Trip Report by Tracey

Crashdog01

8/27/01 12:56 pm

First let me say that Chantal did not ruin our vacation as we feared it would - I had been following the storm every day before we left. The morning before we left showed the storm had been downgraded to a wave. That night when I got home from work we heard it had picked up speed and was heading for Jamaica. Made the decision that if the plane was flying, we were going anyway.

Day 1 (Saturday August 18th) -

Flew USAirways to Philadelphia and then onto Montego Bay. Flights down were great - easy check in, got our seats reassigned from the back of the plane to something more comfy. The flight to MoBay was pretty empty - the hurricane must have scared some people off. No problems bringing the school supplies through customs - I had them written on the form to declare and they kept waving us into the line with nothing to declare anyway. The weather at MoBay was sunny but extremely windy. So far - us 1, hurricane 0. Had no one with us on the shuttle to BRP. Our driver was very safe, although we did get detoured due to a head-on collision on the way there. Stopped for some RedStripes on the way there and still got there in under two hours.

Checked in with Ven and were taken on a tour of the resort. We were upgraded two categories (we booked the lowest priced room) and were on the east side of the hotel. The room was great – huge walk in closet with a safe big enough to hold a laptop. It was a touchpad combination so we didn’t have to lug a safe key around. The bathrooms were much cleaner than the room we had at Paradise block in Negril. Loved how they landscaped it so no one could walk in front of the rooms - very private. The only noise we heard at night were these crickets or frogs or something that were very loud. Our room had a grassy hill under it so it may have not been so bad on the other side (although they didn't seem as buffered from resort noise as we did).
After unpacking we wandered down to the Royal Cafe for a late lunch. I had the conch fritters - which were spicy but amazing. Brian had the quesadillas - also tasty. At this point the tropical storm decided to even the score - it poured as soon as our food arrived. It continued to rain all night. We ate at the Bayside for dinner - the food was incredibly good. We both had the surf and turf. The lobster was great - I had lobster one night in Negril and it was mushy and nasty. Maybe I just got a bad tail that night but I thought these were much better. My only complaint for the whole weekend was that Bayside really could use some steak knives - the meat wasn't tough but trying to saw through it with the equivalent of a butter knife was still difficult.

Retired early - Brian had a nasty headache and the 4 am trip to the airport was catching up with us.

Day 2 -

Woken by peacocks. At the time we didn't actually know they were peacocks. It sounded more like someone was torturing a cat. Weather was overcast but warm - the tropical storm had definitely passed and was headed towards Mexico to threaten someone else's vacation. Felt lazy so we ordered breakfast through room service. Food arrived in 30 minutes and was still warm.

Decided that since it wasn't beach weather we should take advantage of the free trip to Dunn's River Falls. (We weren't planning on going since we were going to be there for such a short period of time). The falls were nice - lots of fun although the video guy made it a little cheesy ( He told us to "Go stand over there and kiss" about a dozen times). Probably would have had more fun had we managed to coordinate going with the same day as the two other couples we met there. It was a much more athletic trip than I expected - not like running the NYC marathon but not the leisurely "stand there and watch the water go by" trip I expected. There was one spot that was tricky to climb but later we spoke with people who went the next day and their guide directed to women to an easier way through that spot. We did buy the video - cost was $25 and it was actually better produced than I thought it would be. Warning: He did like to take lots of shots of the women from behind though.

Came back to a late lunch at Bayside. They had their "rain menu" which looked like a combination of stuff from their regular menu and Royal Cafe. I started with the bruschetta with feta cheese - they were really good and had the crab salad sandwich - which was OK, nothing special. Interesting to note that sitting near us was two kids who couldn't possibly be 16. The girl might have been close but the boy couldn't have been a day over 12. That being said, they were impeccably well mannered. Not sure what their deal was - their father arrived and the boy said he was going to go back to the house. The villa is nowhere close to done so I have no idea where they stayed.

We ate that night at Le Papillion. We weren't crazy about the menu (escargots!) but it was the only night we could go (Saturday we arrived too late to make reservations and Monday they are closed). If they rotate the same menus weekly, Saturday's menu looked really good, btw. We had a first course of greens and goat cheese spread on croutons (goat cheese is a personal weakness of mine so this was a big hit) followed by the infamous snails. Brian tried one - I actually managed to finish them (after all, they were floating in butter so how bad could they taste) although they did get stuck in my throat a bit whenever scenes from some nature show about snails flashed through my brain. For the main course we had a choice of rack of lamb or grilled crawfish. Brian had the lamb, I had the crawfish - his was better. Forget what dessert was - something chocolate. One thing that was odd is that there were only two couples dining inside and they seated them right next to each other - would think they would space them out a little.

Wandered down to the Appleton Lounge after dinner. Found the bartenders somewhat pushy in terms of drinks - they kept pressuring me to do shots (which wreak havoc on an intestinal disorder I have). A polite "no" did the trick but it took a few of them before they gave up. I may have been more comfortable if we sat at a table instead of sitting at the bar. The bar was pretty lively - lots of people from Grande Sport. We stopped at Grand Sport on the way to the Falls - it had a lot more going on than BRP (ie: volleyball) but I doubt I would have liked to stay there. It's not on the beach for one thing. And I liked the fact that there were no Playmakers at BRP. That's just a matter of personal preference, I guess. Had a few drinks and retired to the hot tub to unwind - pleasantly surprised to find they would bring us drinks out there.

Day 3 - our 1st anniversary!

Woke to bright, beautiful sunshine. Take that, tropical storm! Dragged Brian out of bed to breakfast at Bayside. Brian was less than pleased by this. Thankfully, they had enough coffee there to restore him to the sweet and cheery man I married.

Headed down to the beach with magazines and sunblock. The beach service is incredible - they are always offering cold towels and drinks. We only stayed out for about an hour. I was starting to sunburn very quickly - the sun was hot! Went back to the room and drank enough water to counteract certain dehydration from the heat. Figured at that point lunch couldn't hurt so we tromped back to Bayside for mudslides and lunch. I ordered more bruschetta and a minute steak. Failed reading comprehension 101 - I was expecting a steak sandwich when what I got was this little steak on a plate with some fries. Once I got over the "where's the bread” surprise it wasn't bad at all.

Went snorkeling in the afternoon - the water was still extremely choppy from the storm. Didn't see as much as in Negril but still had lots of fun.

Monday night is the beach party - dinner is only available as buffet on the beach. Lots of selection - crawfish, shrimp, pasta, a roast pig, a dessert table that could have sunk a small boat. They had dancers and a fire eater. If we went again I think we'd skip the beach party and head to Valentinos at Ocho Rios. It was fun but not something you need to see more than once. Skipped the invitation to head to Ocho Rios for the slots because we had to pack and get up early the next day. Came back to find a cake and card for our anniversary in our room – pulled the champagne out of the mini bar and celebrated.

Day 4

Met Jenice and headed to the Mansfield Basic school. The school is for 3-5 year olds and has about 50 students. At age 6 they go to primary schools, which are government funded and better supplied. The students are supposed to pay $1000 Jamaican dollars (about $23 US?) but less than half do. Recently someone wondered if Dunns River and BRP sponsor the same school - the answer is no, each Sandals sponsors a different school. We did pass another Basic school on the way to Mansfield so that may be the one that Dunn's River sponsors. Met someone involved with the school. She said they especially need clothes for that age group and books for story time. I have pictures of the school I'll forward on to Debbie.

Got back by 10am to head to the airport. Our driver to the airport was much less, um, sane. He did settle down a little when he noticed I was turning green but I still wouldn't nominate him for any driver safety awards. One last mudslide at Margaritaville and it was back to home and work.

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