Just returned from a week's stay @ Club O, and thought I'ld jot down some random thoughts about the trip.<br><br>For the first time, we went with some friends of ours. Even though we have known these folks for over 30 years, we felt we got to appreciate their friendship more as a result of the trip. We will be going down to Club O again in April, but this time without them. We will miss them.<br><br>As many have noted in recent posts, the island certainly looked fresh and much greener than on previous trips. Maybe the place is always greener in November than in April? It rained almost every night, and once during the day for just a few minutes. It was quite windy for the first few days, but by Thursday had calmed down to a bearable level. For the first time in 3 trips, I marvelled at the number of stars one could see at night. I looked in vain for the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, but all I could see was the Skinny Dipper [Linked Image][Linked Image][Linked Image] (old recycled joke!)<br><br>We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the meals at Papagayos. The new manager Jacques was everywhere, checking up on every table. The rib-eye steak I had ranked amongst the best. The French Onion soup was terrific. Only problem was that it was available only at lunch, not at dinner. Service was more than adequate, but not at the level of some of the Grand Case eateries. Special mention must be made of a waiter by the name of Bariq (sp?). He made our dining experience very enjoyable. Dinners at Le Taitu and Sol e Luna were also excellent. Taitu in particular was good food at relatively low cost. Sol e Luna was twice as expensive for much the same meal, and not necessarily twice as good.<br><br>Lunches away from Club O were at Pedros and at Baywatch. Tried the spicy ribs at Pedros, much better than the regular ribs. Baywatch's calamari, chicken fingers, and onion rings were fabulous. A wicked looking green sauce added optional spice to the chicken fingers. Got to meet Andy after reading so much about him on TTOL. Probably the best part of these lunches was being able to eat outdoors au natural overlooking the beach[Linked Image].<br><br>The nude beach walks in the morning was something we enjoyed. I would get up by say 6:15 and jog to Blue Bay and back, by which time my wife and our friends would be up and all 4 of us would walk to Blue Bay and back. On most days, I also walked the length at around 3:30 in the afternoon. There seemed to be more nudes in the afternoon walk than I remember in the past. With the beach in front of Pedros gone, you had to walk past the mid-afternoon crowd at Pedros. It was interesting to watch people's reactions as they suddenly realized that there was a nudie in their midst[Linked Image]<br><br>All too soon the 7 days were over, and here we are dodging snowflakes. But my calendar says 115 days to go<br>[Linked Image][Linked Image][Linked Image]<br><br><br>Kevin<br> [Linked Image] <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 12/7/00 10:46 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

Kevin