The Trip to St. Lucia

Ok, so I’ve tried to write this darn blog entry about our trip to St. Lucia a half-dozen times already, and it always ends up too long. But, I’ll give it another shot… bear with me. And while we’re at it… be warned that it’s going to be long. Very long. And all text ‘cuz I don’t have my pics online at the moment.

Trip: November 10 – 17, 2007
Destination: St. Lucia
Resort: Sandals Halcyon Beach
Review in a nutshell: Beautiful Island. Avoid this resort like the plague (actually, you might end up with the plague…)

I can hear you now… “Whaaaaaaaaaa??? But it’s a Sandals!!!” Yeah, that’s pretty much what we thought, too. Had our opinion been based purely on this resort, Sandals would never get another penny of our money. However, having seen two other of their properties while in St. Lucia, we’re almost willing to give them another chance. Maybe.

We booked this trip last-minute. Fairly literally. We decided on November 3rd that we were going and booked on November 4th, to leave November 10th. We chose this resort based on the website for it… the text and images on that site (having examined the site more closely since we returned, the inconsistencies in information between pages and the “sound stage” look to some of the pictures should perhaps have set off the suspicion alarms, but at the time, we had other things on our mind). Of the properties on St. Lucia, this looked like the best fit for us.

We’re not beach people, per se. The website said this beach was pristine white sand beach. Nothing about this beach in reality tempted us to become beach people. What the site failed to mention was that this is a PUBLIC beach. As such, setting foot NEAR the beach (you didn’t even have to go ONTO it) resulted in being accosted by local beach bums, peddlers and drug dealers. Yes, drug dealers. Nice, no? I should also point out at this juncture that these people were also benefiting from the all-inclusive bar aspect of the resort free-of-charge thanks to the resort’s bar-tenders. Maybe that wouldn’t have bothered me so much if D and I were drinkers *shrug*. But getting back to the beach.. it was short, dirty brown, and ‘pristine’ is not a word I’d remotely consider applying to it.

The beaches at the other two properties, on the other hand were beautiful… and private.

We booked a “Luxury Ocean View” room. It was dark, dank, had a crack running most of the height of one wall, had no screen in the bathroom window, had no doors on the ‘closet’, had an elderly ceiling fan we were afraid to turn above ‘low’ in case it fell on the bed, and the window A/C which was the only way to control the dank smell was constantly being turned off by housekeeping. As for the ocean view, if you stood in exactly the right spot and the wind was cooperating, you could see a small sliver of blue that might have been water. Maybe. Primarily our view was of our overhung patio (a little pruning goes a long way with clematis), and pedestrian traffic between the other rooms and the main complex (lobby, taxis, busses, restaurants, main pool, administrative buildings, gift shop, etc.). I was particularly fond of the parades of housekeeping carts, luggage carts and ice carts. Oh yes, did I forget to mention that the ice was kept in insulated bins scattered around the gardens? Located every 500 metres to make up for the lack of refrigerators in the rooms.

The site mentioned 24 hour food availability. Nope. No room service. Breakfast from 7:30 – 11:00, lunch from 12:30 – 2, dinner starts at 6:00. From 10 – 5:00, I think, and again from 10 – 3 a.m. (I think… I’d need to confirm those times) there WAS a “grill” open… primarily for it’s bar, but there were offerings of seafood pizza (scary), and a few grillable items (burgers of questionable food safety and hot dogs, primarily). There was afternoon tea at the lagoon pool.

The pools bore no resemblance to the website. The food was mediocre at best (and it didn’t get to ‘best’ too often). The service was abysmal. There were feral cats with the run of the main restaurant (and the rest of the resort, but they stayed off my dining table elsewhere), birds crapping on the tables. Every time we went for a meal something was missing from our table… napkins, glasses, cutlery, salt shaker (not that it would have done us any good anyway… exposed 24/7 to the humid sea air had turned it into a salt-lick more than a salt shaker)… and almost always missing from our table, no matter how many times it was requested: D’s morning coffee. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations, but I figure if you ask someone if they’d like coffee, tea, or a mimosa… and they say they’d like coffee… it’s reasonable to expect that coffee would be forthcoming, no? Apparently… no. There’s no alcohol in coffee, so why serve it? Of course, if you’re not going to serve it, perhaps you shouldn’t offer it, either.

And then there were the bugs. I don’t particularly like thinking about the bugs. I mean, I recognize that bugs exist… that they’re a bigger issue in humid areas… and that I am the preferred snack food. But the biting started as soon as we stepped off the mini-bus from the airport (oh yes… the trip from Toronto to the resort and back again is a whole other story for another entry)… and didn’t stop until we left. And, worst of all, I woke up some mornings with more bites than I’d had when I went to bed *shudder*.

I think our favourite spot at the resort was the shuttle bus to the Grande St. Lucian. And only because it took us to the resort that DID look like the one on the website. And had food I could eat (allergies to shellfish, peppers, and grapefruit meant that I couldn’t eat most things… including most of the fruit due to cross-contamination). Honestly, access to this resort is the only reason we’d even consider giving Sandals a second chance. The service was great… the public areas looked awesome… (the pool tables were indoors)… they’ve got a pub… and they room keys are key cards (as opposed to our resort where we discovered at checkout that all the rooms have the exact same key… thank goodness we’re security paranoid and deadbolted and chained the door at night… and locked up or hid our valuables when we weren’t in the room).

So yeah… While I’d recommend the island to beach bums, adventure tourists, and just folks who like a pretty view, I wouldn’t recommend that particular resort to anyone I liked even a little bit.

Did you know....?

... burning teeth smell a wee bit like cinnamon?

How do I know this? Because yesterday I had the joy of a root canal. Yup... lots of fun. Especially the bit where the endodontist told me that the roots of my teeth are really long. No, smart-ass... my teeth just aren't fully erupted. Think about it... I'm 6' tall and fully mature, but I've got tiny little teeth. *shrug*

Anyway... at several points in the process (I tried to tune out) there was a whiff of scent vaguely reminiscent of cinnamon... but warmer. Turns out it was when she was using a tool inside the tooth that applies localized heat. Not sure if it was to cauterize something, or fill the roots with molten metal (a la soldering iron), and I really didn't want to ask.

Other adventures of the process: 4 sets of x-rays (really, Lady, the tooth hasn't changed position or structure in the last 20 minutes... honest... other than you filing the insides out of it, anyway), the metal frame holding the latex shield over the tooth in question popping off and flying across the room to the tune of "oh crap" from the endodontist... and 90 minutes in the chair with my mouth stuck open.

Joy. But on the plus side, I think this takes care of both teeth that have had the most dental work on them in the past... so I should be good for a while now *laugh* Stupid hereditary weak enamel.

Winter's here...

Yup. In spite of the calendar, winter is most definitely here. While not the first snowfall/storm of the season, Saturday night/Sunday is currently winning for least pleasant.

The adventure started thusly:

On Wednesday, I contacted a friend of some 21 years (21 years!! Yikes! How'd that happen? Now I feel old!) to ask about a mailing address for another friend of ours who I had sadly lost touch with (although he promised in my wedding guest book that he'd email ;) ). I knew this friend had moved, so in an effort to actually get Christmas cards out to people this year I thought I'd update the mailing list. Anyway, long story short(er), I discovered that he and his fiancée (and their assorted kids ;) ) were having a housewarming party on Saturday night. In Kitchener. Oddly, about 6 blocks from where D lived when I first met him. So, of course, I wanted to seize the opportunity to see C again, see his new place, meet his future wife, etc. etc. etc.

Then I heard the weather forecast. Saturday night was supposed to bring a storm after 2 days of rain. Hrm. So I didn't email C to let him know we'd be there... partly to surprise him... partly because I didn't know if we'd make it.

Saturday dawned and we started the mad scramble to get all the things we wanted to get done this weekend done. D was actually off this Saturday, so that was a nice change... gave us a bit more time to work with for the things that needed both of us. Off I went to do the usual singing thing at church (not sure how much longer I'll be doing that... they're really starting to irritate me)... then mad dash home to grab D, the housewarming gift, some emergency supplies (just in case... having been through the Ottawa Ice Storm in the winter of '97/'98, I figure better safe than frozen) and hit the road. We took my car... it's less "sporty", more comfortable, and I just feel safer in it in bad weather (no offence to D's car... it's the same kind I originally wanted to buy when I got Zippy, but I couldn't afford to insure it so... *shrug*). I had decided that Milton was going to be our 'drop dead' point. If we got to Milton before meeting the snow, we'd go the whole way... if the snow started at any point up to there, we'd turn around. Well, we actually made it all the way to Kitchener with no snow. Yay!!! We had also figured that, worst case, the in-laws are only a short way further out the road from there so we could over-night with them and try the trip home in the morning.

Anyway... much fun was had... it was great to see C again (and maybe this time we'll actually manage to keep in touch). A couple of rough moments for D and I... but that relates to certain other events in our lives recently and is entirely our own problem *shrug*.

At about 10:45 (give or take), P (the friend of 21 years) showed up and said the storm was coming. Actually, the snow had started. So D and I saddled up for the homeward trek, hoping to beat the worst of it.

Next time remind me of two things: D is much better at night driving, especially on stretches of highway with no street-lights; There's no point in trying to beat a storm home from KW.

Now, I'm a decent driver. While I've been known to be a bit of a speed demon at times, I don't take stupid risks (especially if there's someone else in the car), and I drive for the weather conditions. Sadly, I cannot say the same for others. It's a freakin' miracle that we didn't see anyone spin out or in a ditch on the way home. And I have to say, the worst were the truckers. Now, I know some truckers... great guys... helpful folks. But oh my gawd the truckers on Saturday night were psychotic and wrapped up in their own universe. If the speed of traffic is 80 at best because of road conditions, don't whip by in the fast lane (where they're not supposed to be in the first place) at 120 throwing snow all over everyone, blinding other drivers, and whipping cars around in your wake. It's just not cool. Frankly, I don't care if you have a deadline for your shipment... I just want to get home alive. Thankfully, once we got the hell off the 401 and on to the 407, there were practically no truckers. Of course, there WERE pseudo snowplows. And I say 'pseudo' because they were really only making the situation worse. There was no salt going down behind them, so the thin sheet of compressed snow and ice from where the heat of the friction of blade on road melted things was MORE dangerous than if they'd just left it well enough alone. But that's ok... most of them were on the other side of the higway anyway.

I think we lucked out. The normally hour-and-a-half drive took about two-and-a-quarter hours. Considering that for quite a large stretch at the beginning our speed never topped 60, that says a lot for road conditions closer to, and across T.O..

It was great seeing C again, meeting his new (well, new to us) family unit... now that he's closer to the in-laws, the chances of us visiting again increase significantly, too ;)

Then on Sunday, after the snow came the freezing rain. And after the freezing rain came the blackout. Yeah... several hours in the dark. Not fun. So we used our "über candle" for both light and warmth (it's a huge 3-wicked bee's wax thing... throws a fair amount of both light and heat), since the fan on the furnace is electric, and the fans on both gas fireplaces are electric. Luckily, we could at least make dinner, because the stove top is gas. And wouldn't you know it? As soon as I was done making dinner the power came back on (literally... I turned off the burner on the stove and the lights came on at almost the same moment). Well, at least we didn't have to ask my parents for a warm place to sleep (they're only 3 blocks away, but on the other side of a major road, and their part of the grid was still on).

And, as winter is quite comfy where she is, we're still dealing with snow, freezing rain, and my personal fave, really strong freakin' cold winds. Which brings me to my Question of the Day:

Why do people so often fail to consider the weather before choosing their footwear? I can't count the number of people I saw this morning with leather-soled (or otherwise traction-less) shoes. Slip slidin' away... slip slidin' awaaaaay... you know the nearer your destination, the more you're slip slidin' awaaay. ;)

Have a great one, folks! Still working on the St. Lucia experience post.

Wow people are bright.

So... decided to drive to work this morning. This is unusual for me... usually I take the GO Train and enjoy NOT having to deal with idiot drivers, but today I just couldn't face the prospect of another cold and windy walk along Front Street.

On the way, I needed to stop for gas... no biggie, I drive past a station anyway. Well, some bright spark has decided overnight that it'd be a good idea to send out a street sweeper along the major artery I drive along, complete with water jet to wash the road. Let me tell all you folks who don't live in Southern Ontario why this was an issue. At 6:30 this morning the temperature was -3. Below freezing. Fine spray of water... below freezing temps... let's just say getting into and out of the gas station was a fun ride. Our first idiot of the day award goes to whoever decided they needed to clean the road last night.

Fast forward about 30 minutes (I avoid highways in Toronto like the plague between the hours of 6:00 and 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. Monday - Friday... the drive takes LESS time if I do).... driving along Wellington Street through the financial district (almost at work, in fact). Cabbie is driving along in front of me. I suddenly realize that the back of the cab is getting a lot closer. Yes, folks, he has NO brake lights. None. Zero out of three. Now there's a safe prospect. And you know, that's not the sort of thing that happens without someone knowing. That's the sort of thing that happens when someone unplugs something and OOOPS, forgets to plug it back in. Idiot of the day award #2 goes to the cabbie. However, the cab company is spared, because when I called to let them know, they actually put me on hold rather suddenly to get the dispatcher to put the call out to him. Of course, they were probably just covering their own butts on that one... the way people drive in this city, it could well result in the death of a passenger... or at least a hefty ticket and fine.

TGIF. And hopefully the drive home won't be as interesting (although it's supposed to snow, so 97% of the people on the roads home will likely have forgotten how to drive. Blah.

Disgusted with Grey Cup fans

Let me start with an aside note that as soon as I've sent my letter to them, I'll post something about our recent trip to St. Lucia and the Sandals Halcyon Beach resort.

Now... on to the real post.

I live in Toronto. I cherish no illusions that it’s a “super-clean” city. I know we have litter and dirt issues. We’re a city, I’d find it a little spooky if we didn’t.

That said, I have to say I was thoroughly disgusted on my morning commute to walk along Front Street and see the amount of crap left over from last night’s Grey Cup. Normally, Front Street is a pretty clean part of town. What with the CN Tower, Rogers Centre (aka the SkyDome), and the Convention Centre, there’s a fairly high tourist traffic level, so they make an effort to keep it clean and tidy. Generally, the most litter around is cigarette butts. There are large planters that are filled with reasonably attractive plants from March through November (and often beyond if it’s a snow-light winter).

This morning? Papers, flyers, napkins, food detritus (half-eaten burgers, pizza crusts, hot peppers, etc.), plants ripped out of the planters and thrown on the ground, empty booze and beer bottles (drinking on a public street is still illegal, last time I checked), vomit pools and, in at least one spot, crap. Literally. Shit. Fecal Matter. Human solid waste. Who the hell thinks it’s ok to drop drawers on a main thoroughfare and take a dump??!??!?!!?

And while I understand and appreciate that the game didn’t end until 9:00 or so, there’s no reason why the city and/or the Grey Cup committee couldn’t have done something to clean up the after-math overnight.

Blech.

On a happier note… we went to the One of a Kind show yesterday and our favourite photographer was there. He’s got some great new shots in his collection, along with the old favourites. We picked up his new book (which he inscribed for me) and one of his desk calendars… and he remembered us from previous shows. Check him out! http://www.bantlephoto.com/index.html

Waiting Sucks

that is all.

Interesting: Question of the Day

I know, I know... it's been far too long, and soon I'll post an update. For now, here's a really, really, really long "what the hell were they thinking" post :)

Today's question: How does someone sue for breach-of-contract when no contract was signed?

It seems a New York lawyer got married this summer and wasn’t thrilled with the flowers. She had paid for them in advance by cashier’s cheque for somewhat over $27,000. She ordered rust and green hydrangeas for her 22 centrepieces. She got pastel pink and green hydrangeas, which apparently clashed with everything at the reception. She also claims that cheaper orchids were substituted in her bouquet and the equivalent of $5 street-vendor roses were used at a cost of $55 - $65. After the wedding, she requested a refund of $4,000. When she didn’t get it, she decided to sue. For $400,000. Oh yes, she’s also claiming that the flowers were wilted and browning, and that they were put in dusty vases with insufficient water.

The florist claims that they didn’t make this bride sign a contract, because they trusted her, having dealt with her sister’s wedding previously. He claims that the bride was told that they would do their best to match a picture she had presented, but due to the nature of the flowers involved and the lighting in the room, they might look different. He also said his father warned him not to deal with lawyers.

I’ve got a few issues with this:

1/ Who the heck pays for wedding flowers entirely up front by cashier’s cheque??? Anyone with half a brain (and one would assume an associate at a high-priced NY law firm who have represented celebrities and other people with more money than sense falls into the category of having at least HALF a brain) would cover themselves and pay by credit card. That way there’s options for restitution or refund for failure to deliver.

2/ Who the heck spends $27,000 on FLOWERS????????? Obviously a poor little rich girl from the Upper East Side does… I can’t see anyone else paying that much. I paid $400, personally… although admittedly we only used roses, not tempermental out-of-season, notoriously fussy flowers.

3/ Who sues for 100x the amount she’s already pretty much asserted she was entitled to for failure to provide the agreed upon flowers exactly as she imagined?

4/ Who really thinks that a professional who’s been in business for years would use dusty vases at a hoity-toity hall?

5/ Who, having decided they wanted hydrangeas, would fail to educate themselves on the delicate nature of said flowers? Such education would show that they generally bloom (naturally) in late spring or early summer… they don’t take kindly to excessive heat… and they start to wilt/brown almost as soon as they’re cut… regardless of how much water they sit in (and really, the water on cut flowers only needs to be about a half-inch above the cut ends, so unless the stems were really, really short, less than half a vase would be plenty of water… so how much was in the darn things to constitute “insufficient”?)

And, of course, as the opening line said: How can you sue for breach-of-contract when no contract was signed?


Oh, if you want the details, I suggest you Google “bride sues florist”. The NY Times article is a good one to start with.