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Craig and I woke up at around 8:30 a.m. We decided to get up early, and we made our Dunkin Donuts coffee and enjoyed the view from our balcony. Steve and Mom woke up shortly before 10 o'clock. We listened to Maria Muldaur's blues album on the iPod. Mom enjoyed her tea out on the balcony.
Then we listened to some Elf music, the music we traditionally listen to while making breakfast on camping trips. We haven't had the chance to go camping in a while, but we needed to uphold the tradition. Craig made us a nice breakfast of "Craig McMuffins" (cheese omelettes served on English muffins with bacon). We poured some orange juice and all ate at our table with the view of the ocean. We even had a newly released (posthumously for Ronnie James Dio) Elf album that we took for a spin on the iPod. As luck would have it, our visit coincided with a big party thrown by Marty’s motorcycle club, the Carib Riders Motorcycle Club. It was a weekend-long party at Magen’s Bay to celebrate the 69th birthday of CMRC member Skeeter. This sounded like fun to us, so we accepted Marty’s invitation. At 11 o'clock, Marty called to tell us that he was heading to the beach party. Craig decided to try to change our flat tire himself, to save us the trouble of trying to hook up with Hertz. He was able to easily change to the spare in the parking lot, so we were good to go. We got ready for the day and packed a beach bag, and at around 2 o'clock, we headed to Magen's Bay. A lot of the party attendees (including Marty) would be camping at the beach. Marty had given us a camping pass (though we wouldn't actually be forsaking our beachfront suite for a night in a tent) which allowed us free entrance to the beach and free parking for the day. We drove down until we saw Marty and his car and then parked. There was a whole area set up with tents and lawnchairs in a wooded grove next to the beach. We were introduced to birthday boy Skeeter, his lovely wife Donna, and his daughter (who coincidentally lives a few miles from our house – what a small world!). Donna has Skeeter's name tattood on her arm, with a stylized mosquito as the "S". We were happy to see Biker John and his wife Nancy (whom we had previously met when we ate at their former Mexican restaurant Charlotte Tamales). We also met other members of the CMRC, including Marty's friend Doc. There was a small pavilion where local band Untold Trouble played three live sets of classic rock, (songs like Rock and Roll, Sweet Home Alabama, Revolution, Folsom Prison Blues, Sympathy for the Devil, etc.) while guests enjoyed a buffet of good down-home food (macaroni and cheese, pulled pork, pasta salad, etc.) We sat at picnic tables and ate. The guys had beer and Mom and I had rum and Pepsi and vodka lemonade. Then Biker John came over to the food table carrying a huge roast turkey. It was totally moist and succulent. We enjoyed the live music; the band really rocked. And the food was delicious. Everyone was so incredibly friendly and welcoming to us. We are glad that Marty has such good friends nearby. They really stressed the fact that since all of their families live on the mainland U.S., they act as surrogate family for one another on the island. Donna had put the whole party together and was totally taking care of everyone and everything. There were several other gatherings taking place on the beach that day. One was a group of VW bug enthusiasts who had their customized bugs on display. These same guys and vehicles had been here last year when we visited as well. We wandered through and admired their vehicles. Craig and I walked over to the bathrooms and we could still hear our band, even over the music of the neighboring party. While we were over there the band started to play a cool version of Comfortably Numb. We hurried back to the pavilion to enjoy the song. This wasn't about being virtuoso musicans; this was about rocking out and showing everyone a good time. A young woman named Maria joined the band and sang Paranoid, which really rocked out. The electricity at the beach shuts off at 6 pm, so that cut the band's third set short. They adapted and did an unplugged version of She Talks to Angels with Maria on vocals and with the bass player playing acoustic guitar. As it started to get dark, the party migrated from the pavilion to the camping area. They hooked up Biker John's iPod to Marty's "Limin' Cooler" (a cooler with a kick-ass stereo custom-built into it) for some tunes. A campfire was allowed as long as it was enclosed in a barrel. Doc's son broke up some wooden pallets and they started a fire. We chatted with a bunch of people, including Howard who had been at Foxy's yesterday and had also seen John Kerry there. We chatted with the drummer and guitarist from the band. Mom was chatting with Captain Billy and his wife Chris, who would soon be moving from St. Thomas to San Diego. We had wondered how she might fit in with this crowd, but we needn't have worried. Everybody loved her. We had an Anthony Bourdain moment when Biker John unsheathed a huge knife and he and his wife used it to cut and glaze a spiral ham. We tried some cooked breadfruit, which tasted much like potato. Marty's eyes were drooping as he sat next to the campfire, and he eventually disappeared into his little one-man tent. Everyone decided to break into the spiral ham. We all picked at it and put it on French bread for some amazing late night sandwiches. It really hit the spot. A tin of Danish butter cookies was also passed around. People roused Marty because Biker John's iPod had a dying battery and they needed to swap in Marty's iPhone for music. We took this opportunity to say goodnight to Marty. We made the rounds thanking everyone, wishing Skeeter a happy birthday, and saying goodnight. I had gotten a few mosquito bites over the course of the evening, but as we walked around saying our goodnights, Mom and Craig suddenly got a few fire ant bites. Location is everything, I guess, as they hadn't bothered us earlier. At around 10 o'clock, Craig drove us back to the hotel. |
 Skeeter's 69th Birthday Bash  Untold Trouble performs at Magen's  Skeeter, Biker John, and Nancy  Craig and Steph  Mom and Donna  |
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