Halloween on Saba: That's NOT the Geico Ghecko

Halloween on Saba started off with a jolt. After running some errands I dropped by the shack (cottage) to let the dogs out and drop off some things.

While I was putting some dishes in the cabinet a ghecko jumped on my neck and went down my shirt. Naturally I screamed like a little school girl.

While I was trying to get my shirt untucked to get this monster creature out I could only imagine its sheer size and demeaner and that I would have claw marks down my back. How silly did I feel when I realized it was only a 2 inch long spotted ghecko and totally harmless.

Silly boy I am..............

New Car, New House

Our "not so new" car arrived on the cargo container this morning from St. Maarten. Paul and I rode down with our friend, Travis who works at the Harbor Master's office in Fort Bay. When I opened up the passenger side door I noticed the smells of salt air but didn't think much of it until I sat down and quickly realized my ass was wet.




The side window had been left open a bit and some of the swells and ocean waves came through and got the side door and seat all wet. So, for now I will just imagine we spent the day at the beach and rode home with wet bathing suits. Here is Paul washing all the salt water off the car.

We went to the government offices to get our license plates, insurance certificates and stickers. Our total insurance bill FOR THE YEAR was less than $150.00. A far cry from the multi-thousand dollar bill we paid at home for the 2 other cars. You definitely know we're living on a small island when your license plate is #126!

Driving back up the hill from The Bottom I took these photos of the main road. Now ONLY if the car was a convertible and I had a long scarf, I could dress up like Isadora Duncan for Halloween and drive around Saba.


Or maybe Grace Kelly after a Vailum and a martini. What do you think?


After making our way back up the mountain with our new car, we decided to check on the progress of our new home. Paul and I initially thought we could "cute up" the house we're in now but ultimately decided to find another place to reside. The workman are busy getting it painted and cleaned up with new windows and bath for us to move in on Dec. 1st. It's a really cute little place with views to die for.

This is our view looking down Dancing Trail from the edge of our new deck.



Not too shabby,huh?

A Day in St. Maarten

Paul and I got up bright and early Saturday morning for our quick little trip to St. Maarten for the day. We travelled on The Dawn II which is the ferry/supply boat that goes back and forth several times a week.

The "locals" said that it was a good day to take the boat across because the seas were sooo calm. Uh, Bullshit. Now I have an appreciation for the endearing nickname, The Vomit Comet.... Jeez Louise. Luckily Paul had a Dramimine for me so I didn't actually use the barf bag but wanted to share an image of me at 7am. Notice the pale green hue in my cheeks.
We arrived in St. Maarten about 9am and spent a bit of the morning shopping along Front Street which took a pretty hard hit from Hurricane Omar. After a quick breakfast we went to the food/vendor show to see what kind of good things we can order for the restaurant. That was lots of fun.

We had to pick up Johanna's sister, Menom from the airport later that afternoon so stopped by Sunset Beach first. The bar sits at the end of the airport runway and we got to watch her plane land.

It's pretty wild to see such a huge plane coming in. It feels like you could reach up and touch it.

After drinking a little courage back into my nervous self, we ventured back to that steel floating coffin for our trek back to Saba.

I'm not sure if the seas had actually calmed down for the return ride or if the combination of Absolut and Heinekens made it more tolerable but we really had a nice time coming back and enjoyed a spectacular sunset.

11 Days and Counting...

It is interesting to watch some of the "non" US news coverage of the Presidential Election. I'm pretty darn sure that the rest of the world think that we're just simple idiots!
I got this image from our friends Bob and Margie. Bob made this political sign and placed it in his front yard! I'm told that he has also added Sarah Palin to the mix and her head is attached with a spring so "she" bobbles when the wind blows. Too funny. Gee, I wonder which side of the fence they are on???


Tomorrow, we are taking the ferry over the St. Maarten for the day. It should be fun to have a day off from Saba and do some shopping, sight seeing and indulging in one cool refreshing adult beverage (Oh, who am I kididng - OK, 3)

After a good hard rain this morning, the temperatures have dropped and the breezes are blowing. Down to the low 80's! I think I need a sweater........

Cargo Containers and Prickly Pears

Paul and I were speculating as to when we may see our crap that we shipped down here. The international shipping folks in Florida said a partial container was sent early last week for delivery to St. Maarten and then ultimately to Saba. After reading the newspaper from this week and seeing photos of the damage on St. Maarten from Hurricane Omar, I wonder if "OUR" container is the red one on its side half submerged in the water. Hmmnnn....
No wonder they haven't responded to our emails.



On a lighter note from Omar, I came across a huge prickly pear cactus that had been knocked over from the storm and the guys cleaning up the yard gave Paul a branch of it for me to plant! Hopefully I can put my green thumb to use on Saba (unlike our lovely yard in Falls Church that I abandoned). I promise to show progress photos of my Prick - ly Pear as it grows.
Oh now get your mind out of the gutter........

The Seven Year Itch

Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of the day I met Paul. We joked about the 7 year itch and I had to remind him that happened between years 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 so we're in the clear.

We spent the day getting prepped for our fist offical Sunday Brunch at the restaurant. Paul did food inventories and got the menus prepared with Eggs Benedict, Stuffed French Toast and lots of other goodies.

My job was to make the breakfast breads and cakes. So far I have Zuchini Chocolate Chip Bread, Spiced Pumpkin Bread and Fresh Fig Banana Cake with a cream cheese frosting. Today's goal is "inside out" walnut and marshmallow sticky buns, Key Lime Cheesecake and other tasty treats.

Paul and I celebrated our anniversary with a great dinner at the Eco-Lodge which is tucked into the base of the rain forest about another 700 feet higher up the mountain. It's a great earth friendly lodge and you dine by candlelight without any electricity. You have to park at the end of the main road leading up to Mount Scenery and then walk for about 10 minutes through the woods with flashlights to get there.

Well, back "to work" on my bakery items......

Elvis, Ummnn... Omar has left the Building

Well I have successfully experienced my first Caribbean Hurricane! When Omar decided to "drop in" at about 1am on Wednesday evening/Thursday am he must have dosed up on some steroids and done a few reps at gym since he had strengthened to a Category 3 by then. The center of the storm passed about 40-50 miles north of Saba so we pretty much enjoyed a good ass whooping. Not quite the blow job I was looking for.... This is what's left of the small pier at Fort Bay and the front of the Harbor Master's office which used to be a driveway. The main store fronts along the water suffered the worst damage on the island. Most everything was a complete loss. The deck right along the water was completely wiped out. They say it could be $20M + in damages just in Fort Bay.

On a lighter note, power was restored to most of the island by dusk last night. Everyone seemed to be helping each other with clean up and getting the homes and businesses opened back up and that was really nice.

Jody Out, Omar In!

Paul and I enjoyed a nice long week end with our friend, Jody on Saba from Charlotte, NC. Paul originally met Jody on his first dive trip here and we've become great friends ever since. He left to go back to reality this morning.

Since only one airline, WinAir flys to the island the airport is quite small. There are never any more than about 20-30 people at any time down there including the aiport staff and cab drivers!

Just in case you didn't know, Saba is known as the Unspoiled Queen. No snarky comments, please :)

Jody had to wear his "ubber tourist" shirt for the trip home. Just to make sure anybody would guess he maybe wasn't on vacation. But it looks like he got out just in time as we are now preparing for the arrival of our new guest, Omar.

As of 11am today, Tropical Depression Fifteen has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Omar and it looks like his avenue of choice is right in between Puerto Rico and the islands of the Lesser Antilles. Saba is now bustling with activity pulling boats out of the water, gassing up vehicles, getting extra deisel fuel for the generators and, of course, stocking up on the liquor cabinets! It appears that Omar will deliver some high winds, heavy rains, power outages, possible rock slides and much more fun. My next post will be the outcome of our unruly guest visitor!

Tropics Cafe

Waking up this morning to the entire island in a cloud bank with rain was kind of cool to see. You could barely see anthing at all!

Paul and I are spending some time this morning going through and hammering out all the details on the restaurant lease for Tropics Cafe. Our friends, Wim and Johanna own the hotel that we've stayed for the last several years and they want to turn over the restaurant portion of their business so Paul and I will take over food and beverage operations as of Dec. 1st!

The restaurand and bar is an "open air" place overlooking the pool with ocean/sea views down the mountain.

The current menu is island typical and we are planning to change it around a bit and offer mostly fresh fish and steaks but keep it pretty simple but nice.

It's somewhat amusing to think that more than 20 years ago I swore I'd never work in a restaurant or bar again and now at the tender age of 43 years old, I will be waiting tables again. Or as Johanna introduces me as the "new Gay-tress" for Tropics.
Come on down and I'll fix you the famous Tropics Jungle Juice at the bar. It is quite tasty, trust me I know. At least until the next morning :)

Daihatsu; "God Bless You"

After thinking we could make it on the island "without wheels" Paul and I ultimately decided it is actually cheaper to own a car rather than rely on cabs to and fro simply due to the high cost of taxi fares and we didn't want to wear out our friendships by borrowing other people's cars. While my butt and calves are starting to look quite fine from walking all thoses hills the decision to acquire our new ride has been made. It is a Daihatsu Teirus (sounds like I'm sneezing, doesn't it?) A neighbor already has one and offered us the chance to test drive his since the one we're buying is a used one from St. Maarten. Paul and I drove around the island in it day before yesterday and as we were driving up one of the very steep hills from Fort Bay in its eensty weensty four cylinder engine, Paul said "It's kind of fun to see how the other half lives". Ummn, My dear we now ARE the other half.....!!

But after waking up to yet another spectacular sunrise and then seeing the US world facing another day of doom and gloom on Wall Street I couldn't help but relish in the utter simplicity of this place. Waking up each morning to the sun and the sweet smell of Jasmine blooms and orange makes me feel richer now without money than I ever did before. Corny but true!

Scuba Doo

Paul and I had a great day yesterday. The weather was perfectly calm and the seas were smooth as glass so we decided to go Scuba Diving for the day.

This is a view of the Saba marine dock called Fort Bay. This is the only access point via water for the whole island. No marinas, no permanent docks, no frills. The Sea Saba boats shown above are ready to pull out and take us to or dive site.

The view from the boat looking towards Saba is quite impressive. We are at the site called "David's Drop off" and the waters are perfectly blue and the visibility was nearly 100 feet.
Here's me giving you all a "Happy and How ya Doin' Wave" from about 95 feet below the surface!

Massa gonna break them chains, Oh my

Yesterday Paul and I got up early and since it was Sunday I decided to put on some Gospel music on the IPod. It was Paul's player so I scrolled down to the Gospel genre and hit Play All. I was out on the front porch enjoying my coffee with the music playing a little too loudly when Paul came out and said "Oh, my God Chris. Do you know what you're playing?"

I hadn't really paid any attention to the lyrics but the album was titled "Songs of Blackness" and it was old slave music with some Religious tones to it. In the chorus of the song currently playing was the choir singing "pickin' cotton, pickin' cotton, Massa gonna break them chains"

Now that I know that Saba was a temporary holding point for African slaves being transported to the States, I quickly realized that the music was NOT PC to listen to. Luckily I haven't received any nasty glares from the locals just yet.

Typical Chris Fries style, bumbling through life offending people without even realizing it.

Cock a Doodle Doo

Wow! Starting day 3 on the island and I'm already feeling great.

Paul and I enjoyed a spectacular sunset with a distant view of St. Barts in the background from our "veranda".

This is a little sneak peak at our home with the porch that wraps around the front. The large bulbed Christmas light hanging from the gutters will be gone soon. The real estate agent in me kicked into gear as I was quite sure that representation of square footage was off by a good bit. We are actaully only 822 square feet but I'm over my spacially challenged claustrophobia and am actually starting to enjoy our little abode.

This is our view behind the house looking up the mountain towards Mount Scenery which is about 3/4 miles in the air and constantly shrouded in cloud cover. The top of the mountain is one of a very few classified rain forests in the Caribbean with Philodendrum leaves that span up to 6-8 feet across. Once I get my "island legs" I might actually trek up there. OK, maybe not.

I met our boisterous next door neighbor this morning. I think he is visually challenged as he begins to crow at about 4am rather than sunrise. I wonder if "le coq" tastes better than chicken? Oh silly me, I already know that answer :)

What a Journey!

Well we finally made it to Saba!

After getting up at 2am in DC and leaving for the airport at Dulles International by 3:30am we (very luckily) got both of us checked in and cleared the dogs for take off.
Neither one of us is very attractive before the dawn's morning light and with no coffee service this early at the airport, it is even worse.

After an uneventful flight to Miami and waiting for 2 hours for our layover we were told that our connecting flight was going to be "just a few minutes delayed" and we would start boarding shortly. NOT!

2 1/2 hours later we were informed by the delightful ticket counter staff at American Airlines that our flight had now been cancelled and we needed to proceed to Gate E7 which happened to be about a mile away to board another flight and ultimately flew out about 3 hours later.

We arrived in St. Maarten and just as we hit the ground Paul and I watched the final flight to Saba taking off into the sunset. After scrambling around to find a hotel that would take the dogs and birds we settled in for the night to the soothing sounds and smell of planes taking off and jet fuel as the accomodations were at the end of the airport runway and next to St. Maarten's Bada Bing strip club. We were too tired to wander over to see a show there so drank dinner and went to bed.

We took the first flight out yesterday morning to Saba and arrived safely "on island" with our luggage, Maggie and Baxter and the 2 birds. All safe and sound now. This is the view from our front porch of our new home. I can't show you any home photos just yet as we need to do a little Martha Stewartizing first. Lesson learned: Don't take a place to live SIGHT UNSEEN! A little Clorox and some sweat and it will home in short order though. As soon as the house is habitable my next order of business will be to introduce myself to our lower neighbor and immeditately convince him to paint his roof so my panoramic view improves. Happy Friday from "almost" paradise.