Author: Bill

Chatting with my Queen this morning and asked her if she’d like to go out for breakfast this morning instead of cooking. She liked the idea, so we jumped into the bus and headed for Williwood – home of the goat burger….. about the only place I knew of that advertised having breakfast. Aside from that, their menu advertised a flamingo breakfast and my Queen wanted to see what Flamingo tasted like. I told her I didn’t think it was actually the bird they were serving – but she wanted to try none-the-less………. We got there and settled in and a small pleasant woman came out to take our order (and we were appreciative)  😉 Asking about the Flamingo breakfast, the nice lady informed us, it was just the name of the breakfast special ( I presume because there is a place to stop and look at a bunch of Flamingo’s just down the street from them)  Finding out it was pretty much a standard fare breakfast, my Queen went ahead and ordered it, only to be told, “We don’t have any eggs, the entire island is out of eggs”.   Dammit Emmit~!

Now I have got to tell you….. first thing that went through my head, when she said that – was WOW, that is F**ked up~! The entire island ??? Hmmm, they had plenty the day before when we got ours for the house…… The entire island ??? Was there a mass rush of people buying eggs? Were the chickens on strike? I know the roosters are out there because you can hear them day in and day out~! That can’t be right, but she was quite adamant about it. She spoke excellent English, so I’m sure I understood her correctly…. The entire island ??? Rather than pursue the issue, we opted for some items from the lunch menu. My Queen ordered a ham & cheese panini and I opted for the tuna melt. Much like the fate of the goat burger – I can say with most certainty, we won’t be ordering either of those items again, and leave it at that, altho, the resident pussy cat perked right up when it got a whiff of my tuna melt. …. The entire island ????  I know~! I should have came home and got our eggs – I could have sold them on the street for a profit~!!!  Dammit Emmit~!

After that, we came back and decided we needed to do a hooch run, and the only place on the island we could find our beloved Crown (Don’t even think about trying to find VO) – was on the other side of the big city…. and you’ve heard about how I navigate the big city, but we were running critically low on booze – so back into the bus – and away we went….  I guess we have gotten lost enough, that we are starting to recognize more and more stuff (even in the big city) and made it there with only minor deviations…….. got back to a sweltering house, so peeled off our clothes and bailed into the pool……. what a great way to wipe out a couple of hours or so of heat, humidity and frustration. My Queen made a wonderfully delicious dinner of spaghetti with mussels (not clams) and French bread to wrap our day up with…. glad she didn’t need eggs……….

Спокойной ночи

Today was one of those days when damn near everything goes perfect….. they don’t happen often, but this one nailed it….. slept in [a little – almost 07:00], and slept well, just the right size delicious breakfast…. killed some time just doin’ nothin’…. changed into swimmin’ garb, grabbed our gear, jumped into the bus and headed out to a new beach (Cas Abao). Cost 10 Guilders ($5.71USD) to park, but didn’t mind so bad, as those lots are guarded and your less apt to have your vehicle (or bus as it were) broken into while you’re out doing the Jacque Cousteau thing. To our delight, a nice little beach, all kinda of tikki huts, and places to ‘camp’ while you’re out splashing around, showers, bathrooms, nice little bar, and a dive shop. Hells bells you can even get a massage or mani/pedi if you want there.

Grabbed our gear and headed out into that beautiful azure water…. water is stilled a little stirred up from a lot of wind the past couple of days and another good ocean surge, but still almost takes your breath away the first time you put your face down in that water…. absolutely friggin’ beautiful. The reef at this beach didn’t have as much to offer as some we have been to – but still amazing to swim around and look at the aquatic life beneath you. Always looking for bigger and more interesting things to look for – I veered out away from the coast and headed into open water — still not a lot of stuff to look at… slightly dismayed at that… I headed back into shore…. and what to my wandering eyes should appear (little nod to you early Christmassy type folks)…. I saw a small part of an antennae sticking out from under a rock. Patience and a couple of valiant efforts to get my big a$$ down about 15 feet – I got to check off another ‘must see’ off of my list~~!! I spotted my first Lobster~!!! This one was big enough for a meal too~! (at least it looked like it to me)….. happy, happy, happy~!!!  🙂

Came in and shared the news with my bride, had a good cold beer, a couple of cigarettes and headed back out to check out the other side of the bay. Sadly, the other side lacked decisively…. but found what looks like a great SCUBA location. Came in, rounded up my Queen, had another cold beer and another couple of smokes…. while watching the throng of diversity that was on that beach……. all the while under a wonderfully hot sun with big white puffy clouds and that gorgeous blue Sea…….. Sitting there with my Queen, with those kind of surroundings, I haven’t felt that kind of contentment in a long, long, time…… this retirement stuff.. I think I’m gonna get all kind of used to it~!!

Stopped at the local dive shop and chatted them up. I felt comfortable with them after chatting a couple of minutes, wound up signing one of their waivers and will soon be on their list for a 2 tank dive~!

Came back to the house, made a couple of drinks — baled into the pool to rinse off the saltwater and sat and just enjoyed each others company….. My Queen indicated she would like a steak, so I fired up the grill… you may have seen pictures she put up…… we finished our meals and watched the sunset….. truly a wonderful, wonderful day….. I only hope your day was at least a fraction as good as this one was…..

Tener una noche maravillosa~~

Went for a hike this morning scoping out a new little town near us I found….. several fun little finds, including more thorns in the foot when you don’t watch where you’re going…… Came home and told my bride that something must be up with my phone as it went from 100% to under 50% during my hour+ walk….. only to find out, I apparently had it on camera and wound up taking 572 pictures of my ass and the sky (as my arm swung)…. ass, sky, ass, sky, ass, sky….you get it… what a goober~~~

Came home and deleted 572 pictures off my ass off of my phone, had a bite to eat and headed out for a new beach (Daaibooi). Small beach with some nice amenities. Found us a spot in the shade, grabbed our gear and headed into the water….. first off, entirely too many people…. why ain’t all them folks at work, or somewhere else?? Had folks floating all over me – so started a bee line for deep water out away from the crowd. Got a couple of nice shots to share with you once I got away from the crowd, even though wind and surge had the water pretty stirred up. Finally came back in after about 45 minutes, found my Queen and decided it was much to crowded for our liking, agreeing we’ll come back and check out the other side of the bay when it might be less crowded. (Another perk of this lifestyle)  😉

Came home for a quick dip in the pool, 2 or 12 drinks, some truly fine music and then my Queen decided we needed to go to the grocery store. So, we straightened up (although I did forget to put on underwear), loaded up into the bus – and off we went — Apparently grocery shopping here is a social activity, a place where most dress up (assuming that means underwear) a little bit and hang out and socialize while you shop…… the race to get in and out of the place though is a freakin’ nightmare…. kinda reminded me of being on Eastland Mall the day after Thanksgiving ( a mistake I made 1 time)– Good Grief~~~ Anyway — got all the stuff my Queen thought we needed…. and proceeded back to the house…… I grilled us up a couple of burgers (no goat) and we sat in the glow of the pool lights and enjoyed a good ole greasy cheeseburger…..with the exception of the grocery store…. a really great day….. Sunny skies, 85+ degrees, beach, alcohol, grilled meat, skinny dipping, alcohol……..yessir – really a great day~ Wish you all were here…. well – not all at once – but, you know   😉

Bon nochi~!

Future Burger…. hehehehe  🙂

Well, I didn’t think it was possible, but I did even less today than I did yesterday. Neither of us was in the mood to do much of anything and like I said, weekends are way to crowded. (also one of the beautiful things about being retired — if you don’t feel like doing anything – don’t)   So not a lot to chat about today – a little Island Insight for you and some more diving pictures……

Living an Island Hopping life tends to bolster your belly internals and how it functions….. you poop – a lot. Wow, guess it’s a combination of constant heat, different foods and spices, can probably factor in new boozes (when you can’t find yours) and probably drinking a little more of it than usual….. still a part of island life I am happily dealing with. Sure beats the hell out of raking leaves (okay, okay – blowing leaves) and shoveling snow~!

Buona note~!

Today turned out to be a hang out and do a whole lotta nothing kinda day. I think we both needed to recover a little bit from the big day yesterday. Between the activities and the heat, I think it whooped up on both of us a little bit, so we just hung out today and took it easy today. Besides, being a Saturday, beaches and highways are packed with tourists and locals out for the weekend, so ‘weekends’ are kinda chill for us anyway…… Did light out for a little bit to find a bite to eat. First place we been wanted to try and finally caught it open (and is throwing distance from our hose) just sold booze, which normally is our gig – but we already had several drinks and wanted something solid. So we headed a little farther down the road to a place we’ve seen and finally went in to check it out. We got there just in time for them to quit serving the light menu and start setting up for the dinner menu, which meant an hour wait — so my Queen decided we should just go on back to the house and I could cook for her, to which I obliged. I made her a Ribeye steak with sautéed onions and I had a burger and a hotdog. All was consumed fairly quickly and enjoyed by all…… I went in and did the handful of dishes and came out just in time to peel my clothes off and bail into the pool to watch the sunset – not a bad end to a lazy day~~ Now I’m gonna share this, some more diving pictures and maybe a little Island insight and go take a nice cool shower………

Animals kind run the roost on an island, and nobody really seems to give a big damn about it ….. but dogs roam and bark, just whenever they get the itch I guess, and chickens and roosters. Chickens aren’t so bad because they’re mainly quiet, but these friggin roosters~!! I think they must get extra feed or something for crowing….. day and night~! You’d think you’d get used to it…… but I’m still waiting for that. I guess I could go around and start dressing them up like goats  😉

良い夜を

Wow – what a great day~!!  Started off with a wonderfully delicious small breakfast my Queen made for me, then headed out to the local dive shop for my first official dive as a PADI certified Open Water SCUBA diver~! First dive was [supposed] to be to 60’….. but I got a bit distracted and managed to get down to damn near 70’… my Dive Master automatically summoned me back up to where I belonged. Even with some large intermittent clouds, water clarity was amazing. Reef is not as alive (colorful) as some I have seen, but a site to behold none-the-less. Tons of pictures for you. Will not share them all at once, (way too many) but will sprinkle them in on ‘slow’ picture days.

Second dive was to 14meters (48.93′) which is well within my safe limits. Experienced my first (and hopefully last) mask squeeze. Wow – was that freaky~! I could not get my mask away from my face and it felt like it was sucking my eyeballs out – very, very painful and even more scary. I don’t want to say I panicked (that wouldn’t be cool) – but I damn sure got right up against it. I don’t know if I was taught how to fix it or not, but if I did – I forgot it bigger than hell….. I slapped the Dive Master on the leg, gave the trouble sign, pointed to my goggles and headed for the surface. Thankfully, he grabbed me and controlled my ascent. Got to the surface and rectified the situation. Wooo-Weee… got one semi-ugly eyeball to show for it now….. (Dive master coached me [again?] on how to fix it once we got back to the dive shop).  Lesson learned~~!

Second dive of the day…..More pictures on this trip, got to see a beautiful spotted Eagle Ray, with probably a 5′ wing span…gorgeous~! Saw 1 big green Moray Eel, but was tucked too far inside of a hole for any kind of picture. Maybe the next time…. Finished the dives up with a couple of cold Heinekens back at the dive shop with my Queen. What a great way to end a couple of dives~~~ Decided we were both hungry and neither of us wanted to cook, so we set out in search of a “Chicken place” we heard about. (had our fill of goat burgers)  Ventured into new territory looking for it. Finally found it just after dark….. Business is ran by a couple interesting women from Holland….. I believe they were of the Lesbian persuasion, but we found them to be a very fun and entertaining couple. Plus, they made some damn tasty chicken. My Queen had a couple of leg/thigh combo’s while I tried one of the shaved [chicken] meat wraps. My only regret is that I didn’t order 2 of them. They laid a nice bed of chopped lettuce, diced tomato’s and a little bit of onion on the wrap and slathered in a healthy dose of shaved chicken meat. Served [as a wrap] with a bottle of their own mix of mayonnaise, garlic and a couple of other things I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but it nicely complimented the wrap. I tried a couple of my bride’s French fries and a small piece of her chicken she didn’t want – both were done very well, even though the chicken was a little bit drier than I like it. I’m not going to say what they call their restroom facilities (and that’s using the term politely) – but there is a picture of them below~~  😉

I opted to try a ‘new way’ back to the house….. I really should know better than to do that, especially at night. What should have been a 20 minute drive to the house turned into about a 55 minute drive – but we made it home safe and sound (and inadvertently ‘saw’ most of the North end of the island). Another lesson learned…. in the dark and tired… take the way you know, back to the house… Still a very, very fun day — looking forward to a good nights sleep and seeing what tomorrow brings……. Auf Wiedersehen~!

Plans to hit another beach today quickly fell to the wayside as we endured small sprinkles and higher than usual winds for most of the morning. My bride decided she wanted to go do the touristy thing instead. So we pulled up the  map, found where we wanted to go and loaded up into the bus. Amazingly drove straight to it – in amongst the downtown area of Willemstad and Punta.

Found the ‘famous’ floating bridge (also known as the Queen Emma bridge), nice piece of engineering right there. Big pedestrian bridge that actually floats. It connects the 2 sections of the city. It also acts as a makeshift drawbridge. It actually disengages from one side of the bank and swings all the way open to allow boat traffic through. I was duly impressed with the way the whole thing worked. We stopped and had a cold beer and watched the throngs of people drifting by, pondering purchases of all the available local wares. Beautiful stuff, if you’re into that kind of thing. We walked some more, crossing the Queen Emma and then sat down in the shade with a Margarita and watched the bridge do it’s thing for a while and then headed out for more strolling around the downtown shopping area. Several big cruise ships in port. I gotta tell ya, I have seen hundreds of those ships, but it still fascinates me that can manage something that big.

We’re not really the touristy type folks and that kind of stuff is really not our gig, so after about an hour, we decided we had done our part to support the economy (also found a liquor store that had ‘our’ brand)  😉 and headed back to the bus. The downtown area is much better taken care of than the rest of the island and I think mot folks who journey there will enjoy it. Lots of folks of every size, shape and description… diversity at it’s best.

I did make an effort to replicate a picture # 2 Daughter took while she was there on her honeymoon — she sent it to us, trying to explain the floating bridge (which is why it is circled in yellow on her picture) Had a good time with that and was kinda neat we could connect the two together……

I’ve got a 2 tank dive planned for tomorrow — going to try out my newly acquired SCUBA skills…. looking forward to sharing that with you tomorrow~

Even these idiots put up Christmas stuff too early~~

Slept in today – I mean, REALLY slept in…. we didn’t get up until almost 09:00 (that’s 9 O’clock in the morning for all you civilians out there). I guess it was it a fine mixed combination of lots of wonderfully hot sun, lots of wonderfully warm Caribbean Sea tossing us around for an hour or so and lots of wonderfully cold alcohol – wooo-whee did we crash, although I think maybe my goat burger (see previous post) may have been laced with PCP — or acid, or something. Good Lord,  I started off with the most whacked out dreams…. I am talking a mega-Chantix kinda dreams.           Pretty sure they would have made Steven King say W T F~?   Anyhow – got up about 02:30 and got that crap shook off, sat out in a cool night breeze and had a cigarette and then came back into the bedroom (which has wonderfully conditioned air) and slept the sleep of Kings~!! (til almost 09:00~!) By the time we had a hearty breakfast, neither one of us was in the mood to do much of anything. We both agreed we’d skip the beach today (we both got a little bit more sun than we originally planned yesterday)  and go in search of a store my Queen wanted to check out. Don’t remember then name of it, but supposed to be like a mini-Walmart. Actually wound up checking out 2 new stores…. the one my Queen wanted, and one I was told would have the booze we were looking for………….. No~.  “My” store was like a miniature SAM’s — lot’s of stuff, but none of ‘our’ brand of hooch – we opted for a bottle of something that sounded similar to our stuff and went with the reasoning – that after 3 or 4 drinks – we probably wouldn’t notice any way (we were right)  😉    Came back to the house – I grilled my Queen up a steak and I had a couple of the local hotdogs that I got at the store. Queen was happy with the steak – I was equally happy with the ‘dogs’…… (I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to getting fed)  So – not much of a day to chat about, so I thought I’d share some Island Insight with you~~~~

If you’re going on a standard vacation (4-7 days) most of this won’t probably apply, but you might find useful anyway……. Island Time has it’s own unique flavor….. biggest thing – don’t EVER plan on getting in a hurry…..like when you sit down at a table at a local Bistro…… if your server gets to you within 10 minutes – be appreciative….. if you’re lucky, they’ll ask if you’d like something to drink AND actually take that order at the same time…. if it gets to you within another 10 minutes…. be appreciative. At some point, your server will meander back around and ask if you want to something to eat…be appreciative…. if you plan to order something and don’t know what you want – order something anyway – whatever you do – do NOT tell them you want to think about it. I don’t know if their shift is automatically over at that point or what…. but it is possible you’ll never see them again. IF you do….be appreciative  (and order something) [[side bar – immediately order another round of drinks at the same time]] You will normally get your food within 20-55 minutes from the time you ordered it…… I’m not sure if they have to bake their bread, catch the fish or grow the cow (or goat) for your burger – but they definitely take their sweet time getting it out to you – and because it took than long – don’t even THINK about that stuff being hot — Oh hell no…… but no worries Brother….. you are on Island Time……. If you even slightly suspect you may want some kind of dessert – order it when they bring you the main course….because you MIGHT get it by the time you have inhaled your meal [cause you’re starving at this point]……but by all means…be appreciative….. If you really want to get a step up on them – tell them you want your check at the same time you order dessert – or plan on another 10-20 minute or so wait. They will get it out to you. They tend to step it up a little bit once they have your credit card in their possession…. sometimes…. but just relax, enjoy the atmosphere and that the fact you’re on Island Time….. oh, and be appreciative……..

More Island Insight later……………

Fun filled ‘action packed’ day today… started off on my ‘getting back in shape’ walk – journeyed almost to the coast coming across mostly lizards and one grand old looking cactus. Came back and loaded up the bus (which is what I’m gonna call that big diesel Mitsubishi SUV) and headed out for another new beach. Found it with little trouble – (Kokomo Beach). Nice little place with a good lookin’ bar — Nice beach with some lounge chairs that they happily charge you $ 7.50 ANG (about $4.26 USD) each to use – and naturally, you aren’t allowed to bring your own. This particular day, the bar had a waiter, who seemed quite aggravated with the fact he had to do his job – but we made him do it anyway. It was kind of fun watching him sash-say around all in a tizzy, but we aimed to have a bite to eat before we lit out into our new snorkeling adventure. (we missed breakfast because the stove was kaput – turns out I inadvertently switched it off–my bad) Anyhow, went out for about an hour or so snorkeling. Not over impressed with the place – although I did manage to come across a Lion Fish~! Another must-see checked off of the list~! Those things are beautiful – hope to see a much larger one~!! A lot of ocean surge kept the water churned up a little bit and a lot of heavy duty clouds also contributed to less than excellent conditions – but still beautiful water.

Came back to the house for a quick dip in the pool and a couple of drinks. My Queen informed me I needed to go fetch more booze, mix and a bag of ice. I googled the closest place to us, jumped in the bus and was off like a herd of turtles~! Pulled into this establishment, that looked MUCH different on the web site…… to start with, web site didn’t say anything about 15 cats and a dirt floor. I have gotten used to the cats in the stores….. but this place was out of control. The proprietors were two elderly people who spoke nothing but what I am presuming was Vietnamese. They were talking with a young lady (whom I believe was Swedish) trying to find (what I eventually figured out) later was sparkling water… She didn’t speak their language, they didn’t speak hers and then I step in…. I did manage however, to find her some sparkling water though…… she made it out and now its my turn….. OMG….. First off – trying to explain what whiskey was, was the first challenge…. after multiple attempts, I was going to cut my losses and try to find somewhere else to fill my alcoholic needs…. but NOOooo – they were not about to let me leave without a purchase. Finally grabbed a bottle of something I recognized, 2 cans of coke and my bag of ice. The lady had no idea what the bottle of booze cost, so she got on the phone to get that piece of intel while the older gentleman continued to try and sell me stuff. I think I almost bought a cat…….. Once she got the price, then she saw I was paying in USD, so out come the calculator for conversions……. oh my lord what a clusterf**k……. I swear, if there would have been a video of that – it would have already went viral. Words just does not do justice to that event…….

Came back to the house and decided I was not up for cooking after the whole liquor store debacle…. so headed out to a place we spotted yesterday that my Bride said she would like to check out. Place was in a small town, dubiously dubbed Williwood – The original name of the town was Willibrordous, but I guess the locals thought Williwood had more flair (They even modeled up a Williwood sign – much like Hollywood). Settled down at the table and in typical Island Time…. waiter sashayed up (yes another one) but at least he was in a good mood and friendly…. handed out menu’s and got us our drinks. You could have pretty much anything on the menu you wanted – as long as it was a goat burger. Now I gotta tell ya, I have tried a lot of things in the past 60 years – but I can say with quite a bit of confidence – goat has never been one of them. We each had — wait for it — a goat burger. My Queen got the classic, while I opted for the one described as “Go for it” (ALL the fixin’s, including goat cheese)….. wow….. unique kind of sammich right there…….. I’m not saying it was terrible, but there is an above average chance, I won’t be having another one any way soon. Don’t know if was the way it was prepared or what…… but, No thank you~~ Finished up with a very dry piece of Red Velvet cake washed down by a local beer……. that’s a meal we’ll remember for a while. Took the check inside of a small attached convenience store as instructed. Picked up a couple of  other small items and paid the bill. At least this place had a tile floor…….   😉

Happy Birthday to my Daughter Stephanie~!!!  <3

Started my day off with a morning walk, didn’t get in a full hour, but this walk included some small mountain climbing through some damn unfriendly environment… but a fun walk none-the-less…… scared up a blue dozen small lizards, handful of birds and a jackrabbit… also found out we are only 5 minutes or so from the coast  🙂

Ventured out again to find the post office, which we did successfully -yay! – and then came back, switched into swimming gear and loaded up and took off for a beach I found on Google Earth. Amazingly, drove straight to it – albeit- down some roads that looked like you’d hear Dueling Banjo’s playing at any minute. Wound up on a beautiful privately owned (meaning you had to pay (($3.00USD)) to get in) beach, but worth EVERY penny….. some of the most beautiful snorkeling I have ever done…… they have a wonderful little bar there, a dive shop, showers, just about all you could ask for – and it’s only 10 minutes from where we live  🙂  I spoke with the folks at the dive shop and after looking me up on line, they said they would honor my brand new “certified” PADI diver status~!! So I am looking to book a couple of dives with them – seems like a real friendly shop~! After seeing what the snorkeling was like there – I can’t wait to actually DIVE it — WOOO-HOOooo~!!

I got to check off a couple of my ‘must sees’ during these snorkels…. including a cute little spotted moray eel, a big gorgeous spotted Eagle Ray AND a turtle — not sure of the type – a Hawk Bill I think, but not 100% sure, but it was beautiful~!!!  Still waiting for my first Octopus……… maybe on my next dive (cause now I can bring my camera~!)

Sharing some pictures, will save some for slow days because I saved 50+ pictures on this adventure ((took well over a 100, but sorted out the ‘junk’ shots))

I hope you enjoy looking at them a fraction as much as I did taking them~!

Ouch