Our 4th Heineken Regatta Girl’s Trip…

Highlights

Beachside Villas
It was lovely! I loved the privacy and having the beach right outside our door. Beautiful views…clean, adorable, well equipped villa. The owners and manager were extremely friendly and helpful. I would recommend Beachside Villas to most people. The planes are definitely there and if you’re an extremely picky person about these types of things, you might want to consider another villa. But, I didn’t have a problem with it at all – the noise lasts 15 seconds at the most and it’s only during the day. I never noticed any kind of smell or anything come from the airport – it just wasn’t an issue for us. We loved Beachside Villas and would definitely stay there again. And for people that had asked me about Beachside Villas and things to walk to in the area. I, personally, think it’s too long of a walk to Sunset Beach Bar and things in that area – I don’t feel comfortable with it and especially at night – no way. We drove and never had a problem parking (more about that below).

Phone Rental from Sharon
Quick and easy – although I should remind people to bring a credit card when you pick up. I didn’t have mine, but the woman was nice enough to let me call her back w/the card number. As always, renting a phone from Sharon was a convenient and pleasant experience.

The Lambada
We did the spectator boat on Friday afternoon – which started out fun, but then two of us got extremely nauseous from the rough seas and that wasn’t so fun. The crew was really nice to us – we got some good pictures of the Regatta and it was great to be out in the beautiful water and sunshine. It’s a shame the water was so rough – a lot of people on our boat were sick.

Loterie Farm
Probably the most fun we had for the entire trip was on the Extreme Fly Zone. This is the NEW course – not the same as the other Fly Zone, which is good for kids or anyone. We had NOOOO idea what we were getting ourselves into. Let me warn you…do not try this if you are afraid of heights or in really bad shape. It is intense! I was also stupid enough to attempt it with a hangover. Strangely, it got rid of my hangover. I think it was the adrenaline rush. I was extremely scared when we first got up there and saw what we were actually going to be doing. The first few bridges and ziplines were scary, but once we got the hang of it – it wasn’t that bad. We honestly never laughed so hard at some of the things that happened out there. While I’m not sure what all the guides are like…ours was great…very helpful and fun…I think we were entertaining him though more than he was entertaining us. I would definitely go back and do it again, but without a hangover this time. This is for people that like a little challenge and adventure – as I’m sitting here typing this I am still sore all over my body from using muscles I didn’t know I had. We had lunch at the Hidden Forest Café, which had great food and a beautiful setting. You should know that nothing moves fast at Loterie Farm, so go there with a little patience in mind. Most of their staff is friendly, but a little on the slow side. And…unless you enjoy wasting money, don’t go order a large bottle of water like I did….$8 for water!

Bamboo Bernie’s
We love this place and I’m so sad that it’s closing at it’s current location. We spent one night dancing the night away and had a ball. Too bad it was the last time we’ll be able to enjoy it.

The Red Piano
I don’t know why, but we just kept ending up back here. Colin and Jason are great bartenders and we just loved hanging out and talking to people there. The music and dancing is entertaining, but overall it’s just a good crowd.

The Weather
Yes, I’m giving the weather a good review. It rained, but only when we were in our car or sleeping – thank you weather for not disrupting my vacation or ruining my hair after I just got done fixing it.

The People
As always, we ran into old friends and met new ones – it is just the best place in the world.


Lowlights

Traffic Traffic Traffic – I’m sure it was worse because of the Regatta, but I don’t like spending over an hour sitting in traffic – especially when I only have 5 days on the island – it wasn’t pleasant.

Thrifty Car Rental
We had rented a car from there (not my idea). Didn’t realize they need a $750 deposit! Do all the rental agencies do this? Anyway, I reluctantly paid it because I was anxious to just get the car and get going. I doubt I would use Thrifty again, first because of the $750, but I also found their shuttle driver to be one of the rudest people I’ve met and I don’t need to encounter that when I’m on vacation.

USAir
While the way down was without a hitch – on the way back they took all the luggage off the plane without giving a real clear reason of why and they didn’t tell us until we started our descent into Philly. They said something about weight restrictions, but it just doesn’t make sense. I’m sure some of you reading this may have been on the flight and are also sitting at home wondering when you will see your luggage again, if ever. They told me that it will be coming on the next flight to Philly – I can’t imagine an entire plane full of luggage is going to fit on top of another plane full of luggage, so I’m assuming this will be done little by little over the course of several days. Oh well…what can you do? I felt sorry for the people who had connections they missed because we were delayed and had no idea how they were ever going to get their luggage to their final destination.


A few little sidenotes…

With all the talk about crime on here…I have to admit that I was a little nervous this year about going…we are women traveling alone, which makes it a little more of a concern. But, I can honestly say that there wasn’t one moment where I even felt a little nervous – I never saw anything bad happen or suspicious and I felt perfectly safe on the entire trip.

Some people on here had sent me PM’s asking about parking. We never had a problem and this was a busy week for the island. In the Beacon Hill area we parked outside of Bliss/Bamboo Bernie’s twice without a hitch. In Maho we parked in the parking garage. In Simpson Bay, we parked across the street from Lee’s. Even in Phillipsburg we found a spot with no problem – although it was in front of the Police Station and illegal we found out later – whoops! There is no sign! Luckily, we got away with it.

All in all it was a wonderful long weekend and we can’t wait to go back in ’09!