“ NOLAnmr Rookie Trip Report - Part 2 – Day 1 ”

Dec 16, 2008, 1:58 PM
After almost a year of planning, the time had finally arrived to leave. Almost every spare second on an internet connection (laptop, work, cell phone, etc.) had been devoted to reading any and all available info on Jamaica, Negril or message boards. For a while I think I was bordering on some kind of unhealthy obsession. But that was making the departure date all the sweeter.

The previous week had been a major whirlwind as the celebration for our impending wedding in Jamaica had begun. The Friday before we left (Fri b/4 Thanxgivng), was our bachelor and bachelorette parties on Bourbon St, here in NOLA. Then Saturday my parents threw a party at their house since many people were not going to JA for the wedding. My dad hired a live Mariachi band; we had Jamaican catering and tons of rum & Red Stripe. The party ended up a Spanish, Jamaican and Cajun fusion showcasing both of our heritages and Jamaica.

I’m at work, the day before we leave, and I feel a strong cough, congestion and all of that good stuff. So I excuse myself and drive to the Dr for a shot. Late that night my Fiancé gets the same thing and drives to those emergency late night office for a shot also. So now we are both full-blown sick and leaving in hours to get married. Nothing a little carib air can’t fix.

Off to the airport at 4:30 am. My friend has started his own limo/private transpo service business and picked us up in style! Very convenient as we didn’t have to worry about taxi, parking, etc., and he said it was part of his gift since he wasn’t going. Flights & connections, easy-no problem. Soon we would be seeing the Mo Bay coast through the plane windows. We were flying the day before Thanxgiving and I thought it would be a hassle but nothing, easy as pie. Mo Bay customs was virtually empty. This was all good considering we were sick, pale and in cold sweat. Being sick didn’t help with the madhouse that waits outside that airport. It took us a minute to find our driver since everybody claimed to be him. Stef actually didn’t look to good with all of the confusion and literally had to sit not to pass out while I got her a bite and drink. Our friends and travel partners, Matt & Zinnia, found our driver and we were finally off to Negril. After the stop for food, room supplies, red stripe and spliffs, we were all good and enjoying the awesome sights all the way to CocoLapalm. I really recommend the items I mentioned before (Carib air, spliff and Red Stripe) when you are terribly sick, the combination is a miracle cure. Who’s sick? Not us anymore.

We arrived at CCLP late afternoon. We had the honeymoon suite and it was awesome. It was a very spacious room with a king sized Bamboo bed. The bathroom had a huge Jacuzzi tub and a huge shower for me. The best part was the oversized balcony over-looking the beach and restaurant area. One thing I learned that applies here and mostly all parts of my reviews are to take the reviews, especially the bad ones, with a grain of salt. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but everywhere has its share of negative reviews and comments that you will find. I concluded that some people may just never be happy, no matter location and situation. I could not be happier just to be here. I apologize to the negative reviewers, you do play an important role, informing others on things to expect. I guess for others, some things may matter; I could not care less about some of these issues though, I’m in paradise.

We did a little relaxing, checking out the grounds, drinking, smoking and checking out each other’s rooms. Matt & Z had a 1 bedroom suite that was literally over the check-in office. It was very similar to our room in layout. Bathroom & view weren’t as AWESOME, but very nice. It became dinner time and we walked the beach to Charela and had a very nice dinner there. Can’t remember what dishes we had but we knew this was probably on the higher end of the price scale for dinners and enjoyed it very much with a lot of wine. Hell, it was our first night and first “official” meal of the trip.

From there we knew Roots Bamboo was what was hoppin on the beach that night, so off we went strolling down the beach. Roots was going off, good drinks and great music (whoever was playing was almost Sizzla-esque). The wandering bartender/waiter was doing a great job for us and deserved his tips as he was working hard and had a great attitude. Unfortunately, this was also our introduction to the higgler scene. I’m sure our pale skin and travel-weary faces gave us away as first-nighters but the onslaught was brutal and unmerciful. It was never this bad again during the whole trip but aggravated me enough to catch a cab to the cliffs to On the Rocks. What a breath of fresh air that was. They had some kind of big concert going on with some dance-hall performers and singers. The vibe was so much better than Roots. I think there were actually more locals than tourists here but everything was cool. Here we enjoyed the people, music, aroma, liquor, beer till about 2am. Remember we started the day sick in New Orleans at 4:30 am with about 2/3 hours of sleep. So finally we called it a night and stumbled to our rooms from the cab. First day – a success.

OK... I finally have gone through some pics and figured the best way to post them up here. Click the link below and it will take you to the picasa album where its very easy to just view the pics in an album or view the slideshow:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephanielanter/CocoLapalm#

I’ll also create more threads in the days to come of the rest of our trip.