After 6 Trips.....Finally......My First Trip Report!!
Hello Everybuddy!!
I have been lurking and making the occasional post on these forums for a few years, and have always wanted to do a TR. With our next (7th) reach coming in January, I am finally ready to start my tales. It wouldn't be fair to start the story in the middle, so I am going to have to make you all suffer through the travails and triumphs from the beginning. My name is Woody, and I was born in...................just kidding, we don't need to go back that far.
Back in 2007, my fiancee, Angie (Lovin Negril) and I were trying to decide where we should get married. She was actually the one who thought it would be cool to do a destination wedding. After looking around she found us a deal that was hard to beat. It was a small AI called Coral Cove, located in Little Bay, JA. We discussed it for a couple of weeks. I was leaning more towards a traditional wedding at home, but the more I looked at the pictures of the resort, the more I was thinking how great it would be to have a wedding and honeymoon all at once. We started running it by our closest relatives to get feelers out on how they would feel about it, and got positive reactions from enough of them to make our decision (greatest decision ever).
Day 1
On February 20th, 2008 we finally landed on the rock. I remember, even when descending, I could feel the heat rising in the cabin, and I was getting extremely excited. It took us about an hour to get through Customs, as there were two or three other flights that arrived at the same time as us. After getting our baggage and getting outside I was delighted by the glorious smell outside of the airport. I still don't know why that smell makes me so happy and relaxed at the same time. It's not like it is a very pleasant smell, but it has an intoxicating effect on me. After finding our liaison, we were escorted to where we would be picked up shortly. I ran (ambled) over to the little bar and got a couple of Red Stripes and just soaked in the surroundings. By the time I was finishing my first Stripe of the trip, our driver showed up and we were on our way.
I wear a seat belt religiously at home, but did I bother to put one on this day.........no. I don't know why I was feeling so fancy free but I threw safety out the window, even though I am sure my fists were clenched up tighter than ever before. Holy Sh*t!! These people all drive like they are in a Grand Prix. This crazy ride lasted about an hour, and then, it was the complete opposite. The roads became filled with some of the biggest potholes that I had ever seen, and at times only room for one lane to travel at one time. The further we went the more I was wondering where we were really heading. I had seen a lot of positive reviews of Coral Cove, but I was starting to question the validity of those reviews. I started to have images of the movie Club Paradise, and wondered if we were going to meet up with Robin Williams and Eugene Levy (not sure if anyone will get that reference).
Well, lo and behold, all of a sudden we pulled into the gates of Coral Cove and I knew right away that the reviews hadn't lied. This was a beautiful property and I was sure we had made the right choice. We checked in and were promptly escorted to our rooms. I had been wondering before our trip how easily I would be able to get some tasty sandwich ingredients, and I wasn't disappointed. As the nice young man carried our bags up to our room, he put the bags down and asked if I would like some subs. Well, that was easy, and the subs were very tasty.
After chilling for a bit, we went down to dinner. Then we hung out at the bar and waited for the rest of our party to arrive as they had taken later flights. By the time they arrived we were pretty wiped out from travelling. We hung for a bit more but then had to call it a day.
I think that I was so inundated by the new experiences that I only ended up taking two pics that first day. In fact, I didn't take any more pics until our third day, the wedding. But trust me on this, there are plenty more pics to come, as well as more stories. I hope you join me on my journey down memory lane so I can catch up to the present.
Our bed:
The "Beach":
