The news is not good, but we are hoping for the best. Our friend, one of the best sailors on St. Croix, a gentleman, storyteller, and first class entertainer, Llewellyn Westerman collapsed on his boat today as he was bringing folks back to his mooring in front of the Yacht Club.

Michael and I witness him sailing in, as we massaged a couple on the deck of their rental villa. A heavy rain squall was coming in just as he was. He turned Charis into the wind to take the sails down. We could hear the sails flapping, but they didn’t come down very fast. It looked as though he had caught the mooring line, but the sails kept flapping. Our client asked what was going on and we told him that Llewellyn was coming back and the sails would be coming down soon. But they continued flapping. Then the boat went backwards. We thought that perhaps his mooring line had broken.

The yacht club dinghy came racing out to help stop Charis from hitting any other boats. They tied her to another mooring and carried Llewellyn to shore. A few minutes later, the ambulances arrived. We thought it might have been one of his guests. But we just received a call from the clients we were working on that it was indeed our friend.

We are hoping for the best…..

The Sunday-Monday edition of our local newspaper listed 29 job openings. Not including those at the Buccaneer Hotel, which is looking for people to fill many vacant positions there. The Wednesday edition listed 28 openings, again, not including the Buccaneer. And at this time of year, we have many transient workers who are here for the high times, but will go to Sarasota or Alaska for the Summer. So there are not as many spots to fill as there are during the months of May through December. It’s still plenty. But people say “there are no jobs…”

We also frequently see “Help Wanted” ads (and we hear them on the radio) by the Divi Hotel and Casino. In fact, a few months ago, the Divi asked the government if they could hire people under 21 to work in the casino, since they could not find enough qualified Cruzans of age to work in the industry. Where are all the people who need jobs? Do they really WANT to work?

The “powers that be” support Paul Golden in his attempts to build a resort/convention center/casino on the South Shore because he’ll bring jobs to the territory. Hmmmm. There aren’t enough qualified people to fill the vacancies we have now, so….

He’ll have to hire more statesiders! And then the people dem will bitch about all “de outsiders dem takin’ all de jobs dem”.

It won’t be pretty.

And then there’s the guy we see at all the Paul Golden hearings. Roy Rogers. He has kids with college degrees. He wants them to work in Golden’s Resort. But he wants them to start out in managerial positions.

Well, I know a guy who’s the president of an oil company in RI. His father owned the company. But his father made him learn the business from the “ground up”. He started out cleaning boilers and working in freezing cold temperatures. He learned every aspect of the job so he could become a good manager. His company is very successful because of this. Why can’t Roy’s kids start out dealing cards at Divi to see what it’s like?

I came from the states a while ago, but I have paid my dues, doing everything (even with a master’s degree) from cleaning other peoples’ toilets to finally running a successful business. I don’t want an influx of Americans here. I left America because I wanted a simpler island-style life. Americans will bring their strip malls and IHOPs. Ugh!

St. Croix has so much potential to become a unique example of responsible development and non-invasive tourism. Why can’t we all just work together to make this happen rather than cow-towing to some big talking Jerseyite with a lot of PR and too little common sense and foresight?

(Also sent to the Source, the Avis and The Daily News)

As a person who fell in love with St. Croix the first time I landed at the Alexander Hamilton Airport in 1987, has lived here, raised my daughter here, worked myriad jobs (menial, professional and managerial), has done countless hours of volunteer work, and continues to try to promote the beauty and uniqueness of our island home, I must speak, yet again, about the potential damage that Paul Golden’s casino, convention center, golf course and “resort” will do to this amazing place.

There are a group of swimmers who get together every Saturday morning to swim from one point to another at various beaches around St. Croix. I have swum with them for over 10 years. One of the swims takes the participants from Robin Bay (east of Mt. Fancy) to the Boy Scout Camp. It can be a fabulous swim. The patch reefs in the Great Pond Bay, as well as the barrier reef, harbor innumerable species of colorful sea life. The waters are fresh and clear, until you get to the beach where Paul Golden wants to build this abomination. The beach may look nice from land, but it is murky and full of smelly seaweed once you get to the spot where this “resort” is proposed. The current takes a lot of yucky stuff to that particular beach.

During certain times of the year, the place smells like septic. The aroma of decaying vegetation in the area as part of the natural processes of a wetland/saltpond, aka swamp is prevalent. My belief is that Paul Golden was sold the proverbial, “Prime swampland in St. Croix that my buddies and I have been holding onto for just someone like you…” And that may be why we see former Senator David Jones’ face at every Golden hearing trying to dissuade naysayers like me, who actually know what the area is like and have had many years of contact with stateside tourists.

My business depends largely on tourism and I know the typical “golf resort/casino tourist” will definitely not enjoy their stay at this resort. But Golden does not want to look like an idiot who’s been sold a bill of goods, which is why he perseveres.

I can only imagine the pampered American tourist holding her nose walking from the beach to the golf course (or more likely being chauffeured in a fancy golf cart) to complain to her husband about the “awful smell of St. Croix” and wanting to go to Aruba or St. Martin.

St. Croix is a breathtakingly unspoiled gem with so much more potential than to be just another overdeveloped Caribbean island who has sold out to some (or a few) scam artist(s).
Let’s take better care of her and not let this happen.

Terry told me before that my posts were too political, so I’ve cut back, but I had to share this.

I just had an enlightening conversation with former senator David Jones. We were at the press conference where Paul Golden finally announced his partnership with Wyndham Worldwide to manage and operate the Wyndham St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino (formerly called Golden Gaming/Golden Resorts, LLC). Oddly, no one from Wyndham bothered to show up, or they kept quiet, they certainly weren’t introduced. How’s that for a resounding endorsement?

Anyway, I was discussing with Mr. Jones the fact that Mr. Golden’s checkered past includes episodes that would prevent him from employment in a casino, let alone running one, according to the Virgin Islands Casino Control Act. “We’re not here to judge anyone”, Mr. Jones said. He went on to say Paul Golden hasn’t murdered or raped anyone, as far as we know, so we should move forward. Right in our community, he told me, we have people who have raped and murdered and they’re flourishing, so why shouldn’t Mr. Golden. He seemed to be saying that, since we haven’t been able to enforce all our laws against more heinous crimes, we shouldn’t bother to enforce lowly laws like the Casino Control Act. It struck me as particularly odd, since our police commissioner was on a radio talk show this morning saying he and the force are committed to enforcing all the laws, from seat belt requirements, window tinting, cell phone use, noise ordinances and traffic rules on up. Yet here was a former senator, who used to be charged with making the laws, saying we should just ignore some of them, since we can’t enforce all of them.

I really wish someone from Wyndham had shown up at the press conference. I’ve heard all of Paul’s answers before, but I had a question for them. I’m wondering, given Mr. Golden’s history, in previous ventures, of ignoring municipal rules and regulations that he’s been unable to have changed to suit his purpose, how much consideration Wyndham has given to their liability should this practice continue on this resort project? I’d also like to know why they jumped the gun on his announcement by a few hours, sending a press release out to Marketwire, but failed to note it on their own Wyndham Worldwide website? (as of 4:00 pm AST 2/27/08)

Note: This editorial comment was also submitted to the St. Croix Source, The St. Croix Avis, and the VI Daily News

We worked until 6:30, were in the area, and we hadn’t been to Elizabeth’s since they moved from The Palms to H2O. We thought we’d give it a try.

We were warned by the clients we’d just massaged that it hadn’t been that great on two out of the three times they’d been there recently, but we HAD to try it so we’d have something to blog about.

We started with a bottle of Bogle Pinot Noir. Yum! It went well with our spinach and beet salad appetizers. And also with our entrees.

Michael had the pan seared, then oven roasted mahi with some sort of orange sauce, fried rice and mixed veggies. I had the corn chowder as my entree. I tasted the fish and thought it a little more dry than I like it, but it was tasty and the sides complemented it well. The chowder was not piping hot, but I thought the temperature perfect because I hate burning my tongue on soup. It was creamy and full of corn and other yummy veggies, with nice bits of rosemary and savory herbs. Excellent!!

Thumbs up for our experience at Elizabeth’s at H2O!!

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on Society” — Mark Twain

I saw this quote on a website for a local boutique. Interesting….

But I TOTALLY disagree. Some of the greatest minds ever have not been able to afford Armani.

Also, sex makes the world go ’round. That usually involves naked people.

But this time, we weren’t dressed up like people.

Meredith, Jenna, Michael and I had been planning our costumes for this event for weeks. And here it finally was….The Annual SEA Creatures Ball.

Jenna ordered some glow-gel and some hairpieces that light up. We bought sequined blue dresses and wore them with leggings, tights, and, in Michael’s case, boxer shorts. We put blue paint and glitter in our hair and hung the light-up barrettes off our tresses and dresses. The glow gel was dotted onto our exposed skin and clothing. Michael did his nails with it and the splattered blue glitter all over them. Michael bought dowels and attached strands of blue rope. We glued ribbons on each “wand” and tied them into bows. We started the dressing process at our house, and finished in the parking lot at the Palms Hotel, where the affair was being held.

Does Meredith have krill in her teeth?

We entered the party and some people actually understood that we were “Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates“. We were blue, we glowed and sparkled, and we had whip-like flagella. Yes, we were creatures of the sea (or at least nutrient-rich bays like the one off Vieques which we visited on our honeymoon).

The auction/fundraiser was very different from past years. There was not a sit-down dinner or even buffet. It was sort of a free-for-all, which was confusing and disappointing. There was a complimentary wine bar which somewhat made up for the lack of organization of food. The silent auction items were many and varied, some wonderful things and packages, but there were no minimum bids on any of the items. People could literally steal fabulous, expensive donations. It was extremely different from the fur ball two weeks ago, where there were hardly any silent auction items and there was NO live auction, but at least there were minimum bids.

Just like the fur ball, nice things could have been packaged: A two night stay at a local B&B with a couples massage and some flowers or a Buck Island trip. (The fur Ball had NOTHING like that, just individual items, and no one asked us for a massage donation, which we would have gladly provided). And, actually, there were a few great packages, which we stole one of. The one we got was a 5 night stay at the Palms Resort, an island flight tour with Captain Al, and a half-day trip to Buck Island with Big Beard’s. We got it for $250. It was very sad. Many of the live auction items could have been silent auction items, because they were not remarkable. Like an hour-long photo session with a little-known photographer (?). I didn’t get it. And there were almost TOO many live auction items. We weren’t able to pay attention, especially to the early ones that were so unimpressive. Rashidi was the auctioneer (I remember when he wrote the local sports news for the Avis), and he was excellent. But I still couldn’t get into some of the boring items.

Anyway, there were some nice live auction items like a trip to Dominica and a trip to Old San Juan (at the Gallery Inn, which is an amazing place). We bid on both of these, but lost, and that’s okay, because someone with more bucks than us is supporting SEA and that’s way cool.

Michael wanted to play the “rescue a turtle” game, so he shelled out 20 bucks for a chance and won a tee shirt and a gift certificate to “Off the Wall”. Meredith won a package with an air tour by Bohlke and Jenna won a beautiful Maria Henle print.

All in all, it was worse than the Fur Ball foodwise. The SEA Creatures Ball’s scattered and unimaginative buffet was unsatisfactory. It was better than the Fur Ball as far as auction items were concerned (and especially since there was an actual live auction). But I wish that after so many years of doing this kind of thing, that both of these worthwhile organizations would get it just right…..

Whatever that means.

This time of year, we work 7 days a week. It’s okay because season has started VERY slowly this year and we need to make the bucks while they’re there and save some for when it’s slow (from July through December).

We worked quite a bit yesterday. We did two couples massages and then I had two regular clients for 3 hours until 6 pm. We were going to stay home and finish making our costumes for the SEA Creatures masquerade ball tonight, but Michael thought there’d be time to do it today, since we had a last minute appointment for 4 massages cancel at the last minute because their flights were canceled, at the last minute, due to extreme weather conditions in America.

I’d been wanting to go to the Galleon for dinner, so we did. We didn’t call for reservations (a “no no” this time of year), but figured we’d just eat at the bar anyway. They weren’t extremely busy (they’d been slammed the night before), so we lucked out and found two stools at the bar far away from the piano. Usually the music is too loud for me in there, but Ben Staron, who we hadn’t heard before, kept the volume perfect for dining in the lounge area. He’s really good and plays a wide variety of favorites like Elton John and Billy Joel.

We looked at the wine list and noticed a malbec by the glass but not by the bottle, so we each ordered a glass after Cass let us try a sip of the Bogle Old Vine Zin she had open. It was good, but we liked the malbec better.

They had a few yummy sounding specials, and the new menu looked wonderful as well. We started with the mahi chowder, which was creamy and delicious, and the tuna futomaki in a cone of nori with wasabi and a ginger soy sauce, which was awesome, too. For an entree, Michael ordered the crispy snapper with a sweet and sour pomegranate-orange sauce, and I got the appetizer portion of smoked eggplant in an arugula and walnut pesto with a sweet onion and lemon marmalade and flat bread. Both were fabulous!

We had no room for dessert. Our tummies were full and our wallets empty by this time, so we walked off in a sated balance, got Biggie out of the car, and strolled along the docks for a while, admiring the moon’s fullness and the activities of the bats and night birds in that quiet section of the marina. Paradise at it’s finest.

I had lunch with my daughter, the thespian. Since neither of us had been there in a long time, we went to Cafe Christine, in the upper section of the Apothecary Hall courtyard. It was fabulous! We started by sharing the chilled creamy asparagus soup, then decided to also share the Vegetarian platter and a shrimp and asparagus salad. The Veg platter consisted of a slice of spinach quiche, a lentil salad, some tabouli, greens and pasta salad. Everything was delicious. While we ate, my phone rang twice and hers once. Her call was from Gloria, her assistant manager, about a customer looking for the diamond earrings he was going to buy. She sort of had to go, so we couldn’t stay for dessert. Annabelle, however, talked us into taking a piece of apple cranberry pie with us. So we took it back to the store, got a couple of coffees from Ivy’s Ice Cream in the Kings Alley, and devoured the tantalizing triangle.

I left to do a couple more errands before heading home to get ready for my 4:00 appointment.
After work, there was plenty of time to get ready for the function at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens at 7, so we took our time, had a bit of rum and got dressed for the evening.

The courtyard at the new Bodine Pavillion was decorated elegantly with table cloths, chair coverings and candles. It was catered by Teddy’s and the food was superb. There were passed hors d’oeuvre of crab and shrimp in puff pastry, ham in an eggroll-type crust, and mini eggplant parmesan with eggplant relish. We had sangre del toro wine while we mingled and Michael took pictures of the food and the bright full moon rising over the arches.

Sue Ladwig, a member of the board of directors of the Gardens, invited us to sit at her table and we gladly accepted, as did a few

more of our favorite people, local artist, Sondra Catts, Emmy Thomas, artist and author, Lindsey from the Galleon and her Mom, Marlene, visiting from the states.

The buffet table was beautifully set up with fresh fruit platters, brie en croute, spinach pasta salad, escargot, and boeuf on bread. After we dined and listened to the Governor’s and Lt. Governor’s wives, John deJongh himself, spoke about the Gardens and their cultural and economic value to the territory. The birthday cake came out and we stood up to sing happy birthday to the Gardens, then the Governor visited each table and shook hands with everyone. We thanked him and his wife for their support and got our picture taken with him.

After wolfing down our carrot cake, we went on a tour of the night blooming plants and historical buildings with David Hamada, the horticultural director of the Gardens. He is a wealth of knowledge and we always enjoy listening to him speak about the history of the place and the fun plants that are pollinated by bats.

Rare shot of the light actually
being sucked out of the moon,
presumably by Wreggie

When we were a few minutes into the tour, the skies opened up. It poured. We made our way down the path, back to the pavillion and went into the gift shop only slightly damp. We bought a couple of things and escaped to the car for the trek back home, stopping at plaza west for some organic eggs for breakfast. Back home, we went out to check on the progress of the eclipse. The moon was about half gone during the breaks in the clouds, but then a huge dark one engulfed it and we returned to the warmth of the hearth ;). I mean, the warmth of Biggie and the bedsheets…

Sunday, the winds died down. But it was overcast and rainy, and cold! The winds died down only for that day, though. I don’t know what is going on, but this is a really strange extended weather pattern. The seas have been too choppy for fun boating, sailing and snorkeling for almost two months!

I’ve done a few massages on the beach and after a couple of hours of being belted by the gusts, I just want to get home to cuddle up with a good book (or a cute husband or dog).

I was out at Tamarind Reef beach a few days ago, and although it wasn’t as cold as when Wreg and Wgigi were here, after two and a half hours (when the gusts actually worsened), I started asking the universe for just 10 lousy minutes of calm, just to soothe my nerves. I got about 90 seconds before the next gale force blast. Okay, it would be a lot worse.

I kept looking up at the coconuts in the trees and hoping they would come flying off at me or fall on my client. I probably wouldn’t be able to convince anyone that it was a “bonus feature of today’s massage”, like when the wind blows sand all over and I tell them it’s their free exfoliation.

Just after breakfast this morning, a wind and rainstorm blew by. Now it’s sunny again. But still windy, of course. Well, I’m off to Chenay to sit on the beach for a while and maybe do a little business. After that, I’ll do lunch at Cafe Christine with my little Pookie. Reviews of Christine’s to follow…..

….And tonight, Michael and I will go to the Botanical Gardens for their “Gardens by Moonlight” special event.

It has been a tough week. Lots of unpleasant stuff happening to those close to us.

Peter was not only devastated by the loss of Ben, but now he’s found out that his chef, Aaron has
cancer. At the beach the other night, he came toward us saying, “I’m gonna get through this.”

After all the crap he got from the government over the many many months since he bought the business, this is overwhelming. Aaron has been learning the Greek recipes and creating wonderful dinners at the homes of friends for weeks. And now this.

He, of course, has no health insurance, and the medical bills for his treatment will be outrageous. So there is a “pot luck” dinner planned for Friday night to allow folks to get together and create a plan for helping Aaron.

Just haven’t felt like writing and really haven’t had the time.

We went to the beach party memorial for Ben last night. Jody was a rock. He was walking out to see a friend whose handicap prevented her from making it all the way out to the festivities when we first got there. I gave him a hug, said how sorry I was, and he just gave us a big Jody smile saying something like, “Look at all the people Ben touched while he was here!”

And he was right. I estimate close to 200. We had to walk 1/2 mile to get to the beach because there were so many cars parked along the road getting to the beach. Good thing we had that tacky Budweiser cooler on wheels Wreggie won at the Divi Superbowl party! This is a picture of Ben and Darin. Darin died a few weeks before Ben did. Both of them worked at Savant.

Anyway, I had started crying even before getting ready to go there. And I knew I’d stupidly be drinking my bottle of red wine I’d bought a few days before (and wine makes me cry, too). So Michael valiantly put up with me all night.

We talked to Carsten and Amanda when we first arrived. Then Cindy, Ditty, Lesley, Tito and Sue, Peter and Aaron, etc. And we saw lots of friends we didn’t have time to talk to. There was a slide show going on with fun pictures of Ben and family and friends, and a bonfire and awful music, but Kurt would be playing later.

By 10pm (we’d gotten there around 6:30) I was ready to get home, having demolished my bottle and snacked on cheese and crackers we shared with a few folks. So home we went.

We lost another dear one this week.

Michael and I just found out this evening as we visited Peter and Heike (freshly home from Germany) at the Deep End.

We met Ben at the Deep End when he’d first moved here to be closer to his brother, Jody. He was very inexperienced and nervous as a waiter, but his great personality came out shortly and he became one of our wonderful, loving, island family.

Ben was found by Jody yesterday, eternally asleep in his apartment. We don’t know the details, but Jody is not answering his phone, as we can understand.

It was such a mediocre day yesterday that I thought I should go back to bed and try again.

I’d had a really strange dream about Nikki working for a dentist on Protestant Cay and riding for an hour in his boat back to the big island (instead of taking the 5 minute ferry). She had to get back to rehearse for her role in “Chicago”.

There were other strange parts of the dream involving a weird scientist guy on the waterfront testing out his plastic rescue submarine. And my mother, who’s been dead for almost 12 years, was being very civil to me, but Nikki said she was angry that I hadn’t paid for Nikki’s college education. Bizarre! There was also a person I was cooking for who didn’t like my scrambled tofu. Many a cuss word came out of my mouth during this dream….interesting…..

Anyway, it was a somewhat typical Monday except that Michael said “happy birthday” to me early in the day and I actually got a couple of phone calls from people just wishing me well. There was laundry and cleaning and scooping dog poop, and a couple of massage appointments in the afternoon. It didn’t feel like a birthday. It felt crummy until I got to Meredith’s. She’s always fun to be around and cheered me up with stories about her adventures working in veterinary hospitals.

As I left Meredith’s and got into my car, I noticed that someone had placed a wrapped gift and card on the passenger seat. It was Santa Jenna! Okay, it was starting to feel like a birthday. I got home and Michael was running around trying to feed the dogs that I had already fed while wrapping my presents and dealing with the repercussions of living in “Dance Time”. He was not a happy camper, but, oh well. I asked if he had made reservations for dinner at Savant and he said that he had, but they could only seat us inside at our requested 7:00. Ugh! I did NOT want to eat inside. It’s small and cave-like and I get claustrophobic in there. So I thought of Zebo’s and he called to see if they had space outside. Yes! They did.

So he called Savant to cancel and then Tom, the owner called him to say that there had been a delivery of flowers for me there. Michael had to apologize and say that we’d pick them up on our way to Zebo’s. So we did.

My little Pookie had arranged for flowers to be delivered to me at Savant since I’d told her earlier in the day that we would be having dinner there. What a sweetie! The flowers are lovely. Extremely fragrant lilies with anthuriums and orchids…..mmmmm.

Dinner at Zebo’s was great. Mitchell was our waiter and we feasted on fresh local tomatoes and basil with fresh mozzarella salad, tuna tartare, seafood chowder, delicious local mahi, and oysters Rockefeller. Dessert was tiramisu and more Kaikken malbec.

We finished up and went for a walk on the boardwalk. There were a bunch of cops sitting around between stixx (which was dead) and the deck bar. We walked past saying “good evening”, got up to the brew pub, which was not busy, and turned around to go back to the car. I was a little chilly from the breeze. As we approached the cops, Goliath decided to relieve himself in the sand just outside of stixx ( as a cat would). The cops saw this and one of them started harassing us about it. I became belligerent and mentioned the real criminals with guns walking the street and that there was no leash law in the territory, so they could stop harassing us. They said there was indeed a leash law on the boardwalk (which I doubt and will check out when I get the chance), so I said, “yeah and it’s illegal for kids to ride their bikes on the boardwalk, too, but I always see them doing it here anyway”. One guy was “sweetheart”-ing me in a patronizing way, so I “honey”-ed him right back as I walked away shouting about their priorities in law enforcement.

Michael and Goliath walked calmly behind and we reached the car without any further incidents.
I’m thinking of making up a new birthdate, during a less stressful time of year…

I hate feeling like my car isn’t as safe as it should be to drive. But I have been driving it with a faulty front tire and a wobble to the right for weeks. There had not been time for me to get the darned tire fixed, nor have the alignment checked.

But today was slow, so I headed to Target Tire to have the tire repaired and have the front end aligned. When they checked the tire, they discovered that it had a bubble of some sort which was probably the cause of the wobble and pull to the right. They did not try to sell me an alignment I didn’t need! Wow! They just put on a new tire.

Since I was in there anyway, I had them check the brakes. Our hills scare the bejeezus out of me and I frequently picture myself careening down a steep slope due to brake failure on my way down someone’s insanely inclined driveway.

Brake pads were worn in the front, so they replaced them and I was on my way. No more wobble or pull, and new brake pads. Woo hoo!! I’m a happy camper (especially since Michael changed my oil last week, too!)

The St. Croix Animal Welfare Center (aka the shelter) had it’s annual fund-raising auction last night.

We’ve been the guests of Michael’s company for three years now and it’s always an interesting time.

I love the name of the event! It’s a dress-up affair, and they generally have nice dining/dancing music and lovely hors d’oeuvre, food and wines.

The silent auction opens early and they historically have had a live auction following dinner (or since dinner was so late last year, during a break in courses). This year, though, there was no live auction. Maybe they couldn’t round up an auctioneer? Anyway, they made up for the lack of a live auction with a doggy fashion show, featuring many of the shelter’s homeless and needy children dressed in costumes donated by Donna at Sadie’s Pet Boutique in the Pan Am Pavillion.

I was in tears listening to the heart-breaking stories of the little ones. One of the pups who was found and rescued had only three feet. Another was found with a bullet in his side. Others were left there by previous owners who could no longer care for them. We, of course, cannot take any more! We have eleven! (and 4 cats).

So we bought a few things at the silent auction. We actually found the silent auction to be pretty boring. The only things I really wanted were the jewelry pieces donated by Gems Direct. There was an opal cat pendant in a silver setting with a really nice chain. And the original valentine’s heart bracelet. The pendant was bought by a tough competitor. We bid on it at least three times and lost it at the last minute.
But we got the bracelet!

We also got a gift certificate for $100 worth of paint (which we certainly can use), and a set of dishes which we don’t need at all. Actually, we bid on a few more things, lunch and dinner gift certificates from some of our favorite restaurants, but there were other folks hungrier than us (and wealthier) who walked away with those.

The food was fabulous! Appetizers of asparagus wrapped in proscuitto, sushi, mini spinach pies, and mushroom stuffed fillo pillows, brie en croute. Mmmmm….

The salad was okay, the dressing a little too tart, but my salmon entree was exquisite. Michael’s boeuf was rare and tender. served with garlic mashed potatoes and baby squash.

Dessert began with skewered fresh fruit and ginger cookies, but ended with a perfectly small piece of some sort of chocolate brownie or flourless cake with creme fraiche, and coffee. It was yummmmmy.

All in all, we had a nice time, met some new people and drank lots of wine (surprise!). And we even came home with some loot!

….But he doesn’t seem to be saying very much….

There are salty tears running down some chubby cheeks today, as Wreg and Wgigi and Wcompany depart for the northern climes. It supposed to be pretty mild in Charlotte, today, so it won’t be a huge shock. We will miss them though and hope they are able to manage a speedy return to STX!

Michael’s Hallucination
Up Close

Eel with juvenile
Drumfish and French Angelfish

Scorpion Fish
disguised as a rock

We have been planning with Wreggie and Wgigi for weeks to take Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 off from work to go sailing with our friends from NC. Actually, we were originally going to take groups out in our fold-up boat, “Origami” in shifts.

But, in the last couple of weeks, we have seen Vice Commodore Alan Mallory at the Yacht Club, and he kindly offered to take us out there in his 35′ Albergh! Wow! That would be awesome! A real boat with a real captain, and we wouldn’t be racing. It would just be a nice, leisurely sail out to Buck Island…

Riiiight. Well, the weather gods have had it in for Wreg and the Wgang this week. It has been too rough to see anything while snorkeling at Cane Bay, and we weren’t able to get the gods to slow the winds and waves for the day so we could sail in peace and comfort.

Plan B: Michael and I loaded the kayak onto the “Great Pumpkin” (our orange Land Rover), filled the cooler and brought a bunch of coconuts and other snacks, and headed out to the lee side of St. Croix.

Tom, Judy and Brenda
enjoying the beach bar
(with little Wreggie in background)

The Wgang at Sunset Grill

Frederiksted. Freedom City. A beautiful town! We landed at the Sunset Grill at Spratt Hall and settled down on the beach. It started raining just after Wmichael, Wreg, Wcamilla and WI went out for a snorkel. Wcamilla turned back before getting to the good stuff. I think her mask was fogging up since she didn’t prepare it by spitting in it before going in. We saw a nice big puffer fish and a juvenile French Angel, lots of French grunts and squirrelfish, some damsels and tang and sergeant majors .We went inside for some lunch. Then it stopped raining after it poured for a while. After lunch we went out again for some sun and fun. Wreggie and Wjoe went out for a brief pedal in the kayak. Then it was Wgigi and Wtom. We couldn’t convince Wjudy, Wlaura or Wbrenda to go and Wcamilla was tired from snorkeling with us before lunch. But Wmal and Wjoe took a spin out there while Wmichael and WI snorkeled out with Wreg to look for an eel and little drumfish Wmichael had seen earlier, we found a scorpionfish there too!

Then it started raining again, so we packed up our stuff and the others headed to the pig bar. Wmichael and WI went into town to enjoy a cocktail at the Blue Moon on Strand Street. But they were not yet open :(, so we headed home to put the kayak and stuff away and get ready for our dinner at Bacchus, tonight :)!