Patrick~~and last but not least, Cheekco