Friday, February 4th
Up at 3:30 am. First time flying NWA. Had to get creative with the packing as the weight limit of luggage was 20 pounds less than US Air. Layover in Memphis. When we first started going to Negril the Charlotte airport was under construction. It was finally completed last time and now again through the sheet rock hallways.

Immigration was a NIGHTMARE. We got in 20 minutes late and at the same time as two other flights. The line began way before where the welcome singers should have been. We managed to make our way back to the last 'lucky line' and we were wrapped along the wall a bit. After an hour we were only a sixth of the way up. My smart husband was keeping an eye on the empty very last lane and saw someone head into the booth and nudged me and said it's opening. IT'S OPENING that's all it took and I sprinted and became the fourth couple in line. Amusingly, we had been talking to a really classy 70 year old couple in the initial line and when I turned around they were only two couples behind us. GO THEM!

This trip we had the Idle Awhile driver pick us up. Why didn't we do this before! We stopped at the Super Plus for drinks right outside of town.

We checked into Idle Awhile, OH MY GOD WHERE IS MARCIA?, and dropped our suitcases off and headed up to see Dan, a work friend of Greg's staying at White Sands. Dan works way too much and his wife took pity and told him to go somewhere. We took a taxi up to 3Dives for dinner and Greg took the taxi further up to Sea Star to get a scooter (Sea Star rocks). So I was a bit tired by this time and it was webcast night. Holy cow, I met so many people that I couldn't keep anyone straight.  Afterward, we all went back to IA and played cards. Oh and then I got a little buzzed and talked Greg into going across the street for the divine BEST IN THE WEST.

Dan picked us up and we headed to The Boat Bar for breakfast. Oh how we loved this place in the past. Their orange juice was out of this world and I LOVED their crunchy french toast with real syrup. Well, it's really been built up since Ivan. It really really looks nice. And I guess of course, the price went up exponentially. But the orange juice wasn't as cold and my french toast wasn't so crunchy. And it was like 20 bucks for the three of us and we really didn't even order that much. We went to Selina's for a while. The webcast was kicking! There were a ton of musicians playing and they absolutely rocked. It was cool that Cowboy was playing right along. I had to keep my sunglasses on because my eyes were overflowing with joy from the excellent music and feeling so blessed to be in Negril.

I went back to the room to hit the beach and later Greg headed up to Selina's to see if she was feeling better today (she had a cold). He talked to Mango and Sherri (I'M SO JEALOUS. I didn't see them this trip!) Greg rounded up the family and they came back with him to IA. We picked up Dan and all of us piled into a cab and went to  3Dives. (I know AGAIN.) We had a great time hanging out there. I had a handful of beers and practically killed myself trying to switch seats away from Greg's lobster (I don't like seafood). We all sat down by the bon fire for a bit and then called it an early night as Selina was still fighting a cold.

Greg, Dan and I sat around and played some cards on our awesome Idle Awhile porch.

We had breakfast at Idle Awhile today and then straight to the beach. Saw Dan on the beach and he'd had a full day already walking all the way up to Rockhouse!! He headed home for some R&R while Greg and I headed to Miss Sonia's for lunch. Oh my god, is her place ever adorable now! She even had sand hauled in for the floor of the seating area. Much softer than cement. She has plants all around the edges of the place and it is really open and spacious. She has a brand spankin new stove in the kitchen but she didn't appear to use it (cooked out back). LOL. Greg brought her some tomato seeds and she was really pleased.

Hooked up with Dan later and went to Bourbon Beach for sunset and dinner. Afterward we walked across the street to Times Square to  shop for his family. We ran into Mary B while we were there. What a sweet lady. We all had a sweet tooth so we stopped by Selina's on the way home for some cheese cake. Hung our with Abby, Tom and MnBob for awhile and made plans with Mary B to go snorkeling in the morning.

Mary called at 7:30 am to cancel snorkeling due to overcast skies and slight drizzle. We had breakfast at Coco La Palm with Dan (classy place). Went to the beach until early afternoon and then said to hell with the waves, we're going snorkeling. We hooked up with Captain Kirk's crew and headed out. The sea was seriously rough. It took a while to get out there. Greg forgoed the snorkeling but actually got the short end because we could hardly feel the waves in the water while he was rollin' with the waves. The swells were at least three feet! Dan and I had a good time snorkeling. We saw some really cool fish and a huge sea turtle but the coral seemed in bad shape.

Greg and I spent some more time on the beach and then grabbed a pattie from Niah and went by Sunshine Plaza where I set my eyes on a couple cool watercolor paintings.

OMG. We still haven't turned on the AC this trip. Seriously. It was actually cool in the evening. A light long sleeve shirt was about perfect. Big Roy thought he was freezing to death. LOL. And the beach always had waves coming in. We didn't take our floaties out to the water once this trip. Oh wait. Maybe just once.

We hooked up with Dan for his last night. We went to Kuyaba for sunset drinks and dinner. The food was actually pretty darn good. The grounds are gorgeous and the staff was awesome. Afterward we hung out with Selina and her friend (woman that just bought the yacht club-can't remember here name!).

We played games on the porch and then said goodbye to Dan.

We had breakfast at IA and hit the beach.  We napped in the afternoon and then went to pick up Selina, Buppy and Zoe for dinner at Buddha Groove. That place is COOL! Seriously, my only complaint about Negril is that there really isn't too many comfortable places to sit. (Although thank god for the yummy porch couches at IA). But anyway, Buddha Groove has all these cool futon like couches draped in middle eastern fabrics. The couches are littered with Sari pillows and the food is delivered on couch trays. The pizza is AWESOME. I think you'd have to like a real thin cracker type crust though which we do. We hung out there for a while and went back to the room. Buppy and Zoe vegged on the tv for a bit while Selina told us all about Ivan.

Breakfast at Idle Awhile. We went to Rockhouse for lunch (god I love their frozen limeaids). We love their chicken sandwiches too and lunch is much cheaper than dinner there. I think Rockhouse has the best ambiance in Negril.

We had to take the scooter back to Sea Star today as Chris had it rented out to guests. He droves us down to Selinas and we temporarily got a scooter from the jack asses next door. We wound up giving it back and then hung out with Big Roy for a while. We took a taxi back to IA and went across the street for more pizza.

Breakfast at IA. God, we're really lazy this trip. Hit the beach and then to Sunshine Plaza so I could get the lovely paintings.

We walked to Niah's for lunch. I get the heebie jeebies watching Niah cook. He picks up those sizzling patties with his bare fingers and moves them around. Then he takes pieces of burning wood off the fire with his fingers when it's getting too hot. I wonder if he'd even use one of those infomercial gloves with fingers that can withstand burning heat. Probably not. Afterwards, I read for a while while Greg visited Danny and had a cigar. Then he picked up a scooter from Elvis. Now HE'S a really nice guy.

We lounged for a bit and then went up to 3Dives for the webcast. We had a blast hanging out with MnBob, Abby and Tom.

I guess I drank too much as I slept until 10. I'm usually a 6:00 kind of girl. We had a late breakfast at IA and hit the beach. We stopped by Selina's for brushetta and queso asado (OMG. SO GOOD). Back to the hotel to read/nap  (okay people, I know we're boring but seriously, Greg and I bring one suitcase each trip solely for books. We usually each read a book a day and two on travel days. Probably lame to some but absolute heaven for us!).

We picked up dinner from Best in the West and ate on the porch and played cards. We made our daily call to Greg's Granny and the phone was busy for like the third time that day. We called my sister and she did an operator call to see if anyone was talking on the line. There wasn't. Holy shit. Suzi and her husband were on the way out the door and offered to stop by Granny's and there was only something wrong with her phone line. BIG SIGH OF RELIEF.

We played some cards and I ran out of alcohol so we walked down the beach to White Sands and grabbed a couple just as they were closing.

Boo Hiss. Up at 7:00 am to pack.  We said our good byes to our favorite IA staff (there was some turnover this time and we really missed a few faces) Juicy and Romeo. We went to Selina's to pick up our coffee and say goodbye.

Greg took the scooter back and we had a last drink at the IA bar. We chatted with Jim (?) and his wife. They told us they'd already made reservations for next year so we did the same.

Off to MoBay with Maurice. Stopped at SuperPlus in Mobay for guava jelly for Granny. Almost forgot! We just beat the line at the ticket counter for NWA. We had burgers at Margaritaville, bought our duty free stuff and another trip was over.