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Caribbean Travel RoundupNewsletter - Paul Graveline, Editor |
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On July 29,1998 I found some 35mm film on Hawksnest beach on St. John, USVI. The film was in a brown two-zippered purse that looked as if it had been on the beach for several days. It had been thrown into some sea-grape bushes near the picnic tables. No other contents... stolen, I guess. I brought the film home with me hoping the owner might claim it through the net. The purse itself was falling apart so I didn't bring it along - just the film. There are two rolls: 1 is 36 frame FujiColor 800 SuperG Plus print film and the other is 27 frame Agfa HDC 200. I'm not sure if the Agfa was exposed...the leader is still hanging out of the canister a little. The Fuji was rolled completely. It would be a shame if someone lost the only pictures of their vacation. Thanks for any help you can give me in finding the owner. (If you can help Steve find the owner, please e-mail the CTR Editor at CTREDITOR@AOL.COM and I'll pass it along to him.)
August 15, 1998 The boat race at Meads Bay was just one of many during Carnival. . . Carnival 98 and Boat Racing Boat racing is the national sport in Anguilla, and boat racing during carnival week is the high point of for the year. Light and Peace was the race winner on Thursday at Meads Bay, followed by De Tree and UFO in third. As at all boat race events, there were food stalls along the beach, large crowds of eager spectators, music, ribs, etc. Here is another picture of the Meads Bay race--notice Malliouhana hotel in the background. The important August Monday boat race is held at Sandy Ground. On this day, UFO was the winner. As you can see in this photo, there are a lot of sailboats entered in the race. August Monday is a national holiday in Anguilla, as are Thursday and Friday, so not much work gets done this week! Actually, Carnival lasts 12 days and starts on the Thursday before August Monday with fireworks, music and an opening show at Landsome Bowl in The Valley. Here is the schedule . And there was another important race on Wednesday from Sandy Ground to Blowing Point. Viking was the winner, with UFO in second place. As in all races, crowds of enthusiastic fans follow the race in numerous chase boats and in cars along the shore line. On Sunday the winners of the preceding races face off in a Champion of Champions race. This is like the heavyweight crown for the year. Here is the start of the Champion of Champions race on Sunday. You may not be aware that these boats do not have a keel, making the handling of them quite different from standard sail boats. Bags of sand and rocks are used for ballast and can be jetisoned if necessary during the race. For an introdcution to the subject, read the book "Nuttin Bafflin" . UFO from Island Harbour, was this year's Champion of Champions, easily winning the final race on Sunday. Stinger came in second (see picture above). Because your reporter missed most of carnival attending the large HPWorld 98 show in San Diego, he is very grateful to Brenda Carty for sharing these pictures of boat racing during Carnival 98. More Action During Carnival Week But boat racing was not the only action during carnival week. Marisa Gumbs won the Miss Anguilla contest, and once again it was the candidate sponsored by National Bank of Anguilla that was victorious. Marisa wins EC $10,000 and a trip to New York or Miami on American. See the contestants . 8-year old Olufunmike Banks-Devonish and 9-year old Rhys Carter from the Gloria Omolulu Institute won the Prince and Princess Show. The title of Miss African Heritage was awarded jointly to Pamela Maynard and Noreen Gumbs. La Toyah Matthew of Little Harbour was crowned Miss Talented Teen on Tuesday night. Last year's Calpyso King Mighty Springer repeated this year, then also won the Calypso Monarch title, beating out stiff competition from Antigua, St Kitts, St. Martin, and other islands. Mighty Springer's songs for this year were "Masa Day is Past" and "Good Things We Can Do Today". News Tidbits from Anguilla TWA is planning to start flights from the East coast to St Martin in mid December. Just Back from Classes in NY. Twenty Anguillians just completed a short, but concentrated learning experience in New York state. The students attended special programs in either Hospitality or Agriculture. Tom and Dawn write: We have 20 Anguillians here now. Tom and I will attend their graduation today. They spent two weeks of intense training at our State University of New York at Cobleskill. Many compliments from the professors regarding their desire to learn. Winner of Photo Contest. Adele Greenhut of Longmeadow, Mass won Savannah Gallery's photo contest with a beautiful depiction of Little Bay. The winning photo and the many other excellent entries from visitors are on display at the gallery, with copies for sale through August and September. Proceeds from the sale of these photos will go to Slick Carty's bid to represent Anguilla at the Special Olympics in Sydney in 2000 . Children's Craft Program is being held at Island Harbour Primary School this summer. This program is sponsored by volunteers from the ladies craft group, and organized this year by well-known artists Lynn Bernbaum and Marjorie Morani. If you have ever bought crafts from the group at the Christmas Fair and wondered what happens to the money, now you know. American Eagle. Over the next few years they will be replacing the current ATR 42 aircraft with new ATR 72s. The ATR 72 cannot land in Anguilla unless the airport is extended by 1000 feet. American Eagle assured people that they would continue to service Anguilla. Upcoming Events in Anguilla The Anguilla Local News has an Calendar for the year showing events, holidays, and activities. The upcoming period is pretty quiet, although school does restart in September. 2nd International Art Festival and Competition. Work has started on organizing a repeat of 1997's successful art festival . Artists from around the world will gather in Anguilla July 25 to August 1, 1999 (just before carnival) to soak up the ambience and create. During the week there will be workshops on pastels, oils, watercolors and stained glass, plus lectures, tours and social events. Then in February there will be a competition amoung the works created by the artists, which must have an Anguilla theme. Prizes money is US$15,000 with $10,000 for the overall winner. For more information, contact the tourist board . Updates and Feedback Update on the Tennis Academy. Mitch Lake and Euxodie Wallace and a few of Anguilla's young players were in St Martin recently to compare notes on Junior Tennis progress with counterparts there. After a series of friendly matches, they arranged for monthly competitions between the two islands, with the venue switching back and forth. Question on Medical Jet Services: My wife would like to bring her mother who is 89 and in good health. However, she is concerned about flight connections and possible emergency flight home. Is there a charter jet company operating in the area? There is charter jet services available from Anguilla. The company is Melmic Aviation in St. Maarten. The contact is Bobby Bower, Cellular No. +599570725. He flys a Lear Jet and can evacuate to Puerto Rico or the USA. National Bank of Anguilla has a web site at www.nba.ai The Institute of Healing was created by Dorothy Martin-Neville. She has a web site at www.instituteofhealing.com and Dotty runs intensive retreats in Anguilla. Here email is dotty@anguillanet.com Caribbean Travel Roundup has a long and detailed May trip report by Joe Gavula, who stayed at the Boathouse villa and dined all over the island. Plus a first visit report by Steve Barrymore, who also ate all over Anguilla, but spent the last night at B&D's BBQ along side the road at Long Bay. On Fri. and Sat. night a lady (Bernice) sets up plastic tables in her front yard and serves BBQ. Total bill for 2 of us was $12! This was a great meal! . Bali Hai Villa has a new web page address http://users.nni.com/villabh Pumphouse - The People's Place " Jah lives!", the crowd chants repeatedly after the Reggae Groovers end their rendition of Tony Rebel’s mega hit If Jah . This is the usual scene at The Pumphouse on a Saturday night where patrons are entertained by the local group Reggae Groovers. Nestled between the Salt Pond and the Sandy Ground beach is the ever popular Pumphouse , where lots of people gather almost nightly to relax , dine, sip on cocktails, and be entertained by Anguilla’s local live bands. The Pumphouse is owned and operated by Laurie and Gabi Gumbs. It opened its doors to the public on 4 th August, 1995. The site is rich in history in that it was home to the Anguilla Road Salt Company Factory which in its time was the main export of Anguilla. Laurie Gumbs, the owner has managed to restore some of the equipment which was used in the salt production process and has them displayed at his bar, his intention being to create a ‘Mini Salt Industry Museum’. During the tourist season, the archaeological society arranges tours of the site. The Pumphouse has 7 staff members, his wife and himself included. The entire staff is kept very busy catering to their patrons’ needs. The Pumphouse boasts an extremely impressive well-stocked bar. You can get the drink of your choice all at very reasonable prices. There is also the ‘Pumphouse Rum Punch’, which is the house drink , and very tasty, the ingredients of which only the staff members are privileged to know. The menu may be informally chalked on the wall, the food is absolutely delicious. Read this earlier news report on their food . During the tourist season, there is nightly entertainment five nights a week. On Tuesday nights the house dee-jay offers ‘Pumphouse rock’ which includes alternative music and rock ballads from the most famous rock bands. Wednesday nights are for the reggae lovers. Hotshot and his band Hod Nox plays their reggae favorites much to the delight and enjoyment of the patrons. For all those who enjoy Spanish music, Thursday nights are the ‘Meringue Magic’ nights. One can dance the night away to the melodious music of Keith and Raphael. Friday nights again there is the Pumphouse rock by the house dee-jay and it all ends on Saturday night with the ‘Reggae Groovers’ belting out reggae hits which usually has the crowd on its feet begging for more. At present, during the off-peak season, there is entertainment three nights a week, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The Pumphouse is opened nightly from 7:00pm to 2:00am and is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Visitor Feedback Every day brings new email messages about Anguilla. Here is an interesting message that came in recently: Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 20:29:39 -0700 Subject: Comments from recent trip We just returned from a lovely week on Anguilla. We used your website ahead of time to get a lot of ideas on what to do. Coming in July during the off season is highly recommended. The weather was gorgeous, no crowds and never a problem with dinner reservations. You just have to know when some are closed. Mead Bay was just right to stay at. It's quiet and the beach is beautiful. Olivers, Blanchards and Mangos are nearby and you can't go wrong with any of these. We're sending Oliver some Old Bay seasoning from Baltimore so you might be surprised at some new dishes soon. Spend a day at Shoal Bay . It's more active, the beach is pretty and you get to eat Uncle Ernie's HOT ribs. We found our best dining experiences were when we went to the owned and operated ones and always met the owners. This also included Straw Hat , Arlo's and Gorgeous Scilly Cay . I recommend driving out by the airport to the silver trailer for some chicken with rice and peas. I took this back to Carimar Beach Club , and enjoyed watching the sailboats with a cold Carib from the balcony. Also did the same thing with Chinese from the Landing Strip. Everyone on the island was so friendly from passerbys to shopkeepers that you didn't want to leave. We did take the ferry to St. Martin only to return just one hour later. We missed the tranquility. I would have wanted to try Leduc's but understand the owner was in an accident. I hope he is OK. I also had a very good diving experience with Anguillan Divers . Feel free to pass my comments onto your readers. I know other comments I read helped me plan my trip. Keep up the good work on your website. We'll be returning. David and Shirlee Morris News.ai is On Summer Break With the end of Carnival week, the Anguilla Local News is taking a short summer vacation. We will still publish a truncated edition of the news every two weeks, but we won't be updating the indeces and cross-references. The next major issue is scheduled for October, with lots of news about the upcoming high season.
Trip 6/98 I wanted to believe the brochure. I was so excited about the trip I made Sandals my screen saver password. I had a picture in my mind. The resort was more beautiful than I expected. Everything went smoothly on our Thursday flight June 11 from DFW to Miami on American. Of course, our connecting flight to Antigua was in a different terminal which required a train ride. But we had plenty of time to kill, an hour and a half wait in Miami. The flight to Antigua was only half full. We got delayed out of Miami- -5 p.m. rush hour. We were fifth in line and it took an extra 30 minutes to take off. I ordered orange juice to drink and then mixed in the contents of my little vodka bottle. You did keep those bottles you paid $4.00 for on your last flight, right? Refill them and save yourself some money. M, my boyfriend, got a free beer for giving the flight attendant correct change. A woman holding a Sandals sign was waiting when we walked into the airport. After she confirmed that we were on her list, she gave us a green VIP card and said present it to the check in desk when we arrived. She told us where to catch a taxi after we got our luggage and cleared customs. Customs took another 30 minutes. They open up your stuff and look through it pretty thoroughly. M got his first stamp in his passport and thought that was pretty cool. While we were waiting in line we met the couple standing in front of us, L and C. We found out they were going to Sandals too. The Sandals rep escorted all four of us to our taxi. The taxi driver drove very fast, but I didn't feel unsafe. He seemed like he knew the road intimately and there wasn't much traffic since it was now after 9pm. It was pretty strange when we passed the cow nibbling on grass next to the road. The ride took about 20 minutes. Our van wasn't air conditioned but the windows were open and a nice breeze was blowing. We pulled up to the front of the resort and were offered cold towels and a glass of champagne as soon as we stepped out of the cab. The bellhop, Attiba, told us to leave our luggage while we checked in. M said, "Uh uh, I'm not leaving my luggage where I can't see it." Attiba laughed and assured us it would be safe (but my honey said he kept an eye on the bags anyway). L and C didn't get a VIP card (you get VIP check in if you're in a suite) and we quickly found out what the advantage was--we got checked in first. They probably ended up waiting at least 30 minutes. I had faxed ahead and asked for a beachfront rondoval, but we were told they were all full. No problem, let us know if one becomes available in the next few days (we were staying 7 nights). After filling out the requisite forms and credit card imprint, Attiba loaded up our luggage on the baggage cart. M and I traveled light and had carried our bags on the planes. Our new friend led us to Room 312, a yellow rondoval surrounded by gardens and trees. I was a little surprised that the room was smaller than I expected, especially the bathroom. But it was very nice, plush, clean, and well stocked. Our mini bar had Antiguan rum, gin, vodka, wine, Wadadli beer, Coke, club soda. Red Stripe beer is only on tap. There were ice trays filled with ice in the fridge. Our walls had louvered windows which we had to shut tightly to keep the a/c in (perversely, the maids kept opening the windows and turning off the a/c). A white ceiling fan is high up on the tall roof. Two different remote controls operate the TV and the air conditioning unit. Attiba showed M how to use them. (It's a man thing.) Beach towels were laid in a pretty design on our bed and the washcloths in the bathroom were also folded in a floral shape. King size bed. A nice patio with two comfy lounge chairs, greenery everywhere, and lots of geckos. One (or two...) got inside. M is in heaven because he can get ESPN and NBC on TV and will be able to watch the NBA playoff games (as well as HBO, Max, CNN, WGN, CBS, ABC). We dumped our luggage and asked where we could get something to eat. It was about 10pm and Attiba said the Courtyard Grill would open up at 10:30pm. So we walked around the grounds and by the ocean. We got lost on our way to the restaurant, ran into Attiba, and he let us have a ride on his cart. I thought that was kind of neat. He said he's carried luggage that weighed more than the two of us put together. We ordered hamburgers and fries at the Grill. L and C showed up a few minutes later. We got to talking and laughing and sat down together to eat our food. The lady behind the counter was eavesdropping on our conversation and she was laughing too. Now it was time for some drinks, listen to the band, take some photos. I first tried a frozen margarita which I wasn't crazy about, then switched to white zinfandel. I thought the wine tasted like Sutter Home or Beringer. We hung out until the band stopped playing-- 12am. Friday. The concierge called us at 9am to welcome us, confirm dinner reservations I had made in advance for my birthday, and check if we needed anything. She asked if she woke me up and I said yes. But I had already figured out what I needed to complete the mini-bar so I requested a bottle of white zinfandel and some fruit juice (to put the rum in). After we came in from the beach later that day, it had been delivered. Now we were awake, so M decided he wanted to work out. I wanted to explore and get to the beach. I put on my bathing suit and cover-up and walked with him to the fitness center. We took a closer look at the beachfront rondovals to see if we still wanted to move. He bought me a hat at the gift shop. While he was riding the exercise bike I walked to the beach and the pool, to see which I liked better. The beach. I stopped at the concierge office and found out they couldn't move us until Sunday. We were ready to get unpacked and decided we would stay where we were. It turned out to be a good choice. Another couple we met said some drunken people were out on the beach right in front of their rondoval, making noise at 2am. She also said their room was humid and musty. I ran into L and C in the same section of beach I had decided to try out. He helped me pull up a chair and I saved a swinging hammock for M. I took an air mattress I had brought with me to the dive shop and asked a guy to inflate it for me. He did. The four of us spent the rest of the day at the beach. I got in the water with my float and let the waves rock me. The bar wasn't far away and we took turns going to get drinks. I brought a 16 oz. sport bottle with me and the bartenders had no problem filling it up and adding more rum to the strawberry daiquiris. Sure, we had to wait sometimes to get a drink, because the bar got crowded. I thought the bartenders worked hard and would mix up whatever you wanted. You could see all the available liquors on display. They also had frozen strawberry and banana daiquiris. I was hungry so I went to the Bayside restaurant to pick up some things from the lunch buffet. You can't go in there without a swimsuit cover up or t-shirt. But they let you take the plate of food back out to the beach so that's cool. I thought the food at Sandals was simply delicious. For lunch I had jerk chicken, macaroni and cheese, mussels, johnny cake (a sweet biscuit) cheese and crackers and flan. Juice, desserts, and salad were available on each buffet. They didn't have the same thing twice (main courses) at any of the buffets during the week. The sun was starting to go down about 430pm so we went inside. I took a hot shower (no problem with temperature or pressure) and then a nap. We watched TV and talked, and later decided we were ready for dinner. We went to Bayside, which doesn't require reservations. You had to make reservations one day in advance for the other restaurants, and if you didn't do it in the morning, you didn't have a chance of getting the time you wanted. It was International Buffet night and we were so impressed by the array of food that we took a picture of it. Saturday. My birthday. We were up at midnight last night so M wished me happy birthday. We woke up this morning around 9am and went to work out. I did the treadmill and M did the bike. Back to the room for a shower. The maid had been in and washed out my dirty Aqua Shoes which I had left in the tub, and set them on the patio to dry. I was so impressed. We fixed ourselves some drinks and relaxed in the room. Then we went to Bayside and had lunch, and then to the swimming pool with the swim- up bar. There was plenty of shade. We floated around and swam up to the bar when we got thirsty. A British grandma wearing a bikini chatted with us. My air mattress was a conversation piece. Later in the afternoon there was a beer drinking contest at the pool. M wanted to watch. There was one for men and one for women. Three people signed up for each group. It was fun watching them drink, turn the bottle upside down on their heads. To decide the winner, the two finalists had to drink the beer and then swim a lap, drink the beer at the end of that lap and swim back. I never imagined you had to know how to swim to enter a beer drinking contest. They all got presented with their leather Sandals and went off happily. After that we sat in the hot tub right next to the pool. It was hot and could hold 20 people. That was so relaxing M and I went back to our room and took a nap, since our dinner reservations weren't until 745pm. We had tried to change to 630pm. to meet up with L and C, but were told Il Palio was overbooked. The suite concierge manager stopped by to ask if we needed anything. More beer. It came quickly. When we arrived at Il Palio L and C were eating dessert--slices of birthday cake. L's birthday was today too and the chef had prepared a cake for both of us. It had chocolate covered strawberries on the top and white icing but unfortunately the filling was mocha which I hate. The food at Il Palio was excellent and I was disappointed I only got to eat there once. I had a shrimp kabob over rice with cream sauce, roasted garlic and sauteed mushrooms. M had chicken Parmesan with eggplant and snow peas. The antipasto bar was also good, with cheese, tomatoes, olives, proscuitto and salami. After dinner we rejoined L and C and went back to our room and drank some champagne. Attiba had left it chilled in the room for us. Toasts to birthdays and vacations. We finished off the bottle and went back to the bar. Tonight's band was the best one so far, playing jazz which sounded like the Rippington's. They played "Hello" by Lionel Richie and we danced. After the band left we called it a night. The four of us would meet up again tomorrow afternoon for the Shirley Heights tour. Sunday. M and I slept in and then went to the fitness center. I had a hamburger and fries for lunch (the French fries at the Courtyard Grill were good). We left at 5pm for Shirley Heights. I personally thought the trip was a rip-off. The taxi ride there and back cost $35.00 a couple. On the way to the Heights, you have a quick photo op of Nelson's Dockyard. The T-shirt vendors were waiting. It was only a short drive after that to the top. All six of us sharing the mini-van agreed to meet back at 6:30pm. The sun should have set by then. (Watching the sunset was the main reason for the trip). We walked toward the music, a loud reggae band. My opinion is that this tour is a tourist trap designed to get you to buy maracas, jewelry, t-shirts, hats, and overpriced food and drinks. $9.00 for a hamburger, $2.50 for a beer. M bought me a necklace, bracelet and earring set for $22.00US (down slightly from the original asking price of $25.00). Done shopping and not hungry or thirsty, we decided to take a walk. There are some paths past the Officers Quarters, and you can go right to the edge of the cliff. It's beautiful, ocean surrounding you on all sides. Our driver had pointed out the hurricane harbor below, where the boats will be safe in a hurricane. The terrain is filled with cacti. The clouds covered up the sunset, and after an hour and a half stay, we were ready to leave. I enjoyed seeing some of the rest of the island. One house we drove past had a big "Happy Birthday" sign and balloons hung over the front door. We passed by a church and saw a wedding. Our driver drove crazy on the way back--too fast and passing 4 cars at a time. We were hungry and thirsty and happy to be back at the resort. It was beach BBQ night. A buffet of BBQ chicken, ribs, paella with shrimp, plaintain, mangoes, salad, macaroni and cheese, crab salad. Beans, corn on the cob, bread, desserts, carrot cake and eclairs. I had a piece of what tasted like pear pie. Full bar outside, steel drum band. A guy did a limbo/fire- twirling/fire-eating show. C and I talked with him afterward. He showed us he didn't have any hair on his arms. Then we met up with the guys who had gone to the lobby to watch the NBA game. It was the beginning of the second half. There was a big crowd, guests and workers screaming and yelling for their team. I had a couple of Grand Marniers and M had some more beer during the game (I was the waitress). We loved hearing the voices of the local people as they shouted. They sound like they are singing when they talk. Monday. I went to water aerobics at 1130am. It had been raining off and on so I called first to see if it was still scheduled. It got delayed for a bit until the worst of the rain stopped, but then Dale, the instructor, set the music up under the roof of the bar and we got started. I met a group of people from Ohio and a woman from California. They were determined to get enough points for a free t- shirt. They tried to convince me to join them on the 715am power walk tomorrow. No way. The British grandma and her family showed up too. We all had fun. After class I got in the Jacuzzi and L and C came by to get a drink. They had gone to St. Johns and been shopping in the rain. I went to lunch by myself, and Dale came and sat with me. We had an interesting conversation. I told him he was famous on the Internet (Compuserve's Caribbean Travel Forum). He knew. He's been working at Sandals since 1991. He has traveled to the U.S.-- California and Florida. It was still raining so M and I spent the afternoon in until our 745pm. reservations at Kimonos. We walked over (it's across the street from the Sandals entrance) and held a place for L and C. They served us rum punches while we waited. When we went upstairs there were 8 people total at our table. A young British couple who were pregnant and a German couple on their honeymoon. Again, I thought the food was great. You started out with your choice of appetizer. I got the nori-maki: sushi, california rolls, caviar, shrimp and salmon with ginger and horseradish. It was delicious. M got the ginger patay (pork) and liked it too. The next course was crab and corn soup, then a salad. The entree was chicken teriyaki, beef, scallops, shrimp (very skimpy on the shrimp), marlin. The chef put sauces on everything while he cooked it. There were also veggies and rice. I used my chopsticks but you didn't have to. The waitress kept coming in to give us more rum punches and white zinfandel. Dessert was mango ice cream and vanilla cake. We got in a great conversation with the German couple (G and D) and sat there talking until 11pm when they kicked us out. We listened to the band for a while, then took some champagne and more white zinfandel to L and C's room and sat up talking and drinking until 2am. Tuesday. I was hungry this morning so I went to breakfast, came back and read and napped. Then M and I got up and went to work out. A couple was having a fight in the workout room. We bought some more stuff from the gift shop. Then we showered and ate lunch. We went out to the beach afterward and I got to float for 30 minutes but then the dark clouds came in and it started pouring. We ran back to the room and sat on our patio for a while (and I wondered, where do the geckos go when it rains?), but the wind kicked up and we were getting wet so we had to go inside. M watched more TV and napped. The power went out for about an hour while it was storming. I wrote out my postcards and made notes in my journal. M said this is our best vacation since a Caribbean cruise we took on NCL in 1996. The rain stopped that evening. We were meeting L and C for dinner at OK Corral. There was a short wait to be seated. M and I ordered ribs with french fries. The portion of meat was small but tasty. C had the fajitas which she didn't think were that good. L had a steak which he enjoyed. There was also a salad bar. For dessert I had a piece of pecan pie which melted in my mouth. My only criticism of this restaurant is that I could have done without the country/western music blaring from a jukebox, since I am not a country/western fan. After eating we joined G and D. They had claimed a good table to listen to the band. L and C were leaving early tomorrow morning so they didn't stay long. G and D left about 11pm. M heard some good music coming from Betty Jo's Boatyard (the disco) so we went to investigate. There was a nice crowd and people were dancing. We closed the place down (1am)(much earlier than we would have liked). Wednesday. We have to leave tomorrow so I'm not in the greatest mood. We worked out, then went to breakfast. I spent the rest of the day at the beach. It was more crowded today, but there were still plenty of lounge chairs available. M stayed in, recovering from too many Grand Marniers last night. At 7pm, we were meeting D and G for dinner at Bayside. The waitress seated us and gave us menus. No buffet tonite. It was difficult to make a choice, but I decided on prosciutto with melon and olives for appetizer, green salad with herb vinaigrette dressing, turkey cordon bleu, chocolate mousse for dessert. Everything was delightful except the mousse (not creamy or chocolate-y). We sat and talked until late, exchanging addresses before we left. Thursday. Of course there are no clouds at all in the sky today. Since I had packed last night I had time to go to the beach. I tried to use my air mattress, but the wind kept blowing me out to sea. So I came out of the water and took some pictures from the beach. I raced back to the room with 30 minutes to spare. At noon the front desk called to make sure we were ready to leave. The check out process was quick and easy, and we even got American AAdvantage points for the stay (just give the clerk your frequent flyer number). The taxi to take us to the airport wasn't there yet, so I strolled over to the bar to get us one last strawberry daiquiri and Red Stripe. We sat on a couch in the lobby, and said goodbye to Attiba who happened to appear. M tipped him $15.00 for excellent service. Tipping is not required, but you can get extra special treatment if you do. Airport check in was efficient. You pay a $20.00 departure tax per person. There were some nice souvenir shops inside and a Colombian Emerald store. Near the gate was a bar where you could get snacks and drinks, but the prices were outrageous. Boarding and take off were on time. The plane was a propeller jet and we flew at 12,000 feet. M was not pleased with me for booking this flight. Luckily we were only in the air an hour, and had a very smooth ride. I love going through customs in San Juan--I have never seen them check anyone's luggage. We headed to the AA terminal, stopping to buy a few souvenirs on the way. Our flight was running late. While waiting we talked about work for the first time in seven days. Back to reality. We agreed that we would return to Sandals soon. There was an unexpected shortage of taxis at DFW airport when we arrived but eventually we got home. Our house was still standing and our dog was happy to see us. I'm already planning our next trip! Some general comments about this Sandals: 1) The entertainment is amateurish. Guess I got spoiled by the cruise ship shows. 2) D told us that she usually had to wait an hour to water ski every day. You had to get up at the crack of dawn to sign up. 3) The room had an iron, ironing board and a hair dryer, but there was often a shortage of face cloths and towels. 4) The clientele seemed to be a range of ages from late twenties to late forties. Lots of weddingmooners. 5) Both C and D reported being bit by mosquitos. I used a sunscreen with bug repellant during the day and Deep Woods Off at night. I didn't get any bites (and mosquitos love me).
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