Debbie’s Beaches Royal Plantation Trip Report December 23-26, 2002

Background:  This trip report reflects our third stay at BRP and fourth visit (spent a day there before we ever stayed there) in a year and a half.  This trip, we spent 8 days on the island.  We spent 4 nights at Grand Lido Sans Souci and 3 nights at Royal Plantation. This report reflects only the Royal Plantation portion of the trip.

My previous reports can be located at http://www.tropictravelonline.com/Debbiebrp2001_withpics.htm

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/debbieh103_beachesroyalplantation_52002.html

My photos are located at

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100080

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100081

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100295

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100335

Family photos are found here:

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100345

http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100357

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Getting There

We arrived in Jamaica on December 19 and spent 4 nights at Grand Lido Sans Souci with Todd’s parents, Jim and Cindy and my mother, Pat. All of us enjoyed the included spa treatments there and a lot of good food and fun activities. On December 23, we packed up and moved on to Royal Plantation by Beaches.

Our very short transfer down the road to Royal Plantation occurred in the Sandals Mercedes limousine. Our luggage followed us in a Grand Lido Sans Souci van.

I was so happy to be back at Royal Plantation that I literally cried when we pulled up to the curb. I love several resorts that we visit frequently, but this one is my favorite for many reasons, and I just felt wrapped up in the thrill of the moment.

The feeling didn’t change when we were greeted by several staff members, including my friend, the sweet and wonderful Sandy McKoy, the sales and public relations manager. Sandy went above and beyond the call of duty and checked all of us in personally. We had our pre-check in paperwork, and Todd and Mom and I used it, but Cindy didn’t find hers until after they filled out the form there at Beaches. No problem, mon. Sandy had several people there to assist us in getting us a welcome drink and to give each of us a personal escort to our room.

Mom was in room 110, a premium room in the east wing. Jim and Cindy were in 203, a premium room in the east wing. Todd and I were in 354, a premium room in the west wing. The resort was at or near 100% occupancy, so we could not be upgraded beyond premium, but we had all booked deluxe, so we did receive the one category upgrade. Sandy informed me that I had a lot of friends that loved me and handed me some spa certificates from my wonderful friends at TTO. I cried again. I was moved beyond words. This was the first time we would not be on the spa plan, and some financial setbacks made me believe a trip to the spa was impossible on this trip, so the certificates were a very special gift. Those that did this knew it, and their love and support just moved me.

Sandy had made sure we had our lemongrass bath products and enlisted about four people to get them for Mom. She was successful. Todd and I received some wonderful chocolates and also a fruit and cheese plate and some champagne. Jim and Cindy received the fruit and cheese plate. Something happened with Mom’s welcome gift, and she had only a card from Mario, the general manager. Her table was set up, but she received nothing to eat, and she is still bringing that snafu up. That really was the only upset of the whole trip. I wish I had called someone.

Monday, December 23

The resort was nicely decorated for Christmas. There was a lovely tree in the lobby and also one in the drawing room. Room 255 had their Christmas lights on their balcony, along w/ a great string of holly and a wreath. We had planned to bring lights for our balcony but got around to packing too late. Mom did bring her little battery operated set of lights and had them hanging on her French balcony doors. She brought a foot high tree, too with all the ornaments and set it up in her room for us a nice little Christmas party.

We had a lovely lunch at Bayside. They have nice mussels. I had a market salad, and they would not put lobster in it. I went downstairs and got two lobster BLT’s, so I put my lobster in the salad. Todd ordered the fettucini alfredo-can’t remember if he did chicken or seafood, but he still wishes he ordered this every day. We directed everyone to all the goodies like the fish sandwich, the salads (I had my first taste for the trip of that wonderful mango vinaigrette), the mixed grill. We ordered all sorts of stuff. As always at Bayside, I could not miss the sorbet of the day. It was a raspberry and had some more of the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries on top.

After lunch, we went over to Sandals Ocho Rios to check out the slots and the video black jack. On the way over, we stopped at the craft shacks. Don't pay full price for anything over there, as they are trying to gouge on everything. It is very low pressure over there, though. I bought 2 bottles of jerk sauce at a booth for $5. That is the booth between SOR and RP that is on the same side of the road.

At Sandals Ocho Rios, I was delighted to find banana rum for my father-in-law at the lobby bar. The video blackjack was sadly out on repair. I lost $10 in the slots, and father-in-law lost $20 or $25. We took a few pictures of a wedding and also went to check out the goldfish in the ponds. Father-in-law commented that the resort was very tropical but a step down from Royal Plantation.

I thought tea was at 4:30. It was at 4. Tarts were gone, but I went in the bar and had them get me one--raspberry, kiwi, blueberries, and strawberry. This tart was big. They had them later on the beach party buffet. We were privileged to a lot of lovely berries during our stay, and that is delightful for me. Yum.

They do still have the same sweet girl at the tea, and she will make anything for you and also serve you if you like. They have little sandwiches and pastries. There were a lot of people at the resort, so if you go when it is full, be up there at 3:50 for the best pickings. This was never an issue before. I turned to the tea table and spotted the Omar’s Garden tea that my friend, Mariann recommended, but today, I decided to visit the champagne table. Every day during tea time, they had champagne bottles out with glasses. Guests loved this. Although they were having to hustle, the staff was making sure nobody waited long for champagne or a glass.

Mom and I used the resort's internet guy to get connected to the internet. That way, you just pay for the phone calls and no hourly charge.

During the day, the west beach was very busy. We seemed to have no time that day for the beach but did go to the pool and the Jacuzzi. I also went to the spa and was happy to see everyone. Sadly, Geni was on vacation until January, but I booked a facial w/ eye treatment for the next day and an aromatherapy massage for the day after that.

The manager's cocktail party was a delight. They had wine, champagne, rum punch and fruit punch. They had smoked salmon, shrimp, caviar, and pate on the canapés. I think there was a 5th one. Cindy did not come down because she had in her head that you had to wear a dress. I told her I was wearing a long dress to avoid mosquitos. Anyway, Jim, Todd, Mom and I had a wonderful time chatting with Mario, Chef Hugo, Tammy and others. Mom met some people that had or did live where I went to college in Springfield, Missouri. Due to the time of the year, the sunset had moved sort of behind the buildings, so it was not like on our stay in the summer where it was breathtaking. I was chatting non-stop and having a ball, so I barely noticed. They always have this party down at the patio past the Jacuzzi, and you get to hear the waves crashing and see a lovely view. Sometimes boats come by, too, and it can look just like a painting. Aahh!

That night was the only buffet of the week for any meal. They were so full that some had to sit up at Bayside because they could not accommodate everyone on the beach. We aren’t buffet people at all, and I’d rather not have this one, although Chef Hugo and the staff do it up right. They had beef, lamb, jerk chicken (cooked there in a charcoal pit), the large prawns, a huge bunch of shrimp, a great seafood salad w/ scallops, shrimp, mussels and one huge lobster in it. There were tons of salads and pasta cooked to order. They had loads of desserts, and were cooking up bananas foster galore. This time, they did not have the suckling pig. My family was very impressed with the presentation. Chef Hugo came around, as he often does, to many of the guests to see if people were happy.

Everyone enjoyed the food and sitting down with our feet in the sand and listening and watching the waves. My father-in-law loved the steel drums (he went on and on about the bass) and thought the band was very talented. I was delighted about that. My mom and mother-in-law enjoyed looking at the crafts on sale that night, although neither bought anything. Eventually, everyone went to their room giving up on the firebreather, but I went to check something out on Mom’s laptop and when heading back heard the announcement that the fire guy would start soon. I went back down for the entire show and also saw them teaching reggae to eager guests.

It was an awesome night. Todd and I enjoyed some time with our chairs pushed up by our French balcony. We love the sitting rooms at RP and the layout of the room. That day, we’d had little free time by ourselves but did enjoy munching our berries and a couple of the lovely hand-made chocolates and sipping drinks in our sitting room by the nice view. Paradise!

I did not like at all not having a Jacuzzi or just having a regular tub, and Todd didn’t like having the shower in the tub, but our room still had a lovely closet that was huge in space and still had the nice electronic safe and the great card room key system.

I found some time during the day to visit Siboney, Alda, and many other staff members. So many delighted in remembering their recent visits with other members from tropictravelonline.com.

We called it a night, and the next day was to be full of different adventures for everyone!

The resort was pretty full--I counted 130 people at the beach night, and they only hold 148 plus the villas. The villas were booked, too. I am sure a few left the property that didn't want buffet. They were supposedly expecting to sell out the whole month of January. They also have another celebrity thing coming up. There were all ages there from a few college kids to senior citizens, several families were there for the holiday together.

Tuesday, December 24

I woke up early as I always do and did enjoy some time on the internet visiting with some friends. I was updated on the weather back home and all that was happening. Some don’t like to bring a computer on a trip, but we love staying connected, and if you hook up the computer using the resort’s connection, it is much cheaper to communicate this way than on the telephone.

By this time in the trip, the folks had complained to Todd and I about how the beverage service was slow. I thought it was, too, and it was because Mario had taken the chance to let all staff have some time off during the holidays. It was a challenge with occupancy so high and a lot of staff out. I cried and was happy because I knew some people were with their families. Service was still pretty good or you could get your own tea or coffee and smile. Even the drink service improved after Christmas Eve. I figure my family slowed them down, because my father-in-law drinks a lot of coffee, ha ha.

Todd and I went down to eat breakfast. I went down at 7:30 while he was still getting ready for golf. We always go through this exercise where he has me order while he gets ready. They seemed to be trying to wait for him to arrive. As a result, it took so long that Todd had to eat his food on the bus. This was after he gave up and left and I had to rush it down there for him. He had a wonderful omelet, potatoes, and sausage, though.

In addition to the huge a la carte menu, the resort had lovely fruit laid out. They had a lot of the wonderful variety of berries I had been enjoying, and I made a plate of that. I ordered eggs and toast and sausage, I believe. I had a hard time getting my toast, but I did get it and also nice tea. I spent a lot of time conversing with the gentleman next to me. His name was Anthony, I believe. He does a talk show in Kingston and was at the resort alone but hoping to be joined by one or the other of his two lady friends! He is a former head of tourism for the island.

I spent a long time at breakfast just enjoying being outside and chatting. I hung out there so long that our parents showed up, so I stayed there a while with them.

After that, I used the hot tub outside for a while and then went over to my facial and eye treatment. It was wonderful, one of the best treatments I have ever had. It was a collagen facial. I had hoped to get into the steam room before the treatment, but the ladies’ steam room was broken, and someone was in the men’s. They did try to get me into the men’s after my treatment, but I was in a hurry. The steam room was repaired that day.

At the spa, they have nice lockers and give you a robe and slippers, and if you like, you can use the sauna and steam room before your treatment. They have tea and water there and a nice lounge. They have a lovely shower and changing area, and there are nice amenities.

For my facial, I was escorted to my treatment room by my therapist. This treatment was done in my robe and on a table. My therapist analyzed my skin and selected the facial she thought was best. She used all sorts of wonderful things on my skin and did steam and extraction as well. She mentioned that my pores were enlarged. They always offer to wax your brows but do not pressure you to have it done (extra cost). I usually have it done but did not this time. I like getting the eye treatment done. I love facials, and they seem to help more now that I am over 40!!

I was touched that Geni had called to see if I had been to the spa, but she had called before I got there. She is so wonderful. Don’t miss getting to know her if you come to the resort.

When I got back to the room, I had a 10% off certificate from the spa. I was thinking I should get some money back, but then I noticed it was good for one treatment. Since both treatments I had booked were about the same price, I decided to use it on the next treatment and also decided I would buy the body scrub.

My spa treatment finished barely in time to go to the Dunns River Falls trip. I came back to the room to change shoes, and Todd walked in from golf. I had one of my bad moments and begged him to go. He wouldn't, so I gave in.

The Dunns River trip was included free in our stay. It was simply necessary to go over to the gift shop to get tickets and put your name on a list. The resort staff was busy getting them for those that didn’t get their own, and they were passing towels and either giving out water bottles or sending people to the Appleton bar for it. This tour leaves at 12:30, I believe. There were so many that wanted to go that they had to take two vans over to the falls.

The falls were beautiful. I had not been there in several years. They have a nice beach there, and this is a good spot for cruise ship people because they can enjoy all that is offered there. There are lockers available for those wishing to climb.

We had no intention of climbing the falls, but I walked into the falls a few steps for a photo and twisted my foot and then hit it on a rock. Someone grabbed Mom’s camera bag, but the camera was in her hand, so the person threw the bag down.

At the falls, they now have a way out where you can avoid the shops, but my family wanted to check out the shops. I had various people pressure me to buy stuff, but I did not want anything. I bought another bottle of jerk sauce for $3, though it was cheaper at the resort because the people chased me and wouldn’t leave me alone. A couple of people put seed necklaces around my neck and tried to get me to buy them, but I did not. I did buy four key chains for Christmas gifts and still have two.

The bus was to leave at 2:30. Although I had lost our parents during the walk through the shops, we hooked up outside and were hoping to be on our way on time A couple of people did not show up on time and kept us waiting until 2:50. We were very hungry and irritated by then, as were many others.

I went and got Todd, and we all ate down at Royal Café. We had a lovely 4 course meal down there. So much food was ordered. They still bring out the chips and salsa. This took a while, and most of our party wanted iced tea. This took a while. Todd took a long time to join us, and although I had placed his entire order, again, they didn’t bring his food with ours.

Among the food I remember, I had mussels, and Todd ordered me some, too. He had a Caesar salad. Everyone but me ordered garlic bread. All had soup, and it was a wonderful, creamy soup. Mom had the seafood salad. She loved that. It had mussels, scallops, shrimp and some other stuff. Jim had smoked salmon on a croissant. I was allowed to have lobster added to my market salad here. We ordered up some chicken and beef fajitas. There were more lobster BLTs. I believe Cindy had a burger with a lot of elaborate trimmings.

We ate so late that I had to leave lunch to make it to the tea. I got up there right at 4, but one couple took all of the tarts. They were going to make me some for the room but never brought them. Mom came up, and we had a nice time with tea and visiting. I had Omar’s Garden. It tasted something like cranberry. I don’t know what was in it. Mom had something else. I also had some champagne. Mom and I visited with Jenny, a nice lady we had met that was there with her two sons, Steve and Tim.

By now, my foot was throbbing from my accident at the falls. I was determined to see the Christmas carolers. Mom and I enjoyed them greatly. It was a whole group from a church in St. Mary’s. They had on very colorful costumes, and one gentleman told the story of how most Jamaicans celebrate the holiday and discussed the meaning of Christmas.

My foot got so bad that I told Mom I could not sit there another minute. The staff told me that the 5 p.m. bus was leaving for Sandals Ocho Rios and that we could go see the nurse there. I walked across the property to the nurse’s station. She was not there. They radioed her to come see me, and Mom went to the swim-up pool bar to get me some ice.

The nurse put ice on my foot and gave me 800 mg Ibuprofen. I could not walk by then and had to be wheel chaired out to the van. I received crutches and more ibuprofen and instructions for my foot. Todd and Jim and Cindy had called to see how I was and if they needed to come over. We did not have them do that, but the staff was ready to bring them if I wanted.

I fell twice trying to get back to the room, as I had no idea how to walk on crutches. Mom had Todd so scared, and he panicked. A couple found me laying helpless outside of the elevator as Todd was yelling down the stairs trying to figure out where I was. I had been desperately crawling and scooting to try to get to the elevator. I elevated my foot back in the room and had it on a lot more ice. The ibuprofen was starting to help. The night manager came up to see me and make sure I was alright.

We had some wine in the room, and Todd tried to get me to order room service and stay in, but I was determined to get outside for lobster (although room service has lobster) and the show. We went to Bayside for dinner. It was too full out by the gazebo, so we ate under the awning where everyone eats breakfast. We still had a good view of the entertainment.

For dinner, everyone had a 5 course dinner. We all had either two huge lobster tails or a steak and lobster. Before that, there were lots of seafood appetizers like shrimp cocktail for me, fruit for Todd, smoked salmon for the others. We had salads—some had Caesar, others had market. Cindy had gazpacho soup, and it was the best I’ve ever tasted. The rest of us had pumpkin. It was very creamy and delicious. The lobsters were a little garlicy for me, but they were so huge. We could not eat all of it by any means, and we had a huge plate full of lobsters that I took back to the room and enjoyed eating on over the rest of our stay. For dessert, Jim had a chocolate mousse. Several ordered some sort of lemony-custard type thing with fruit (berries) all over it. I had more sorbet.

For the entertainment, they had Nicky O.J. like they had at Sans Souci. Todd and I were disappointed to see a similar show, but Mom had enjoyed him so much at the other resort, she was happy to see him again. This time, he had on a different colored suit. He still did a lot of impersonations and a few patriotic songs and also a lot of Christmas stuff and some reggae, too. After that, the house band and a singer played, and a number of people danced. With my foot, we did not do any dancing.

One of the gentlemen I had met gave me some Naproxen (anti-inflammatory). That started the foot healing more, and by the next day, I could walk without the crutches but not with a shoe on. Overall, I was feeling very special being in Jamaica for Christmas and enjoying my favorite resort. I did not let this situation wreck my time.

Wednesday, December 25

Todd went off this day for golf. This time, his dad went along. We ate a lovely breakfast down at the Bayside. Jim, Cindy, and Mom ate in their room. We had all agreed to do that, but Todd and I never got around to ordering. I, again arrived for breakfast before Todd did and met Giovanni. He has been bragged about by so many guests and knew me by reputation, as well. He actually bowed down on his hands and knees before me. I told him if he could get Todd’s breakfast out fast, I’d be forever grateful. He did just that. Jim met Todd in the lobby just before 8, and they were off. Jim did some chipping and putting.

I went for my aromatherapy massage that morning after a nice bath. Mom arranged a lot of the Christmas gifts and checked out the gift shop. Cindy enjoyed time in her room looking at the ocean and reading her book.

My massage was very nice. This time, I was able to get in the steam room before and after the treatment. I loved that. This is a free part of the trip, and people should not miss this. They did the eucalyptus, too. I did not want to get out. The aromatherapy massage was very nice. The therapist used a medium pressure and used various techniques. This was nearly an hour, and I was totally relaxed. I do like the 80 minute sampler more but this massage is wonderful, and I was very glad I picked it. The oils were heavenly, and the music was relaxing. The lemongrass candles were burning, too. I had a lot of stress in my neck and shoulders, and the therapist was aware on her own and worked these areas very well. Again, this was thanks to the gift from my special friends that I was able to enjoy this luxury. I purchased the body scrub and turned in the certificate for the 10% off on the massage.

Mom had gone up to Grande Sport to the gift shop and had really enjoyed that. She went on the shuttle. I love to walk over there and up the hill but certainly was in no shape for that with my foot.

When the men came back, we had some lunch again at Bayside. Todd had the fish sandwich and loved it but was wishing he had remembered the Alfredo pasta. I had salad and mussels and grilled shrimp and of course, the sorbet. The rest ordered salads and other stuff—seafood quiche, steak sandwich, pasta, crab salad sandwich. All had salads and dessert, too.

This was a day that we got to enjoy some of the beach, pool and Jacuzzi. There were a lot of tarts at the tea that day, and I enjoyed these and champagne in the Jacuzzi. Another heavenly afternoon was enjoyed by everyone.

We met our parents in Mom’s room for a fun party opening all the gifts we brought. Everyone enjoyed posing for photos and exchanging the gifts. It was very special, and I am glad we did this. Todd had on a Santa hat.

Todd went to the room to get ready for the returnee party. I went to see Sandy and discuss the toy drive and what they had given the kids. I had a good visit with her and also Vivian. We took some photos of the remaining toys (tons of them). There were fun things and educational ones, too. We discussed other projects for the rest of the money, such as a sink for the school and the case that is needed for housing the computer that Tom donated.

I decided to take the bandage off of my foot before the returnee party. Todd and I arrived at 6 p.m. in the drawing room for the party. Quite a few were already there. This was Christmas day, and a few had decided to skip the event and stay with their family. We were lectured a bit by our family for going and leaving them, but they did dine at the same restaurant and had a wonderful meal.

At the returnee cocktail party, they serve canapés and cocktails and take a group photo. The women received red roses. I got two. I gave these to a staff member before we got on the plane. People mingle and visit with staff and other returning guests. This is a wonderful opportunity to find out future plans for Sandals/Beaches and to get to know others and compare experiences

The dinner began at Le Papillon at 7 p.m. and was hosted by Sandy McKoy. We didn’t get to sit as close to her as we would have liked but did visit with her some. We were near a number of British folks, and their stories were very entertaining. Champagne was flowing like crazy. For dinner, Hugo had done some huge lobster tails topped with a creamy sauce. The vegetables were delightful. We all also received a huge serving of turkey with all sorts of cranberries and so forth. I believe this was a European presentation. The soup was a wonderful seafood bisque. We did not like the Christmas pudding at all but were so stuffed by then that it didn’t matter. I missed the banana crème Brulee in philo dough that we had last time.

When we finished, our parents were still eating. They had big salads at that point, so they had a ways to go on their 5 course dinner. They all had scallops and fresh fish and wonderful desserts. I believe they also asked to try the Christmas goose!

Todd let us keep the French balcony open, and it was a delightful night again with the water sounds soothing us to sleep.

We had agreed that we were NOT doing the beachside check-in at 7 a.m. in the game room, but our mothers seemed so disappointed that I didn’t cancel ours.

Thursday, December 26

I got up at 3 or 4 a.m. to finish (O.K. start) our packing and also visit with friends on the internet. I was very interested in the sunrise and munching lobster and sipping champagne in between all of the chores. When they called for our bags, I called our mothers, and we did all do the check-in at the game room while the men slept (or Jim had coffee in his room, and Todd slept).

I continue to hate this whole thing. It was a rather stressful time because Cindy had colored tags for each bag, and we all had tags on our bags. The attendant from Air Jamaica did not want nicknames on our bags and made us redo everything. Cindy wanted to leave on her colored tags to recognize their bags. The attendant just wouldn’t allow it, and Cindy was very much on the verge of tears. Our bags and Jim’s and Cindy’s were examined inside and out, but Mom’s were not touched. Whatever, at least we got through that experience.

We all agreed to meet for breakfast at 8 (10 minutes). Todd and I kept looking out the French balcony and never saw anyone. We waited and waited just looking out the open doors and enjoying sodas and juices from our bar. Finally, after an hour, we gave up and went down to breakfast. Come to find out, our parents had eaten inside, but we had not seen them. We ate every meal outside the entire trip, so we had not anticipated them eating inside. Jim sat with us for part of our meal and had coffee. Todd enjoyed blueberry pancakes, potatoes, sausage and eggs, and I had egg, toast and bacon. We had fruit, too.

Cindy had dressed for departure, even though we were not leaving the resort until 2 p.m. This was rather upsetting for us. They decided to spend the day in the game room watching TV and playing pool. Todd and I enjoyed the Jacuzzi, beach and pool, and eventually, Mom joined us and Jim came to watch.

We had our last meal down at Royal Café. Again, we ordered everything in sight. I had a lot of mussels. Jim had more salmon. Lots of salad was ordered. Mom had enough seafood and ordered something else, fajitas I think. Todd had seafood pasta (alfredo special). We had soups. We ate so much and ordered a ton.

I went to see Sandy, and she gave us polo shirts with the new resort logo. We had already received the nice resort logo tea box and several sauces from Jamaica in our room. I was so sad to say goodbye. We had such a lovely time.

On our van, we rode with Tim and Jenny (Steve had left earlier). We had a lovely visit. When we got to the airport, we were not taken to the Air Jamaica Vacations terminal even though we were booked with them. We were taken to the main airport. Jim’s and Cindy’s flight had been delayed. We all took a turn at Jamaica Farewell for rum samples, and Todd and I bought Myer’s Rum, and Jim bought banana rum. Mom went shopping in the shops, as did Cindy.

Our flight went off on time, and we said a tearful goodbye to Jim and Cindy. We did get a true Air Jamaica flight this time. We did not get a movie this time, either. Mom was in a row behind us, and we again got an exit row. Mom ordered the chicken, we ordered the fish. We did not like it much at all. Our rice was full of strange veggies. Mom’s was better. We did get lots of drinks on the flight and slept some, which is unusual for us.

We got back to the airport and claimed our bags and quickly found a Thrifty van at the international terminal. They called for our car. We were to receive a free night and a free car wash. Todd and I have the same car except for different colors, and I had given the valet his keys instead of mine. They had to tow our car, and we did not get a car wash or anything and were stuck with a $25 towing bill. She “forgot” to take the free night off, too. After $40 between tips and towing and stuff, we were out of there, not to mention the other $40 for parking. We arrived home at 10 p.m. exhausted and left our bags in the car for the next morning.