February has been very busy and traditionally is the peak month for travelers coming to Vieques. This year our season started out slow but February made up for that and it looks like March is going to be busy as well. Sounds like there were record crowds on Sun Bay, Media Luna and Navio Beaches, all of which are incredibly beautiful. I understand too that some of you travelers have been participating in the Sunday and Wed. morning Volleyball games on the beaches! For those of you who missed some of the exciting "happenings" last month you will be pleased to know that there are lots of great activities planned for this month as well! Any time is a great time to visit but you should have no trouble being entertained in the winter months here. Although I missed the "performances", some travelers came to the island with a karaoke unit and they offered it to Lyman, at the Crabwalk Café, on Friday nights for the month of February. I have heard from many, performers and patrons, that these nights have been very entertaining! I regret not getting there to see some of my friends sing and finding out that many do have hidden talents!
Some of the highlights of February included the fabulous Sushi Night and the Valentines Dance that both benefited the Vieques Humane Society. Chef Michael and the Inn on the Blue Horizon raised close to $3000 for the staff and animals! The dance held at The Oasis was well attended and, as usual with those folks, offered a great time for guests. Café Media Luna was packed on their Jazz night! I ventured in for a short time and the music was fabulous, it seemed like everyone on the island was in there! The first house tour for the benefit of the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust happened and was well attended. Check last months page for March and April house tours dates and make your reservations! If it seems like there are lots of fund raisers this time of year keep in mind that we maximize on when travelers are here offering them additional things to do and making them part of our community!
March has 2 more great events planned to benefit the Humane Society and these are both fun evenings on the island! The first is the Annual Goods and Services Auction
to be held at Bananas Guesthouse on Wed. March 7th. Andrea, of Bali Llama in Esperanza, and Patti, Blue Caribe Dive Shop, have been busy planning and getting great things to auction. The night traditionally offers such things as Bio Bay trips, Massages, dinners ranging from casual to fine dining (I think almost all of the restaurants are participating), snorkeling trips and car rentals. Some of the new things offered this year are Motor Scooter rentals, bike rentals, dog grooming, jewelry and a night at various Inns. The Inns that are offering a free night include Hacienda Tamarindo, Casa Cielo and Crow's Nest! There is also a 4 day/3 night stay at Casa La Lanchita and that includes a Jeep! Hugh Andrews, fast becoming a member of our community, has also offered 2 nights at El Convento Hotel in gorgeous Old San Juan and at The Pierre Hotel in the Condado area of San Juan. There are many bargains available however all of the people donating services are doing it for the Humane Society so please be
generous, and this year Visa and MasterCard will be accepted!
If you can't make it to that auction perhaps you can make it to the annual Art and Craft Auction. Once again Barry and Diane are offering the use of La Campesina on Sunday, March 25th for this gala! Eve Aspinwall and Alec Moseley, repeating their role as organizers for this event, have gotten some great items for the auction. Artists donating for the Humane Society this year include Eve Aspinwall, Robert Ballufi, Helen Davis, Siddhia Hutchinson, Ellen LeBow, RA Moseley, Sandra Reyes and more. Hope you picked up on the alphabetical order there because if I had to pick a favorite it would be very hard! They are still accepting art donations and if there is something you would like to contribute call Eve at 741-3078. There will be a $20 admission fee and that includes an open bar donated by La Campesina, food donated by local restaurants, the opportunity to bid on the fine art and craft items and the chance to win a RA Moseley original oil painting! Each ticket stub goes into the raffle for the oil painting and you do not need to be present to win that! As you can see by the generosity of the artists and the community in general, the Vieques Humane Society is really important to all of us here. I really encourage you to attend one or both of these events and please be generous. Don't forget that you are getting a product or piece of art and most importantly helping the clinic to grow and improve the services they provide the island. Many thanks in advance for making this a successful year of fund raising!
Sticking with the "art" theme for a moment I want to mention that the Land and Sea group show continues through the month of March at Casa Vieja. This show features acrylic paintings of the streets and architecture of Vieques done by Robert Ballufi, oil land and seascapes by RA Moseley and pinhole photography by Jett Ulaner Sarachek. The gallery hours are from 2 - 6, Tuesday through Saturday or by appointment and for that call Eve or Alec at 741-3078. Don't forget to stop by and purchase your ticket for the art auction and see the current exhibit!
I ran into Siddhia Hutchinson recently and she is expanding her artistic talents into fabric and clothing design! She told me that she had been approached about designing some fabrics and before she knew it she was sketching out clothing! Not sure when all this is going to happen and be available but it sure sounds exciting and I look forward to seeing her latest efforts. She also was very excited about the fact that there were 7 flamingos seen this fall on Blue Beach. I have not looked into it however she said there is more information available at the VCHT for those of you who are interested. I know that we are all disappointed by the fact that we don't have access to the beaches on the base however this is interesting as the flamingos apparently migrated here for a short time from Anegada where they have imported them. Who knows maybe years down the road we will have flamingos living here full time!
This is short notice however there is a Conservation Cruise happening March 5th from 4:30 - 7:00. Captain Richard will be taking people out on his glass bottom boat and talking about the ecology of Vieques. This event benefits the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust and should prove to be a great and educational voyage! The cost of the tickets is $40pp and includes cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. For more information and reservations call 741-0993. Everything that I have heard about Richard's trips has been very positive so you should take advantage of a snorkel trip or sunset cruise aboard the glass bottom boat!
I am sad to report that things are changing at Café Blu at the Inn on the Blue Horizon. For the month of March, and I hope this is just temporary, anyone who would like to eat at the Blu can be put on a waiting list for reservations. There have scaled back their staff and are only offering a limited number of meals. They will offer the room guests first option on dinner and then will call the waiting list after 11:00 AM to confirm dining availability. I recently had an amazing meal there and as usual Chef Michael went out of his way to make it a terrific dinner! The mussels that he prepared in a Thai coconut milk curry sauce made me forget that having another birthday in a few days can be a bad thing! The entire meal was delicious and he topped it off with his Black Forrest Bread Pudding, which is fabulous. I hope the situation is only temporary and that all of you get the chance to enjoy his food creations.
The theme nights at The Oasis are becoming a must do on the island. The food is terrific all the time however after the Fat Tuesday night I think everyone will be attending the theme nights. Fat Tuesday was jumping, great music, beads on the tables for the guests, crawfish, jambalaya, catfish, chocolate bourbon pecan pie, everything you would expect from a Mardi Gras evening! They were packed and had stopped taking reservations the day before. The staff worked really hard and made sure that all attending had a fabulous time and great meal. On Tuesday, March 13th they will be cooking up Southeast Asian food. The menu will feature Thai, Cambodian, Japanese and Szechwan recipes to give you an idea of what you can expect. They are really filling a void here with the theme nights in respect to foods available. On Tuesday, March 27th the theme for the evening will be New England foods! They are planning to have lobsters flown in as well as steamers and mussels. If possible they will be offering a raw bar too. For those of you from New England this may not seem very special, however the prices for these evenings are usually very reasonable and the locals are all in attendance! Thank you Mary Alice, Jason, Owen and all the staff for offering us these nights!
Café Media Luna will be offering music on Saturday, March 24th. Pedro Guzman will be returning with a new 7 piece band Quattro Rumbero. Monica and Ricardo will be offering a special menu and there is a $12 music charge, make your reservations early by calling 741-2594. They were packed last month on Jazz night and when I arrived late in the evening it seemed like all were really enjoying the great music. I have to also add that with all the people that I am seeing and talking to on the island, Café Media Luna is at the top of the list for many as their favorite restaurant. You don't have to wait for a music night to enjoy great food.
Richard's Café in Isabel II has finished renovating and is open for business. The building looks lovely from the outside and it is air conditioned for those of you who like cool restaurants! His menu features good local food and has always been popular so you can add it to the list of restaurants once again.
For those of you who hesitate to visit the Caribbean, where due to the climate there is a lot of excessive drinking, you will be glad to know that you can attend AA meetings if you like. The meetings take place Monday and Tuesday at 5:30 PM at the Vieques Conservation and Trust in Esperanza. There is also a meeting at 10:30 on Saturday mornings, that meeting is held at the Episcopal church in Isabel II. There is also an Al Anon meeting on Wed. Mornings at the Episcopal Church. For more information you can call Joe at 741-8939.
I promised a Hello to Linda and Penny. They, with their husbands, visited Vieques for the first time this year and love it, planning on returning next winter! Linda and I share the same birthday so it must have been fate that made her want a Cheeseburger at the Mar Azul on our birthdays! I was working that night and as Al and Val regularly hang celebration banners for locals having birthdays, they were wondering, "who is Judy?" I did not admit to them for some time that it was I! After that Linda told me it was her birthday too and we had fun getting to know each other. Later they asked if I was "the Judy" from the Internet, I confessed that yes I was and that started another conversation. I am hoping that after Linda reads this she will email me with her thoughts on the island and as a first timer here but extensive Caribbean traveler, I hope to share her impressions with all of you! Also I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your positive feedback and encouragement and for using the enchanted-isle site. Hey Jim we really are reaching a lot of people out there and thanks for providing such a wonderful website!
Hope to meet more of you in the coming months!
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!
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