Leap of faith....

By sometime around noon we  decided to take a chance and head out to the beach.  The radar still looked unfavorable, but we both were ready to get out of the house. Stopped by the Green store and picked up some ice and beer also bought some smoked gouda cheese that, is oh so good. That little gourmet fridg they have holds some real gems. If you haven't been to La Tienda Verde, check it out.  Bought two different German beers, one was a pilsner, the other a lager. The pilsner was Radeberger,  the other I can't remember the name of. Anyway, they both seemed to be decent beer. So I'm sitting here on the beach, thinking "why in the world are these beers available in Vieques?" We've bought 4 different types of German beer this trip. I even saw a couple of different Hefeweizen and these are in a little colmado that's the size of most mini marts back home.  It was only when I began reading the label that I might have stumbled upon why these are  available here.  All of the Radeberger I bought had expired dates, not that it really made any difference in the taste but I bet that's what's behind finding these beers. I'm going to keep track and see if this is the trend or not.

Only about 30 people or so on Caracas. Low numbers given the beach closures and the seaweed covered beaches around Esperanza.  Grey skies dominated and it really looked like it could rain anytime. I pushed on and  set up the cabana anyway. We settled in under gloomy skies.

 Wasn't long before someone came up and commented on the cabana. That lifted our mood. Not long after  a couple came by and ask if they could leave there car keys with us. They had a springer spaniel in tow and after talking with them we learned that the female of the two was to be the new postmaster of Vieques. She came down from Maine.  She decided, while walking in thigh deep show last year, that she'd had enough. They had only been on Vieques since Sunday.

Not long after meeting the new postmaster a young guy came up and ask if he could leave his backpack with us so that he and his girlfriend could swim out around towards Garcia. We said we'd be glad to. So even with the gloomy skies we now had purpose, even if it was keeping watch over others peoples belongings. When the couple got back from their swim, and they did swim over to Garica, we offered them a beer (I didn't tell them they were expired). During the course of our conversation we learned they were Stephan (from Hamburg Germany, maybe I impressed him with my cooler full of German beer) and Kristen from NYC. They both work for Lufthansa airlines. Stephan is a pilot in training. I grabbed a picture of the two. Good looking couple:

The good German beer and conversation was enough to entice Lorrie and I to finally check out the water. The beach was also clearing out by now. I think everyone else had given up on seeing some sunshine, so the whole place was nearly empty. We had forgotten, again, to bring the noodles with us. The surf was perfect for floating. 

It must have been sometime after 5pm and after our swim,  that a couple with two young kids showed up. Both of the children (boy and girl) were packing surf boards. I began watching as the gentleman (who I assumed was their father) began setting them up on the waves as they came in.  I couldn't believe how good they were, especially the young girl.

Watching those kids with their dad put a smile on my face. What a great way to spend and evening, even with gloomy grey skies. What I wasn't prepared for was what was going on behind me:

Yes, that's my 50 yr old wife preparing to do cartwheels.

Hard to tell from the pictures, but they had drawn two lines in the sand and where doing cartwheels one direction and the turning and heading back the other. Not sure what the object of the game was, but it sure ended in a lot of laughter.

So on a leap of faith we headed to the beach today under grey skies. By the end of the day Vieques had once again worked it magic. We ended the day laughing with people whom we had never met before and whom we never even got the names of.

:-)