Sam I Am's Trip Report May 2011 (Part1)

[Sam I Am]

DISCLAIMER:
A few warnings and excuses...
1. While I have been to Negril many times and often keep a journal, I have never done a trip report, so this may suck.
2. I have have already been home for about a month, so the info contained within may be out of date.
3. I am boring. Sorry, but this definitely wont be action packed.
4. I hate taking photos. I have a few but we are talking single digit pics, dont get your hopes up.

Now that I have sufficiently lowered your expectations, we shall begin.

BACKGROUND:
I am a early 30's female who has been traveling to Negril for the past 10 years. Sometimes I travel with friends, sometimes family, sometimes solo. I am a creature of habit so I often fall into comfortable patterns.

DAY NEGATIVE ONE:
I call it -1 due to the fact that I always fly red-eyes from the west coast, so while I am excited to be leaving, it is not really my first day of vacation. The flight was scheduled to leave at 11:20pm. I arrive on time and once again the flight to Charlotte is totally full. So full they require me to check my carryon at the gate. I hate that. I am never confident it will get all the way to JA.

Onto the plane and of course there is a delay. Mechanical problem with the toilets. Apparently they wont be able to flush during takeoff and landing.... last time I checked we could not use the toilets then anyway!! So we wait an hour to see if they can be fixed. I am starting to worry since my layover in Charlotte is only 1.5 hours and we are already a hour behind. After much discussion they decide it is no big deal and we can fly without fixing them.... UGH!

The flight was fine, but I cant sleep on planes, so it was long and stressful thinking that I and/or my bags would never make my connecting flight.

DAY ONE:
We arrived in Charlotte and I frantically ran through the airport to my gate. Just in time and on the way to JA By the time I arrived in MoBay, I was more relieved that excited to be there. I am a crazy OCD planner and organizer (which happens at home but disappears in JA), so the past few weeks were stressful. But I was here

Customs/Immigration was fast for a Saturday morning and only took about 10 minutes. I met DeShaun from Clives outside and got my first cold Red Stripe of the trip...always the best one. I tried to get my digicel working while I waited for the van to pull around. Oh and I gladly took off my watch and put it away (not to be worn again for 2 weeks).

Into the van and on the road. Cell was not working, so I would need a new SIM card. There were about 6 other people in the van heading to a wedding at Beaches, so I was not able to convince them to stop more than the prerequisite bathroom/beer break. Dropped them off and then I was pulling into White Sands.

White Sands is my home away from home. I love it there and it fits my needs perfectly. I got my regular room, unpacked a bit and then it was time to hit the bar. I said hi to Tony (the Bartender), ordered a daily special (jamaican delight), and said hello to a few regular guests that I knew.

I then grabbed a taxi downtown to get a new SIM at the digicel store and change some money. Then back to the bar at WS with some Best In The West chicken for dinner. Food was good, but not as great as I remembered.

I headed to the room early due to being awake for the past 40 hours and having too many first night drinks. Fell asleep drunk and happy