Moving Day!

Yesterday we made to move up to Booby Hill and into our new little house overlooking the sea.

Since we had all the boxes sent up there directly before we moved the actual move itself was fairly painless, unlike the departure from our house on Cedarwood Lane in Falls Church.

Our friend Travis helped us with the pickup truck and we made it in only 2 loads which was great. I am so happy to be out of the Hobbit House you don't even know.

Paul is already busy planting things and decorating the house and yard.

Here he is planting a stock of Halyconia, orchids and cacti. We also hung our wind chimes. They are the Manchester Bells and Corinthian Bells but the winds are a little stronger up on Booby Hill so I'm sure that we'll have half the hilltop in an insane asylum within the week with the ringing and clanging at all hours of the day!

The owners of the house did some major clearing of the hillside below the deck which makes the view even more spectacluar if that is even possible. Here is our revised view from the edge of the deck. Wow!

One of the best things about the new house is that I now have my very own clothes dryer.... No seriously, the house does have a washer and dryer unlike the Hobbit House. No more lugging clothes down to the laundry. Whoo Hoo!

I just thought the idea of line drying towels and bed linens was kind of cool. I'm sure that novelty will wear off soon. Oops, it already did.

We officialy take over the Tropics restaurant as of tomorrow. We plan on closing Monday through Wednesday to do inventory, clean and organize and get the menu all ready for "opening day" on Thursday.

We are holding Sunday Brunch this morning with the luncheon special of fresh Seafood Newburg, Eggs Oscar, homemade breads and muffins and lots more.

Yesterday one of the locals asked me to make a birthday cake for their daughter who is visiting. I made a Vanilla Genoise layer cake with a mixed berry puree as the filing and a Vanilla cream cheese frosting. We decorated it this morning with freshly cut Bouganvilla and Hibiscus flowers. Simply elegant! Martha Stewart; eat your heart out, Bitch!

Thanksgiving, Saban Style

Happy Thanksgiving to all from Saba!

Tropics decided to offer a traditional "American" style Thanksgiving dinner for locals and island tourists today. The hotel is full with US folks here on vacation so we're offering a taste of home for them.

While we don't actually take over until next week, Paul and I decided to offer a helping hand in the kitchen this week. Yesterday I made Bourbon Chocolate Chip Pecan Pies, Pumpkin Pies and double fudgy chocolate brownies. Paul is busy in the kitchen now making corn bread stuffing and other yummies.

Another project for the day is to plant our "new crop" of banana tress in the yard of the new house which we move into on Saturday. Yeah!!

Paul is very excited about our new place, as am I because it has a great yard for the dogs and we can start a little garden. He has already started heirloom tomatoes in egg crates and has a good supply of herbs and garden veggies on the way. We'll be the regular Farmer Joe's or is it the Farmer Homos??

Wishing you all the Blessings of Thanksgiving today in this crazy and screwed up world we live in.

Auction House Woes

I WAS (VERY past tense NOW) happy this morning when I woke only to have that ruined by an email sent from the auction house giving me a status update on what items have sold so far. I must admit that news coverage of the economical market meltdown does reach our little island of Saba but come on for goodness sake!

Example#1: Oil on canvas painting by LISTED ARTIST; paid almost $3,000 by Chris in 1998 sold for $125. Fucking give me a break.

Example #2: Federal cherry tilt top bird cage side table; insurance value over over $1,750 sold for a whopping $175. FUCKING, FUCKING GIVE ME A BREAK!

Example #3 through #183: Oh, I can't even go there.............

So, for all my dear DC friends who like art, fine antiques and home furnishings (I have to use initials not to publish anyone) "B.N.", "D.F.J." and "M.S." if you want some really great paintings or bronzes for bargain basement prices, go to Weschler's on Dec. 6th for their end of the year art & antique sale. This is the day that my "really good stuff will be GIVEN AWAY".

I'd much rather someone I know and love have it than some other schmuck!

Happy "Suckerday" (that's me) from Saba.

Scuba, Sun, Fun, Food and more

This morning we went down to the docks for another day of diving. Once we got there I was relieved to see 2 things! First was the tanker anchored off shore that was here to fill the tanks so we have fuel. Second was the supply boat filled with cargo so we have "fuel".
I didn't see any supply of fresh fruits or vegetables, meats or poultry but got down one knee and thanked the Lord when I saw that the pallets of Carib arrived safely.
I did redeem myself today in Scuba Diving. We went out this morning for another day of diving and I did much better than yesterday which means I didn't drown! Our 2 dive sites were "David's Drop Off" first which is on the Windwarside of the island and has very deep lava flows from the ancient Volcanic activity. It drops to about 110 feet and has an abundance of coral, sponge and fish life all over the place.

On the ride to our second stop we got to view the location of our "new house" from the water. It is on top of the ridge in the middle of the pic and of course a token vanity shot of my other half.
Our second dive was around towards Wells Bay and is called Torrens Point. In Dutch Torrens means Tower and underwater the "towers" follow the line of the cliffs underwater but much more shallow. Here we saw more of the damage done by Omar with coral and habitat destruction. One good note is that we saw "Nemo" the Green Turtle with only one front flipper. It was great to see him and happy that he survived the Hurricane safely.

We are heading over to the restaurant shortly to start cooking off fresh pork roast freshly butchered from a local pig. Thank God I didn't have to see the execution, though.

All is well, happy and sound from Saba today....

Scuba Drowning, Not Really

Paul and I went Scuba diving only for the second time since we've been here. Only 2 times in over 6 weeks is pretty pitiful but we ventured out to enjoy some beautiful sunshine and warm breezes on the boat and get in 2 good dives today.

As we were leaving the pier I spied "Dr. Death" on the next boat. No really, he looked like something that movie producers depict as the image from the other side. He kept staring at me which should have been an omen......

Our first dive was a deep pinnacle dive and all was fine with that. We dove to about 108 feet and had great visibility and saw some pretty nice "waterlife". After resting during our down time in between dives, we went over to Tent Reef which is a nice shallow dive; no deeper than about 60 feet or so. Once we got to the bottom the currents really picked up and I decided to cut the dive short and make my way to the surface. Swimming against the current I felt like I wasn't making ANY headway and then got a horrible charlie horse cramp in my right calf. I went ahead and surfaced only to see the dive boat was more than 100 yards away and I had to swim the rest of the way, cramp and all against the heavy current. End result, a sore leg and the decision to exercise more so this old and tired self of mine can deal with these kinds of hardships.

Relived that I had beaten The Reaper this time around we had to stop at Pop's Place once we docked for a cold refreshing beverage to celebrate my living!

Beachcombing for Treasures!

Paul and I decided to take a break from "all this hard work" and go beachcombing along Wells Bay. Although Hurricane Omar wasn't quite so bad for the island, it did do some damage under water and broke away a bunch or coral and sponges.

We walked along the bay looking for things and found a whole bunch a sponges, fan coral, brain coral. I am thinking that I can use them for an island shabby chic look in the new house or maybe package them in some cute little bags and sell them to some trendy store in Manhattan. Hmmn. Or I could just put them to good use in the shower as a loofah.

After working up a good sweat, we spent the rest of the day getting tanned, swimming and floating around in our el cheapo floatie which barely has enough air in it to keep my fat ass on the surface. And enjoying some ice cold beer and sangria.

Our Full Moon Picnic

Well, the clouds didn't clear as much as I'd hoped but we still ventured out at dusk to see the Full Moon rising over the mountain peak.

We packed a picnic of treats including fois gras from St. Maarten, french cheeses with baguettes, prosciuto wrapped cornichons and smoked fish pate and, of course, some refreshing adult beverages. (Thanks, W&J!!)

Paul brought his "fancy" camera and tripod down to the Dancing Trail Overlook where we set up camp but was having trouble with it so we didn't get any professional quality images of the full moon.

This was the best I could do with my little Casio "point and shoot".

Here's to Howlin' at the Moon for you from Dancing Trail Overlook, Saba.

Leaving the Hobbitt house

We're down to our final 2 weeks in "the Hobbitt House" and Iam VERY glad! When we first moved in I hated it but accepted the fact that I would have to make do with it. 6 weeks later and nearly 50 bruises to my head I can't wait to get out of there. Door frame Height = 5'9" / Chris' Height = 6'1". Definitely NOT a good match.

Today is a pretty quiet day here and cloudy. I hope the overcast conditions clear because it's a Full Moon tonight and I wanted watch the moon rise from the peak at Booby Hill.

Here's a big HI from Baxter, the island dog!

Happy Thursday from Saba..........

Cha Ching!!

Well I got some great news from "home" this week. Our new real estate team that we merged with has waved their magic wand and got one of our buyer clients into a new home. They've been looking on and off for more than a year and The 3Wilders have made it happen. Thanks ladies!!

Now I can have some assurance that we can live for a couple more months laying around getting older, more tan and fatter. Actually, not fatter since I've lost 11 pounds so far. But that's not too surprising because it seems the vast majority of my "nutrient intake" seems to be liquid....

This morning Paul confirmed our Restoration Hardware order for the restaurant. We purchased this really cool looking pillar candle chandelier and matching wall sconces for the open air Dining Room at Tropics. The next chore is to place orders for additional silverware and table napkins. Gosh, the fun never stops.....

A Short Absence from Saba

I was reminded via email from one of my blog admirers that I’ve been somewhat remiss in my duties to entertain and fill you all with wonder from Saba. We’ve had spotty satellite service over the last week and email and internet access has been lackluster, to say the least.

On Sunday we served another Sunday Brunch at Tropics. We had a sellout crowd and a good number of them were locals which is great news for us looking forward to “low season”. Now we at least know we won’t starve once the tourists leave the island come late Spring and Summer.

Our big sellers for the day were Fresh Fig Banana (hand picked from a neighbor's tree), candied walnut and cream cheese stuffed French Toast, Eggs Benedict and Eggs Oscar with freshly made crab cakes. Yummy! One word of caution though is that you have to check each egg since they are farm "island" raised chickens and sometimes you get an egg fetus instead. Not so Yummy...

To celebrate our success from Sunday we took the day off yesterday and went to Wells Bay to go swimming and snorkeling. I forgot my camera so don’t have any photos but when we got down to the beach there was this pretty amazing mega yacht anchored just off shore. Without exaggeration it was 150 feet long, at least!

Paul and I kept looking for someone to come out and wave us over for cocktails on one of the multi-decked salons but they didn’t show. I could just see us now paddling out on our $4.95 blow up floatie to join them.

We found out last night that the current house we’re in has gone under contract. The buyers are a nice Homosexual (MARRIED) couple from Rhode Island. Once I heard that yet another gay couple has bought property on "the rock", I was pleased to see today that Pamela’s Boutique has now added a men’s line to the store. The new sign reading 4 MEN 2 definitely shows signs of acceptance of “the Mo’s”……..

Perhaps tonight we’ll do dinner at Swinging Doors. They are open for business on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only. Tonight, they have Ribs and Chicken on the grill. Unlike Fridays when they serve Chicken and Ribs……..

The irony of the menu variation is utterly profound to me but "them ribs is good eatins" so it doesn't really matter.

Swinging Doors has this awesome T-Shirt they sell that reads "Saba, the Largest Outdoor Asylum, We're All Here 'cause we're NOT all there"

I promise to be a good boy and write with more regularity from now on.

A River Runs Through It

I'm really trying not to sound like some old retired person that only talks about the weather and their medications but wanted to share this torrential rain storm we had here today. All I could think of was those people in small Guatemalan villages during rainy season when the flood waters come crashing down the mountain and burying them alive in their little huts. This is the view just outside my front door where it appears a portion of the mountainside washed away.

I now know what I will be shoveling this afternoon; wet lava mud! But, of course, that will have to wait until after Happy Hour. It's 2 for 1 Jungle Juices at Tropics. Priorities, priorities......

Happy Obama-fest Day from Saba!!

Election Day Relections

On this monumental day for all Americans I tought I'd share a comment from a Dutch tourist this week end. She was sitting by the pool in her all too small bathing suit which didn't nearly cover up the vast quantity of pasty white skin and cellulite pock marks on her back side when she asked if I "voted Obama". I told her that I didn't discuss Politics with people I didn't know and she said "Well it doesn't matter because ALL Americans are morons when it comes to Politics". I wanted to toss her Pina Coloda on her but simply walked away. WHAT A BITCH. I'm just glad I voted Absentee Ballot before I left and am really glad NOT to be there through all this mess.

Enough of Obama / McCain and on to ME!


On Sunday we went to Wells Bay with the dogs for the first time. Baxter was fascinated by the water but scared silly of it. He went running down the little strip of beach and when a wave came crashing in, he freaked out and cried. Just like his daddy (Paul). It was great fun to get them out though.

Yesterday the cargo container arrived with Round II of our crap. We spent the morning getting it all hauled up to Booby Hill where our new house is. It will be nice to have all the remainder of the stuff get here and move into the new place on Dec. 1st and "really set up house".

We have seen an unusual number of mosquitoes over the last couple of weeks and these little buggers have spread a minor rash of Dengue Fever around the islands. Paul said this morning that he hopes he doesn't catch it because the mosquitoes think he's somewhat tasty. I told him he already had the "BEEN GAY" fever so he's probably fine.


HAPPY ELECTION DAY FROM SABA!!!!

My first "Saba-oke"

Well, Halloween night proved to be fun and interesting! After having "Burger and a Movie" night at Tropics and watching The Incredible Hulk on the big screen, Paul and I ventured off to Scout's Place for Halloween night Sabaoke. The evening offered everything from performing drag queens

to folks dressed up like Pirates and lots of other fun stuff.

The best part of the evening was watching the Sabaoke host, Wolfgang perform "an oldie but a goodie" in his heavy German accent! Hearing "Spwish, Spwash, I vas takin a battz" was more than I could handle. I DO believe the beverages made if funnier than it actually was though.