There were 51 people in our group to attend the Jamaica Blues Jam at Hedonism II. Although the terrorist attacks occurred just 5 days before our departure, not one person cancelled their trip!

The majority of us flew on the Champion Air charter out of DFW. Check-in went smoothly, which was somewhat of a surprise to us. None of our carry-on luggage was checked, although they did ask us if we had any knives, tweezers, scissors, etc. in our carry-ons. The flight departed on time, and it was about half full.

We were told that the bus transfer was taking about 3 hours, so most of us took TimAir. Upon landing, our plane bounced about 30 feet into the air, causing the firefighters next to the landing strip to run towards our plane. Luckily, it was just a hard landing and no one was injured. We did learn that the bus trip took just under 2 hours for the others in our party, so the information we'd heard was just a rumor.

THE BLUES JAM:
Two bands from the Dallas / Fort Worth area came down to entertain us. The first was the Blind Dog Cooley Band (www.blind-dog.net) and the other was Roy Robbins and the Other Band. During the Tuesday & Friday afternoon performances, guests were given the opportunity to join the two bands in jam sessions. The bands were also joined by several local Jamaican reggae musicians, which was an added bonus. The two bands also performed by themselves on Monday and Saturday, and were a part of the talent show on Thursday night.

On two separate occasions, the band members met with the rest of us in Veronica's. It was great to have such talented and fun people in the piano bar, and it gave us a chance to get to know the musicians. One of the musicians took over the piano, giving Dave a break and letting us hear something that wasn't in the Sing-Along book.

We had a really good time at the Jam, and are looking forward to next year at Hedonism III!