This is the lady that writes this column every month and to whom I am extremely indebted. 
Please stop in at Tuesday Happy Hour at the Crow's Nest to say ¡Hi! and have some free snacks. the webmaster
 

October 2004

Hi everyone,

Wow what a month we had in September! Hurricane Jeanne came close enough to down some trees, break up roads and dump 23 inches of rain on us in 2 days. The rains were unbelievable, 2 days almost non stop. The arroyos were overflowing, roads were closed and the bridge on the Casa del Frances' road washed out. The municipality has made a temporary dirt road there so that traffic can still get through. I was working at the Mar Azul the second day of the rains and watching the arroyo just carry trees out to the ocean. It also carried a beach ball out to sea which was kind of the comic relief of the day. The road going to the ferry dock looked like a river. We were bundled up in long pants and sweatshirts! Lots of people say that Vieques has never had rains like that. I seem to remember 2 occasions that we had heavy rains but not for 2 whole days. What I did learn is that my roof has a few more leaks that I did not know about. Of course after the rains you get the mosquitoes so we are dealing with that now. We were very fortunate that right after Jeanne we (Vieques and Culebra) had electricity. The new emergency generator was operational and performed beautifully. Much of the main island was without power for several days. Water on the other hand did take days to get back. Not sure why it takes so long but it does. I do not have a cistern and believe me after this storm, I am a believer in stored water. Will have to make adjustments to the house plans to include a cistern now. At least I should not need a generator with the way the new plant performed. Hopefully with September behind us the hurricane season will slow down. We were very lucky this year, and after watching what Florida has gone through, feel very fortunate at out good luck.

Many restaurants remain closed this month. Renovations are taking place at Bananas, first phase is a new kitchen and bar. Next phase will be adding a second floor with another bar on it. Not sure how long they will be closed. MBar is also renovating the bar area and was hoping to be open early this month. They are a bit behind schedule but I am sure that the designer Errin will have it looking amazing! La Sirena is not sure what they are doing but say they will definitely be open Friday Nights for Karaoke! Yee Haw, we missed Joey for the 3 months that he was gone. Our alter egos (that make us want to be rock stars) are so happy to be performing or maybe I should say making fools of ourselves again! Not sure what it is but this past Friday was pretty amusing. To protect the innocent I can only say that the bar got spanked that night! Trade Winds opens this weekend as does Chef Michael’s FoodSpace. Keep in mind that FoodSpace offers Bistro Nights, not just gourmet groceries, just have to call ahead and find out what nights they are serving dinner. Taverna Espanola should reopen soon also. Rosa takes an annual vacation to visit family in Peru and then heads to New York. Bili is open for business and seems to be rocking each night with so many other restaurants closed. Media Luna has been open but the last time I spoke with them they thought they might close for a bit at the end of October. Bayaonda was uncertain as to what their plans are for the month so you will just have to call if you are here. Coconuts has faithfully remained open and have enjoyed great success as the one of the only places open in Isabel for dinner. The Chicken Parmesan there is the best $11 dollar meal on the island! I eat there regularly especially since it is almost next door to my house! And of course if you want to be hassled by Lyman, who used to own the Crabwalk Café, stop by Coconuts Saturday through Tuesday nights. Tiki Hut and El Quenepo are the only places to eat breakfast and lunch in Esperanza these days until Trade Winds reopens. Duffy was going to reopen Chez Shack but it did not happen as planned. Duffy threatened to do his own cooking so it may reopen if he gets bored enough. Actually this time it was not Duffy, the person who he hired to cook changed his mind and decided to stay in the day job he had. So much to keep track of! Island Steakhouse has also maintained their regular schedule and serves dinner Friday – Tuesday. Keep in mind that Happy Hour is still quite popular and you should definitely make dinner reservations.

I spent a night at the Wyndham, actually to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and it was lovely. Ben Tutt, the manager, let us check in early Saturday afternoon. Shortly after arriving it started to rain a bit (imagine that!) so was quite content to watch TV for a little while as I do not have one anymore. Then it was off to the Spa where we had massages and I sat in the sauna for a bit. Carlos worked on me and he gave me a great rub. Here I am in the massage business but have not had one in about 3 years (I switched to Reiki sessions) so this was such a treat. Then I took advantage of the sauna and that felt wonderful too. Did not have time this trip to sit in the Jacuzzi but you can bet I will the next time. The water pressure in the showers was unbelievable and felt so great after the sauna session! We opted for dinner somewhere else that night as per the wish of the birthday person. I did talk to a friend who has had dinner there for the past several Saturday nights and he said it has been very good. The prices are a bit high but it is so beautiful and they have more expenses than any other restaurant on the island that I don’t complain about the cost, especially as the portions are generous. Goodness I forgot how nice it is to take a bubble bath! The tub in the room is big and actually separates the bedroom from the dressing area/ bathroom area. The rooms are gorgeous in general and I think the bed was the most comfortable one I have ever slept in! As the rooms all have a CD player I brought my own music along as I had anticipated soaking in the tub as soon as I made the reservation. The next morning I had to go into town to let feed Mira (my Chocolate Lab) and then returned to the hotel. The cleaning staff was very busy that morning so we packed up our things and checked out of the room early. People at the front desk told us they would keep our luggage for us and if we wanted to take showers after swimming and beach time we could use the Spa. So I broke a rule and had a few Bloody Marys early in the day! We enjoyed a nice lunch at the pool bar and then spent the rest of the afternoon on their beach. Took advantage of the Spa to shower which was a good idea as some of the island was without water again. The staff was very friendly and took great care of us, I really felt like we had left Vieques for a vacation. It was such a wonderful break that we said we are going to try and do it often! I can’t wait to do it all over again but definitely want to stay there for dinner the next time. By the way this little vacation is why What’s Happenin is a few days late, sorry.

Okay so we thought the water situation was over, not quite. One of the rumors is that one of the unions is striking and PR could be without water for 5 days. I just walked out the door and workers from the Water Authority are striking and were marching in front of the local office. I filled up buckets yesterday morning and by last night had no water. This morning it was on here in town but now it feels like the pressure is going down again. A man I know from the main island said he heard the water could be off even longer if another union joins the strike. Not sure how much all this has to due with it being an election year but I imagine some of it does. It is just such a pain to go without water, and more importantly a huge health hazard. Schools have to close, businesses have to close, in general it is just a mess.

Congratulations to Oscar Diaz, manager of the Vieques Wildlife Refuge, he received the Regional Director’s Conservation Award for leadership in the management of the refuge. By the way since the storm the eastern end of the refuge, red and blue beaches, have been closed. Originally I heard it was because the roads washed out so badly but now I heard that they want to do a complete inspection of the beaches to make sure no ordinance washed ashore with the big waves cause by Jeanne. There is a possibility of them opening this week.

Well it is once again land of the Speaker Trucks and it gets annoying closer to the election. The candidates for mayor and sometimes even for Governor have trucks that blast their music and information around the island. The noise level goes way up this time of year and we all look forward to election day when it stops! We actually have 5 candidates for Mayor this year, seems like a lot for such a small island. The race seems to be mostly between the current mayor, Damaso Serrano Lopez running on the PDP ticket, a man whose last name is Jimenez, sorry I forgot his first name, and he is running on the NPP which is the statehood party and then Guardo Maldonado who is running as an independent candidate, not for the Independentista Party. From what I heard Guardo decided not to risk losing to Damaso in the primary so is running as an independent. It should be an interesting race and possibly very close. If Guardo wins it would be one of the first times an independent candidate wins an election in PR. He certainly has a lot of support in the community. Time will tell what happens but there is certainly a lot of hype for the election and Puerto Ricans are very passionate about elections!
The calendar follows – thanks to all of you who faithfully read What’s Happenin'. Jim (the webmaster) and I want you to have a wonderful experience here.

Thanks for reading and BOO,

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 

<click here for the archives>

 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. 
Email: whats_happenin@enchanted-isle.com 

BACK

Past Articles

Page Design by:
Positive Image Graphix © All Rights Reserved
For information on your own Website:
E-Mail: webmaster@positivimage.com
Site was last revised: 01/26/08