As you know we are in Tropical Storm Season and there are lots of restaurant and activity changes this time of year. We weathered through Tropical Storm Dean; it came out of nowhere and dumped about 9" of rain on us! It was an intense rain for a few hours with the roads flooding and finding new leaks in the roof! After the storm the island turned bright green and you could almost watch the plants and trees grow. The aftermath also brought more mosquitoes a week later, which were annoying but part of the tropics. Sales of Raid and Off! seem to be back to normal now, thank goodness!
Sharon is taking a vacation so Island Adventures will be closed and not doing the Bio Bay trips on the electric boat until after Sept. 25th. Not to worry though as Blue Caribe is still offering the kayak trips on Bio Bay as well as their snorkel and scuba diving trips. Pooch is doing the Kayak tours and people love him. He has a great sense of humor, is knowledgeable about the bay and will certainly entertain you on the trip. It is hard not to have a good time if Pooch is around. He has also become a regular at Karaoke when offered at the Crabwalk, usually every other Friday night, and even when he is not singing he is joking with the audience and dancing to all the music! Actually when Pooch gets a hold of the mike it sometimes has to be wrestled out of his hands, Joey tries to save him for late in the evening!
Here are some of the restaurant changes for the month of September. The Oasis at Water's Edge Hotel is closed until Oct. 5th, they decided to take a break but most of them will still be working at Island Café! Island Café at the Crow's Nest will be closed on Wed. and Thurs. during the month of September. The kitchen at Al's Mar Azul is open Thurs. through Sunday, noon until 9 PM, and they are offering Lasagna Night on Thursdays, $8 gets you that with salad and bread! Amapola has closed the bar and restaurant until mid November however guest rooms will be available. Taverna Espanola reopens Sept. 12th. La Campesina is still open Tues. - Friday nights for dinner and the Trade Winds is still open Fri., Sat., and Sunday for dinner. Trade Winds is still offering breakfast and lunch on Sat. and Sundays. No changes at Banana's or Crabwalk Café at this time so it is business as usual for them. I am including this message from Chef Michael, Café Blu at the Inn on the Blue Horizon is closed until Oct. 4th. The restaurant will reopen with a new name, Chef Michael's! Chef returns for his 5th season not only as the chef but as the owner of the restaurant as well. He looks forward to an exciting season and will offer one of his popular Sushi Nights sometime in November. He wants to thank all his friends and guests for making this the most successful year the restaurant has had and looks forward to seeing all of you again in the upcoming season. Congratulations Chef Michael! I am still waiting to hear from Café Media Luna as to their fall schedule so those of you that are here this month make sure to give a call there to check and see if they are still offering dinner on the weekends. Please remember to make reservations at all of the restaurants for dinner.
We have all been having a lot of fun this summer, this time of year we get to really catch up with our local friends that are all busy during the winter months. Chris and Jill got married at Casa Cielo in August and had a great party there. The newlyweds both worked at various restaurants on the island so many of you may have met them. They are returning to Tennessee this week and we all wish them well and will miss them. Barry and Diane (La Campesina) had a nice party at their new home this past weekend, it seems like everyone stopped by at some point during the day. They have not officially moved in yet but decided to have the party so we all could see what they have done on the property. John and Judy (Beach Doggies) had their annual anniversary party up on their hilltop. I missed that one because of work, but miss getting up there, as it is so beautiful. Earlier this summer was a Texas BBQ party to celebrate Scott's (The Crow's Nest) and Mary Alice's (Island Café/Oasis) birthdays. That was a great get together of many of the island residents attended! When you have a hotel and restaurant you get to know lots of people! There is another big party celebrating the birthdays of Tom Stassa and Bob Clapper. Happy Hour Tuesday at the Crow's Nest is always a great time for catching up and feasting on the treats they put out! Bingo continues to draw a crowd at Sombrero Viejo Tues. through Fridays! Karaoke continues every other Friday for now and that is usually very entertaining, there have been some very talented tourists who tried it for the first time here on Vieques. Nobody wants to embarrass themselves at home I guess, but there is some real talent out there!
I was just informed that I have been selected to be on the board of directors for the humane society! I am really excited about getting involved with them as they do such a great job on the island. Two new interns just arrived this week and there are more coming soon. Marga will be returning to work at the humane society this November. She was here 2 years ago and we look forward to her return. The intern program is great, amount of time varies and Johanna and Dr. Andrea work them pretty hard but these young folks get to enjoy a few months of island life, make a difference in the community and really learn a lot about veterinary care. They always need volunteers to do things so think about stopping by and helping out if you are going to spend a few weeks on the island. And if you are looking for an exotic dog or cat to take home they can hook you up! Everyone should own a Viequense Sato!
News Flash!! By the way when you get here you must now dial the 787 area code before the local number for any calls you make on Vieques. If you are dialing the main island you dial 1+ 787 + number. They will be bringing in a new area code soon to PR and instead of dividing up the island they will be issuing new numbers with the new area code.
That is all the news I have for this month. Thanks for reading and hope to meet more of you soon!
Judy
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If you have read some of the past letters by Peggy you will be familiar with the "must do" things here. If you have not read them I suggest that you take a few minutes to browse through them to become better acquainted with life here on the island. She has filled her columns with lots of "things you need to know" and I don't want to pass on the same information month after month! <click here for the archives>
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