Note: Please forgive any reference to pictures included in this report – we took them out for this version. J

Our trips to Negril have been frequent over the last few years and we’ve been virtual travel agents to all of our friends, extolling the virtues of Negril, it’s beautiful 7-mile crescent beach, and Hedo. I want to thank Diane and Denny for helping to start all this fun & merriment for us….<we are in your debt for your kindness and generosity.> We have met so many wonderful people and experienced such magic and happiness on our trips. Hedo holds a very special place in our hearts, as does Negril. The friends we have made at Hedo are some of our best & we’re always looking forward to the next trip, new friends, old friends and experiencing the beauty & sunshine of our favorite island. Gush.

This trip was particularly exciting because we were celebrating Leisa’s 30^th birthday. Brent spent untold hours online scheming with us and others on how to hold a birthday surprise party for dear Leisa. We sifted through dozens of ideas for decorations, songs, times and places. It was great fun in the planning and at the party. The trip was also made special because our H3 friends, Jon & Linda were going….an absolute treat seeing those 2 hooligans again (and yes! We got to light the bar on fire with the FBM’s again!). Next trip, we insist that Jon sings! (Chris volunteers to accompany)

No Hedo trip is complete without Brent & Leisa and Mike & Jill….what joy doing beach aerobics with you all. November! Here we come! OK…. Ready…. 1..2..3..4..5..6..7..7..err…..8.9.….10!

Many thanks and smiles to our new friends: R&A (thanks for adding brightness to our trip); our Pinpals friends (what a surprise finding you two in the secret hot tub….big hugs!); and to our EC friend Junior (who posed for many pix with good cheer!)….big up to all of you & see you in November. Countless other friends made this a special trip as well, too many to list, we hope we’ll see you all again & can share more fun in the sun.

Friday 4/5/02. Day Uno….. Hedo’s new amenities.

We were up woefully early & drove to Logan 2+ hours before departure time. Breezed thru security & we’re seated at the gate in 45 min. Time for a catnap. Good flight on Air Jamaica, landing nearly on time in MoBay. A great reunion with our Hedo 3 pals Jon & Linda in the TimAir terminal, then a smooth 6-seater flight along the beautiful NW coast. Linda’s 1^st small plane flight, so she was a tad anxious, but the gorgeous scenery of the lush green hills, turquoise coves & bays dotted with dark blue reefs kept her attention pretty well. We land at the Negril Aerodome – a wonderful little airstrip, filled with friendly people who are willing to help in any way they can. It’s hot and sunny – about 85 degrees, so we decide to walk the 2 blocks to Hedo. Hmm…we find that it’s really 3 or 4 remarkably sweltering blocks.

Check-in is again amazingly fast (for Hedo). We’re in room 2126 - with a nice view of the shuffleboard court, and the water taxi staging area. Ahh…. The beach & water look wonderful, so we’re off to see our friends Jill & Mike, who’ve staked out our usual beach spots under the palm trees. This is living indeed!

We spent most of that evening wandering around seeing all the new pools & other additions. The renovations are superb - much nicer than we expected. The facilities here now easily rival those at Hedo3.

There are three pools in the beautiful new spa building. With a nice little waterfall. All of the (6) new pools had nice features like this, including fountains & colored lights. Wonderful design of the whole area. This far surpassed our expectations for the new additions to the property.

There are 3 new plunge pools near the main pool, with small sunning/sitting platforms in the background, several small fountains on the right side, and a small waterfall in the center. These pools were very pretty at night - lit underwater with changing colors. They were virtually unused & sparkling clear. Very nice - refreshing for a dip in the afternoon.

The 3^rd new plunge pool and the end of the 3 story-high water slide. There is glass in the background is the greenhouse wall of the disco - great fun to splash as you zip off the slide.

There are now 2 "secret hot tubs"… 1 on the nude side near the spa building, and one on the prude side between the blocks of rooms. Each of these tubs fit 4 comfortably. These were a delightful surprise - another nice addition to the facilities that we didn’t expect. This tub pictured was especially surprising since Liz first discovered it when 2 other guests were (ahem…) "enjoying themselves" in the bubbly brine (friends from a past trip!). Not to worry - better living thru chemistry & these tubs too were clear & clean each day. Instruction manuals are not provided, and it took perhaps 15 min of playing with buttons in the dark to finally get the hang of controlling the many jets, lights & bubblers. Ahh, the difficulties of vacation!

There is a brand new prude beach pool – with swim up bar on the far right. Like the other new pools, it was sparkling – and underutilized. Also like the others, this one is graced with several nice fountains. A very nice addition. Note that the pool bar didn’t see much business, so it’s a good place to go for drink runs when some down time is in order.

Saturday. Day two…. Jill’s Socca Queen night (Dancing Queen!)

Another flawless day - sunny & mid 80s. We chow an immense breakfast, including delicious carved roast ham served by Suzeth. We’re glad to see that she’s still working amidst all the layoffs. She has such a nice smile, and an unassuming, shy manner. We’re also delighted to see Richard - the tall grizzled cook, who strides out to hug Liz & shmoozes energetically with us… and other repeat guests. After eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, fruit, plantains, etc… etc… we’re stuffed & ready for the beach. Chris is off for the first dive of the vacation, and Liz holds down the beach - warming up her water aerobics skills. Robert’s grilled sandwiches are excellent as usual. We bake in the sun & soak in the gorgeous views of the Negril beach.

Jon has a now-familiar "lost key incident"… somewhat similar to Mike & Tree last time. Coincidence? Perhaps… Happily, it’s found (just after Jon calls it in as lost) … no harm done. We head off to dinner & watch Jill dominate the Socca dance contest. She’s 1 of 3 finalists. They prepare to do a dance-off. Jill huddles the other 2 girls. They begin - writhing together in a suggestive 3-person group. The crowd goes wild - cheering & howling. The entertainment coordinators know a good thing when they have it…. They work the crowd a bit to determine the winner and….They ALL win. Inspired move Jill - you go girl!! Liz is laughing so hard she’s crying. If she had panties on, she’d have peed them.

Sunday…. Day tres…. Chris’ suntan oil fetish & the magic book.

We’re up early to get another immense breakfast. Chris’ dream fantasy comes true… applying suntan oil to a needy beach babe. The back, the back of the legs & thighs….. Hmm… Nearly trapped on a lounge chair as a result, he calls for reinforcements just in time. Thank god Mike is there to tag-team! A 2^nd dive, seeing several Moray eels, and lobsters. Chris scores big on the Hedo bucks at vball - joining the winning team with 2 points to go (never touching the ball). 40,000 Hedo bucks later, he scuttles back to the beach - grinning in anticipation of the liquor to be bought with his sleazy gains.

The 2^nd Harry Potter book shows it’s magic aura later that day. All the pages that have been read so far have disappeared. We later conclude that the book is damn cheesy. The binding is lame and the pages have loosened and blown away in the breeze. It made for a few minutes of mystery though….

Monday…. Day.. Uhh…. 4. Sexual position shows on the beach

Jill has an evil brainstorm to delight the passing snorkel boats. We do impromptu "sexual positions" on the point as they pass by. They are thrilled & applaud (especially Jill’s double jeopardy position with Chris & John from Chicago). Brent & Leisa arrive (earlier than expected!!!) at about noon. We’re tickled and rush up to the lobby to meet Leisa, amidst hugs & much squealing.

The afternoon turns rainy so we flee to the dining room for lunch. Psych! It’s "wet t-shirt contest day"!! It’s a doosey, with Terri (of Mark & Terri) participating. Contrary to previous contests, none of the girls have wet t-shirts. In fact - the shirts in general are missing early in the contest, as the girls embrace the "skin to win" rule of thumb. Jon & Chris are fascinated by the tasteful use of caramel - where 1 contestant picks 4 men from the audience (including the 70 yr old "captain") to slurp the luscious topping. One sneaky guest uses his camera under the table. We sic Chubby on him & all is put right.

Tuesday……. Dirth of water-taxis, the PJ contest, & Leisa’s birthday party night. J

Yet another beautiful beach day in the morning. The clouds roll in around noon, bringing several showers. We duck back to our room to prepare for the evening - avoiding most of the rain. David pays 20k hedo bucks for Chris’ towel. Such a whore for Hedo bucks Chris is. There are no boat guys. A strange & hitherto unknown situation - except for hurricane Michelle. We wonder….. Later to find out that there’s a police convention at H2 that day, so the boat guys have cleared out. Soon come mon. They’re back the next day to help the happy vacationers "taxi" as needed.

It’s late afternoon and Brent furiously prepares for Leisa’s birthday surprise party. He’s brought a huge box along, packed with party decorations. Always that social animal, he borrows a giant-sized ladder from the groundskeepers, and is hanging paper lanterns from the trees in the bamboo grove at 6pm. There are more decorations than daylight, including a large "Have a wicked birthday" banner, luminary candle holders (made from paper & scotch tape), streamers, champagne buckets, etc…etc…etc… It’s hot & sticky (about 90 deg) after the light rain, and we’re wondering if a downpour is coming. Thankfully it holds off & the evening begins to cool nicely.

The preparations are mostly in order by dinnertime, though there’s quite a bit of organizing on the fly to be done. It’s PJ nite, and R&A’s last nite at Hedo, so the plans have to be choreographed well. We confer in secret bits & pieces, and decide to do dinner, PJ judging, then start Leisa’s surprise party. Jill & Mike join the battle of the sexes (Jill in her pink Madonna wig). We all howl for them - richly deserved.

The PJ party is excellent. Brent paints latex & then gold chains on A’s top. - winning 2^nd place for "most revealing". We bolt after the judging…. Liz spirits Leisa away for cocktails, and the rest of the party-goers scuttle off to the bamboo grove. Here it must be noted that Mike, Jill, Jon & Linda have waited in the grove for about an hour - bless their souls. Everything is ready. The crowd is hushed. Chris fetches the girls. SURPRISE! Leisa is indeed surprised. The party rages from about 1-3am, with about 25 folks all told (including DennyP himself). Many bottles of champagne are sipped. We start with the stuff we imported from home & rapidly progressed to the house brand - which thankfully is quite decent in small quantities. J Chris & Brent enjoyed the libations… as one can guess from this picture of them - both clad in Leisa’s blue birthday boa.

We finally wrap things up & relax in the secret hot tub….. A nice way to unwind after a busy, long day - and wash off some of that pesky glitter from the PJ costumes! The glitter ends up merely transferring to everyone in the tub (all 4 of us). Finally we tumble into bed at 4:30, discovering that the pesky birds begin to chirp well before dawn - damn them!

Wednesday - day 6. Leisa’s Birthday

We’re up & out around 9:30, thanks to more bright inviting sun. We chat with Junior - our new favorite EC at breakfast about his modeling plans in the US. It’s a regroup day - no scuba, just beach time for reading & relaxing. Hedo Dave joins the beach gang, bringing his own unique & zany vibes. Brent & the birthday girl straggle out at about 1:30pm (those sluts) , looking tired but cheerful. Jill coordinates sexual position shows for the passing snorkel boats, to much applause. Drew from Mobay even jumps ship & wades in to shore to shmooze for ½ hour with the point people.

It’s a quiet day, and a relaxed dinner. The table is decked out wonderfully w/ pussy-tails & confetti for Leisa’s b’day. Scott at the next table also is a birthday boy, so we rope him into the birthday celebration too. Hedo kindly supplies a beautiful birthday cake and an unending supply of champage! The wicked birthday continues.

Thurs - day 7. Wreck dive

Mike & Chris cajole the scuba guys into going (quite far out) to a tugboat wreck. It’s about 80 ft down & covered with coral. It’s open & excellent to swim thru. They then prowl the nearby coral heads - quite a good dive!

The rationalization of the week (used to avoid any unwanted activity): We don’t do that - we’re beach people. J

A brief burst of energy overcomes us & 8 of us make a water slide run. After 3-4 slides, Linda gets caught up in the mayhem & slides down - her 1^st slide of either Hedo. You go Linda! We walk back via the beach, but are cut off by Scumba & Lucky, riding in a trailer pulled behind a groundskeeper’s tractor. The groundskeeper driver stops & we all pile in, getting a jolly ride past the watersports area & up to Delroys. What a hoot! Thanks to Scumba & the phantom groundskeeper!

We ogle the chocolate syrup sex show at the nude pool just before chicken time. Hedo Dave is in his element with the gang. He pauses after hearing the ‘girl-about-to-be-chocolated’ ask if "this will give her ANOTHER yeast infection". Dave disengages…. He takes yeast only in beer & yogurt thank you. We make the mistake of asking Robert for a ‘large’ plate of jerk chicken, and get ½ of a bird piled up, with fries too of course. It’s a tough job, but we just have to finish it. Ahh… more difficulties of vacationing…

We relax & join the gang for dinner (the last for Jon, Linda & us). It’s a gala toga night, with Mike & Jill decked out in wonderful gold & grapes. Jon (that perv) is wearing shorts under his toga. Jon and Mike lead off with frozen margaritas, which pave the way for…. Yes…. Flaming Bob Marleys for 4 of us in the piano bar. Oswald is very patient, as Linda & Liz ignite the bar. No problem… we’re used to it by now & we slap out the flames quickly. Jon considers gracing us all with a song. Chris is encouraged & may join in this ghastly display if provoked… Linda saves the day by hustling Jon away from the public.

We’re alone…. forlorn & forgotten by our intoxicated friends (not that we‘re bitter). We roam the grounds on our last nite, settling into a (somewhat less embarrassing) pool match with Jeff & Robin - also on their last nite. Fortunately we’re all of equal non-skill & several good games are had by all. We close Oswald’s… ahh… this is living! A final stroll & we’re in for the night - listening to the sounds of the waves & peepers – a lovely peaceful last evening.

Fri - Day 8 Hedo bucks, the overstuffed taxi & Firefly.

Our last day at Hedo! Nice last dive for Chris & Mike in Bloody Bay - seeing a 3 ft stingray burrowing in the sandy bottom and kicking up quite a cloud. We all rally for beach aerobics - god, such exertion! Jon has mercifully avoided the last day hangover. We’re now convinced that yes… he IS a trained professional. He is the master. J We pack & chuck our stuff in B&Ls room. It’s nice to be moving just down the beach a ways & not be rushing home!! Packed and fed, we rush back to the beach for more sun. Chris and Brent place well in the beer drinking competition - scoring yet more hedo bucks.

Now, it must be said that this was an exceptional trip for our hedo buck stash. Thanks in part to the ECs giving them out for such things as "sitting on the beach", "being depressed" (Linda!), and "borrowing our towel during a downpour", we end up with about 500,000 bucks. We trade for Blue Mtn Coffee Brandy in the morning, then score yet again with Chubby, who gives us double the Appleton’s we deserve for the rest of our loot in the afternoon. We’re set for drinks at Firefly & give a bottle away before we leave.

We call Mikey our favorite taxi guy. We load Jon, Linda, Liz, Chris & all our stuff into his compact car. She’s hanging mighty low & scrapes every Hedo speed bump. B&L give us a cheek-slapping moon send off… those crazy kids! J

We hug Jon & Linda at the Negril aerodome… sad to see them off. Safe flight friends. Then… we’re off to Firefly!

Friday - Day 8…. Cont at Firefly.

We arrive, after nearly passing the place (gotta love our novice favorite taxi!). We check in – a relaxed affair, and get the grand tour of the penthouse room for possible future visits… it’s VERY nice - though small, with nicely carved Victorian-style wooden furniture & a nice high view due west over the Caribbean. Many steep little stairs though along the outside of the main building! We proceed to our ‘cozy cottage on the beach’. Cozy it is, but quite nice. More carved wood furniture, a galley kitchen and the smallest bathroom I’ve ever seen – can’t close the door while seated. There’s a ‘local on-demand’ electric hot water heater (which is about the size of a shoebox, but works amazingly well), and an ancient air conditioner. All the necessary comforts!

The beach bar had a great ‘Red Stripe J50’ sign – a popular beach icon. We loved the shade of the sea grape nearby - sorely needed during the midday hours. The beach here was beautiful – clean & powdery white sand.

The coolest feature of the cottage is our veranda (aka: "the cage") – a nice little covered porch enclosed with wrought iron bars. Speaking of bars, our cottage is adjacent to the hotel beach bar & just across from the "Sun Country" restaurant & bar – very convenient & we have a great ‘just arrived dinner’ at Sun Country… Awesome, simple lobster bisque… the best brown stew conch… a table on the sand with the sound of the waves…this is living.

The view from our little cage (left) is wonderful – the "our bar" sign helps us find the Firefly beach bar, and the thatched Sun Country is a short stone’s toss to the left. They played a nice array of reggae on their boombox, and had a couple of pool tables. There is a beautiful afternoon view from our beach spot near the Firefly beach bar. This was one of the cheapest bars on the beach, with Red Stripes and various local booze for $50JA - about $1.25 US. At the front door area of our cottage there was a giant spider plant, and the bright red Ixora – which drew large green hummingbirds in the afternoon. There was also a little foot bath by the door which was a great thing to keep sand-tracking to a minimum.

The whole hotel has a wonderful pink color w/ gingerbread trim. The oxidized tin roof also was great visually, with it’s splash of blue – very close to the color of the nearby water.

Because the bathroom is so tiny in our cottage on the beach, we use the gorgeous outdoor showers at Firefly. They’re beautifully tiled, open air & sparkling clean (as are the bathrooms). Their Jacuzzi is also a romantic treat under the stars.

Cigarrrrrettes…… the gravely voiced cigarette man calls every day along the beach. We’d seen him before. Same hat. Same see thru bag of cigs & various smoking products. Quite an entrepreneur – selling Liz 2 packs of (elite) Marlboro lights for 9$. You’ve gotta love the effort & ingenuity of the people here who provide good service.

Sat. Day 10. Beaching.

Another flawless day & we’re up at 9ish to hit the beach. The local fruit lady stops by carrying a huge sack of assorted bananas, papayas, and oranges balanced on her head. She’s wonderful… low key & not into the hustling scene. We get a juicy ripe papaya for 1$US, which she peels & cuts up on the spot.

It’s also today that we learn from Dexter & Patricia (fellow Firefly guests), about the fresh OJ that the fruit ladies on the beach sell. 3$US for an old rum bottle full or fresh hand-squeezed orange juice. We get 4 bottles over the next 2 days. It’s awesome.

Dexter & Patty are staying in 1 of the Secrets Cabins, which they’re glad to show off. They are tiny. Nice… but tiny. Good to see 1^st had – much like a 9-ft square clubhouse with a bed, dresser & just enough room to walk between. Actually they’re pretty cozy looking. Quite a difference from the usual American hotel room.

Sunday…. Day 11. Still beaching.

Our last full day, so we’re up early (8:30ish) and out for more fresh fruit, coffee at Firefly’s beach bar, and chat with our fellow guests. Eventually, there’s a crew of about 5 people with us, hearing the lowdown on Hedo. By the time the chat is done, Brian (?) the UPS guy (and only other nude sunbather) is planning to do a day pass there, and Patty wants him to go tomorrow so she can hear the scoop before she heads back to the USA. We relax on the beach at Firefly. It’s a relaxing morning. Then "Party Man Bad Teeth" saunters up, bums a smoke from Liz & attaches himself to our Red Stripe sign. Chalder the manager eventually ejects him from the Firefly beach – saving us the trouble of retreating to our room to escape his endless chatter.

We walk the beach in search of breakfast – past Margaritaville, finding a great little place with corned beef hash omlettes & "hot hot coffee". We walk back along Norman Manly Blvd, checking out the "Cool Spot" – a well recommended local eatery… looks good for the future.

It’s another relaxing day on the beach, enjoying the fresh OJ from the fruit vendor ladies, and strolling around seeing the sights.

We taxi to nearby Kuyaba for dinner. It’s a very nicely done place – almost Disney-esque with little fountains, pools, torches and waterfalls. The menu looks great. Horrors! Chris has left our camera in the back of the taxi! It’s a melancholy dinner…

Our taxi guy shows up 90 min later – right on time. He’s unaware of the camera incident & says that "it should still be there, since I haven’t had any other people since you guys". Ta-dah!!!! The camera is still in his back seat! We finish our dinner in much better spirits while our taxi guy snoozes in his car for 15 min. We ride happily back to Firefly.

Monday. Our last day….

Up early to enjoy our last hours in Negril. We pack up & carrouse the beach for breakfast, settling into the "Boat Bar", which has great French toast, and callaloo omelettes. We beach for a couple of hours, then prowl again for lunch. The Rainbow Arch is our place this time – with great food & nice large rooms to rent. This might be a future place to try out.

It’s getting down to our last 3-4 hours, so we taxi w/ Mikey to the Negril Lighthouse for some sightseeing. It’s a beautiful locale – just 5 min east of the LTU & Rick’s. The water & cliffs are gorgeous … lots of small coves & caves with coral everywhere. We enjoy the views for 10 min while Mikey fetches the lighthouse keeper.

The walk up the lighthouse is fairly long & interesting. The keeper explains some of the history of the place & points out various hardware along the way, including the early gas-powered lights & lenses. Very cool. The stairs wound up the tower, getting more narrow & precarious as we climb. The views thru the narrow windows are excellent.

We pose for a last pic, then are off to the beach for a last hour of sun. Mikey picks us up & whisks us to the Aerodome for our 1^st flight home. It’s been a great vacation. Can’t wait to return.