September 2002 

Hi Everyone!

Things are slowing down for sure this month, we have some businesses that will be closed until October as people take much needed vacations! I remember someone (it was a "tourist") asking me once where any of us could possibly go on vacation, as it was beautiful and fun here. I had to remind that person that we were not on vacation and still had all the "stresses" of real life such as rent, utilities, car problems (a biggie here!) and work. Many of the service industry people will work at 2 or 3 places; it is not uncommon to run into familiar faces as you visit different restaurants. For me a vacation usually consists of visiting family but that also means visiting friends, going shopping, going back to favorite restaurants from my past life, etc. For many of our regular travelers returning to Vieques means the same thing, visiting the familiar faces at the bars and restaurants, knowing everyone's first name, having people remember your name, relaxing at Sun Bay, etc. Returning to Vieques or even visiting it for the first time is like going someplace very familiar. It is an easy place to relax, has a unique charm and often seduces people into returning. Life is far from perfect here but it is always warm, you are never more than about 10 minutes away from the ocean, people are friendly and helpful, and if you need a taste of "big city" life the main island is close by! The winter months are more hectic as we get people escaping from the cold. The summer months are quieter and more peaceful. Regardless Vieques is always a great place to take a break from your "real life" and truly relax.

If you have read this column before you know that a few months ago I got involved in producing a small community newspaper. The rewards of this project have been amazing as I am meeting many more people and learning more about the island. I received an email from someone telling me of his son's golfing accomplishments. At first I was stunned as there is no golfing on Vieques and wondered how a junior even learned of the game. The story is an amazing one and I would like to share it with you. Michael Pascucci was 9 years old and was watching Tiger Woods win the "Masters" (1997) on TV. He decided then that he wanted to play golf too. Armed with a shortened broomstick, plastic cup and small ball, he began putting in the house. This went on for about a month at which point his parents, Myriam and Paul, purchased him a driver. Father and son were off to Sun Bay, armed with 1 club and some balls, and taught themselves to play golf. With the help of some books, magazines, and later video tapes young Michael was soon hitting a long and straight drive. A few more clubs were added and the next year Michael went to his first tournament, amazingly he won! He had only played a few rounds of golf on a real golf course prior to his tournament and had no formal instruction. Michael has been competing for about 5 years now; he has placed in the top 4 seven times in his career of 15 tournaments! For those of you that are golfers, Michael has only ever played 30 rounds of golf, that number includes his tournaments! I imagine that the kids he competes against get to play that much golf per month! Michael has only had about 5 formal lessons in the past 5 years, competing juniors regularly take lessons or attend clinics. Unfortunately Michael has not had those opportunities often. Living on a somewhat isolated island has not deterred Michael from playing and excelling at golf! Michael's father Paul answered my many questions by email until I knew the whole story! Although I am not a golfer I come from a large family of golfers, some pursuing it professionally, so I know how difficult and frustrating the game can be. In my stateside life I was very involved with horses, competing and also teaching riding. I was stunned that a young teenager could perfect his swing by trial and error, without the help of a teacher! I recently met Michael and his family and he even hit a few balls for me. Hit may not be the right word, he used his driver and the balls were gone! He hooked his first drive but instantly made the correction and the next few went straight ahead for what seemed like a mile! This was in his backyard where the ball went over a hill and through the woods so hard to tell where it ended up! Michael's career highlight occurred this past spring when days before his 15th birthday he got his first eagle and it happened in a tournament! Although he finished in 9th place it was a very special event! I imagine that it is very hard to be the only Viequense golfer that rarely gets to play golf, to maintain the drive and enthusiasm for a game that is only accessible by traveling to the main island. We congratulate Michael for his skill and determination to master this difficult game. I intend to follow his career here and hope that he gets the necessary breaks to pursue this beyond just PR. Good luck to you Michael!

Rumor has it that Martineau Bay has been sold to Raffles International. Hopefully next month I will have the details on this. If it is indeed true this is great news for the island as it means many more jobs for local residents. The Martineau Bay complex is beautiful, lovely gardens, great rooms beautifully furnished, a swim up bar in the pool, tennis courts, spa, gym, and 3 restaurants. It is always sad to see a project sitting idle waiting for completion and activity. Hopefully if all goes according to the rumored plans they should be doing a soft opening in December. Check back next month for more news.

This winter we will see another great shop added to the strip in Esperanza. Chef Michael will take a break from slaving in a hot kitchen and instead focus on offering residents and travelers a wonderful selection of wines, cheeses, specialty foods and cigars. He is working out the details as we speak and hopes to be open in November. Every experience with Michael is a learning one, he has taught me so much about wine and cooking already that I am anxious for him to get the shop open. His "wine tasting" events are quite popular and fun to attend; afterwards he takes special orders on the wines that have been consumed! He will be located next door to 18 Degrees North and Vieques Flowers! For the best selection of gifts, souvenirs and shopping in general you just need to walk between the Trade Winds and Kim's Cabin and you can do all you shopping with the exception of standard groceries. 

The island has been getting paved! This is good as some roads have been widened and new small bridges have been built on the road to the airport. It was always a bit scary passing another car on those bridges, usually one car waited until the oncoming traffic had gotten over the bridges! The road that La Casa Del Francis is located on has also been widened in some spots. Many of the back residential roads have also been paved as well as many parts of Monte Carmelo and Villa Borinquen. Electric poles have also been put up in those two areas and soon all of the island will have electricity. These 2 barrios sit on former military land however in past years were "squatted" by residents. People have lived up there for years using solar power, gas or generators to run households. In the works are some water tanks and an "emergency power plant" to get us through the times that we lose water and electric. Soon Vieques will no longer be the sleepiest of the islands in the Caribbean!

CLOSINGS: Before we get to the calendar of events I should let you know that the following businesses will be closed during September. Tropico Restaurant, restaurant at the Inn on the Blue Horizon, and the kitchen at Amapola will be closed in September. Chez Shack is closed from 9/9 - 9/30 and Trade Winds is closed 9/9 -10/10. Blue Caribe Dive Shop is closed however Pooch and Matt will still be doing nightly BioBay kayak trips from the dive shop. Island Adventures will be closed for the month so no tours of BioBay on the electric boat until October.

September sees the return of military training exercises for much of the month. Although there is talk of some protesting the numbers of people attending has greatly diminished in the last year. Even when training is going on it does not affect the normal daily activity on the island. Often there is little or no noise from the exercises. Remember that now they use no live ammunition during these exercises. We expect that the Navy will be leaving Vieques next May. We are not really sure how long it will take before everything is relocated. Most believe that the land will be turned over to the Dept. of Interior and the question of access to those beaches has not been addressed as yet. Hopefully it will not be years until we can all enjoy Red, Blue and the other gorgeous beaches on that land.

The beginning of this edition of "What's Happenin" talks about being seduced back to Vieques. We are all pleased and excited about Jim, the Webmaster of Enchanted-Isle.Com, returning home again! I am especially thankful for his moving across the street from me, as I am the only full timer on the block. I am sure that Pique, his Sato dog will be excited too about returning home. Hopefully she and Mira (my Viequense Lab) will be friends as he would welcome a new playmate to swim with! Jim is anxious to get back involved with the island and increasing the information about Vieques available on Enchanted-Isle. His goal is to keep this the most popular site and best reference for information about Isla Nena. 

Thanks for reading and check out the airfares to Puerto Rico! See you soon in Paradise.

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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