Grand Lido Braco
This was our second trip to GLB and our first with the Yahooligans. As the old saying goes, "A good time was had by all." I will not go into every detail but will try to hit some of the highlights. I will start with our one bad experience and then give you my remembrances of a great trip.
Air Jamaica – We took flight 54 out of Houston on April 18th. It was a fiasco from the start. I called on Wednesday and was told the flight was on time (the plane comes in on Wednesday and overnights for a 7:30 a.m. departure). We took Continental from San Antonio to Houston and overnighted at a Hilton Garden Inn. Arrived at the terminal at 5:00 as instructed and were told the terminal did not open till 5:30. Security did let us in to line up but of course the desk was not open. At 5:30 an agent came out and announced that they would be giving us duplicate boarding passes. A pattern now developed that would be repeated all day, someone had to ask her why because she apparently was not going to explain anything. We were told to eat breakfast at the Airport Marriott. Again why? Because you don’t need to be at the gate till noon. Again why? Because the plane has mechanical problems. I won’t go into all the gory details but it was a mess. Passengers who were going to connect in Jamaica for other islands were rebooked standby on other airlines. We waited for hours and were told every story imaginable. From the plane was in Miami, to Kingston, to there was no crew, to it is on its way, to it is on its way but was diverted to Miami….. If the passengers had not gotten very demanding, I am not sure a plane would have come. Air Jamaica had to buy our lunch at a restaurant in the terminal opened a bar for about an hour and dead headed a plane in from Kingston. It finally arrived at 3:30 and we left at 4:30. Upon arriving in Montego Bay we noticed that every AJ flight was three to five hours late. Our flight back was over an hour and a half late in departing. We would have missed our connecting Continental flight if they had not held it at the gate. As it was, AJ damaged one of our bags and we had to take everything through security because all the desks were closed when we got in. Security was very good, only confiscated one pair of scissors. I am still working with AJ on compensation. Ok, I got that off my chest, now on to better things.
Yahooligans – What a great bunch of people, led by le Presidente, Sherri Potter. We really enjoyed ourselves and felt like we had known some of them for years. I highly recommend this bunch of nuts as fun, easy going, open minded (and hearted) traveling companions.
Staff – I know I will forget someone so please forgive me as my memory is fading. You know I now qualify for AARP, but more on that later. Damn Sexy Tight Assed Tamika, DSTAT, was a kick all week. Wherever she was there was action, noise and laughter. Melanie was only there part of the time but she was a lot of fun. A new EC came about halfway through our stay, Andrea, and we decided she should be "Baby Girl" even though she is older than Tamika. Baby Girl can really sing. Raymond, Carl, "D", Daniel and some other water sports guys joined us in volleyball whenever they got the chance. Miss Cynthia was around every day with a basket of fruit and a gospel song or two. All in all the staff was great, we had no service break downs.
Food – No problem, Mon. There was plenty. We tried all of the options except the sushi bar. Everything was very good. Service was generally very good. A little slow at the Pasta Bar but it just gave Rita more time to drink the Chilean wine. We did not order room service except at the hot tub and that was fine. It is hard to pick a favorite because they are all good in there own way. We did enjoy the Pasta Bar because it was casual and very good. Really enjoyed the lamb chops at the AN swim up bar and grill.
Drinks – There was more than enough to drink. We drank so many "Wayne’s Worlds" while playing volleyball that no one could keep score. One morning while waiting for a vendor to make a necklace for Rita, Tamika stopped at our table and offered to get us a drink. We told her to surprise us. She came back with a "Knock Me Down and Screw Me" (that is the R rated version). I thought that Romeo at the main bar made the best one. Maybe someone can remember the recipe, that memory thing is happening again. I do remember rum, pineapple juice, peach brandy???? Anyway it was very good and easy to drink. Rita really liked the Chilean Merlot. I knew it was going to be an interesting night when she took possession of a bottle at the Street Party and declared it to be hers alone. And a good time was had by all, well at least me!!!
50th Birthday – It is hard to imagine that I am 50 but it happened. If you are going to be in denial what better place to do it than Braco? My birthday just happened to be on Monday which was also the night of the AN bonfire. One of the Yahooligans, Lori, had arranged for a cake and other goodies and lots of champagne. While some of the guys distracted me, Rita shook up a bottle of champagne. She then called me over and sprayed me, the other culprits threw what seemed like five pounds of flour on me and sprayed me with silly string. I was a mess (luckily there are no pictures). I tried to wash it off in the ocean but it just turned to paste. I made Rita take a shower with me to try and clean some of it off. All of this was done under the guise of some "Jamaican Tradition". Yeah right!!!!!
Brian & Kelly’s Vow Renewal – Brian and Kelly celebrated their 10th anniversary by renewing their vows. Amazingly, Kelly was able to convince the staff to allow them to do the ceremony on the AN side. She convinced them that more of the Yahooligans would attend if they didn’t have to walk all the way to the "other" side. The staff setup an arch, table, chairs and cake at the far end of the AN beach, near the end of the property. We all threw on some clothes and provided all the encouragement they needed. It was a really nice ceremony. I walked over with the preacher and he did not seem the least bit bothered by the various stage of dress or undress. He was very gracious and did a very nice job. This was where we first saw Marlene’s dress that fits anyone. It looked great on her but I am not sure how it would look on Dan but I bet he would try. (I will post some pictures that might explain.)
Activities – Sherri put together a very interesting scavenger hunt. Our team would have won if Rita and Connie had started recruiting Textilers to convert a little sooner. Oh well we have a plan for next year. Bing hosted a most unusual golf tournament. I don’t know who won but I got a lot of prizes, mostly for being very bad. The rum punch certainly eased the pain. Took a hike with Mike, is that a song? Tried to snorkel. Jeff took me out by the rocks toward the middle of the property a pretty good way, then we worked our way back toward a cut in the breakwater toward the end of the AN beach. I was recovering from a chest cold and got choked and had a rough time getting back in when the waves kicked up. If you are not a strong swimmer, I would not recommend trying to do this when there are any significThe current in the cut was so strong it snapped an underwater camera off my arm. Be careful. Oh yeah, we played volleyball, volleyball and some more volleyball, mostly in the pool but a few times on the beach. We enjoyed the Street Party, a couple of PJ parties and the beach party. The Toga party was cancelled due to a lack of sheets?!? One PJ party was especially interesting when the "Dude Looks Like a Lady" crew showed up.
Other Guests – We arrived after 9 p.m. on Thursday so had to eat at the Pasta Bar. While we were sitting there enjoying the fact that we were back Home, we heard the entertainment from Victoria’s Market. I commented to Rita that the talent level had really improved. We heard someone singing Vince Gill and then Patsy Cline. It turned out to be Craig and Kelli from the Champagne Gang. They did a great job. We got a chance to meet several of the gang and really enjoyed them. We met a lot of people on both sides of the resort and everyone was really nice. The AN side was full so it made the activities a lot more enjoyable. We even talked a couple of people into giving the AN side a try.
Yahooligans – I can’t emphasize enough what a great bunch of diverse people make up this group. They come from New York to California, from Minnesota to Florida and all points in between. They represent all walks of life from white-collar professionals to the blue-collar working guy. But no matter where they are from or what background, when they hit that AN sign and the clothes come off, they just want to have fun with some cool people. Special thanks to David Parker for all the travel and other assistance. Thanks to Bing for the golf tournament. Thanks to Margo for nagging, I mean encouraging us to bring school supplies. Thanks to everyone for bringing so many supplies that the staff was overwhelmed. Thanks to Sue for the "pajamas" for Rita! A really big Thank You to Sherri for being so much fun and keeping us all together. And thanks to all the Yahooligans for making a significant birthday really special. And as always thanks to my most patient and loving bride, Rita, for putting up with this craziness for as long as she has.
Irie,
Doug
dcrawford1@satx.rr.com
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