May 2002

May 2002 Newsletter

• Barbados Day One
• Barbados Day Two
• Barbados Day Three
• Barbados Day Four
• Barbados Day Five
• Barbados Day Six
• Barbados Day Seven
• Barbados Day Eight
• Happy Mother's Day
• Burned at Topsail Island
• Happy 24^th
• "Here I am, Rocking like a Hurricane"
• Welcome Olivia
• The Masonboro Experience
• Memorial Day
• OBX Score / Canes Clinch
• Garden Electrification

Barbados dictionary help:

Bajan pronounced Bay-shun, n. meaning of the Barbados culture

Today is the big day, the start of island life for a mere week. Merri Beth and I are packed up and ready to head to the West Indies. Jenni has come up to Raleigh to get Dot for us and take her back to Rocking B Farm for the week. Thanks Jenni for watching Little Girl for us! Anne comes over to the house and takes us to Raleigh Durham International (RDU). Our flight to Miami leaves at 1:30 P.M., then a short hour layover and we are on the plane to Barbados by 5:00 P.M. We reach the island at 8:30 that night and catch a cab, kind of creepy, but we arrive safely at our hotel. We stayed at the Divi Southwinds Resort for our first 3 nights in Barbados. We are worn out from our flight but we go and check out what's around. We walk up and down the St. Lawrence Gap area and then back to the hotel to crash and get ready for whatever lies ahead.

With no game plan at all we wake up and go talk with the activities director at the Divi Southwinds front desk. She hooks us up with maps and flyers of things to do. We then get the phat hook-up with a tiny little red Subaru rental car from Fat Jack's Car Rentals. Fat Jack wasn't very fat at all (maybe in the wallet) but he was a cool guy from Britain, gave us some good road tips - drive on the left! and told us that there is no self service gas stations on the island so just hand them a $20.00 and off you go. Our little red car has 4 doors, small tires, a radio that didn't work, steering wheel on the right and the stick in the middle - meaning we were shifting with the left hand and signaling with the right. It was tough/weird at first but we adjusted and were soon getting lost on the crazy roads in Barbados.

We make our way across the island to the town of Bathsheba, albeit it took us 2 hours (instead of the usual 40 minutes). We did manage to stumble upon a beautiful church, which we later found out was St. Philip's Church, we think (we were so lost that it's hard to tell). We eventually found the Bajan Surf Bungalow and had some grub. I rented a 6'4" surfboard for the week and then went out for a quick test run. The waves were a choppy 5-6 foot and the current was stiff at the infamous Soupbowls. The water was clear, blue, and ultra warm. MB and I made it back to the hotel and rested for a bit.

After a quick rest, we headed back out to the North part of the island, got lost in the main city of Bridgetown (twice), and then proceeded to drive north along the West coast. We found this cool Animal and Plant Cave but it was already closed for the day. We did take in the view and checked out the surrounding cliffs. We then managed to find the North Point Lighthouse and got a few pictures before the sun went down. We traveled back to the south and had an elegant dinner at a new restaurant called The Fish Pot. We enjoyed a bottle of Montes Reserve Merlot, a delicious dinner of Barracuda and Dolphin, and finished with cruel and scrumptious dessert. After getting back to the hotel we recovered from dinner and found a cool little bar on the St. Lawrence Gap called Cafe Sol. And what luck, it was happy hour, 2 for 1! We started off with some Carib Beer and then hit the Rum Punches. That seemed to be the icing on the day as we retired to the hotel for more ventures to come.

Another big day ahead of us, we slept off the effects of happy hour from the night before. We hopped in the rental and headed for the Southern tip of the island. We drove around and saw the Sticky Wicket Restaurant, the Silver Sands resort, and finally stumbled upon the South Point Lighthouse. After this we started making our way east, past Grantley Adams International Airport. We made a pit stop at the local fast food joint - Cheffette. We weren't sure if we really had hamburgers, but we weren't asking any questions. We drove up the South East Side of the island and found some cool little coves, breathe-taking landscape, and unique Bajan architecture. We stopped at Lord Sam Castle's Resort, Crane Beach, and then found Bottom Bay. We continued north and found the East Point Lighthouse. We then drove through a small town called Bath and proceeded North to Bathsheba. We found the Andromida Botanic Gardens and decided to take a walk through to see some of the plant life native to Barbados. The botanical gardens were amazing, serving host to several varieties of Hibiscus, Orchid's, Palm Trees, and many other varieties of vegetation, plants, and flowers. The botanical gardens consisted of multiple winding paths through countless gardens, all nestled above the churning ocean waters of Bathsheba. After wondering through the magnificent Botanical Gardens, we took a short break at the Soupbowl for an evening surf session. MB stayed on the beach with some Barbados reading material while I enjoyed the crystal clear, warm, chest high surf on Soupbowl's main reef. After the surf session, we drove back west to St. Lawrence and got ready for a short evening on the St. Lawrence Gap. We went over to Joselyn's and cashed in our free drinks that the Divi Resort gave us. In fact, the front desk gave each of us two free drinks since it was our honeymoon. After sipping on some Rum Punches, we went over to McBride's Irish Restaurant/Pub and had an excellent meal. We enjoyed an appetizer of Flying Fish and entrees that consisted of Swordfish and Yellow Fin Tuna. Dining on fresh seafood and taking in some Barbados Irish spirit, an excellent way to top off the evening.

Today we started off with a wholesome breakfast at a nearby restaurant called Lucky's. Lucky's had a little country western flare going on that was pretty cool for the island life. Our breakfast took a while (actually it took a long time now that I think about it), I think they were waiting for the eggs to be laid. After breakfast we went back and checked out of the Divi Southwinds Resort and proceeded to relocate at the Barbados Connection. We traveled from St. Lawrence Gap to South Point where we found Sheila Hadley and our home for the next few days. After getting all of our stuff unloaded from the Subaru, we heading to the Heritage Rum Distillery. We tooled around the Distillery while waiting for the next tour to begin. We took the Rum tour and enjoyed our free samples. We returned to South Point and decided to go to Bathsheba for a mid afternoon surf session. When the surf session was over we found a local grocery store called 'The Big B.' We did some food shopping for the rest of the week and found our way back to South Point. We put the groceries away and hung out on the beach for a while. It seemed like a small waist high south swell was starting to hit the reef so I grabbed my board for a couple of waves. MB said it was getting windy for the beach so she went back and sun bathed in the back yard. I came in and we cooked some dinner. Afterwards, it was pretty dark and Sheila had recommended not wondering about the neighborhood after sunset. We ended up reading some magazines, playing some Uno, and then went mad playing checkers. We were in bed and asleep by 9 o'clock. Unfortunately, the bed was too short for me and I had to sleep on the couch, it was too hot and MB struggled to get a good night's rest. I was awake at 4:30 trying to cool off and get some sleep. I finally dozed back off to the sounds of rain falling off the roof. There's something about not being able to sleep and visions of good waves, hint hint.

We are up fairly early for being on vacation. A bad night of sleep coupled with surf anxiety put us on the road to Bathsheba at 7:00 A.M. When I first saw Soupbowls breaking 5-7 foot with fairly clean conditions I thought I was living a dream. When I realized that I was surfing a world class surf break by myself, I was living a dream. MB was pretty tired and took a power nap on the beach while I surfed. I eventually woke her up and got her to take pictures of what I thought was some of the best surf I've ever surfed. We were leaving Bathsheba by 9:30 to make our lunch appointment at the Malibu Rum Beach Club. We stopped by South Point to take showers and get ready for the rest of the day. We then drove through Bridgetown and finally made it through some of the leftovers from the morning commute. We got to the Malibu Rum Beach Club around 11:30 and enjoyed the Malibu beach for a little bit. Then we took the tour of the Distillery and found out how Malibu Rum was made. Afterwards, we enjoyed the Bajan style lunch they provided. At this point, we had seen all the Malibu we needed to see and decided it was time to do something else.

Heading North on the island we found our way to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve and Grenade Hall Forest & Signal Station. We walked to the signal station and took in a little Barbados history. Then, we enjoyed the nature trail that seemed to go on forever and offered a variety of history and information regarding the natural vegetation residing in Barbados. Finally, we visited the Wildlife Reserve, established in 1985 with over 4 acres of a natural Mahogany Forest. We were amazed at all the wildlife that we saw including Tortoises, Hares, Green Monkeys, Peacocks, Iguanas, Brocket Deer, Pelicans, Toucans, Flamingos, and many, many more animals. We enjoyed observing all the animals, especially the Green Monkeys.

We drove back to South Point, exhausted, after viewing the East Coast road scenery on our way back from the Wildlife Reserve. We stopped by the local fish market and purchased some fresh Dolphin and Flying Fish. We got back to the Barbados Connection and cooked up the Flying Fish with some side dishes. Worn out from the day we decided to take it easy. Unhappy with our new location, we had started looking for another place to stay. We called around to some local hotels to check prices and availability, then we called it a night.

I awaken to a morning of drizzle, we knew we had another big day ahead of us. My Cannon camera had stopped working yesterday and we began the search for a battery. We stopped at a one-hour photo center, but they didn't have the correct size. We then found a local mall, and of course the store didn't open until an hour later. We drove North to Holestown and found another photo store, no luck. We gave up our search for a while and drove to Harrison's Cave. We got on the next tour, put on our hard hats, and hopped on the tram, which took us 160 feet deep into the cave. The natural coral cave had two underwater rivers, an underground waterfall, and numerous formations of stalagmites (might grow up) & stalactites (hold tight to the ceiling). While in the cave, they allowed us to get out and walk around at a few different locations in the cave. The lights, natural formations, and amazing beauty were awe striking to say the least.

We drove back to St. Lawrence and on the way stopped at the mall we had found earlier. They had my camera battery in stock, but this didn't fix the problem. The shutter would still not cycle through to take a picture. The workers recommended a place to take my camera in Bridgetown. We continued to the St. Lawrence Gap and checked into the Little Bay Hotel. After that we went back to South Point to get our belongings and to cook some lunch. When we arrived we found a mouse in the kitchen, eating some of our food. Needless to say we cooked lunch really quick and were glad to leave. The first thing we did after bringing our entire array of luggage to our room was hit the beach right in front of the Little Bay Hotel. We enjoyed the afternoon sun and warm Caribbean water. After this, I was itching to surf since yesterday was so good! MB and I drove to Bathsheba and we found some chest high surf coming in with a handful of surfers in the water. I surfed until sunset and we then drove back to St. Lawrence. We decided to hide in the hotel room tonight and cooked the Dolphin we had bought the previous night. We watched some TV and relaxed from the hectic day and planned out what we wanted to do tomorrow.

Today we decided to start the day off with some shopping in Bridgetown. We finally got up enough nerve to battle the busy streets of Bridgetown. We parked near the Wharf and walked to Broad Street (one of their main streets). We found a place that could fix my camera, dropped the camera off, then went to the bank to exchange some currency. After the bank, we shopped at a place called the Cave Shepherd. We found cool little trinkets, shot glasses, post cards, hot sauces, and duty free liquor. We had a field day! They even send the liquor you purchase to the airport for you so that you can pick it up when your flight leaves. We had shopped all morning and went back to the hotel for some lunch. After lunch we went and set-up a catamaran trip for the next day on our way to the beach. We went swimming, read some magazines, and worked on our tans. Afterwards, we drove to Bathsheba. Broken record: went surfing, drove back. However, on the way back we gave a ride to this guy named Eddie, up the hill from Soupbowls to the top near St. Joseph's Church. Eddie was cool and answered some of our questions about the locals.

We got back to the Little Bay Hotel and got ready for a night out on the St. Lawrence Gap. We started off at McBride's for some happy hour specials then walked down to the Divi Southwinds Restaurant Joslyn's for Bajan Night. Here we enjoyed traditional Bajan food and cultural Bajan entertainment. The band Sudden Impact with Steel Pan provided some great music, we were toasted by Victor and his breathtaking fire eating act, we watched the #1 Limbo Queen on the island get really low, and we were amazed at the culture and calypso dancing performed by Wicked Juanita. Now here's where it gets good! Of course MB and I were sitting up front and the Limbo Queen takes participants from the audience. Guess who got picked...MB! So the Limbo Queen showed the girls how it was done and then helped them through a series of limbo's. Awesome! But the fun's not over yet. Wicked Juanita had a thing for guys and picked several participants and had them perform certain dances. And of course, since we were up front I was one of those lucky guys! I did my thing, strutted my stuff, and shook my hips (as best I could). Too bad we didn't have the camera. At least I got a pint of Mount Gay Rum out of it! Bajan night was awesome and we were worn out from the endless buffet of food and the limbo & calypso dancing that we were chosen for.

Today was an adventure waiting to happen, our last full day on the island. We were picked up at our hotel at 9:15 by a taxi that was taking us to Bridgetown. We joined the other people in the taxi and we ready for our Catamaran Cruise. We arrived at the port where the Tiami II awaited us. As we got on the boat, the crew handed out Mimosa's to everyone. We pushed out of port and started sailing north up the West Side of the island on the Caribbean Sea. MB and I moved to the front of the boat and began enjoying the open bar tasting some rum punches and then something called a 'pink thing.' Our first stop was at the northern tip of the island where we went snorkeling with the sea turtles. We then came aboard to a tasteful buffet lunch. After that, we anchored close to shore and were able to swim, walk on the beach, or hang out on the boat. Our final stop was at a marine park where we snorkeled with the tropical fish, viewed a shipwreck, and observed the beautiful coral reef. What an adventure! We finally got back to port and the taxi drove us back to the hotel.

We had to bring the rented surfboard back to the Bajan Surf Bungalow in Bathsheba so we drove there one last time. The surf wasn't that great so I passed - the only day that I didn't surf. We went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. My camera was finally ready so we went to Bridgetown to get it. After getting my camera I realized the guy gave me the wrong one. I didn't know what to think. Fortunately, by the time we got back to the hotel he had already left a message and was on his way to give me the right camera. I finally got my camera back and it worked great - just like before! After dinner MB and I went over to Cafe Sol for happy hour. We met this guy named Jacque from Montreal. He was cool. We headed next door to McBride's for their happy hour. Jacque bought us some drinks and we talked about traveling. They had some live music that was pretty cool as well. It started getting late and MB and I had to catch an early flight in the morning. We called it a night and said good bye to Jacque.

We were up super early, 5:00 A.M., and were on our way to the airport to make our 8:00 flight. We dropped off the rental car at the airport, got our tickets (after they searched through our luggage), and then picked up our duty free purchases. We then sat in the airport, and sat some more, and just waited for our flight to board. We were finally on the plane and made our way back to the U.S.

Once in Miami we had a grand old time waiting for our luggage, which was the last set of luggage off the belt. Then we had to go through customs, breezed on through, and got hassled at security because we had "too many" carry-ons. They were counting MB's purse as a bag and each box as a carry-on. Luckily we had an empty suitcase and we were able to condense some things to get past the bitch at security. Then we got stopped at the X-ray machines because they thought my case of pint size rum was perfume for resale. After standing there for 10 minutes I finally talked to someone, showed them my receipt, and was able to get through. We barely made our flight back to RDU.

We got back to Raleigh and Rob picked us up from the airport. We were glad to get home, unpack, and relax!

We drove to Laurinburg, NC to get Dot and to join the Blackwell's and Atkinson's for a Mother's Day lunch. We had lunch and enjoyed the farm briefly, then back to Raleigh. We finished up all of our unpacking, laundry, and prepared to get back to normal life.

MB was back at work and I still had a few days off. I did some work in the garden and then got caught up on the mail and all the bills from the previous week. When MB got back from work we went to Wal-Mart and dropped off almost 20 rolls of film to get developed. We also picked up some more red tips and camellias for the back yard. We dropped the plants off at the house and rushed to the Flying Saucer for Pint Nite.

I got up super early and drove to Topsail Island. I did my research on the web and checked the buoy reports from overnight. I was thinking there would be at least, at least waist high surf but got burned, bad. When I got to the beach I saw knee high perfection. It was so terrible that I only got in the water to get wet, couldn't even catch any waves because they were so small. I ended up driving back to Raleigh and planting my plants that we bought yesterday.

Tonight we went and saw Spiderman! Wow what a great movie. I love when they turn a comic book into a real movie. Both MB and I enjoyed Spiderman and look forward to the sequels. We stopped by Best Buy and got some new DVD's. I found a surf video called Hit & Run and also got Not Another Teen Movie. We went back home and watched Dawson's Creek that we had recorded from last week.

Well today is my birthday and I would like to thank everyone who sent me a card whether by conventional snail mail or via the Internet. I spent my birthday at work, working with Verizon for over 7 hours. Thanks Verizon for a great birthday present!

A packed day! Katie and Bates drove in from the Outer Banks so that we can go to the Pop Disaster Tour featuring Jimmy Eats World, Green Day, and Blink 182. They were playing at the Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek at 7:00 P.M. Before we could enjoy that, we were invited to a graduation party for Ann Burgdorf, Rob Charests' girlfriend. Rob's parents were hosting a pig picking for Anne in celebration of her graduation from N.C. State. Congratulations Ann on your well-earned accomplishment!

We ended up watching the end of the Hurricane vs. Maple Leaf's playoff game. The game went into overtime when Toronto scored a goal with 7 seconds left in the 3rd period. We headed back to our house, where we watched the Canes score a goal in Overtime to beat the Toronto Maple Leaf's and tie the series at 1-1. We then headed to the concert.

We missed the first act, Jimmy Eats World. We heard that they weren't that great. We had front row seats, behind the pit, center stage. These are the best seats that I have ever had. We could actually see the band and everything that they did. Green Day came on stage a jammed it out, they were awesome. Then Blink 182 came out and turned the place out! Blink 182 is one of my favorite bands and here's the kicker - I caught a drumstick from their drummer Travis Barker. That made my night!

Congratulations to Joe and April Kelly who had an adorable, 7.2 pound baby girl today. They named their new baby girl Olivia. Joe and April are some of our neighbors that live across the street.

Everyone started the day recovering from the concert. "What?" is all anyone could say as we all had bells ringing in our ears for most of the morning. Bates and Katie left headed back to the beach. I spent the day fighting with Wal-Mart photo center trying to get them to fix my pictures from Barbados. Once this was over, we were invited to a neighborly function next door at Colleen and Chuck's. The neighbors that live behind us are going away for the summer to India so we had a pot luck dinner. After that, MB and I arrived fashionably late at the Flying Saucer where we met Amy (my co-worker Craig Pelletier's girlfriend) and her friend from Wisconsin, Courtney, who is moving to Raleigh soon. We showed them our pictures form Barbados over a few pints. Then Margie and her friend Jesse (from Campbell University) showed up and joined us. Margie and Jesse looked at our pictures and then we all just hung out for a bit. The Saucer started getting really busy so we left and called it a night.

Bright and early, or as some of us say, "the butt crack of dawn." My buddy Sonny gets to the house at 5:20 A.M. We make the drive to Wrightsville Beach this morning and it was well worth it. We decide to surf at Masonboro Island. In order to get there, you drive south on Wrightsville Beach until you get to the inlet. Then you have to paddle about 15 minutes across the channel. Luckily some other surfers in a boat were heading that way and picked us up. We scored some super good waves, solid chest high and thumping. By 9:30 the winds had picked up so much that the surf was shutting down. We decided to call it a surf day and managed to get a ride back with the guys that picked us up. We drove back to Raleigh, stoked on the mid-week surf session.

Later that day MB and I go hang out at the Flying Saucer for keep the glass night and meet up with Amy and Courtney. I love going to the Saucer and hanging out with beautiful women.

Happy Memorial Day! We load up the Saturn with surfboards, beach gear, and Dot (along with all her toys) and escape to the beach. MB and I swing by and pick up Jesse and then drive down I-40 to Topsail Island. We meet Jesse's girlfriend Brandy who had already been in Wilmington for the weekend. What an awesome beach day, the weather was mostly sunny, mid 70's and the water was refreshing. I took Jesse out for a surf lesson on the waist high South East wind waves that were breaking. He did pretty well with his first lesson consisting of paddling, duck diving, and sitting on the board properly. Unfortunately, Jesse didn't catch any waves but maybe next time. The rest of the day was spent on the beach, surfing, playing with Dot, reading, and getting some sun. After we are all beached out we get back to Raleigh and hit the Flying Saucer for a few pints on Pint Nite.

I look at all the surf models from Surfline and they forecast some decent surf from a low pressure system that is moving up the East coast. I drive to the Outer Banks and get on it immediately at a break in Nags Head. Low tide starts coming in and the South swell starts to hit. The surf increases from almost waist high to solid chest with plus sets. I am having a blast on this little peak away from the crowd. I get a little practice on my airs after watching a school of Spanish Mackerel run to the North. I bumped into Rosko from Gale Force Glass (the shop that makes my surfboards for me) and we catch up from the past couple of months. We see a questionable brown image about 15 feet out that kind of freaks us out. Too bad that May-June is prime mating season for sharks as they migrate to the North.

So I scored some decent waves and then swing by Food Lion to grab some dinner before I head to my parents house. I show my parents my pictures from Barbados, fix up my grub, and then watch the end of the Canes vs. Maple Leafs Playoff Game 6. The Canes win in overtime 2-1 and advance to the Stanley cup. Tickets go on sale in the morning for the 3 games at the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports arena.

I'm up at 6:00 A.M. to check the surf. The South swell starting hitting the beach last night and I thought it would have increased in size. Well the surf was disappointing to say the least. It was about chest high and on top of that, high tide was putting way too much water in the ocean for the waves to break decently. I get up with Jason Bates and he says that he will find me later after he sleeps in for another hour. I check a couple of spots in town (meaning the Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head area) and then decide to drive to Pea Island with the anticipation that the surf will be a little bit bigger there. (You will typically hear surfers from the Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills/Nags Head area refer to a trip on Hatteras Island as "going down south.") The report was calling for 3-4' with 5' sets. I didn't quite see that anywhere. I paddled out at a spot in the northern part of Pea Island and wasn't impressed with what was coming in. I got out after about 30 minutes and drove down to a spot called 'S-Turns.' The wave machine happened to be off at the S-Turns so I drove back to Nags Head at the spot that I surfed the night before. The surf was better than Pea Island, same size swell but this had more ride-ability than down south. I surfed for almost 2 hours, saw a shark and another questionable brown image by the way, then I was over it. I had some lunch then decided to get back to Raleigh. Jason Bates never got up with me.

On the way back to Raleigh I got some fresh seafood - Tuna Steaks, Soft-shell Crabs, and Atlantic Salmon. MB and I cooked up the Tuna Steaks (grilled Sashimi style) before we meet Craig and Amy (along with Amy's friend Michelle) at the Flying Saucer for keep the glass night. Tonight's featured glass was Sam Smith's India Pale Ale. We chilled out in the back room on the couches and played some pool. We left when the Red Wings were up by 1 over the Avalanche. By they way, Hurricanes tickets sold out this morning in 20 minutes - for all 3 home games.

We woke up and found out that the Red Wings had stretched out their series to a game 7, so we still don't know who the Canes will be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. Today I decided to start a project that I've wanted to do for quite some time. We've been working hard on getting plants in the garden and we even dug a hole for the pond we want to install. One problem with this pond installation is a reliable power source for the pump (meaning not an extension card). So I go to Lowe's and get almost everything I need to run a power supply out to the back yard. I decide to run a new GFIC breaker directly from the breaker box underneath the house and then to the pond area. This is also going to require me to bury my electrical line 18-24" through the red, rocky clay that I have inherited in my back yard. I don't want to leave out the roots that I will have to dig through when I get to the wooded area. If anyone has ideas on how to do this (without a shovel) or has a ditch witch I could borrow, please contact me. Also, another reason for running the power supply to the garden is for the Malibu Lights that we have. To date, we have 3 sets of lights installed but not powered. Once we get the electrical line installed and powered the lights should be ready to illuminate our garden path. The power line will run to two separate power boxes along the garden path. Lowe's hooked me up with all the supplies I needed for my home improvement project.

Also, Ryan Heaton has moved into Hotel Ramsgate this month. She is finishing up her pharmacy rotation at the N.C. State Vet School and living with us in Raleigh to minimize her commute from Chapel Hill. We welcome Ryan to our home with open arms and hope that she can finish her college education sometime this decade.

Thanks for reading this month's issue of hibbets.net News, catch you next month.