Happy Holidays Everyone!
This is going to be a really long edition of "What's Happenin'" so please bear with me. There is so much going on here that this month I could possibly write a book. At least I know that I won't run out of thing to tell you about for the winter.
I will get the restaurant news out of the way first however there may be some changes to that this month. If I hear of any new plans for the holidays I will write an addition to this page before Christmas so check back later in the month. I had a great "dining" weekend, Friday night we tried out the pizza that Monica is offering at Café Media Luna, it was terrific and reminded me of the pizza that I had eaten in Italy years ago. It was probably the size of a medium pizza and was easy to share. Her regular menu looks fabulous and hopefully by next weekend they will have the second floor open for guests. They have put in a second kitchen upstairs where Monica prepares the entrees, guests will have the opportunity to watch her work as they will have two big tables in that area. They have also added tables for 2 in each of the small balconies, great place to enjoy a romantic dinner! No music nights until January however they will be open Christmas Eve and New Years Eve! Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at La Campesina and had a chance to catch up with Barry and Diane. Their menu covers all the basics with pasta, seafood and various meat entrees and all with very hearty portions. It is impossible (I think) to leave there hungry. It is always fun to sit among the fruit trees and listen to the native coqui (small tree frogs) music. The month of December they are open Tues. through Saturdays but are not sure yet if they will be open New Years Eve. Chef Michael is doing a Lobster Bake on Sunday, Dec. 9th and that is booking up fast. He will be offering a 1 ˝ lb. New England steamed lobster dinner for $20, you can now understand why that night is almost sold out! In addition he will be offering clams and oysters for appetizers and he will have a steak for those who don't like lobster. During the Holidays and for the winter Chef Michael's will be open Thursday through Monday. He will have special menus for Christmas Eve (elegant and some traditional foods), Christmas Day will feature the traditional "roasted" foods and New Years Eve will be elegant and festive! It is hard not to have a wonderful time there as the food and surroundings are wonderful!
More restaurant news includes theme nights at Oasis, on Dec. 12th they will be featuring Mexican Food and Dec.26th will be Southeastern Asian night. New Years Eve they will be doing a single seating for dinner and will have Rootstick (reggae band) performing! You will have to have reservations and they will be selling additional tickets if you are interested in just enjoying the music. Make sure you give them a call for more information and reservations at (787)741-0655. The Oasis will be closed Christmas Day however Island Café will be open and will be offering a special menu for Christmas and they will also be open New Years Eve with a special menu. Island Café will be closed Christmas Eve and New Years Day. Trade Winds is open for breakfast and lunch Friday- Monday and open for dinner Wed. through Saturday nights. They expect to be open 7 days a week starting December 15th. Lyman at the Crabwalk Café will be offering Greek food on Monday, Dec. 10th. This was very popular the first time around and Jim agreed to do the Greek menu again! Sundays features Football all day at the Crabwalk, channels changing so that everyone gets to see their teams, and also Polish Sausages on a bun for 50 cents and $2 rum drinks! Karaoke was supposed to start up again this weekend and go every Friday through the winter however there was a problem with the machine so not sure when it will start up again. Tropico is open Wed. through Saturdays and Morgan is again featuring Paella on Friday and Saturdays. We are awaiting the opening of 2 new spots on the island and each is hoping to be open for Christmas week. La Sirena (the mermaid) is located next door to Bananas in Esperanza and will have offer 2 floors to enjoy. The bar is downstairs and will seat many people, there will be tables downstairs and upstairs too. The view from the second floor is wonderful and should be a very popular spot. The other new spot is Uvas, located in Isabel on the main corner of town. Max is hoping to have at least the bar area open for the holidays and food will come later. She has her work cut out for her to get it open in a few weeks but you never know! This will be a nice addition to the downtown area. I think that covers most of the restaurant news however remember to make dinner reservations at all the restaurants and not just for the holidays.
This month the Humane Society will be having a yard and possibly bake sale on Dec. 15th and that will be held in Isabel where Coconuts used to be located. There could be some real treasures there so stop by in the morning! December 22 there will be an open house at the Humane Society where everyone can see the animals. All are encouraged to bring a gift for a dog or cat! Gifts of course can include donations to the VHS! There will be some refreshments and possibly a raffle, details are still be worked out however it should be a fun afternoon beginning at 2:00 until 5:00.
There will be a Christmas Cheer party on December 22nd at La Casaba, the home of Min Flemer, to benefit The Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust. There will be a $30 fee payable at the door and the evening will include cocktails, hors
d'oeuvres, and music. The party starts at 6 PM and will last until about 9:00. Funds raised will help them add to the new Marine Life Exhibit at the Trust located in Esperanza. I stopped by recently to see the tanks and they are hoping to have someone there on the weekends offering more information about the marine life. There was also an Insect Exhibit going on but they are unsure how long that will be up. I rather liked encountering some of them mounted as opposed to seen them running across my floor! For more information and directions to the Open house stop by or call the Trust at (787)741-8850.
We still do not know whether there will be a New Years Eve Party in the Plaza yet. What we do know is that the Christmas lights in town at the Alcaldia and Plaza will be turned on Dec. 14th. I could not quite understand if there was a tree lighting ceremony or not but be sure to drive through town that night! On Saturday, Dec. 15th there will be a party for the children in the Plaza starting about 8 AM. There will be gifts for the children and not sure what else going on. My Spanish is minimal so I am sure I did not understand much of this! That same night there will be a party in the Plaza starting about 7 PM and there should be music. I guess I should have taken a translator to the Mayor's office with me!
By the way if you are in search of some reading material stop by 18 Degrees North in Esperanza. Lou has a great selection of used books available cheap or by trade. If you finish your book drop it off and he will give you another to read! He also has a few beach umbrellas that he will rent for $4 a day. He has a good selection of beach supplies including chairs, flip flops, sunscreens as well as some snorkel gear and clothing. Right now he is closed on Tuesdays and will be closed Christmas and New Years day, as of December 2nd he should be open 7 days a week through the winter.
In doing some research for another project I had the opportunity to visit with the local Judo Association and was truly impressed with what I learned. I watched about a dozen children, ages 6 -17, practice and talked with a few Moms about what they are doing. These kids compete about once a month on the main island and go to about 4 International Tournaments a year. In their last competition they won 10 out of 13 divisions and placed in all classes. Two of the Vieques members represented all of Puerto Rico last year in a tournament in St. Martin and won their classes! One of the Moms told me that the kids from the big island just cringe when they see the Vieques team show up! Some of these kids got involved in Judo because of health problems or social or disciplinary problems. One of the Mothers, Dr. MacKenzie, got her son involved because of his asthma. She told me that she had to travel with a breathing machine and medication to all the tournaments because 3 of the team members had asthma, now she just travels with medication although they have not needed it for a long time! They have a local instructor as well as one who travels here on Saturdays to work with the group. The building that they use was given to them however they do not have electricity or running water in the building, there were water buckets available to allow the kids to flush the toilets. They are more concerned with having the money to compete rather than upgrading the facilities. They are in need of new uniforms (cost about $75) for all the kids so if anyone would like to make a donation or maybe have uniforms that your kids used please get in touch with me. They were thrilled that I stopped by to see what they were doing and would welcome any visitors who want to watch them practice. For anyone interested they practice Mon., Wed., Fri. from 4:30 - 6:30 and Saturdays from 11 AM to 1 PM. Their building is located on the main road in town across from Chu Garcia Hardware Store. If anyone is interested in directions or making a donation again contact me and I will get the information to you. I will try and help out any group that works with the children of Vieques! Next week I plan to visit the local junior riding team which you will learn about next month!
Thanks for reading and next month I will try and keep it a little shorter! Hope everyone reading has a great holiday!
This just in for the Holidays! Chez Shack has reopened for the season and Duffy is still doing his famous Monday Grill Night. As you would have it Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Monday so you can enjoy a wonderful evening listening to live music either of those nights! Duffy is only opened Monday nights as of now however you never know if he will change his mind and add more nights! Blue Caribe Dive Shop is now doing Moonlight Bio Bay kayak trips. As the moon approaches full near the start of 2002 this is a great way to enjoy seeing our magical bay. There is still no definite plan for the Plaza and NYE, however it sounds like the Mayor's office is still trying to put something together. Francois assures me that La Siren will be opening for the holidays, located next to Banana's in Esperanza. He has a unique bar top, looks like grass cloth with lots of polyurethane to make it gleam! There is a great view from the second floor also. As of now the Karaoke machine that has made the Crab Walk famous is out of order, Joey is trying to fix it or perhaps researching new equipment. Not sure when the singers of Vieques will have the opportunity to exercise their vocal cords again in public! Also the Crow's Nest will be doing a special Christmas Day Social Hour form 5 - 7 PM. I understand that there will be gifts and or prizes to win, not sure of the details but make sure you stop in for the festivities. Social Hour is always hopping and the light buffet of appetizers always delicious! That is the rest of the scoop although things change here hourly, make sure you make reservations early for the holidays so that you get to dine at your first choice. Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday wherever you might be!
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Christmas
2001