This won't be a long report, but it follows our 12th trip to the island. We arrived on Thanksgiving evening and we got to Club Orient by 9:00. Papagayo's had a buffet only that evening, so we went to Piccalo's for a smaller meal. It was very good. We later heard that the food was unpredictable, but before we left the regular chef returned and all reports from then on were excellent. The weather was outstanding during those two weeks. It was cloudy only two afternoons and rain was minimal. High winds came over a four day stretch, but they were not enough to sandblast you off the beach. As has been said before, the island is cleaner than in years. There were a lot of cruise ships, and many were the short cruises out of Puerto Rico. The Disney Magic is coming to the island, and they seem to take them all to Waikiki. One day there were tons of kids and families there. There do seem to be more and more people walking the beach nude in the early morning. Frankly, on busy cruise ship days you can hardly sqeeze by Pedro's and Kon Tiki where the beach has eroded. Blue Bay seemed almost empty. Even at 8:30 to 9:00am we never saw more than six people in their beach chairs. Sometimes, there were none. We ate at the old standards of Don Camillo, Portofino, Piccalo and Papagayo's. Dinner at Papagayo's is better, but service is still iffy. Friends put us on to Sol e Luna on the road into Blue Bay, and we were very impressed with the decor, food and service. Lunch at Pedro's for ribs is still a must, but lunch at Baywatch/Surf Side South was raved about by everyone. The best hint that we have gotten in a long time came from this board. We were leaving on a 3:56pm American flight. During the morning, only small American Eagle flights were leaving. There were three American 757 flights leaving in the afternoon. I have had my fill of standing in line for two hours to check in. We came to the airport at Noon, and we were fourth or fifth in line for those leaving on a 2:12pm flight to JFK. We got our boarding passes and paid the departure tax. By 12:30pm we were having a beer the Sunset Beach Bar. After lunch and some more beers, our plane landed. We turned our rental car in right across from the terminal where Alain Arnell now has a small shack. It was a direct line to the departure lounge and boarding. Thanks for the advice.<br><br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 12/14/00 05:20 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
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