Our friends the Bennet’s celebrated their son’s 5th birthday yesterday with a party down at Cane Bay. Ted suggested that the drop Cobe off here on the way through - he would take him in the kayak on over the party - a distance of 2 miles or so. Never mind the small craft advisory…. Cobe was game - as was Hannah and they piled onto the tandem kayak and were off….

You can see they got some air going over the reef! They made a Hollywood entrance to the party - the surf pushing them up to the sand. All the kids came running down “Cobe! Cobe!” - pretty cool when you are just 5 today!

Bennet and Ted - discussing something important! The weather has been overcast and there has finally been some rain. We went to Savant for dinner this evening - to the back patio. Done beautifully - it seems like an idyllic grotto. Well, they have a boat sail rigged -think sideways vs vertically to draw over the patio to make a roof when the weather turns inclement. I’d never been back there with the sail open. It was lovely. It’s been cool enough that the atmosphere was cozy and not stuffy. A lovely evening.

You can often see the lights of St. Thomas from our home.

For the old-fogies we are getting to be - we can still shake it a bit! Ted and I cruised on down to the boardwalk in C’sted for the St. Paddy’s Day Banooba night! ….. okay so we were home by midnight and the party probably went on most of the night for everyone else. But we had a great time.

We attacked the “Honey-Do” list. We managed to fix several plumbing issues and one electrical issue. There are a few things still outstanding.

Bekka and Nimbus are great!

We’ve never been here for the very popular annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Cruzians take every opportunity for a party and this was no exception! We left for town around 10:30 am - found Bennet and his kids and picked out a spot on the street. The crowd was dressed up! Lots of green and lots of costume. This is obviously a well planned and anticipated event for locals!

Miss Norma and the Montpellier Domino Club were pouring green shots of Mama Wanna….

Ivan, Ben, Bennet and Ted enjoying jello shots tossed to the crowd from a passing float!

It was pretty fun! Think Carnaval without the nudity. And lots more “green”. We found some corned beef and cabbage for a late lunch and then hung out at a Christiansted club to listen to the ever popular Banooba (a NYC band considered the “darlings” of St. Croix).

We’ve arrived again. Everything at the house seems great. I arrived Thursday 3/13, Ted and Hannah arrived at nearly the same time on Friday. Bekka and Nimbus traveled with me and everyone is well. Glad to be here!

Ted and Bekka heading off for a snorkel soon after arriving.

It looks to me as if Ted is getting the hang of relaxing….. twice now in the past couple of days he’s managed to fall asleep on the beach. Good Job.

I ran errands - Ted did some work. Late afternoon we worked at moving the jungle back on the north side of the property. We’ve filled the pickup for the 2nd time with brush. We could do at least 2 more full loads if we are ambitious. The tenants are avid fisher-people. We came back from pizza at Off The Wall to find one each from both sides of the house collaborating on technique. They had caught a small snapper and an eel. They threw the eel back. The snapper is dinner for one of them.

We were reading the real estate magazines the other day and noticed that the Slave Ruins over at the plantation estate are up for sale. The ad stated that the ruins had been cleared. We’ve never been able to go in and wander/explore them as the brush has always been way too thick. So of course - we tromped on over this morning. The “lot” is thick with the ruins. It’s hard to imagine a buildable plot there as I can’t think that the officials will tolerate any demolition of the ruins.

So we explored and enjoyed ourselves. I found a bit of chaney.

Ted - relaxing on the beach! All is well here. It’s very different not having the Bekka along with us. We miss both Bekka and Nimbus. But with the short trip - it did not make good sense. The property looks good. The truck is working fine. And the plumbing leak we were looking forward (?) to - was there - but is not there now. So all play and little work. I’m ready!