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Hola from Isla Nena,

Okay let me apologize first for this being so late, have had some health issues in the past week and have not felt my best. Last weekend my dogs took me for a drag, yes dogs, I adopted Chef Michael’s pit bull/boxer mix, Mitzie, between her and Mira they weigh about 140 pounds! They saw another dog near my door and were very interested in playing! Perhaps I should mention that it was about 1am and we had just finished Karaoke at the Mar Azul and I was not wearing sensible shoes! Well the little boston terrier ran towards us first and then took off in the other direction, that was all it took, both of mine took off after it and although I let go of Mira, I was hesitant to let go of Mitzie as I know she is a runner. I ended up with a nice bit of road rash on my left arm, seriously bruised my ribs and still have a large egg on the side of my head. The rib injury was painful enough to make me go to the main island to get the chest xray that had been prescribed at an earlier date, not knowing that it would not show broken or cracked ribs. What it did show was pneumonia which I have no idea how long I have had! So I am now dealing with some respiratory issues that hopefully we can clear up soon, but with the roads so torn up in town and all the dust I fear that my breathing will suffer for several more months.

Well the island continues to attract a large number of people. There have been lots of weddings this time of year, I think there were 4 Memorial Day weekend which kept Tom of Vieques Flowers and Gifts busy! I heard that this Saturday, the 4th, there is another wedding and the father of the bride has arranged to have a barge come over from the main island with a fireworks display off of Wyndham Martineau Bay! What fun! By the way the hotel has been sold and although not sure of the details it will be a W Hotel. I heard there are going to be some major renovations and not sure if it is going to close for a few weeks or months but as I hear things I will let you all know. If I am not mistaken, Wyndham management leaves around the 8th of July. We will sure miss some of the management team who have become good friends over the last 2 years, especially Ben Tutt, he has been here since Wyndham opened in March of 2003. Al will have to find someone knew to be a Spam Cook-Off judge but maybe one of the new management team will step up to the challenge! Once again the Spam Cook-Off was a great success with several people participating. Terry Monaghan was the overall champion cleaning up 3 of the 4 categories! Terry worked at the Blue Macaw, Banana’s and is doing some shifts at the Island Steakhouse I believe until Blue Macaw opens again. She won the entrée class with Green Spam and Eggs, won the dessert class with Spam Besitos, some type of cookie and won the sculpture class. Mary, a new resident, won the appetizer class with spam spring rolls. Although I was present for most of the party I did not taste any of the entries this year so not sure how things tasted compared to the past years. Every year Al and Val wonder how many people will show up and participate, with so many new people on the island this event may go on forever!

Restaurants start to take some time off or days off so you want to be sure to call ahead. Café Media Luna, Tropical Baby and Side Street Bakery will be closed for part of the month of June. Chez Shack is closed for the month of June but Duffy says they will be opening a few days in July. When the island is quiet many restaurants close their kitchens early if they do not have reservations so it is important to call and let them know you would like to eat at their establishment after a BioBay trip or just a late arrival on the island. Most of the restaurants really want to accommodate their guest but if they don’t know you are coming they start sending staff home early to reduce payroll during the quieter times of the year.

We continue to hear of petty theft on the beach areas. One of my friends had his wallet stolen out of his car in the fisherman’s parking lot in Esperanza, we had forgotten to close the roof hatch and someone crawled in there and searched his truck. Luckily he found his wallet a short distance away with just the cash missing. The manager of the Fish and Wildlife Refuge has some guidelines for beach safety and these apply to all the beaches not just the ones on the refuge:

While Visiting the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge...

1. Leave valuables safely locked in your hotel
2. Make photocopies of your driver's license, passports, or other forms of identification and carry these with you instead of the real items.
3. If your vehicle has a soft top or if it has no trunk, do not leave your valuables locked in there.
4. If you take your valuables with you to the beach or a trail, please do not leave them unattended.
5. If your vehicle is a sedan and has a fully enclosed trunk, lock your valuables in there.
6. Carry only a credit card and/or the cash you think you will need during your day trip to the beaches. In fact there is nothing to buy at the refuge.
7. Purchase one or two waterproof plastic containers or compact cases; which are specially designed to carry small items/valuables/keys on your person.
8. Try to keep your vehicle parked in a place where you or other visitors can see it.
9. Whenever possible, carry disposable/waterproof cameras to the beach.
10. In case of an emergency or theft, immediately report the situation. Please call the US Fish and Wildlife Service office at (787) 741-2138 (Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm).
11. After hours, on weekends and during the holidays please call the Duty Officer at beeper number (787) 440-0500.
12. As a back up, please call the Puerto Rico Commonwealth Police Department (PRPD) in Vieques at (787) 741-2020. Immediately report the incident and ask them to contact the federal officer on duty.
13. When possible and if safe to do so try to take a photo of the individual or of their vehicle, particularly the vehicle's license plate.
    
    Thank you for all your cooperation.
    Oscar Díaz
    Vieques National Wildlife Refuge Manager

Well you know that I adopted one of Chef Michael’s dogs so you might be wondering what he is doing. He left the island a week ago and I believe he was headed to New York State. He has not told me anything definite about his future plans just that he had several options and was looking into them. I think one of them was possibly working with Mark and Christian who moved here originally to manage Hix Island House and then were involved in Bravo Beach Hotel when it was renovated. I understand they are developing a new property in New York so….. maybe Chef Michael will read this and let me know what he is up to and what his plans are. He did say that he suspected that he would possibly be back within the next 3 months for a visit. If you are reading this Michael, please know that both of your dogs appear to be adjusting well to their new lives. Barry says that Tav is fitting in really well with his dogs and is a great watch dog. Mitzie is very social and loves walking around town with Mira and is always interested in making new dog friends. I took them to the beach the other day and Mitzie was so happy to be swimming on a hot day, she and Mira spent most of their time at the beach in the water and hunting for chicken bones!

The weather has been very hot, unseasonably hot as a matter of fact, so they are predicting a bad hurricane season with several named storms and a few major storms. Of course nobody knows where exactly they will develop and where they will go but if you are planning a trip to the islands between June and November you may want to keep an eye on the weather channel or many of the weather sites on the internet so you can see where storms are developing and where they might be headed. Although many of the guest houses are equipped with generators and cisterns, most will encourage you to leave the island if it looks like we are going to take a hit. We usually have a few days notice that it may pass dangerously close and people have time to get off the island and return home.

Jim Starke, our webmaster, arrived on the island the other day. It is always great to have him around for some company and a few laughs! If you do not have your rental property listed on enchanted-isle, now is the time to take advantage of his being here and photographing the property.

It has been a quiet month so not much else to say. I did notice that the flamboyan trees are coming into bloom so the island will soon be dotted with patches of red/orange trees that are truly magnificent.

C’mon down and visit, it is a great time of year to do so! Calendar follows, stay well and happy.

Judy

PS: If there is anything you would like to see in the newsletter or have any feedback please email Ask Judy. Thanks.  askjudy@enchanted-isle.com 

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 If any of you would like to see something specific in this newsletter please contact the webmaster and I will do my best to investigate for you. 
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