I thought the day would never arrive. It's off at last. I flew from
Ontario, CA to Dallas then Dallas to San Juan. Had a 2.5 hour layover in
San Juan and since I would be arriving after 11:00 p.m. I called Maria's to
arrange for some shrimp and other cold goodies as a late meal. While
waiting for my flight and reading a book a female form caught my attention. I
looked up and there was this large woman, now when I say large she was
mostly proportionate but about 200+ pounds worth. She had on this
stretched to the limits and then some pair of what one might generously
call hot pants. After this shock I noted the top, which was a medium mesh
with nothing but herself in all her very large glory underneath, leaving
little to nothing to the imagination. Now I would have been only slightly
shocked at seeing this attire in certain areas of our larger cities plied
by ladies of the evening, but here waiting a flight at SJU I was a bit
stunned. Seeing only a small purse I wondered what she would do if she
bent over and the material gave way, didn't seem to have any spare clothes.
A while later while sitting in another area of the same lounge there was a
group of "church ladies" sitting behind me with a couple of male companions
( I say church ladies because the whole group had on T-shirts proclaiming
their affiliation with a certain Baptist church). These ladies had noted
the large woman and began dishing on her in a manner that made it difficult
to stay seated, almost falling from my chair, I haven't laughed that hard in years. They tore her up one end and down another.

My plane boarded on time and the engines were revving, o'boy here we go.
Then they stopped and I worried. Then they proved my worries well founded.
The instrument panel lights weren't working. Cancelled flight.

Now I was on a frequent flyer ticket so was last to be accommodated but was
pleasantly surprised to find myself a nice room at the Marriott Courtyard
along with taxi fare and meal vouchers. Now I would much prefer to have
had my shrimp at Maria's than delay my flight but at least I didn't wait
hours to be placed in a dump.

I was on the first flight out the next a.m... On the shuttle to the plane a
young lady who had been on the flight the night before noted it was the
same plane (tail numbers matched). I wonder if they really worked on those
instrument lights between 11 last night and 7 this am. Oh well off we
went. Customs and immigration at Beef was a breeze.

Grabbed a driver and stopped at Riteway for my in room scotch which
accompanies my late night reading. Riteway had a great selection this year
and the Glen Morangie 12 year from Madeira cask was stupendous.

On down to the Jolly Roger dock at West End where Bruce (Sandcastle owner)
picked me up for the ride to White Bay. This ride is always a joy. Past
Steele Pointe (which I've always called my own) and watch White Bay grow
from a little spec to it's full splendor. Jumped off the boat and straight
to the bar. They sent my luggage off to my room which is just as well
since I didn't get over there til about 6:00 to change for dinner. KC had
a beer for me by the time I got to the bar and all was right with the
world.

One of the things I have always enjoyed about Sandcastle is the guests.
You meet all sorts of great people and this trip was the best yet.
.
Since I stayed all the following 16 nights at Sandcastle I won’t give you a boring tale of getting up for breakfast sitting at the bar floating in the water and keeping KC and Windy busy. Since that is pretty much all I did besides read a whole lot of books.

We did hit Foxy’s for his BBQ and had a great time, Abes’s for the lobster which was wonderful and just to do quality control tried Ali Baba’s lobster as well. The vote went to Ali for the best lobster by those who had this treat at both places.

As I said the people were the thing. I met a Harvard Economist who consults with African governments, her sister who is a Political Science Professor at Beloit, the owner of an airline, a lawyer, two ladies (lovely I might add) who own and run a lingerie shop, orchestral musicians from Lisbon, a Frenchman who was actually beyond nice and his great wife who is head of the American Theater in Brussels, honeymooners (several), a couple I met previously from South Africa, friends from St. John, a Delta pilot and his bride to be a pilot who has flown around the world in a small plane and been the pilot for Reba as well as Waylon, and many others.

I believe during this trip I may have set a new standard for the time honored position of ring bearer. Yes, the aforementioned pilots had their wedding on the beach at Sandcastle and I was honored to be their ring bearer. It was a great wedding all the guests participating and a wonderful reception on the beach. That’s the way to get married. Barefoot on the beach at White Bay.

For those of you water folks there was a resident ray (I was told Eagle) cruising around and performing air acrobatics, several turtles and the occasional jelly fish amongst the drinking floating masses. Fortunately for whales and sharks professional courtesy applied.

The entry markers for the main entrance were missing and many a boat was seen starting to come over the reef but backing away. The markers toward Great Harbor were still there and most came in that way. During my first week Bruce painted a marker red and rowed out to attach it to give some help. Most still avoided the entrance.

The regularl chef Oliver was off with a medical need. Those of you who know him know of his hip knee issues. He called to talk while I was there and then surprised me with a visit coming over for the day from Tortola, it looks like he’ll need surgery. His substitutes are doing a valiant job but I sure missed him. Fear not the food is still great. Those of you who know Sue and Mike of the villas will appreciate that they knew this was the only place for a romantic birthday dinner for Sue.

During my stay I met Jerry and Tish O’Connnell who will be the new owners of Sandcastle/Soggy Dollar. Jerry is the more gregarious and Tish the more gracious of the two and both will make excellent hosts although I don’t believe they will be able to spend as much time as Bruce and Debby. They are, however, not interested in changing the place. They seem to enjoy it just as it is. I look forward to seeing them next year. On that note several of the guests during the two weeks made reservations for the same time next year, so things are still good at Sandcastle.

In previous years the one concern I’ve had is the great number of people who come in for the day. This year it was a little less than previous years but still a great many. Bruce and Debby had placed higher dividing ropes keeping the guest quarters private. At no time did I see people wondering around the cottage area as I have in the past.

Many have commented on the proliferation of motorized toys in White Bay and the issue has concerned me as well as I have been chased from some favorite desert places by noisy toys. While it was August I would note that I never saw the quads running although I saw them sitting there. Many kids went down to the trampoline but I saw that as a blessing as it took them away from the Soggy Dollar. People seem to allow their kids to run rampant any more without concern of the effect on others. I took my son sailing several times over the years but he knew to only come to the bar for service and then leave back to the beach. The jokes, drunks and other carrying on is not for children nor should adults have to but up with unruly behaviour. The speed boats are a danger. They seem to care not about those swimming or snorkeling. The other obnoxious item but slightly less dangerous was the “banana ride”. The fellows pulling this large banana seem to be looking back more than where they are going. Look out. Most days you did not see the banana ride so it was not overly obnoxious.

Departure: I thought they put air-conditioning in the departure lounge. It was sweltering and flights were slightly delayed. The check in agent was snippy, my connecting flight had been cancelled and it seemed somehow the cancellation was my fault. 28 years traveling out of Beef Island and the airline personal have still not found out what customer service is all about.

Made it home only two hours late which was pretty good I thought.

One last note, ATT cell phone charges. I have never had a charge when connecting from White Bay on my business One Rate plan. I used my local plan phone that I was told would accept most roaming. I was billed for calls connected through Puerto Rico and the USVI. The rate was reasonable but not what I expected.

Needless to say ……………In the words of our Governor…………..I’ll be back.

Photos at www.twojims.com check out 2004 people for a few of the Soggy Dollar Staff.