“In Search Of” with .. NOT Leonard Nemoy, but Wild William

So things I was in search of yesterday:

• Another GREAT day of diving… it did NOT dissapoint

The only downside was that in my sleep deprived state, I plugged my strobe cables for my camera in backwards and didn’t figure out the problem until much later in the day. So, not so many pictures today but some.

• A refund for my last night at the unce unce unce nightclub all night hotel

Believe it or not it happened, and I got a free breakfast

• Drive back to the coolest house I’ve ever seen … the pic will do it justice 😂

• A new hotel where I could watch sunset from a balcony overlooking the water

Came close. Found a reasonably nice hotel (Rincon Star of the Sea), clean but a bit worse for wear, but apparently VERY popular (recommended to me by Catchi). The place is bustling by the pool and beach so I hop into my bathing suit and head down. MUCH to my chagrin, there is NO shade to be found. The three umbrellas by the pool were guarded with M-16’s or so it seemed, by the people sitting there. A gorgeous array of loungers lined up on the beach held promise until i noticed, not a single umbrella was to be found. I even noticed a family having a snack from the swim up bar with their own umbrella they bought holding it in the pool!

Eventually I found a seat under a palm, but again, too good to be true. It smelled like a dead animal was rotting very close by. Fortunately it was downwind of me and only rarely could I get a faint whiff so I was at least able to sit by the beach with a Shitlero (yes I taught the bartenders here too)….. Did I mention it was 97 degrees out so sunscreen and no shade was not an option for this popsicle!

Anyay, finally my room is ready, I go grab my key, I’ve paid for an ocean view room and, well, I’ll give them credit they gave me one. Shame on me for not requesting one that faced the sunset. ’cause that was the one thing I wanted to do. Get a bottle of wine a meal or a snack and just relax listening to the ocean and watching the sunset. Alas … this too was thwarted when I see my room did indeed have an ocean view, but it faced the opposite direction of the sunset.

So questing I went once again. This time I was not in search of fancy food or anything gourmet. I simply wanted a local beach shack that I could have a drink and watch the sunset and maybe get some mufungo or samosas or whatever.

So I have to say, if I can toot my own horn for a second, that I’m pretty damn good and sniffing these places out. And today was no exception. The place I found was simply called “Marina”.. why I don’t know as there is no marina there.. but wha the heck.

When I arrived, I knew I’d hit gold (Gold Jerry … GOLD). The place was two steps of the beach. There was an empty table for two where I could sit. There was a sailboat and two, what looked to be fishing boats, anchored off shore right in the path of the sunset.

The food was fresh and tasty and prepared beautifully. I had bacon wrapped shrimp for an appetizer.. yes I taught them the Shitlero… about 9 glasses of water and then the fresh red snapper, lightly breaded with garlic and onions and a side of the rice and beans.

ASIDE TO IRENE….. You are going to have to teach me how to make these Puerto Rican rice and beans… I’ve never had better!

Then I drank, and ate and watched the sunset, took some pictures and decided I wanted some ice cream. Well, I figured I’d get it cheaper at hte mini-mart down the road rather than the coconut ice cream store right on site (and I really don’t care for coconut that much).

So I drive down there and they have one of my favorite Belgian Beers, Chimay, so I had to get a couple of those, a couple diet cokes, a couple waters and a couple of dove ice cream bars.. apparently nobody likes chocolate here so it was all vanilla but I made do.

Back to my hotel, thinking its much cooler with the breeze, I’ll sit on my balcony and enjoy a beer and and ice cream. WRONG. The breeze was from the north whish of course my balcony faced south, meaning I was in a sweat box out there. I lasted 5 minutes.

Changed plans, moved inside, hooked up a movie, drank my beer, ate my ice cream and crashed out HARD! What a good nights sleep.

This morning, I just finished packing and much to my excitement, the breeze is a bit westerly so I’m able to sit on my balcony, enjoy my last diet coke, listen and watch the ocean and write this penultimate blog entry for this trip.

next blog from home as a wrap-up.