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We woke up at 6 am to find the room super hot. The power had gone out and the air conditioner hadn't turned itself back on. Craig turned it on again, and we slept until 7:30. We woke up, had Lucky Charms and coffee, took showers, and packed. Tiffany called at around 10:20 and we made plans to meet at Charlotte Tamales in Havensight for lunch. We called Marty to invite him as well, but he wasn't able to make it there from work. We checked out of the room at 11 and drove to Havensight.
As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed two inflatable Santas riding Harleys on the roof. The decorations get more and more elaborate and fun each year. There was a Christmas tree with chili pepper lights hanging upside down next to the proprietor's Harley. We ordered a round of sangrias and waited for Tiff. We didn't really talk much; we were all in our own little worlds, reflecting on the events of the trip before going home. Tiffany arrived at 12, and we ordered our food. I got the smothered burrito filled with steak. Craig and Steve each got the steak Bro'rito (weighing in at a pound each). As usual, the food was fantastic. The prices have gone up a little bit, but that is to be expected. For the amount of food they give you, their prices were definitely too low in the past. So I guess it's no longer the best bargain on the island, but it is still some of our favorite food. The smothered burrito was served on a bed of nachos, smothered in enchilada sauce, and decorated with three flower-shaped dollops of sour cream. Unlike in the past, the steak wasn't shredded; it was in little cubes. Everything was delicious. I had another sangria, and the guys had frozen strawberry daiquiries. We had a nice goodbye chat with Tiffany. Eventually, she had to get back to work. We crossed the street to the Havensight docks and split up to do a little shopping. We had had ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery in the past, but as far as we could tell it was no longer there. Instead, we stopped into a little local place called Cream and Crumbs. It served ice cream, bakery items, and plate lunches. The employees were all West Indian, as were the clients. A few cruise ship people wandered in for an ice cream cone, but the people sitting enjoying plate lunches were locals. We ordered cups of mint chocolate chip ice cream and sat at a table next to the locals. They were all professionals who were talking about local politics in lilting West Inidian tones, occasionally interjecting a "Praise Jesus!" We left for the airport at around 2:30. We stopped to fill up the tank with gas, and arrived at the airport at around 3:00. Our flight was one of the later departures, so earlier flights had priority, and we ended up waiting in the check-in line for quite a while. By the time we got through customs it was around 4:00. When we handed in our customs form, the officer couldn't believe that between the three of us, we had only spent $11 on goods to take home. Hey, when you've come here 7 years in a row, you don't need too many souvenirs. We did buy a couple of things in the airport gift shop though. We got a few munchies for the plane (we weren't counting on being served any food on the flight), including Reese's Pieces and Sun Chips. And we bought some hot sauce. Good hot sauce is hard to find in Boston, so we tend to always buy it when we go on vacation. The plane was scheduled to board 5:15. Everything went on schedule, and we arrived in San Juan with a half hour to spare before our connecting flight started boarding. The gate was full of people, so we ended up perching on a little ledge in the hallway. The flight home was rough...uncomfortable seats, screaming baby, and $4 snack boxes for sale (good thing we bought those munchies at the airport!). The flight seemed to take forever. We arrived in Boston on time at 10:10. As we had checked luggage, we had to go to the infamous Logan baggage carousels. After a while, our bag showed up. Some of the bags looked like they had been through hell. There was one hard-sided suitcase that was totally smashed. A pair of kids' sneakers came down the conveyer belt separate from any bag. Another suitcase was torn open and porn magazines were hanging out. People were chuckling, and we wondered who would own up to it and claim that bag. By 11:15, when all of the bags had been claimed, we gave up on Steve's. We filed a report, but after seeing the condition of some of the bags (and having witnessed some disturbing baggage handling on other flights) we didn't have much hope that it would arrive unscathed. We arrived home at midnight. We had email from our friend Francis saying that Robert Lockwood, Jr. (one of our favorite old-school blues performers) had passed away the previous week. We had first seen Robert Lockwood, Jr. in Memphis in 2001. He was the step-son of Robert Johnson, and learned his guitar technique from him. We saw him in June, in a concert he did with Honeyboy Edwards. Both men were 91 years old at the time of the concert, and we are very glad that we got a chance to see such classic bluesmen. Robert Lockwood will be missed. Steve's suitcase arrived safe and sound the following day, and the countdown until the next Thanksgiving visit to see Marty commenced. |
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