Come to find out, the "no camera" sign was just for the wet t-shirt contests they have there, so I was able to take photos after all. But these were taken before the gates were all put up for the show, so you can see everything a lot better.
As usual, Ryan and I were the first two people out dancing. We started partying long before the party really started!!!
I learned really quick that dancing in the sand is the best exercise for your calves. My legs and feet hurt so bad after that first night!!!
Just groovin' with my baby!!!!
These are the Indiana girls. L-R Kelly Anne, TeShannah, me, Liz, and Ashley. I am so fortunate to have gone on a big trip like this with four of my closest girls!!!
Here are the Indiana boys: L-R Matt H., Dave, Ryan, (Liz and some rasta man), Nick, and Matt C.
The opening band was called Cosmic Railroad. They were a lot of fun. They played a lot of Grateful Dead and Phish covers, which always go over well with this crowd. The guys in the band were all very friendly. They actually stopped and talked to us on the beach outside our hotel earlier in the day that day.
I offically became the Red Stripe spokeswoman for the week. LOVED IT!!!!!!!
We perched ourselves on this deck a lot through the night to give our legs a rest. And of course, there was always rum punch nearby :-)
There was a balcony where a lot of us hung out for awhile. It had a great view of the stage, and a nice hard surface to dance on.
Nearly everywhere we went, we felt like dancing. It was just in the air. There's a lot of things floating around in that Jamaican air :-)
One thing we didn't like about Risky Business was the fact that they kept raising the price of beer as the night went on. First it was 100 Jamaican dollars, then it went up to 250 J's, and before we knew it, they were charging us 450 J's per beer which is close to five bucks American. There were definitely no set prices on ANYTHING in Jamaica.So, Ryan and I went to the bar next door to get drinks where they were much cheaper. Here, we're shooting Malibu...yuck, I know, but they didn't have many options besides rum. I was looking for the quick route to drunkenness, and it worked ;-)
Steve Sweney was on fire that night, as usual. I was very happy with the stage, because I could get right up underneath him. I could almost feel him breathing on me!! There were times when I would catch myself standing literally open mouthed, just in awe of what I was hearing and seeing. Somehow having the Caribbean waves crashing in the background made the whole thing seem surreal. What a fabulous way to see your favorite band of all time!!!
During setbreak, a local started a big bonfire on the beach in between Risky Business and the bar next door. It was so awesome to stand there with the cool ocean air to your back and a nice warm flame in front of you. There's just something very romantic about a fire on the beach. I've never been anywhere where you could have a huge fire in the sand and no body cared. Maybe on smaller beaches in Florida you can do that stuff, but not at any of the beaches I've ever been to. It was a real treat.
One of my fellow Hookah fans met us out by the fire for awhile during set break. Her name is Mickey. She and her husband, Larry, renewed their vows for their tenth anniversary while we were in Jamaica. They stayed at our hotel and we were able to get to know them a little throughout the week. I had a lot of fun with Mickey and her gang!!
We were in Jamaica during spring break for most colleges, so we had a few run ins with the college kids while we were there. The only time they bothered me was when me, Liz, and Kelly were up front dancing during the second set and the college cuties jumped in front of us. That's when I returned the favor jumping in front of them to the point where there was no where else to go but up on stage. That's when I got this picture. It was pretty funny because we were all a little tipsy by that time and were like "those little college bi*ches better get out of our way. Hookah is OUR band!!!" It only took the girls a couple minutes of elbows and crushed toes to realize they were messing with trained professionals :-) We laughed a lot about that the next day. So, it was a little immature of us, but who cares....we were in Jamaica....when will we ever see those girls again?So, the first Ekoostik Hookah show went off without a hitch. Everyone had a wonderful time including the band. We even got to hear some great covers like Hush by Deep Purple and Pigs by Pink Floyd. They don't do covers very often, so that's always a treat.
The next day was rough with the little hang overs that we all carried with us, but we managed to have lots more fun. The catamaran/ booze cruise is coming up next....................
This is the view from the pool at our hotel. As spectaucular as that pool looks, we never jumped in there one single time!! The Caribbean was literally a few feet off of our deck and looked even better than the pool. So there was no need.
We stayed at a little place called the Fun Holiday Beach Resort. It was nothing fancy, but it was perfect for those of us who stayed there. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful, our rooms were clean, and the location was perfect.
Along the beach side (versus the street side) there were tons of people selling their hand made arts and crafts. In fact, there were people selling anything you could possibly think of. And when I say anything, I mean anything. We had offers for drugs, drinks, fresh fruit, fresh juices, aloe rubs, jewelry, mushroom tea......the list could go on and on. Those were just the people who came to us selling thier goods. We didn't even have to leave our beach loungers for all that!!!
Ryan and I had purchased meal tickets for $30.00 prior to the trip that would pay for three meals a day at various places. Some of the places offered more than others, but they were all good, and we definitely got our 30 bucks out of them!!! Our first breakfast in Negril was basically a huge plate of fresh fruit and toast. I forgot to take pictures before Ryan and I dove into our plate, but it still looked delicious after we were almost done............
This picture was taken just down the beach from our hotel.
Sometimes we would just stop and stare into the water. I know it sounds cheesy, but it was so wonderful!!!
After our walk, we came back to the room to get our beach gear together and go for a swim.
I'm ready to go play in the Caribbean now!!!!
After some fun in the sun, Ryan, Matt, Liz and I all decided to check out the "street side" of Negril (versus the beach side.) Matt had told us about this food called Jamaican patties that we wanted to try out. Someone had mentioned a restaurant called Miss Sonia's, so that's where we went.
Miss Sonia's turned out to be one of our favorite places to eat while we were there. In fact we visited her place more than once!! In this picture, Ryan is eating a lobster pattie with some of Miss Sonia's secret sauce. It was Delicious!!!
I had a curried chicken pattie. And it too was Delicious!!!
We were happy campers hanging out at Miss Sonia's!!!
Matt was pretty happy after those delicious patties and Red Stripes too!!!
When it finally stopped raining, we decided to head back to the hotel to see what everyone else had been up to. On our way back, we saw some chickens running around. You see a lot of chickens and goats around Jamaica. Then you see a lot of chicken and goat on menus in Jamaica....hhhhmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!
It was late in the afternoon when we got back from Miss Sonia's, so we just planned on hanging around the hotel until the first Hookah show of the week started later that night.
Since Negril is on the southwest side of Jamaica, the sunsets there are phenominal. All of us Indiana kids got together to watch our first sunset in Negril together. It was so beautiful. The bar at our hotel is on the deck that faces the water, so we all just grabbed a couple cold drinks and sat. I would love to live that hour or so over and over again....it was so wonderful.
I even got lucky enough to catch a sailboat passing by for the photo shoot. 
This is my good friend Ashley Reynolds. She married one of Ryan's best friends, Nick, about two yeasr ago. So, we're kinda sisters by marriage :-) I love her!!!!
This is Dave and Kelly Anne Willis. I love this picture of them with the sunset shining down on them. They are two of our best friends. We actually met them at a Hookahville about five or six years ago, and now we're travelling all the way to Jamaica together to see them!!! I have built a lot of wonderful, lasting friendships because of this band.
And last but not least, this photo of Ryan pretty much sums up the week.
We were all so excited. I think Dave shows it best in this picture on the plane!!
Here's the beautiful bride-to-be, TeShannah!!! Ashley and Nick Reynolds are sitting next to her.
This was just above Indy at about 7:15 AM.
Ta Da!!!! Jamaica Mon!!!
This was in the airport just after we got through customs. Everything at the airport went pretty smoothly. We had been warned by a few friends that we should be very patient when dealing with the airport in Jamaica, so we went in expecting the worst. I think it only took us about an hour to get through all lines, pick up our luggage, and get a Red Stripe.
A few minutes into the ride, the driver slowed down, and a Jamaican man jumped on with a case of Red Stripe. He was selling them cold for about a dollar a piece....so we kept drinking them!!
It was very interesting to see everything in between two big tourist cities. Some of what we saw was heart breaking, but one thing I noticed in particular was that all the children looked so happy. They were all having fun and running and jumping around when they saw the buses. They really did seem happy. I'm really glad we got away from the resort areas some so we could see the real Jamaica though.
I am not normally a beer drinker, but I had planned for weeks on drinking Red Stripe while in Jamaica. I mean, when in Rome.............................
It wasn't too long before their bus caught up with us and we hit the road again. But before they got there, our beer guy had jumped off the bus, caught one going the opposite direction, hopped on it until he got to a liquor store, re-stocked on Red Stripe, and caught another bus to bring him back to us. He caught us before we had the new group loaded up, so they were all happy to have some Red Stripe of their own. I think that is the guy's main job most days. Just bus hopping with beer in hand to make a buck. Seems like a pretty low stress job to me....and he made a killing off of our bus alone!!!
We passed several small businesses on the trip to Negril. There were a lot of liquor stores like the one in the picture above. All businesses there were just little shacks, and a lot of them had tin or metal roofs on them.
This is a little grocery store. It wasn't very common to see an actual grocery store. I learned that most people shop for or pick fresh produce daily to cook with, so the fresh produce stands were much more common to see.
I had to throw in this picture of Dave and Kelly Anne on the bus because I think it looks like a post card. I guess it's the combo of Dave's blue and purple tye dye and the tinted windows with a moving background, but what ever it is.....I think it's fun!!!!
I loved seeing the different advertisements and signs around the island. They had a few that weren't interesting at all like the Buger King one here, but check out the "Protect Your Head" sign under there....isn't that hilarious?!?!? Simple, yet hilarious at the same time!!
We passed a couple schools on our way to Negril also. The children were all in uniform. They would all wave and jump up and down when they would see the buses pass. I don't know if the children there are required to get an education or not. I still have so many questions. I guess I'll have to go back to get some answers!!!
When we finally arrived in Negril, it was only about 2:30 in the afternoon, so we had plenty of daylight to get out and enjoy ourselves. Our first stop was Margarittaville for our orientation session for the Hookah tours and outings. They hooked us up with all the rum punch we could drink for free!!! YUMMY!!!!!!!!
