Settling In

I have to say that this has been an interesting trip so far. It really is as if we (I) never left. There was no return like a rock star - Oooh, Renee/Kendra (my island name) is back, we have to throw a big party with everyone she ever knew and get blitzed!! - it's been really low key. I just slowly run into friends as we all go about our business. Just like normal. Anyone going for a walk? Hitting the beach? Going hiking? Well, look who's at the grocery store or walking their dog in the opposite direction? ... I love it.

Meanwhile, I missed lots of rain back in Key West and even deeper flooding than the last time. It seems rather shocking (and a tad inconvenient), but the store owners seem to brush it off. One posted on Facebook that that's why they wear flip flops and Crocs -  not to worry. (Thanks to Joe McCarty for the photos.)

Hard to ride that way.

Looks like Venice in November.

The water tends to drain surprisingly quickly, but I'm glad we don't live in that area (although we're not that far from it). It's been sort of overcast in a misty kind of way here in St. Kitts, but in general, it's been pretty nice. Last night, we had some big pouffy clouds that scared me a bit,

Sun!

So I was invited to a great dinner last night at La Belle Vie, a French restaurant. Michael & I had never been before because French restaurants aren't exactly known for their vegetarian fare, and we'd heard mixed reviews about the place. Inside was quite cute with most of it outside on a secluded patio. The French chef was more than happy to whip something up for me and told me if I ever came back (whaa) to call ahead and he could do something with quinoa or another slow-cook item. I thought the food was pretty tasty (and I ended up with a huge plateful of pasta - leftovers!), so would go again if I ever have the chance. The sailing talk was lots of fun, and I had a really nice night out.

After a very wet dog walk in the morning, the skies cleared, and the Atlantic looked fantastic.

Inspired, I took Betsy to the beach so she could have a good run. She ran right for the water and then took off down the beach.

Seriously, where else can you have a long beach like this all to yourself? (This is looking in both directions and there was no one else.)

The Hills Are Alive but Am I?

That's Popcorn's happy face.

So last night after a long day of work on a rainy day, I turned off the computer and headed to The Dock to share a bucket of beer (6) for EC$18 (or US$7) and enjoy my view of the Caribbean Sea (I'd had a view of the Atlantic Ocean all day and needed a change). Cheers!

The bar was surprisingly empty. Actually, the whole island seems to be overly quiet for this time of year. So many people we know have moved on, but even seasonal folks seem to have left earlier than normal. Soon, two more regulars will be off-island, so this will be a real test for me for the 2 weeks I'm here to see if the lack of pals makes me feel less "at home." There were a few Dock groupies, all in their regular seats, and this is a new one in the making.


Say goodbye to the cruise ship.

We headed to a Chinese restaurant because it was Monday, and apparently that was the Monday thing to do. The gang was great, ordering lots of rice and noodles for sides so that I would have leftovers with which to feed myself. Everyone knows I hate to shop for food and cook it, so their efforts were greatly appreciated.

I then drove for the first time to bring us home (some drink more than others) and had to keep reminding myself to get into the correct side of the car and to stay left, stay left, stay left. I was quite proud that I never turned the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signals - not once!

I brought Flush (who was found 3 or 4 years ago as a kitten stuck in a toilet pipe of a house under construction) a toy, and

A Trip!

I've got everything for my trip!

Yes, I'm in St. Kitts...and I'm not coming back. Wistful sigh. It's just as I remembered it.

And here are my "kids" for the next two weeks.

Sundays in St. Kitts are usually at Shipwreck so that's what we did just about right after the plane landed. I did get my local driver's license first, picked up a few groceries, and even saw a few monkeys playing in the street, and then it was time to give and get hugs to/from lots of friends I missed. When I say it was just as if I'd never left, I really mean it. The same people sat in the same places at the bar they always do. The same band was playing. Of course, the view was the same.

Not to say that nothing has changed in St. Kitts

Summer Reading

So our friends on Fine Line really left this time. We enjoyed spending time on their boat and couldn't help but wonder if we'd ever do it again ourselves someday. We were sad to see them go, but that's what it's like when you're friends with cruisers. I think once you're a cruiser, you're always a cruiser, and it's amazing how easy and fast you get back into the lingo, the lifestyle, and the rhythm, even if only for a few hours. Once they left, I kept seeing pictures like this posted about funnels that were dropping down in the area Steve & Anne were headed, but they're sailing pros, so I'm sure they're fine. That said, I'm looking forward to confirmation that they're safely anchored or docked somewhere.

When we were sailing around, I was always surprised at how many people were cruising with kids. One boat was home to twin one-year-olds - now that was brave. I've also spoken to many landlocked dreamers who are waiting until the kids are gone before they head out. Why? Cruising is a great way to reconnect with each other. To teach your munchkins how to live life instead of through their electronics. To encourage a sense of responsibility. Today it's rather easy to homeschool, so I'm not sure there are really any barriers left to cruising with kids. During our adventure, we ran into Carla & Dan and their two kids, Tessa (6) and Tristan (9). At the time we met them (in the Dominican Republic), they were still a little timid about their trip and unsure of their future, but as they went on, we followed their blog and were just amazed at how brave they got. While we were settling onto our island paradise, they were sleeping on careening buses in Ecuador, watching a sunrise in Machu Picchu in Peru, and playing with pink dolphins in the Amazon as they trekked around South America. Still not satisfied, they took an RV trip across the US, continuing to push their limits and appreciating what the national parks had to offer. Carla recently published a book called A Life Without Borders, and if you have any curiosity about travel, I highly recommend it. She's got a website to go with it so you can view pictures of their travels as you read. The book is funny, insightful, and inspiring, so if you're looking for a good romp, you can't go wrong with this one.

I'm preparing for a two-week trip to St. Kitts, so we're about to see if you can go "home" again.

Back on A Boat!

The "party" turned out to be a more calm affair, but that was alright by us. Good company, good food, good venue/view, and good booze. What more could we asked for? Well, how about a show first? When we met Steve in the dinghy for our chariot ride to the big boat, he showed us this dislocated something-or-other that has resulted in this Popeye-like bulge. Wow, manly...and weird.

Oddly, while we were in the anchorage, all the sail and motor boats that are normally out and about for the sunset and head east from the marina turned west, in our direction, and came right at us. What the? Apparently the sunset was going to be better where we were.



The sunset wasn't too bad, and there weren't any islands in the way, but clouds kept us from a green flash.



Michael made a great asparagus, olive, and tomato dish that was quite pretty and tasty. It didn't occur to me to take a photo of it until it was all gone. I figure that's quite an endorsement though and worth a shout out. The smoked olives and pickled green beans are from Key West,

Zzzzzz

I have to admit, I'm kind of tired. It's not that we did all that much, it's that hanging with people on vacation is a bit like herding cattle. They're not on schedules, don't necessarily have plans (and/or are perfectly comfortable changing them mid-stream), and aren't always on budgets either (although all of our visitors have been very conscientious of our situation). We tried valiantly to keep up with our rotating guests, and I think we did a pretty darn good job of it and had fun, but I'm a bit beat. With the family leaving on Saturday, Michael took the day off Friday and we all headed to Smather's Beach. Andres is so going to miss this moped....

Once there and inspired by his stint on Fine Line, Andre felt the need to get a little salty, so rented a Hobie Cat.

When we tacked, we'd hand over the captain's duties to the person on the other side of the boat, so after Andres did his stint, I got it.

Sailing an 8-ton, 37' catamaran is slightly different than maneuvering a lightweight Hobie Cat (where the heck is the autopilot?!), but the winds were perfect for novices,

Just Like Old Times

Well, one of our visiting group has left the building, or anchorage, as it were. Yesterday our friends on Fine Line were nice enough to ferry us out to their boat anchored a good 10 minutes from the dinghy dock. They had to take us in 3 shifts, so it was 20 minutes per trip. We really appreciate their efforts. First up was me - dinghy ride - wheeeeee!

The others were running late, getting "trapped" on the conch train, so I had some quiet time to reflect on the last time I was on their boat (back when I had one too) and appreciate their view. There were a surprising number of boats out there and I even saw a dolphin.



Then the rest of the gang came, and we celebrated the fact that no one fell into the water getting on/off the dock or the boat.

 

Anne & Steve had an enraptured crowd,

A Little Bit of This...A Little bit of That...

I'm not sure what to say we're doing exactly. My family has been just winging it and spending lots of time detoxing from work or routines and being glad they're not home where it's cold. They make plans and then may or may not actually implement them. There are no schedules. Probably the most active member of the crew is Andres, who's gone scuba diving a couple of times.

Earlier in the week, we got a wonderful surprise when some boater pals of ours, Anne & Steve, sailed in on their catamaran, Fine Line. We met them 7 years ago in the Bahamas when we were just starting out on our sailing adventure. We knew we'd be good friends when we had a potluck and they brought popcorn. While we ended up on St. Kitts eventually, they kept sailing around the Eastern Caribbean, past Venezuela, and up the Western Caribbean. They've been cruising for 7 years

A Family Affair

So how was everyone's Mother's Day? Michael & I spent Saturday afternoon at Sunset Pier listening to some reggae music while we waited for word that my mom, uncle, and cousins were on-island. While we were waiting, this guy came into the harbor looking like some kind of super hero. It looked cool from our vantage point, but we couldn't really see the draw of actually doing the activity (well, unless you thought it would be cool to look like a super hero).







Then we got the call. Wahoo! My mom was here. So was my uncle and his two "kids." One, I've never really spent a lot of time with (I'm much older), and the other, I haven't seen since she was engaged to her Colombian other half years ago. He's a fun guy (and is just two weeks away from becoming a US citizen), the two are now married (with vows said in Key West, no less), and we just learned that they are also going to have a baby. Congrats! We headed over to the house

Museums and Hot Sauce

Anyone suffering from tequila hang overs? I'm happy to say we avoided them, but that's mainly because the Cinco de Mayo activities didn't get started until later here yesterday. We did go to the Custom House for locals day and enjoyed it. This building is huge and can seen from just about anywhere in Old Town.

I thought this pic of the statues was funny because it looks like the little girl is staring at me.

Because we've been to a couple of other associated museums, we already had some background on many of the displays, but there was more of everything here. They had lots of stuff from Mario Sanchez, a Cuban who documented a lot of Key West life through his intricate, brightly colored, wood "paintings" and sculptures. That first painting

Take that Napoleon!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Wanna know what you're toasting today? A little history: While I was aware that the day in Mexico isn't celebrated as exuberantly as it is in the US, I hadn't realized our country's (eventual) involvement in the historical event being honored. Napoleon III had sent his French troops into Mexico (led by Maximilian) thinking he would expand his empire there, but didn't count on Mexico's skilled horsemen, determined locals, and Indians armed with machetes and stampeding cattle kicking their French ass. The Mexicans beat the French in 1862, inadvertently keeping them out of the US while we battled our Civil War and allowing the Union army to grow nice and strong. Of course, undeterred, the French came back a year later and caused problems for both Mexico and the US for 3 years, but with our own war winding down, we provided weapons and ammo and sent some fighters down (who joined as Mexican soldiers) to help dislodge the French forces once and for all (which was sort of ironic since Mexico had fought off a US invasion just 14 years prior - we do like our wars). All's well that ends well, and how better to celebrate than guacamole and tequila? We may or may not seek out a margarita or two.

I have to admit we haven't done much in the way of the song writer's festival. We have wandered past a few places where some of the singers are performing, but as the official website says, they're strumming "informal adaptations of Nashville's signature." Nashville = country which means we'll be doing something else. Many of the bars here play country music or various versions of Jimmy Buffet twang regularly, which we tend to avoid (sorry!). Next Saturday (May 11), the Sunset Pier is going to have a tribute to Bob Marley concert, which is more up our alley, so we'll go and jam to that.

The weather this weekend has been great. We jumped on our mopeds for every little reason Saturday just to enjoy the breeze blowing through our hair (kind of like I used to get into the dinghy and let loose when I had a need for speed).

It's free local's first Sunday, and the Custom House is open this time. We haven't seen that yet, so will check it out. This is the place with the huge statues out front, and you'll recall that last time we were there with our friends Tina & Ron, Tina had a little accident. Maybe it'll be safer inside.

I'll update the blog if we do anything of note.

For my fellow cat lovers.

Drenching Part II

Seriously...it started out raining again.

It wasn't as bad as yesterday, we had more blue patches than intermittent rain/thunder this morning. I wasn't the only one looking forward to the sun. Yesterday, the rain got inside the Florida SPCA,

and here was a good pic of water slopping at Sloppy Joe's doors.

Photo by: Cody White

The wet streets looked pretty cool at night though. If you just can't get enough photos, here are plenty.

Photo by: Tyler Van Nash

Wahoo - a clearing! Three loads of laundry getting done! The machines are outside and if I drop anything, a lot of cursing ensues, but so far so good.

It feels good - nana nana nana na!

A Drenching.

Remember when I said Wednesday and Thursday were going to be iffy? Well, Wednesday we enjoyed lightning and thunder from about 10:30am to 2pm, but the rain was more drizzle than downpour (and boy was it humid). We got clipped by the bottom of the storm cells that went by, and it was the upper Keys and the mainland that got walloped most of the day. Thursday the rain started around the same time, but we've had much more lightning, much louder thunder, and much heavier rain. It's been pretty darn windy at times too (where are my sweat pants?). Laundry day has officially been moved to Friday. You can see we have our own little waterfall where the gutter is broken.

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. I can't believe this couple was so determined to have a beach wedding - sheesh (video). Turn up your volume if you really want to get the full affect.


The streets here flood pretty easily (even going into the bars), but I'd say the latest deluge would have tested any city. I guess we'll take it over the snow that just powdered Minnesota and Wisconsin and the fires burning in California though. When I checked the rainfall at the Weather Underground at about 4pm, we were almost at 5 inches (the airport says 4.14" which is a record for May 2).

Photo by: Cayman Elston

You've got to give World of Beer credit,