Rick & Ivy - August, 2005

First and foremost, thank you for this great site.
 
Well, where to start...trip number 5 just finished and we wanted to get down the highlights of the trip before they became distant memories.
 
AJ out of LAX, still flying, an hour late coming into LAX, about the same getting back to Sangsters, bottom line, we got back and we were still the first flight in.  Cleared immigration and customs with no problem, about 10 minutes total between the 2, gotta love the redeye out of LAX, and we were off to the Superclubs desk.
 
About 30 minute wait for a bus, insert small van here, and we were off to the resort.  Side note, while waiting for the van, two couples came into the center, both going to GLB.  One was ready to go when our van was leaving and they jumped on, ready for this, the other couple had friends coming into the airport in 2 hours and wanted to wait for them at the Superclubs desk.  Is that crazy or what, I mean ok, if they were coming in on the next flight maybe, but can you see waiting around?  I guess that's the difference in Hedo friends and GLB friends, Hedo friends would never ever ask, nor expect you to wait for them, get to the resort and get the party started.  On the road we went with one couple for GLB and us, heading back home to Hedo.
 
We made one stop, no, not for the beer run, we already paid for it in the all inclusive resort trip, but Superclubs had us stop and drop off some paperwork along the way, less than 5 minute stop and we were back on the road.  Dodge a herd of goats waiting to be curried and the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The road, while inside the Superclubs desk we asked about it, the nice lady said that it was coming along and the old 1.5 hour ride was down to an hour.  For the record the road is coming along well, you no longer go thru Falmouth, great stretches of nice smooth riding, the occasional bumpy old parts are still under construction and soon come mon.  By the way, throw in the stop for paperwork and the drop off the party folks for GLB and the 1.5 hour ride is still 1.5 hours.
 
Got to the resort, the room we requested was going to be vacated that day, but the current residents had not checked out, we asked if there were any rooms close, 1 door down, instead of 613 we got 614, life is good.  Wait a few minutes they say and we will have a bellman show you where the room is, ha, we say, have him bring the bags when he gets a chance, we know where we are going, we are home.  Off to the 600, pretty yellow building, right next to the nude pool, we will call home for the next 10 days and 9 nights.
 
Get out of the traveling clothes, into get naked kinda clothes and off to the nude pool we go, right out the back door of our room, life is good. Its about 10 am ish, so all of the lounge chairs have been reserved for the day, we head towards the nude bar and are greeted by our most favorite bartender in the resort, Sarena, who gives us the biggest WELCOME HOME MON, I swear she blew out my eardrums.  A giant hug and what do you want to drink, and we were off to the races.
 
We were in luck, we arrived on 8/4, the resort was celebrating their Emancipation/Independence days/holidays.  Jerk everything for the next 4 days.  A little extra culture lessons thrown in, it was a blast.
 
The rest of the trip is pretty much the usual, met friends, hung out at the nude pool, drank, went to dinner.  Munsan and Pastafari are still cooking up great alternatives to eating in the buffet, don't forget to make your reservations early.  Breakfast is still the best meal to us with omelets made to order and (thanks for the help Paul) french toast.  They did serve lobster on the buffet the last Friday we were there, though we missed it. Lunch was either at the nudie grille or Scotch Bonnet, Reggae Cafe, whatever you want to call it, same food, same people, same great view of the ocean mon. 
 
Lots of theme things to do, PJ night, if ya want in the disco, you are supposed to wear sleepwear to the party, the EC's did say that if you sleep naked, you can come to the disco the same way, how accommodating. 
 
The EC's, mostly new, it actually seemed a bit more tame than the old gang, but fun none the less.  Piano bar, our first night time venture there, it was fun, we might even do it again...lol..
 
The nude pool has gotten some bad reviews lately.  When we arrived, we got in as usual, could not see our feet, who am I kidding, I could not see past my waist and though that is an everyday occurrence, at least when I usually cant see it, it doesn't look like its in a bowl of milk. One day I got a bit itchy when they were adding chemicals to the pool, to the point I thought I had a sunburn.  Got out of the water, took a cold shower and poof, no heat, no burn.  They replaced the pump while we were there, its amazing what the proper equipment can do.  Before we left to come home, the pool was the clearest we have seen it since 2001.  Not only could I see my feet, but there is a drain in the pool that I had managed to walk over on the way to the bar many times in the 4 previous years and never stepped on.
 
One day we actually left the resort, our first time in 5 trips  Went to Margaritaville in Ocho Rios.  Fun, expect to pay US prices to eat there.
 
Bottom line, we love the place, always have and always will.  What makes Hedo, the friends, some new, some old, some we have known for a few short years, but it seems like a lifetime. It is these people, in no particular order, the dolls, K n D, not there in body, but your spirit was not forgotten, old friends, P/C and D/J, recent friends, N/K and B/S, new friends, S/T who shared a little piece of our spot on the island. And to the rest of the great Cocktails crowd, it was great to see you again and meet the newbies.  We look forward to seeing you all again.  Cocktaillians unite, raise your glasses, do not give into DIF.  We are now into our everyday, back to the grindstone mentality, remembering the trip that was and dreaming of the trip that will be.
 
If anyone has any questions, our e-mail is on our profile, feel free to message, please include Hedo in the subject line so we will open it.
 
Wishing we were home,
 
Ivy n Rick
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cocktailsinternational
"Life is to short, party naked"