Love Livin... A few adventures on the beach

A brief (maybe) commentary on my adventures in Negril. Background: second trip to Negril in as many years.

4/23: Spent the night in Boston at the Logan Hilton. Noises, but very convenient. Up at 2:45 am to shower and check out. Shuttle to the terminal and in line at JetBlue. Then to tsa, which hadn't even opened yet. Overall, 45 minutes from start to finish. Not terrible. Another line up at dunkins. Decaf and a muffin for later. Then more waiting. Boarding was late. Once on, more waiting- an "it's not a problem" fuel pump maintenance fix-up. Once in air a comfortable, uneventful flight. Nice people staying at azul next to me. Rested my eyes for a bit but no real sleep. Land in MBJ about 40 minutes late but NO PROBLEM WO-MON... My lovely CMB rep was waiting for me and we walked past the longest line up I've seen (up the ramp). As a note, I was tryin to remember the 'old' customs form, but I can't; the new ones are super easy: name, passport number, flight info, and hotel info. The immigration agent stamps it and the customs agent takes it. I didn't even have to stand in line for customs, my CMB rep handed the agent my form and that was it (nothing to declare so no need to stop and chat, I guess). One small annoyance is this guy who tried to jump in with me and my CMB rep- he literally just started following us past the whole line. I told him he owed me $40 for sharing my CMB rep. He thought I was kidding and we basically told home he can't be in line with us anymore. It is as annoying. The people I sat next to on my plan was I would have gladly had with me if I could have, but this guy was a mooch :( Upon arriving at the sandals lounge ( remember grand pineapple is a sandals brand and that's how I do my transfer)I was informed that I was upgraded to Sandals for 1 night. I didn't know what to think about it until about 8:30 pm (last night). I decided it's ok. I wouldn't ever choose this property, so having a chance to check it out is nice. The wifi is superb and I don't know what differ depending it makes but selected the "select guest" option for log on and I was able to FaceTime, and fully access high speed internet on two devies, no problem. Anyway, once I got into my bathing suit and wandered around the resort a little, I decided to wander down the beach. Now I know that I like being down the beach way better than being up the beach... LONG WALK!!!! Taxi recommended, but I'm a 'walker' so it's not terrible, just long!

On my walk I encountered some new friends! Shout out to groove, billndonna (thanks for letting me use your bathroom), big shiny and rootsy, bostonguy, and Wanda and Wayne (thanks for the sunscreen), as well as some other lovely folks who' names I can't remember right now. I just happened to look up and notice groove- it was one of those, "hey, I know you!" Moments. We spent time with grace at Tony's but ( I think) then past Woodstock and stopped at sunny side. Fist dip in the sea... So nice! A little cool and churned up fromall the rain. But so nice!!!! Time to clean up for the evening. Bostonguy and I start trekking up the beach, he peels off and I keep walking. Made it back to sandals just before sunset. The plan was to meet up at seastar for the show and hanging out, then maybe bourbon beach. I showered, at dinner, sent out an "I'm done" message and went to sleep! A long but excellent day!!!!

Enjoying a couple of cups of coffee on a bench by the sea. The radio stations are basically broadcasting gospel, which (shouldn't surprise me) is full on reggae style! And typing this up. I've got to see what's going on with my "move" down the beach in a few hours, then drifters this afternoon, of course! For now, I think I'll enjoy what Sandals has to offer until I'm moved closer to the action.

My reflection: it's kind of odd being single at a couples only resort, but everyone has been gracious and the service is, as expected, excellent. Even so, I prefer being down the beach, but this is a lovely resort for a couples vacation. If you don't want to taxi, this resort would be perfect for those wishing to lounge, eat, do water sports, and there seems to be an active games and activities staff. Last night the silver birds played but I was way too tired. I heard the show softly while I fell asleep, but the delightful sound of the crickets and frogs was overwhelmingly dominant. I love Negril!!!

Great start and observations..... Have a terrific time!

Funny as I was there at Sunnyside with you all and did not know it was you. Groove pushed my kid down the beach most of the way to Sunnyside.

4/24 Sunday
After a delicious breakfast at Sandals, I packed up the few things I had unpacked and "checked out". Grand Pineapple sent a taxi for me and a quick ride later I was checking into grand pineapple. My room was ready shortly after arriving so I went over, settled in and got out to the beach. Seems like by then it was already 1:00. I hit the beach for a walk but. I stops or anything special. Around 3:00, grabbed a beer for the road and headed down to drifters with lisapat. Slow at first but then more people than I know showed ups do the place was jammin. Shout out to rob! And bostonguy, groove, Janet, Bill n Donna, iriechic, Jojo, and all of the other wonderful people I'm forgetting! After what seemed like alley 5 hours, a geoup of us hit the street side and ended up at Alfred's. It was a little slow and I was in my room by 10:00 after having some of the dinner buffet from GP. I had a blast showing off my amazing dance skills (and by amazing I mean ridiculous!) and spending more time with sim amazing people. No a ole lot to report from yesterday. Today I'm going to spend some time taking photos and trying out my new GoPro.

Bless up!

Yesterday's take away: having drifters open to music until 7 makes for a long "afternoon"! Had to go back to my room for more cash! Also, the cambio by bourbon beach wasn't open on Sunday, which I should have figured- unless i was in the wrong place! Finally, watching strangers become friends is awe-some!

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Originally Posted by beachballler

Great start and observations..... Have a terrific time!

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Thanks you!!! So far it's been a great trip!

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Originally Posted by booger

Funny as I was there at Sunnyside with you all and did not know it was you. Groove pushed my kid down the beach most of the way to Sunnyside.

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Oh! That's too bad!!! Next time!!! Were you also at drifters? I was the goofball dancing like a crazy lady!

See you today perhaps!
Melissa

Sounds like you're having lots of fun.

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Originally Posted by LivinInThe603

Oh! That's too bad!!! Next time!!! Were you also at drifters? I was the goofball dancing like a crazy lady!

See you today perhaps!
Melissa

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No Drifters for us as we were headed home on a big jet plane. Enjoy your time and throw in some pics if you can.

hey 603.....back to reality

Reality is the worst!

My reports got cut short after day two because it was so much fun to be busy on the beach!!!

We had some amazing adventures. It's hard to choose the best, but why bother! It was great being welcomed so warmly by everyone I met and I can hardly wait for my next trip. I'm thinking of making a July run when things are a little slower and quiet because I hardly had time to relax (except those few hours I could hardly move!). I'm way to lento stay up all night anymore!

More To follow when I have time to process the events of the trip!

Love livin; aka star girl; aka Chapter 7; aka the best dancer Negril has ever seen!

:cool:

You were awesome 603,not many could keep up with you and just watching you dance all over the beach wore us out!

Awesome meeting you 603!! I envy all the energy you have. YOLO!!

Miss you girl, crossing my fingers your going to edit this !!! hehehehe :)

Really nice to meet you all at the Bash

Cap

It was great to finally meet you Captain!

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Originally Posted by captaind & Linston

Really nice to meet you all at the Bash

Cap

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Same to you, Cap !

Darn..!!!
:-(

that's it...???...

i want / need MORE of this trip report
more
more
more, please please PLEASE

the ''start'' was/is toooooooo good

more more more more more

and some of them GoPro pics/videos, TOO

to-Hell with that so-called ''reality'' stuff .... me want MORE..!!!

I am so glad to meet ALL of you!!!! What an awesome crew!

Videos in the works! Need to do some editing. For my first time With the GoPro I got some good and not so good footage... And it's pretty shakes in most places, but I'll do my best to tighten it up for viewing.

Great times, as expected, and some unexpected!
Love Livin (#stargirl #5star #chapter7)

Jojo and I have been messaging... Wondering if this past week actually even happened... We were laughing how we keep appearing in all these pics we had no idea taking... So great meeting you... How can you not respect a crazy dancing pats fan?

By the way, what day was it we saw you at Tony's hut? Trying to get my days together

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Originally Posted by bostonguy823

By the way, what day was it we saw you at Tony's hut? Trying to get my days together

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Tony's Hut was my first afternoon, saturday 4/23... our first meeting! I just happened to look up and see Groove, and it was all mayhem from there!!!