What?? (a sigh of relief… boats on choppy waters… go this way and that way, go this way and that)
But what I really say is – a week-end at a southern shore is what I long for on the cold dark days of January, February… What now?
What now… we’ll see… something will come up.
My occasional traveling companion just erased an image of boat decks and shorefront bars where sailors drink whiskey and smoke cigars. It’s what stories are made of. Gone.
Can we forget about the sailing bit and find a beach for the week-end? I have built my life around the image of the Caribbean blue waters in March.
Reluctantly: There are cheap fares to the Bahamas. People go there to gamble. Beach during the day, casino at night. You want to gamble?
No.
I don’t either… But that’s what you do down there…
(Future traveling companions: The way to my heart is NOT through a cheap airfare and gambling.)
I’ll look up some fun and funky places to stay, where fans spin in tile-floor rooms and locals sit on bar stools in the lounge and sip on whiskey and rum…
Can you keep it under $65 per night?
That wipes out the vast majority of winter Caribbean destinations!
How about Puerto Rico?
I’m surfing the Net as we speak…
So, cheap places. Have you found any?
(Future traveling companions: The way to my heart is NOT through a constant search for the very cheapest room to be had on whatever side of the ocean you may find yourself.)
Who needs a beach anyway… It’s pretty, here, in sunny cold Wisconsin. True, the picnic tables will stand empty for another six months or so…
…but one needs to look on the upside of a January day.
Driving home late in the evening I focus on the upside of a January day. I try not to pay attention to the smoke suspended from chimneys, never seeming to go anywhere at all, held back by the cold. I try not to see that.
I bring back my now polluted daydream of hammocks suspended between palm trees and bars filled with sailors and locals, drinking whiskey and rum. The remains of an image. They’ll get me through a day or two.
Nina, check Isla Culebra in Puerto Rico (northeast) or Isla Mujeres (one hour from Cancun) in Mexico. Zipolite, in Oaxaca, is also a fantastic destination. Flights to Oaxaca? Not sure, though.
ReplyDelete(... no boats on the Keyes?)
ReplyDeleteOh no, blue water, sandy beaches and excellent cuisine await you. They must. For if you don't go how will I get to imagine I'm traveling alongside you?
ReplyDeleteMy friend Marc says:
ReplyDelete"Dear Raquel,
I've not been there, but in Rincon (which is pretty small, and quite nice) there's a friendly, little inn called The Lazy Parrot. People tell me the staff is very friendly, and it's close to the ocean. The beach is so-so, because the ocean there is rough.
In the middle of the island--if she wants mountains--I'd suggest Hacienda Juanita. It's an old coffee plantation. We stayed there, and it's absolutely tranquil. But it's far, far away (two hours at least from San Juan, and the roads, you remember, are narrow, steep and twisting).
An o.k. place would be the (I think) Fajardo Inn--and she could go to Culebra easily.
...or she could just go to Culebra. I stayed at Mamacitas, and liked it, but that was some years ago. Harry, more recently, stayed at Villa Boheme, and really loved it.
Vieques--if she has the money--and it's Inn on the Blue Horizon. Everybody loves it, but it's not cheap.
Or if she wants to call us--787 721-0846--we can get a better idea what she wants, and give her more ideas."