FILP at the Roof Top, Oct. 5-9, 2006

[Diana]

We just got back from our second trip to the Roof Top (our third FILP trip), and I thought I'd share some of the highlights of our trip. All in all, we had a great time and it was so good to see so many old friends again and make some new ones as well.

The Good:

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Oct. 5th. Diane picked us up at the airport and took us back to the motel; thanks bunches, Diane! It was great to see you again. Jake and Hazel, Gary and Georgette, Bob and Val, Steve and Nancy, STFU John, John and Renee, Brett and Christie, Jim and Janie, Jerry and Edie, Jim and Nissa, Steve and Sabrina, Ed and Eileen, it was so wonderful to see all of you again, and Hank and Debby, Paul and Kindall, Les and Donna, and Scott, it was a pleasure to meet and get to know all of you. If I’m inadvertently leaving anyone out, please forgive me! I enjoyed being a part of such a fun group of people.

Hedo II King Jim brought the infamous jug, Georgette made a most delicious variety of mixed drinks, Kindall made personalized cups for everyone, Janie coordinated a fun beachwear fashion show, Jim and Janie made Jello shots, and John and Renee brought the Suck & Blows. The talented Christie was our “official” photographer for the weekend and made photo cd’s for everyone. John and John (STFU and Sunlover) entertained us with a very memorable performance of the cha-cha. These are some of the moments and events that stand out in my mind; many thanks to all of you for the things you did, and for all the laughs!

We walked down the boardwalk on Friday morning and found a place to sit down and have a nice breakfast. Later in the day, we walked about a block down the street to the liquor store to stock up on libations and stopped by Le Tub on the way. It’s a hole in the wall restaurant with great food…..Ron got a cheeseburger and I got the chili and we shared them; both were delicious! They make a whopping big burger at that place, too, 8 ounces I believe. The folks at the Roof Top made dinner for us on Friday night, so we stayed in and hung around the pool. Saturday morning, breakfast on the boardwalk again, and a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs was prepared for us at the Roof Top. Saturday night, we had dinner at Ocean Alley on the boardwalk. Delicious! Sunday, breakfast was served at the resort. It was very good, and extra nice since we didn’t have to leave for breakfast. Burgers and dogs for lunch again by the pool, and on Sunday night, a very yummy barbecue dinner was delivered. We certainly ate well, and the folks at the Roof Top were quite generous in making meals right there for us.

The weather was absolutely beautiful the whole time we were there, despite the forecast of 30 to 40 percent chance of isolated thundershowers every day, but that seems to be the standard forecast in Florida; you just never know.

We left for home on Monday, Oct. 9th. Many thanks to Bob and Val for letting us crash in your room to rest for awhile before we left, and to Hank and Debby for taking us to the airport. We hope to see all of you again soon!

And now……

The Bad and The Ugly:

We arrived on Thursday to find out that John and Renee, who arrived on Wednesday, had money and other items stolen from their room shortly after they got there.

We had the next door neighbors from Hell. At 3:30am Saturday, music began to blast at a decibel level that literally rattled the walls. The door was open so the sound carried through the entire resort and beyond. People were directly outside our room yelling, talking, singing, whooping and hollering. I heard at least three people tell them to turn it down, all to no avail. They seemed quite proud of their efforts to keep everyone in the place awake and were determined to do so. This went on until 6:30am. Unfortunately, there is no one in the office during the night, so there was no management on the premises while this was going on. We briefly heard the boom box at about 2am Sunday morning, then heard the door slam loudly and after that, there was no discernable noise outside. We thought, OK, this is fine, and went back to sleep for the rest of the night and thought all was well. Alas, our respite was short-lived. It all started again at 4am Monday and continued until 6am. We turned on our TV to try and create some background noise, but were still unable to sleep. We got up Monday morning so sleep deprived we felt physically ill and wanted to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. Guess some folks just didn’t get the memo about that whole “respect” thing.

The maintenance guy at the resort was quite a character, as well. We realized on Saturday that he was one of the people raising Cain outside our room the night before. Nice to know an employee is contributing to that, huh? Sunday night, we were sitting by the pool on the roof and I looked down and saw him at the elevator on the 5th floor. He turned his back in my direction, and I realized he was pissing in the potted plant by the elevator!!!!! He was so wasted he could hardly stand up. It didn’t give me a great feeling to know that he probably had a key to every room in the place.

I didn’t notice any whacking-off lurkers this trip, but I heard from others that they were there. A couple of Wallies showed up in the pool one night and kept creeping in closer and closer, but our guys ran interference and protected the ladies. Good job, guys!

So there you have it, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as told by Diana. Respect always, my friends!

[justheidi]

Great trip report Diana!

[pixiedust]

Thanks for sharing Diana!

I'll be living vicariously thru all these trip reports for the next year...

[Chicago Jake]

Here are a few pictures from the Hollywood Beach area where the Rooftop FILP trip took place. I didn't take any pictures of the people cavorting on the rooftop, since Christie was doing such an excellent job of that. Instead, I focused on the surrounding neighborhood.

Basically, we were in a resort beach type community, with a long stretch of commercial area, lined with cheesy souvenir shops and bars and restaurants, and of course miles and miles of soft sandy beaches. Here are a few highlights:


Right outside our hotel was a huge souvenir shop called "Wings" that had a concrete Alligator and Conch out front to attract customers:



One of the windows of the Wings store had these cute "Nemo Shoes" that I'm sure our own Nemo will appreciate:



The sidewalk that runs for miles between the beach and the shops is called the "broadwalk" and is lined with restaurants and tacky stores. It looks like this:



There are bikes for rent of many configurations:



Here is a classic composition, the famous "frame within a frame" showing beach-goers on the sand:



Finally, many majestic palm trees lined the beach and let you know that you were, indeed, in the tropics:

[hardwork-DJ]

Great trip report, Diana. This is the first time I've ever heard of theft at the roof top. We have had some "noise" issues in the past but they didn't seem to carry on for the whole night/morning. I certainly hope this was all reported to management. I wonder, if in the future this should happen, can you contact the local authorities? Is that allowed?

This is just one more reason "WE" need to sell out the resort every time we are there.

[hardwork-DJ]

Jake, great photos. You've certainly captured the place!

DJ

[Liz of Chris & Liz]

Thanks for the trip report Diana. Sorry to hear about the various issues people had.

Would y'all still go back on another FILP trip despite these issues?

Jake, great job on the photos, thanks for posting them.

Liz

[Diana]

Jake, thanks for the great pictures!

DJ, I know at least one complaint was made to management, and believe me, we were very tempted to call the cops. Unfortunately, it's my understanding that those folks were associated with our group, but I'd never met them before (and hope to never see them again).

Liz, we'd go back again; it's a wonderful and fun group of people, and I like the Roof Top. Its layout is ideal and very private, and the surrounding area is quite pleasant, as you can see from Jake's photos.

Diana

[Liz of Chris & Liz]

Thanks for the follow up!!!

[hardwork-DJ]

Liz, as I have said on another board, the RoofTop is a great place to be with friends. We've never been there alone, we've always gone with a BIG group of FILPer's. The best is to take over the entire hotel. That way you seem to insure you won't have troubles. Although, accodring to Diana, the guest with the loud music "were" with the group this time!?!?!?

[Liz of Chris & Liz]

Thanks DJ.....it sure sounds like a great time was had...despite the little issues....probably like the issues at Hedo!! We kind of overlook them because we're having so much fun!!

Have a great weekend!

Liz

[lawn]

Yes I think we all had a great time despite the incidend. I know Donna and I did.
I feel bad it bothered you so much Diana, you should have called for backup.
You know we would have helped.
Everyone involved in putting the trip together did a great job and Donna and I will return for the next FILP trip. We missed you and Bruce DJ.
Les

[Diana]

Les, it was great meeting you and Donna, and I hope to see you both again soon. Glad y'all had a good time!

Don't feel bad about the noise incident; several people tried to do something, but I guess there's just no reasoning with some people.

DJ, we missed you and Bruce this time around as well.....I hope we'll get to see you both again before too long.

Diana

[diane]

dianazepp said:

The Bad and The Ugly:

We arrived on Thursday to find out that John and Renee, who arrived on Wednesday, had money and other items stolen from their room shortly after they got there.

Thanks for the trip report, Diana....indeed a good time was had by most all.

I just need to clarify something from your information above. Yes, indeed there was a theft, but the hotel made it right and replaced the cash and other items taken IMMEDIATELY with NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I think that is an important point that was left out. I've never been at a hotel where management was so proactive as they were in this case. I've heard of thefts multiple times from the rooms at Hedo, and never have I heard of management doing squat. Not that we are comparing Hedo to the Rooftop, but just making a point that the RoofTop wasn't required (nor asked) to make it right. They did that completely on their own. I think that speaks more for them than anything else that happened that weekend.

As far as the music goes, I was on the same floor, and I was up late that evening also. I didn't hear it, it didn't keep me awake, nor was I made aware there was even a problem until later the next day. I had a talk with them, and let's just suffice it to say that there are always two sides to every story...or sometimes three. I kept an eye and ear out for it the rest of the trip, and whenever I asked them to turn down the music is was done immediately. I'm not doubting that it wasn't done in a timely manner when they were asked, but I just wish I'd had the opportunity to know there was a problem when there was still time to do something about it. If anything like this happens again, I hope I'd be given the opportunity to know there is a problem while there could be something done about it. Management isn't there at night because we've told them they don't need to be. We'd prefer they leave as early as possible, hence removing the night pass opportunities.

It was a grand time for most everyone, from all the feedback that's been floating around on the FILP board, and I hope that what Liz said was right for most everyone there, as I know it was for me:

.....it sure sounds like a great time was had...despite the little issues....probably like the issues at Hedo!! We kind of overlook them because we're having so much fun!!

It truely is the people, and we've proven once again...it's the people that make Hedo what it is. Now we know that it's not just Hedo, but it's other places stateside as well. Next trip, early May, 2007!!!!

diane

[Hedo69]

Sign us up!

[pixiedust]

Thanks a lot for the pics Jake - I have been wondering what it looked like around the hotel there. Looks like a typical beach setting really. What gorgeous weather it looks like you guys had too!

Glad for the most part everyone had a good time!

Colleen

[Just Mike]

Yeah, Tammi and I are kicking ourselves for not going this time. We'll be back next may i think, if we can come up with an excuse to go away again. Kids are getting suspicious...or is it jealous?

as far as here....i'm just enjoying trying to post useless info here to keep a few posts ahead of Muffy...not to mention enjoying all the Karma that the Karma fairy has bestowed upon us lately. Almost to the Magic Number(69). When we get to 69...is there something we have to do? heheheheh