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………………….HAPPY NEW YEAR….2023!!!! I can’t believe it! I remember when we were celebrating 2000! and here we are 23 years later……From what Jac is wearing I would guess it was just 1985. We spent Christmas through New Years in Jamaica…..This was our first trip to this Island. It didn’t start well!! We were staying at a hotel called “Trident Villas” at the far north eastern end of the island near Port Antonio. When we landed we had to catch a transfer plane to the other end of the island.. Jac and I sat in a hut, with our luggage, all alone on another runway….a deserted runway! We waited for quite a long time in the heat, and wondered where this plane was??? Finally this four seat plane arrived….It was for us. The pilot loaded our luggage and off we flew on a new ADVENTURE……When we arrived at this other airport we had to take a taxi to the hotel. The hotel did not furnish transportation, and it took almost an hour to get to the hotel. We were told at the concierge desk to go and have a complimentary drink, while our room was made ready. Since we arrived late I thought the room should have been ready when we got there! As we were finishing our drink someone came to fetch us. We were brought to our room. It was up a flight of stairs over the main office!!!??? It was tiny, it had an old small bathroom, and the small closet had a curtain! This couldn’t be…plus our view was of the air condition unit above the main office and the restaurant!!! IT WAs a dump!!!! I immediately went to the front desk and complained….We would not stay in this room….no way no how….not for what we were paying….not for FREE….It was truly HORRIBLE! We were told to go to the bar and have yet another drink and they would straighten this out. When we went to pay for the drinks we gave the waitress our room key, and she looked at us with an expression I can’t even describe. She said, “are you sure this is your room key???? and I said “yes, but we are trying to get another room”. She informed us on the QT that this was not a hotel room! it was the manager’s room!!!!!! I was livid!!! I marched right into the manager’s office, and said “what are you trying to pull here, we know this is your room and not the villa we booked!!!”…….He confessed, and said the hotel was overbooked by one night, and if we could stay in this room for free for this one night he would have a beautiful villa ready in the morning! What could we do?….we were stranded with absolutely no where to go, and no means to get anywhere. So we spent our first night at Trident Villas in the manager’s hovel. The next morning we were moved to a lovely villa facing the ocean. The hotel had a beautiful pool on the ocean with a beautiful ornate white gazebo. I recognized the gazebo from many print ads I had seen over the years……mostly for alcohol….always with a beautiful couple in the gazebo and a picture of the bottle in the foreground. I recently googled the Trident Villas since we were only there that once…..Even though the layout is much the same the entire place has been renovated. The villas are in the same locations, but completely modernized. The pool is now a modern infinity pool and the gazebo is gone….too bad for that…. Unfortunately, there were NO BEACHES at the hotel, and we had to drive to the nearest beach, which ended up being OK, because they were mostly deserted. We met a lovely couple who we palled around with. They had arrived there before us and had already rented a car. I offered to pay for the gas, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Her name was Candy, and his name was Chris…..They were from Florida… Candy, knowing before us that the chairs around the pool were quickly taken, would go out early and put books and towels reserving out lounges…..yes, it was that kind of hotel. It was a very private place with very few villas, so you would think they would have enough chairs. I remember the prince of Yugosalvia was renting a house on the property, and we would see them in the formal dining room….jackets and ties required! I also found out Willy Smith, the very talented designer was two villas down from us. We were at Parsons at the same time. He was a year ahead of me, but left before his senior year. I was excited to see him. It was a long time since we had seen each other…..but his boyfriend told me Willy was there to rest and wasn’t seeing anyone….I found out later that Willy had AIDS and died soon after….very sad….a great talent!…. One day we went river rafting. The rafts were made out of bamboo and each was for one couple only…..so off we went the four of us on two rafts. The river was crystal clear. Out of no where came a rain storm! and we were drenched and cold….We asked if there was someplace where we could stop and get lunch? We finally pulled over onto a bank where there was a shed set up, and this shriveled up old black woman was stirring a huge pot! I thought HOLY CRAP! what’s in that pot? She was making hot soup which sounded awfully good considering how cold we were….We asked what was in the pot, but with her accent we didn’t understand. Finally our raft captain said, “it’s GOAT SOUP”…..Holy Crap….goat soup!!! I would have passed being the chicken I am, but everyone else said yes…even Jac…so I had myself my first goat soup……it was DELICIOUS, and we all had seconds!…..That old lady made good GOAT soup!…..For New Years we bought tickets to an old castle on the water. It was some what in disrepair, but you could still tell at one time it must have been beautiful. It was like a setting from an old ghost movie….maybe it was!?…..the pictures were taken by Chris at midnight….USHERING IN THE NEW YEAR!!!!…………..Happy New Year everyone……Let’s hope and pray that this year is better than the last, but that’s what we seem to say at the end of every year…..Once again I will pray for the health of my family, for our country, and for PEACE!!!