Hedo III – Trip Report
9/9/01 –
9/16/01
JWST
This
was our second trip to Hedo III and our forth trip to Jamaica.
Last year (Read
'00 Trip Report) I stated that our trip to Hedo was the best vacation we
ever had, I was wrong. This year
we had more fun, met more friends and got involved with so much more.
Two things contributed to this. First,
we were not virgins anymore. We
knew the lay of the land and what to expect, even some of the bartenders and
EC’s remembered us and made us feel like we were at home.
Secondly, we met the most wonderful people, before
we even got there! Big Hedo Hugs
for all the members of the JWST (Jamaican Waterslide Team) and to Denny for
this awesome site that he runs! (Without Denny the JWST would have never
existed) We owe all of you our gratitude for the most memorable and
awesome vacation we have ever had!!!!
For
this years trip report I was planning on doing it in a diary style.
I even brought a little notebook to keep a daily journal…needless to
say that little notebook never made it out of my carry on and all I am left
with is the memories in my head…and what memories they are!
So I will do my best to piece together the week as best I can, and
hopefully along the way I can provide a little insight on what Hedo III is all
about. I tend to ramble, so most
likely this is going to be a long one. So
grab a Red Stripe or a Hummingbird, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Groundhog Day
– A typical day at Hedo III: One
of my favorite movies is Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day.
For those of you not familiar with it, the basic premise is of a man
who awakes to the same day…everyday. In
our case…that same day was paradise!
1.
Wake up. (Good time for some extra curricular activity)
2.
Administer some sort of pain reliever. (BC
Headache Powders are the BEST!)
3.
Head down for breakfast. (If after 11:00am make that lunch)
4.
Cruise on over to the Nude Pool; float, lay, sit at the bar, play games, get
involved, meet people and drink to your hearts content till around
4:00-6:00pm.
5.
Grab a little snack at the Scotch Bonnet and watch the sunset.
6.
Return to room and take a siesta (Another good time for some extra curricular
activity).
7.
Awake; take a shower and dress for dinner.
8.
Eat dinner late (8:00-9:30) with some of your newfound friends; drink lots of
wine, tell lies, solve the world’s problems and get to know your tablemates.
9.
Head back up to the room to dress for whatever theme is going on that night
(Again another good time for some extra curricular activity)
10.
Party your ass of at the disco, dance and sing to songs you never heard before
and to ones you have.
11.
Return to the Nude Pool, relax in the tub, watch the sites…or be the site
that is watched.
12.
Stumble to the room, if you have the energy…well, you know!
13.
Repeat until you get that little note under the door telling you that you must
leave tomorrow!
Yes
there are more things to do at Hedo and we did do more.
But if there is a schedule we lived by…this was it.
Now that you have our daily schedule, here is a little more about our
trip.
Sunday:
Our flight out of Raleigh-Durham on Delta was
uneventful and on time, as was our flight from Atlanta to MoBay on Air
Jamaica. Bo and Teena (JWST
Members) were on our flight and we got to meet them for the first time and
talk to them a little on the way. We
arrived at MoBay Airport at 10:40am and we were thru customs and at the Super
Clubs counter by 11:00. Bought a
couple of Red Stripes, (Red Stripe Light BTW) got offered some smoke around 5
times (personal record, was even followed into the bathroom and was asked if I
was sure I did not want any!) and was finally on the bus and on our way around
11:20. Of course we made the stop
25 minutes out of the airport, bought a couple of more Red Stripes (best ones
I had all week, $2.50 a pop, but ice cold…almost a slushy) hit the head,
smoked a butt and finally we hit the road again.
We had some Breezes people on the bus so we had to dump them off first.
As they de-bused I told them I was sorry for their luck and to have a
good time in spite of their location. Finally
we arrived at Hedo III right before 1:00.
Even though we were in the back of the bus, somehow we ended up first
in line at the reception desk…and what do you know, our room was ready!
Martin the Bellhop loaded up our bags and we were off. We always book “run of the house” because we really do
not care about where our room is located.
Rooms at Hedo are good for four things:
A place to keep all of the crap that you brought, a place to change and
bathe, a place to get a little shut eye, and finally a place for some private
nookie time. Even though I was hoping to maybe get something in the 600 or 700
building, we really did not care we ended up in 100. Our room was on the third floor right on the corner, room
131. I guess the only neat thing
about the room was it had a view of the quad pool and the prude beach.
Walking three flights of stairs many times everyday was kind of a pain
but kept us in shape. They still have not fixed the “Clown Mirrors” that are on
the ceiling, but if you lay in the right configuration you can really accent
certain parts of the body!! Room
was clean and well kept and everything seemed to work. We were missing a CD player but we did not care and we
battled these tiny tiny little ants all week, but with the exception of being
directly across from the construction site of the new gift/duty free shop the
room was great. I really do not
think there is a bad room at III. After
unpacking our master plan was to change into some swim gear, visit the quad
bar and the main bar in search of some of the bartenders we met last year.
Then get something to eat at Scotch Bonnet and finally head over to the
nude pool to meet all of our new friends…the Jamaican WaterSlide Team.
(Quickie Note: Again thanks to Denny for this web site and the visitors
list. Without it the JWST would
not exist to what it became last week. A
few members were left over from last year and took over the challenge to add
new members to the group. I got
my first e-mail back in June inviting Jenny and I to the team.
The whole reason we posted our trip dates was to meet people before
hand...and that we did. By the time we left early September we had over 45 members.
We traded over 1100 e-mails and had set up our own web site and Yahoo!
Club page. We traded pictures,
had chats, came up with a logo for shirts and temporary tattoos, made door
cards and ID necklaces and really got to know each other before we got there.
Anyway…the JWST took over the resort.
Our temporary tattoos were seen everywhere and the staff members ALL
wanted one also. So if you go in
the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for the JWST tats, they are all over
the place. IF
YOU DO ANYTHING in preparing for your trip…use Denny’s list and meet
people before you go…you won’t regret it!
Special thanks to Bill and Phil! Without
these two guys there would have not been a JWST!!)
After
our drink at the Quad bar (and a few shots thanks to Kevin) we headed to the
main bar to see Gregory and have another drink. Just as we were about to go to the Scotch Bonnet for lunch a
group of JWST members saw us, and it was hugs all around.
We all went over to the Nude Pool and it was like a family reunion.
People kept coming out of the pool and hugging us and welcoming us like
we were long lost friends. Totally
Cool! After hugging what seemed
like 100 people we finally got our clothes off, jumped in the pool and went to
the bar to get a drink. I went
over to a corner of the pool, reflected on what just happened, looked at the
Caribbean Sea, and just smiled! We
spent the entire afternoon meeting new friends and drinking Purple Rains by
the bucket…man did it feel great to be back!
Our new friends Mark and Becky invited us to join them at Pastafari for
dinner, so around dusk we headed to the room to get ready for the nights
activities. Pastafari was just
like I remember it, but better. The
food seemed better as did the service. Last
year it seemed like we had to beg to keep our wine glasses full, this year,
they just left the bottle. Jen
and I feel Pastafari is this best place to eat at Hedo III, do not miss it
when you are there. This night
was the JWST mesh and glow party so after dinner we went to the room to get
ready. Phil (official JWST
tattooist and party coordinator) was nice enough to paint on Jenny’s shirt
for her in some glowing latex. I
was not that original and just attached a bunch of glow sticks to my body. The party was a lot of fun as we got to meet most everyone
from the group. The JWST were
basically the only ones in the disco, and those that we did not scare off
partied down with us. By this
time things are getting real fuzzy, I do know we hit the hot tub at some point
in time. If I remember right I
got in a fight with a blowup raft as Jen and I made our way to the grotto for
some “personal time”. Around
3am after being up for 24 hours straight, we somehow found our room and
collapsed for the night. What a
first day!
Monday:
(Alright, I know what your saying, “Damn, how long
is this trip report going to be? We’re
just on Monday!!!!” Don’t
worry, Sunday was really the only day I remember completely, the rest of the
week will be less winded!) We
woke up late and finally made it over to the Scotch Bonnet around 22 hours
from when we originally wanted. The
SB has truly great Jamaican Jerk food. Nola
runs the place now, that girl’s smile could light up a room. She remembered us from last year and ran up to give us a
great big hug. Second best to the
food, is the view. Everyday
around dusk the sunsets are awesome. If you can, remember go on Wednesday, as
that is when some of the bigger cruise ships are heading out to sea from Ocho
Rios. You can’t go wrong with
the menu, from Jerk Pork, Jerk Chicken, Salt Fish Creole to the Cheeseburgers
w/ fries…it’s all good! Spent
the afternoon, but where else but around the Nude Pool drinking more Purple
Rains (damn was my tongue purple!) and getting to know everyone better.
After a long afternoon nap we met Mark and Becky and Ray and Ann for
dinner at Munahana. Again,
Munahana seemed better this year that last.
Sushi seemed better as did the teppan-grilled food.
The best part had to be our chef though.
If you go and he is still around ask for Nash.
Not only does he work his tail off cooking the food, he’ll make you
laugh all through dinner. Imagine
a Jamaican Chris Rock in a Japanese chef uniform…too cool!
As we were still recovering from our first day, we hit the room early
to get a good nights sleep!
Tuesday:
Got up early (9:00) and decided to go eat breakfast.
Was looking forward to an omelet since I enjoyed them so much last
year. So we are standing in line
and I see Bill (JWST Grand Pooba). This
is one of those moments that you never forget until you die; as Bill was the
one who informed us of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. So thirty years from now when someone asks me where I was
when I heard…I was in line at the omelet bar at Hedo III in Jamaica.
We spent the next four hours glued to the big screen TV in the
entertainment center. I don’t
want to go into how I felt and how I feel now about it as I could ramble
forever, but I will say it was very surreal being in Jamaica and watching what
was going on. We could not call
out to the US, the Internet kiosks were not working; we were completely shut
off from the world. Tuesday was a
justifiably quiet day around the grounds at Hedo III.
The pools were empty, the place was empty…I do not think people knew
how to react…we were all just in shock, like the rest of the world.
JWST members Bo and Teena were scheduled to be married at 2:00pm.
We were all invited to the ceremony and they had asked me to do the
video. Before the ceremony, as a
group we all decided to put the day’s events behind us the best we could and
help Bo and Teena have a great wedding. That
wedding was the best thing that could of happened to all of us as it gave us a
much-needed distraction to what was going on!
They had a beautiful ceremony and we were honored to be apart of it.
The staff did an excellent job and everything went off without a hitch.
I think I even did a pretty decent job with the vid camera!
Spent the rest of the day in the pool trying to forget what was going
on and at the same time trying to get updates.
Blew off the Manager’s Party as we were having way too much fun with
Ray and Ann and Ann-Marie at the Nude Pool bar.
Went almost straight to dinner from the pool as we had a special
section of tables in the Main Dinning Room for the JWST at 8:00.
Not real impressed with the food at the main dinning room, it’s good
and plentiful, but not as good as the other restaurants at the resort. Did not eat a whole lot, headed to the room for a quick
catnap and to get ready for PJ night! My
guess is that by 11:00 that night everyone had a little steam to release, as
the PJ party totally rocked. The
place was completely packed and everyone was ready to go!!! Outfits were awesome, from totally tame to totally wild.
I went as a pimp and Jen went as my ho!
JWST members took 1st place in 4 of the 6 categories
including Jen taking 1st place for SEXIEST PJ…woo hoo…you go
girl. Everyone loved the hat that
I wore and I ended up giving it to Romeo.
For those who asked and for those who might want one, I got it at www.pimphats.com.
Tell em Jeff sent ya…I’ll get $5 if you do!
Again things seem to get fuzzy around this time.
Pretty sure we went to the hot tub and maybe this was the night I
fought the blowup raft...I don’t know!
Hit the sack at some point in time; think we found the room without
assistance!
Wednesday:
Up late again, missed breakfast again.
Off to SB for some lunch and then spend the day at the Nude Pool.
Today’s going to be an off day.
People’s sprits seem a little better, but some are worried when they
are going to be able to leave. Wild
rumors are running through the resort from planes won’t be flying for a
least another week to Hedo III management charging $850 per night or you need
to find another place to stay. Played
some games around the pool and just kinda chilled. Phil and I tried to get a
WaterSlide run together with a bunch of people, but nobody seemed into it.
About 10 of us half-assed it over around 3:00 and gave some prudes
something to look at. Hit the
room early for a nap and went to dinner early for the Circus Show/Beach Party.
The Beach Party is really a treat as they set all of the dining room
tables and buffet line out on the prude beach (HEY!
I finally went on the prude beach!)
While you eat you are entertained with a very good Jamaican Steel Drum
band followed by some circus acts.
The food was exceptionally good this night as I had some peal-your-own
shrimp (heads still attached) and some really good grilled steak!
I even had some curried goat that was pretty damn good.
This is one event you do not want to miss. Headed back to the room to relax a little and get ready for
Bare as you Dare! Again,
Jen had the cool shit (very sexy see thru green dress thingy) and original me
just thru a pair of boxers on and a wife-beater (Hey, PJ night was last night)
Anyway as I said this was an off day and was not in a party mood, plan was
just to go down to the disco for an hour or so then hit the hay!
Disco was about half empty as I’m sure just like us people were still
feeling the effects from the night before.
At some point in time I think they ran out of cranberry juice because
GG was making my Absolut Crans that looked surprisingly clear, which was
starting to make me feel a little better.
Hey look, it’s Mike, our last JWST member to arrive at the resort!
At some point in time either I said “Hey Mike, wanna do a shot” or
Mike said “Hey Jeff, wanna do a shot”, either way Mike and I started doing
shots like there was no tomorrow. My
last memory of the night was down in the nude pool and someone had brought
this really cool bottle of lube that did not dissipate in water.
I was so intrigued that I applied some on myself (yea, there) and was
offering anyone who would want too, to check out how slippery this stuff was…Oh
Lord! I got back to the room
around 3:30 or so I’m told, it is still up in the air as if I came home
under my own power or was given a little help with the relocation from the
pool to the room.
Thursday
(Afternoon): Oh
my aching ass…will someone PLEASE take the anvil off my head and turn the
sun off! Looked at the clock and
it said 12:15…that’s bad, slept the whole morning away.
Hey, why is the clock blinking, let’s look at the watch…3:45
– Holy Shit! Jen’s
nowhere to be found so I drag my ragged ass up in search for the wife.
Hey there is my key, why’s it broken in half?
You know it is a bad day when you walk down to the nude pool and 20+
people all turn around and give you a standing ovation when you enter.
Hey, it’s my buddy Mike! Mike
says, “Damn Jeff, do you know how many Tequila shots we did last night??
I reply with a simple, “No, but I guess by the way I feel and the way
you look it was a lot!” Ann-Marie whipped me up a Dirty Banana, which made me feel
somewhat better, but what I needed was some grub. Jen came over gave me a kiss, petted my head and escorted me
the SB. Cheeseburgers and fries
never tasted so good. After lunch
I was still not ready for the world, so back to the room for the afternoon
nap. Awoke around 7:OO and felt
pretty human again. Met our usual
partners for dinner at Pastafari, I swear the place gets better every time I
go! Thursday is Toga Night so off
to the room to get ready. You can
wear your toga to dinner, but we had been told it was preferred that they not
be worn in the two restaurants. Last
year I spent way too much time trying to tie my toga and after an hour or so
it still looked like crap. This
year took five minutes, and while I was not Julius Caesar; I did not look half
bad. Of course the wife looked
awesome as always with a nice black sheer number that was split almost
completely up the front. No fair
though as she cheated and wore some panties!
On that note, if you wear panties and get in one of the contests, they
do check and will either make you remove them or cut them off!
The really cool thing on this evening was that Crazy Sean got us all
together, togas and all, and we held hands and had a moment of silence for the
victims and families of the previous days tragedies…again totally cool!
In theory toga night sounds better than it really is.
I think they should move it to the Disco and treat it more like PJ
night. By this time I had enough for the day and so had Jen, so we turned in
early. Next year no mas tequila!
(Note: Rumors are
floating around and I can’t even get a straight answer from my wife.
Chuck, if you did stick a rubber duck up my ass and took a picture of
me on Wednesday night…please be discrete.
I would not want to end up on www.hairyredneckass.com
or www.stupiddrunk.com)
Friday:
After getting 87 hours of sleep the day before I was
up early and Jen and I were ready to take on the day. Actually got some breakfast and was over at the Nude Pool way
before anyone else…which enabled us to get some choice deck chairs.
Before the days festivities we decided to head over to lobby and find
out what was really going on. There
were people at the resort who had been scheduled to leave, but were still
around. With only two days left,
we needed to get some information. The
nice lady at the desk informed us that we probably would not leave until next
Wednesday at the earliest…WOW! Now
do not get me wrong, if you are going to be stuck somewhere, Hedo III is a
pretty damn cool place to be stuck. But,
when you are in a foreign country and all hell is breaking loose back in the
US, and YOU CANT get home, all you want to do is get home.
But, what are we to do. We
headed to the room and called our families to let them know we not coming home
on time. Everything was fine at home, my dad told me not to worry
about things and just to enjoy myself. OK,
I can do that! So Friday here we
come, and what a day it was. Romeo
came around the pool and SOMEHOW talked Jen into getting into the afternoon
Wet T-Shirt contest. Now Jen can
party with the best, but she is not the biggest extrovert in the world.
I was real proud that she signed up for it so I was recruiting everyone
to come watch and give some support. Long
story short, with the help of a few shots back stage (the girl learned nothing
from me), some serious bootie shaking and a inspiring chocolate covered loved
romp on stage with a fellow JWST member, Jenny kicked some butt and took home
1st place!!! All of us
back in the pool now we all started talking WaterSlide run, but first we need
a group drink from the JWSTurtle to get us in the mood.
Our JWST mixologist filled the turtle to the brim and we all took turns
sucking the potent liquid. Someone
passed me a straw that resembled a penis, could not bring myself to suck on it
so I passed it on and opted for the old fashioned plastic kind. So now we are ready and a good 30-40 us took the long walk
back over to the prude side and hit the slide with vengeance.
Up and down up and down…the prudes did not know what to do with
themselves. WaterSlide conquered,
lets take the Quad! Oh the site of many many nekkid bodies flying into the quad
pool with just as many clothed retreating…we rule!
JWSTurtle one again was filled to the brim and it was drinks around!
Even the clothed hangers-on shared in the fun as two of our lovely
ladies paraded the almighty turtle around the quad to share its contents.
Exhausted by the days events we headed to the room for a much needed
but short nap. Ready and dressed
for dinner we again met with the usual dinner partners for another evening at
Munahana. Same as the other day
as all food was great and Nash did his best to entertain throughout!
Back to the room to get ready for Masquerade night, wondering if this
day will ever end! Once again
Phil does some great body and face painting as Jen hits the disco decked out
in a camo mini with matching painted top…hot!
Me once again with nothing to wear pulled out my nicest cut-off 501’s
and sleeveless NWO t-shirt. Threw
on my Earnhardt hat on backwards and to top it off added some red Mardi Gras
Beads…I obviously need some help in packing for the theme nights.
Night was fun in the disco and danced my ass of with Foxy and Tina
Turner…that was quite amazing because I don’t dance.
Sometime later hit the hot tub for just a few minutes before we turned
in for the night.
Saturday:
Sad day because most of our new friends were leaving…I
guess Air Jam had gotten clearance to fly and was starting to move planes in
and out of Mo Bay. To our
surprise we were told that we still had confirmed seats on Sunday’s flight
and would be leaving on time. This
was confirmed later in the day as we received our eviction notice under our
door. Spent the morning saying
good-byes and the afternoon lounging around the pool with who was left.
The resort was quiet and seemed very empty on Saturday as many people
left and only a handful came in. Jenny
opted for the afternoon nap and after she woke we headed to the SB for a snack
and to watch the sunset. Hard to
believe that our week was coming to an end and this would be the last Jamaican
Sunset for another year. Ready
for dinner we met up with the remaining JWST members and had a table for ten
set at Pastafari. This was my
favorite dinner of the week as we relived the week, laughed till it hurt and
just had a great time. Sat around
the main bar for a while after dinner, but we were pretty drained.
Headed to the room, packed our clothes and went to bed early.
Sunday:
Sucks to be us! Got
up in time to have a little breakfast and relax.
Since we were on Air Jam we were able to check our bags at the resort
and get our boarding passes. This
is nice since it gives you an extra hour at the resort.
Our bus did not leave till 2:00, so off with the clothes for a couple
more hours and a couple more drinks in the nude pool.
At 1:30 we got dressed, headed to SB one more time for a quick bite to
eat and reluctantly boarded our bus back to Mo Bay at 2:00 sharp.
Bus ride back was un-eventful and besides the extra security so was the
airport. Flights back were fine,
and when we finally arrived home at around 12:30am…it was good to be there!
Well, that’s our story and we are sticking to it. Hope I did not bore you all too much. Needless to say we had an awesome time!!! We will definitely be back next year, most likely with the JWST in September ‘02. Again thanks to all the many friends we met, you really mean a lot to us and without you our vacation would have not been the same! As for the staff, special thanks to Romeo, Sean, Lacy, Foxy, Tina, GG, Gregory, Ann-Marie, Serena, Nola, David, Kevin and Nash. You are all truly wonderful people and we miss you dearly. See ya next year!!!