10/25/12 Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy

Day One of lock-down 10/24/12;

We’ve been in tropical storms before, one squall, we’ve even been sideswiped by a hurricane from a great distance. Never have we watched satellite imagery to see a hurricane heading towards our island. It is eerie to say the least. The hope is that it will drop to a tropical storm when it travels over Cuba’s mountains.

Right now I sit in my room and marvel at the change. This morning we dove. There was no current or surge, and the sea was calm. The calm before the storm. On the way back in from our last dive the skies opened up and it hasn’t stopped since. We are now essentially driven indoors by the magnitude of the winds and tremendous amount of rainfall. I can no longer see the difference between the sea and the sky on the horizon. The palm trees are thrashing about in front of my pretty little sunny balcony, as ~ 50 mile an hour winds rip past us. The storm is between Jamaica and Cuba! I can’t imagine what it will be like tomorrow night when it hits us.



Keeping us entertained and indoors, David Craver and bartender



The GO team is feverishly trying to engage us in games. The food and booze seem endless. A thankful planeload of Europeans left this morning, leaving behind a nervous group of travelers. Their plane (a 747) made a low pass to check the runway, came back and landed, but immediately took off again. The third time was successful.

If Sandy is here Thursday and Friday only, we may be able to fly out on Saturday. Unfortunately she will be in Fort Lauderdale waiting for us. How this will all work out is a mystery to us. In the meantime we are napping a lot, and I’m finishing up my second novel, the second in my espionage series following Counterpart. I’m looking into my crystal ball and I see a hurricane in one of my books J

 Part Two, Day One;                                

Joe and I finally got hungry enough to leave our room. Once down at the Verve Bar we found large numbers of other hungry savages. Our little table of two grew and grew until we numbered twelve. Six couples; the American singer and his elegant Swiss wife, the New Yorkers, the French man and his tall slinky French Canadian fiancé, the Italian couple, and the Southern Californians. A 60 dollar bottle of wine (bought by the New Yorkers) was passed around and I managed to have my glass out just in time to have some 2009 Popillo Chianti. I am now rationing my wine for fear we will be here for a while.



check out the bent over palm tree to the left



We all walked through the storm to the dining room and talked so long that the restaurant staff was standing around waiting for us. It is really amazing all the different things people do for a living! As you all know, Joe and I love meeting people. So interesting, especially when the stress of a hurricane is looming over everyone.

Well, I’m guessing the dive boat won’t be going out tomorrow. I’ll probably write some more. Don’t know if I’ll be able to publish this dialogue on my blog anytime soon, but we’ll see. It is so  odd how this storm seems to be providing some sort of energy for me to write. Hmmm?

 Day Two 10/25/12;

We are being called to a mandatory  meeting. The winds are twice as high. The rain is sporatic. Sandy is level two now and heading our way. We are on the right side of the trajectory. I will never view a hurricane the same again.

The white chocolate bread is still yummy though.

We may be given food rations and told to stay in our rooms . . . not sure yet?

Trouble in Paradise

Tropical storm or Hurricane?

So, I’m sure most of you have seen the tropical storm heading our way. The weather casters say it is a hurricane one today. Who knows what it will be by the time it reaches us. Hmmmm. So this will be our first hurricane trip. We’ve been on islands as they skirt around us, but this time it will hit us directly. It looks like a small storm in the grand scheme of things, and this island is no stranger to hurricanes! The locals smile and say “Don’t worry, Be happy.” Okay, we can do that J

It started raining last night . . . a torrential downpour actually, though I may feel differently by Friday when it actually arrives. The thunder and lightning is a bit unnerving. It’s almost constant now. Last night it struck outside our room and the clap of thunder was deafening. My ears were ringing for twenty minutes. I’m curious how flying home on Saturday works? We were told it’s a big maybe. The shipment of food last week didn’t arrive, much to the dismay of the chefs. I hope a shipment comes tomorrow as planned.

Right now as we speak (or read) the G.O.’s (employees) and guests are dancing around the pool doing a “Sun Dance”. They just finished water aerobics. People are sprawled out over the terrace playing scrabble, trivial pursuit, and monopoly. Last week was gorgeous. Beautiful diving, swimming, and sunbathing. This week is gorgeous too. Beautiful diving, body surfing, . . . and rain. I saw my first Hammerhead Shark yesterday. It was huge . . . about ten feet long. It went right behind me. Fortunately Joe saw it and banged on his tank to alert me and pointed to it. It was so cool. I also saw a little baby Nurse Shark sleeping in a little cradle of sand.

Today is Joe’s birthday. He started it with sleeping in and skipping SCUBA. He went to the gym and I went for my speed walk. I walk the upper floor walkways. It’s like a labyrinth going from duplex to duplex. I run up and down the stairwells every fifty feet or so. Great open-air workout. I need it after all  of the white chocolate bread I’ve been eating! Now we are sitting out at his favorite beach bar chatting about Canadian politics with another beach bum. Little does he know, the GO’s are planning a surprise cake and party for him tonight.

Last Sunday we went to a little local church. St Stephan, but I’m not sure what religion it was. We thought we were going to a Baptist church, but a Seventh Day Adventist guest speaker gave the sermon. It was great, but it tested everyone’s attention span as she talked non-stop for about 50 minutes. Nice people though, very welcoming, and the gospel style choir was good. If we lived here we’d go back. A local was saying there is only about a thousand people on this island and over one hundred churches of practically every religion.

Well, I guess if you are the praying type this would  be a good time to do it.

Lot’s of love, Joe and Heidi

The French have landed!

The dreaded day came on Wednesday. The French arrived on the Paris flight, along with a few other Europeans’. 235 of them. We anticipated fighting for space on our already crowded SCUBA boat. The dive briefings would be done in French and English. They would plummet to the bottom, shoot to the top, and wait for the slow Americans to join them. Thankfully they separated us on two different catamarans.

Other than competing for the boat, we have thoroughly enjoyed the new faces. Everyone so far has been so polite. I just finished talking to a French businessman about the new French business climate. He is happy about the influx of foreigners in France . . . imagine that? And he was handsome, which is an added bonus to the conversation. I am sitting here at the beach bar taking a break from the sun while he and Joe chat. Reggae music overhead, a mojito beer (crushed lime with dark stout beer), accents, gentle waves rolling in, and crystal clear blue water. What a life!

It’s Friday, a melancholy day for most of the guests as they prepare to go home tomorrow. Not us. We are here for one more week. We might go to the airport to wave goodbye to them. The airport is one building split into two rooms. Incoming and outgoing. Checking in at the airport is done here at the resort . . . with the airline staff here. Cool huh? Then everyone gets on a Club Med bus or just walks over to the airport. Your luggage is waiting for you. The jumbo jet lands, the stairs get rolled across the tarmac, the pale-work weary newcomers come down, the bronze-vacation weary guests go up. This repeats itself three times a week.

The diving has been amazing! The reef sharks are out patrolling the coral. The nurse sharks are napping under a ledge while the invasive lion fish flounce around with their feathery fins. We were warned at one dive site that the tunnel we planned to explore was guarded by several sharks. As we approached the opening we were greeted (well, greeted makes it sound like we were welcome) by 3 sharks. When we didn’t heed their darting back-and-forth warning, they tried the charging technique. It is really intimidating to have that shark face coming straight at you. But we  entered their tunnel anyway. I like to think they looked defeated, but it was probably a look of anger . . . it’s hard to tell.

Now a French Canadian beauty is sitting with us sharing our French fries. She works here at the bar. Her name is Brooke. Her legs are so long they practically are the level of my armpits. Here’s a photo J  Her fiancé is in charge of water sports. Super nice couple.

Speaking of couples; there is a group of couples who brought their own blow-up water noodles, they congregate in the ocean drinking margaritas. One day Charles, the Chef de la Village, was walking down the beach with his staff handing out fresh fruit. The group out in the water yelled out “Hey we want some fruit too!” Charles promptly kicked off his shoes and walked into the ocean with a tray of fruit held overhead. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch this phenomenon. I ran out of the water and got my camera to film it. He walked out of the water straight up to me and offered me some melon. He looked kind of like James Bond.

I’m beginning to think the reason I like Club Med so much is the people. It’s a great opportunity to research and study characters for my books. The newlyweds, or the two couples who meet here every year, the deaf guy who talks so loud you can hear him from fifty yards, the sharp looking Miami couple, the athletic couple, the drinkers, the flirts and the talkers.

Oops, Joe just served into the net. He’s playing beach volleyball with 12 people. The ocean is like glass today. The boats look like they’re floating in the air. Here’s the view from my little perch.

I’ve opened two more bottles of wine, both from Hatcher, a Syrah and their Shake Ridge Zinfandel.

Lots of love, Heidi and Joe.

San Salvador, Club Med, Day One

Tragedy!

 

We saw the weather predictions and knew it would be stormy the first few days at least. But that’s the chance you take when you go to the Bahamas in October. That’s not the tragedy. As-a-matter-of-fact, a lovely ticket agent with Spirit Airlines was jealous. She is from Jamaica, and she loves nothing more than rain on a tropical island (except a massage on the beach in the rain on an island). By the time she was done checking us in, I couldn’t wait to get here and get my massage on the beach. It is raining and I checked on the massages; $110.00. I don’t know if I want one that bad.

The surf is intense. We played in it for half an hour. I came out with sand everywhere, even my ears. Then we fell asleep in the setting sun. The humidity is ridiculous, but that’s not a tragedy because the wind is strong and feels fabulous.

We didn’t get the room we requested . . . nope not a tragedy. They upgraded us to a second floor, ocean view. Here is a photo from our room. As we came over on the charter jet from Fort Lauderdale we discovered Columbus Isle Club Med had been closed for 6 weeks for hurricane season. This island only receives 3 commercial flights a week; Sat-USA, Tues-Canada (starting next month), Wed-France. So ours was the first flight. We have the whole club to ourselves, until Wednesday. That might explain why we got the upgrade J There are more employees than guests!

We may go SCUBA diving tomorrow, weather permitting. The dock in front of the club has been dismantled to protect it. Not a tragedy because they have a marina on the other side of the island, which is calmer. The water is warm.

sign in beach bar

I brought eight bottles of California wine with me. Now hold on a second . . . we’ll be here for 2 weeks. That’s about 2-3 glasses a day, between the two of us. I usually pack them in wine boxes with Styrofoam liners. This time Joe suggested we use regular wine boxes so they don’t take up so much room. We still had to bring a suitcase just for the wine. I put a child’s water-wing around each bottle (blown up of course). I didn’t have quit enough so I left two bottles in the center ‘wingless’. You guessed it! Tragedy. One of my precious bottles shattered. When Joe pulled my bag off the luggage belt he said “Uh-Oh, that’s not a good sign,” and pointed to the wine dripping on the airport floor. Oops. I took my bag to the bathroom and tenderly lay it upon the floor. I dabbed it dry, but decided to not dig through my bottles to find the culprits. All the way to the hotel I listed each bottle in my head. I knew the one which would upset me the most would be Dan’s wine. But it was a Dobra Zimla Syrah. I have another one at home . . . I will live.

Well I’m tired from eating, body surfing, dancing, drinking my wine (Rombuar Zinfandel), and talking over disco music, so off to bed we go. Its 11:30 p.m. here and 8:30 p.m. back home.

Wine Tribe Gathering

Friday night marked the second anniversary of the Wine Tribe. This is a small monthly gathering of three couples. We take turns hosting the event. The hosting couple goes all out, with amazing appetizers, dinner, and dessert. For some unspoken reason we always choose a theme.

My mouth waters over the memory of our creations. Usually the theme is national; Thailand, Italy (Chianti), France, Mexico, Spain, India, Napa. Some are thematic; comfort food, ranch food, my mom’s spaghetti, California barbeque, white trash food (but gourmet somehow). I’m forgetting many of them I’m sure.

The table is set to match the theme. This can get complicated, trust me, but we can’t seem to help ourselves. I remember at Mr. & Mrs. S’s house they used woven Mexican purses for placemats for the ladies settings, and we got to take them home with us. For comfort food night, Mr. & Mrs. W used all their oldest china and glassware . . . an impressive collection. When we did French Provencal, I used at least ten flowered napkins spread out to make a tablecloth. The cabin weekend gatherings are always spectacular, especially with Joe's barbequed ribs. 

The first night we gathered we each presented a bottle of wine for the long evening. Little did we know how it would evolve. A decision was made that first night (I think it was the first night?) to brown bag our wine at the next house and do a tasting party. Now we have a system. It’s a bit complicated, but we discovered we couldn’t be trusted to vote fairly if we knew whose wine belonged to whom. We always seemed to have very close scores . . . very diplomatic and hospitable. Now we have 3 carafes, 3 cloth wine bags, tags 1-2-3, and fancy wine-tasting score sheets. We even have a medal. It looks like it came out of a bubblegum machine, but we covet that medal! The hosting family chooses the varietals. Here’s how it works:

• One person from each couple separately enters a designated room, pours their wine into a decanter, and bags their bottle (completely covered). They place their bottle and decanter side-by-side and leave.

• One person who didn’t go into the room is chosen to go in and wrap a numbered tag around each decanter. They then place the corresponding tag on the corresponding bottle.

• Finally that person carries out the decanters, but leaves the bagged and tagged bottles in the other room.

• When the scoring is done, the bottles are brought out and revealed.

So this begins a long journey of sharing our Wine Tribe dinner events with our wine and foodie friends. I begin with the 2nd anniversary dinner party at the W’s.

We entered their home and were welcomed to Napa. In the center of their kitchen they’d rolled a real wine barrel for the cheese and crackers. The counter was loaded with sliced artisan bread and crackers, Smoked Trout Pate (caught the week before in Alaska by Mr. W) and Kahlua Baked Brie. The table had a runner of lightweight burlap, a large basket of fresh fruit, and each table setting had a menu with a fall leaf attached.

MENU

APPETIZERS

Smoked Salmon Trout Pate

Kahlua Pecan Baked Brie

Cheese Plate

SALAD

Great Bering Sea Ceviche (mouth watering)

ENTRÉE

Tagliata With Baby Spinach and Arugula

Wild Alaskan Salmon (with some sort of coffee-bourbon-molasses rub)

Gorgonzola Croquettes

Braised Green Beans with Portabella Mushrooms

DESSERT

Flourless Chocolate Cake and Carmel Sauce (decedent)

WINE

We were told to bring a “blend”, so we brought a bottle of Prisoner (Orin Swift), the S’s brought 2010 Berhold Crankcase. The W’s cheated and presented their own home-made wine, a blend of Syrah and Zinfandel. The S’s stole the medal from us for best food-pairing wine, but the W’s wine was savored ‘til the wee hours over nibbles of chocolate cake, and gazing at the stars.

All-in-all, another wonderful evening of fellowship. Next Wine tribe gathering . . . November.

By-the-way . . . we will be in the Bahamas for two weeks in October. For my Travel Buddies, be on the look out for new postings!

Heidi