And The Winner Is….
CosHarbour! He not only was the first to guess our vacation locale, he got it right down to the hotel. Half Moon.
We’ve been to Jamaica many times. My sister is a fan of Tryall and we are too. Done the whole Round Hill resort a few times. Half Moon has had some mixed reviews of late but we had more than a stellar stay. First of all, we got double upgraded room-wise. What started out as going at the last minute because we saw a 40% off sale, whatever our body language was when we arrived said to the staff, let’s put those people in a Royal Suite. Not too shabby.
The place was pretty empty when we arrived but by Thursday, corporate groups and incentive groups were arriving – ScotiaBank was there en masse. Lots of people on the golf package. Lots of wives on the beach waiting for the golfer husband to return from the 19th hole.
Food was okay. Some nights better than others. But overall, we couldn’t find a thing to complain about. Really. Okay, one thing.
Our flight out of Montego Bay was 5:12p last night but it is required to be at the airport three hours before departure. We know that things can be crazy with ten flights leaving at once in a small airport so we complied. We got to the airport in ten minutes, we were only one of two people waiting for the JetBlue counter, got through check-in and customs in 15 minutes max and then had three hours to wait upstairs.
Watched lots of oddball airlines coming and going – AirBerlin! SunWing Air. But Transaero topped them all. One side of the plane, the logo was in English, the other side, in Russian. I tried to get the Russian side logo but the plane turned before I could. This was a non-stop flight from Moscow that landed while we were waiting to take off – and get this, its turn around time was incredibly fast too – it took off back for Moscow before our flight!
When we landed at JFK, there was a long long long 5-ess-turn deep wait through immigration and we thought, the sequester, drat. But almost 20 booths were open, no slow down, the line went very quickly, and we got out to find our luggage and car service waiting. Could not have been easier.
Now we wait for the snow.
Has anyone noticed anything different from this diabolical sequester? Every time the government “shuts down”, I realize how much I really don’t need it because I have never once been affected by the lack of federal government. Grrr…
At least you’ll be tan in the snow!
Maggie: NOTHING has changed from the sequester. Actually I think the agents last night were so fast was they didn’t want Obama to use their name and job position in his sick little political game. Hulu has posted a hysterical SNL skit about the Sequester – note that the Obama player says he knows nothing about the economy. Gee, when SNL disses the president – what’s next? NBC?
#i1,p0,d1
EOS,
I’m honored to be chosen as the winner.
It was simply too easy to win.
Please re-bestow your award on somebody else!
Way too eezy-peezy because:
Decades ago… Moi w/GF went to Jamaica with two couples and managed to drive 600 miles in ten days, on the right side, on the island. It’s easy remember well since I was younger then and the designated driver. The gigantic Red Stripe beer trucks ruled the road.
We went everywhere, most memorably Kingston at night, Ocho Rios, chez Ian Flemming, Tryell and, also winding up bemused at a thatched ganja beach hut in Negril, as we
might stay a different hotel, if only for one night, though we had rented a staffed house, arriving back to be fed the most meager meals. Which led us to suspect that their families might be eating our largesse, which we did not begrudge.
At one point on our driving, way out in the Jamaica hinterlands, three children stretched out their hands towards us, and said,
“white people, give us money!”
Today, I can clearly recall that moment.
Thanks for your pix, especially the flying dolphin!
Darn! I was soooo close with my Gitmo guess. Maybe next year.
CH: You may be honored to be the winner but you do realize you win exactly nothing, right?!
Quite the story of your island tour; something similar happened to us in the 70s – white people, give us your money. We got stopped on the road, and not a let’s wave at the happy people kind of stop, but pull over NOW kind of stop. Scary, I gotta tell you. Jamaicans were not happy in the 70s and even into the 80s.
We saw a completely different island resident demeanor this time; perhaps accepting that much of their income comes from placating the tourist. It can’t be easy but at Half Moon, when all the employees are locals, many have worked there for decades, including the top management positions, then there is a goal in succeeding.
Michigan, Darn. Good thing the winning prize was not a tour of the White House!
Just for the record, Jamaica today is fun!
It always will be so, thanks to the Jamaicans.
Looking forward to being there to collect my award.
Dinner at Half Moon, on your dime. OOOOPS!
Since last trip in 198X, as we covered every single paved mile,
now might be the time for a retrospective trip…..
Hopeful that you will post sometime some retro slides.
Next year when we are there, we’ll give you plenty of notice. THEN, dinner on our dime, for sure. [Transportation not included]
I am looking for old Jamaican photos/slides now. The house we stayed in circa the 1970s got blown away in an 80s hurricane.