02-24-04 (Click here for the days media.)

Hello all! Writing to you from the warm sunny island of Margarita, Venezuela! It’s GREAT to be back! This is our eighth year in a row coming to the warm breezes of El Yaque! We just can’t seem to get away soon enough from winters grasp!

We had a good flight down, the usual connections and such, and made it here in about 24 hours total from doorstep to doorstep. I had to relearn the lesson not to pack anything small and valuable in the checked luggage. We had everything in Miami, but when we got here, the bags had been rifled thru, and the two handheld (or should I say, pocket sized) GPS units were missing. Since I try not to propagate negativity on the web, the less I write about this the better. Lesson relearned! On to the fun!

Breakfast on the deck at Casa Rita was heavenly as usual! Breeze in the palms, as we sipped our coffee, and ate our breakfast of eggs and such. Met up with a few folks from last year, and chatted a little before during and after the feast! Good to be back!

The last day of Carnival, Fat Tuesday was today, and the locals and tourists packed the beach with skin. Lots of drum music, w/ a parade of drummers down the beach.

A good crowd of surfers were on the water by 11:30, and the wind was trying to do it’s best to move them around, but it was a bit on the light side, 6.9 to 7.4m range. I was busy settling in, prepping the room, bringing some stateside stuff down to a few friends, so I was late to the water. But Connie had already got a couple beach chairs, and had staked a claim to some of our own sand. How nice to arrive to a comfy beach chair! I sat down and took in the scene.

Gerry’s bar has expanded the deck around the place, and added a sizable dining platform on the beachside of the bar, very nice for lunch He has also expanded the menu, and has added protein shakes and 4 flavors of ice cream! Great Idea! ! Makes it that much nicer to be on the hot sands with some cold ice cream!

The winds stayed light all day, so Connie decided to get in an afternoon floater board session.I joined in with a promised round of Hacky-Sack w/ the guys at the Vela Center.

Connie was out on a 6.9m with a 125lt, and got in some great planning runs, and a handful of tacks, for a good 1-2 hr session, while the guys and I put in some excellent Hacky for a couple hours! Great to play again on the vela patio, 85 deg F, Sun, and the music of carnival in the background! Life is GREAT! Connie came in, and joined us for the last 5-10 min. Good fun for all!

I did manage a few pics, and then had the mandatory happy hour drinks, we had our Coco-Monkey and a couple Polar beers, even spilled a little on the table for our homies that can’t make it this year! (Here’s to you folks! Maybe next year.)

We charged it all to our bill, before making our way to the store for groceries. Talked with Henri at La Sirenita, great to practice some Spanish again! Feels like home to us being here with so many friendly faces!

We got our groceries and made our way up the hill to our room at Casa Rita.

The hotel is fabulous again this year, and we even had a special greeting of flowers and fruit from our generous staff! Something special for the frequent vacationers! We had some fresh coconut in the fridge, some Cocoanis (strong and sweet liquor!), and a nice postcard welcoming us to our home away from home! We just can’t say enough about the excellent folks that work here, and for Rita and Joseph’s superb accommodations! We fell right back into island speed in only a few hours! Great to be ‘home’!

We took the short trip to our neighboring hotel Atti, for some steaks, and fries.

I had the usual, onion soup and pepper steak, and Connie had the champignon version. All brilliant festivals of taste in the mouth! Stuffed, we made our way around town to work it in, and stretch the legs. A beautiful night for a walk, crisp clear sky, ‘billions and billions’ of stars, and a slice of moon on the side. We made our way back to the room and tried out the hammock for a bit before hitting the hay. Can’t wait for tomorrow!