10 Years, 12 Nights, 6 Hotels, ONE LOVE - April 2012 Trip Report

[Hubby-man]

Trip Report Continued...



****

“Do you think he'll be alright?”, she asked me almost touching her beautiful eyebrows together in the center of her forehead. She looked ultimately worried and concerned.

“I don't know? It's a pretty big drop from here.” I answered honestly peering over the hand rail at the villa.



The ocean below was sparkling in all shades of turquoise. I almost didn't want to leave, but I was also looking forward to the upcoming anniversary dinner. Wow! Ten Years! It really is today! I hope she'll like the place, where I made reservations….

My mind turned back to the matter at hand.

“Maybe we shouldn't drop him from here. You should just walk him down the stairs and gently throw him in at the ladder!”

“O.K.”, she chimed, very content with the decision.

She cupped the scuba mask with her hands, careful not to spill any of the water of Albert's temporary biotope. Albert, a handsome, but tiny little hermit crab had crawled out of a shell I had found on the bottom of the cove.

First he tried to pinch me, but when he just couldn't dent my skin, he gave up and crawled back into his house, peeking only his eye-stocks out. After he calmed down he posed for some pictures, proudly strutting around in the mask.



Now it was time to say good bye, since we still needed to change and wanted to have a drink at the bar before leaving. So Daisy gently dropped the little shell from the lowest platform. We stood watching it slowly tumble down towards the Ocean floor, waving good-bye and saluting.

“I hope the Lion fish won’t get him...” Daisy whispered.

Back in the amazing honey-moon suite I pulled out my best khakis and a button down shirt. Not exactly tropical attire, but if the Colonial British could bare it, I surely could too, especially for an occasion such as this one.

Daisy pulled one of the most stunning dresses I had ever seen - on her or anyone - out of her suitcase.

“You look stunning, babe!” I pulled her in for a kiss.

“Really?”, she asked insecurely, blocking my lips with the index finger. There was that worried face again!

“Yes, really really, honey! Come on, let's grab a drink. It's time to celebrate!”

Finally a BIG smile!.. and a kiss.

Shakes and Radcliff were both at the bar. Shakes was a little upset. Apparently he had come in late this morning and had gotten a talking to. He seemed very embarrassed.

“Don't worry, Mon!” I said. “I have never been on time for anything in my life. I for one won't judge you.”

He frowned at that notion and lectured me on the importance of punctuality. That made me remember the time. 5:29 PM! Perfect.

“Look at that Shakes! Our ride will be here in one minute. Now your lecture has caused me to be on time for something for the first time in my life! That should cheer you up!” We both laughed.

Our ride was there indeed. 5:30 on the Dot. Good Negril drivers are incredibly reliable with the precision of a Swiss watch! This one was a young guy named O'Neill.

At some point this day seemed so far away. I had really not taken care of reservations very well. I was late, just as always, waiting for the pressure to build.

Daisy had been talking about “Night of 100 candles” at Catcha falling Star ever since she read Guirigay's trip report. When I finally called to make reservations for our anniversary, they were already booked for the date, apparently months ago. Drats!! Now what?!

I wrote to Guiriguy in panic. We had never talked before, but he was so amazingly sweet and very helpful, I took to him immediately, just from our correspondence. He had some great suggestion,... had done his research. (You are a lucky girl, sweetie pie - what a romantic!).

I called a few places. Some were already booked, others just too expensive – unreasonable no matter what the occasion (well, I guess that depends on your budget!) Finally I stumbled on The Spa Retreat. The manager was on the phone when I called and she was very excited.

“I will send you a car at 5:30. You will be here in perfect time for sunset!”

That's a deal!

The light was already hitting the magic hour. The shadows were a rich purple, softly contrasting the golden color of the light. When we stepped out of the taxi the manager, Diane, was waiting for us at the gate with a few staff members to great us.

“We’ve been waiting for you!”

‘Really?’, I thought, ‘Dang! We are traveling in style, honey!’ I looked over at her. She was smiling happily absorbed in the moment.

Diane led us around a curving stone wall that was set on fire by the setting sun. The entire resort was perfectly immaculate, as fresh and pure as an architectural sketch.



In the center to the right a very high thatched roof covered an open walled lounging area. One could sit on stools or large couches to observe the kitchen at work directly behind the bar.

Beyond the large pillars holding up the roof an enormous open space stretched to the ocean. Countless tables, covered in the finest white linen, were spread out with plenty of room between them.

To make the scene even more magical, waiters in fancy uniform were lighting little storm candles, that sparkled in competition with the sunset over the water.