Miss Bindi Ewen-Smith Arrives!!!!!

Welcome to the world Miss Bindi Ewen Smith!!!

Brady and Shanley would like to introduce you to their new arrival

The Belizean beauty arrived on the 20th of November at 2:40 a.m. weighing 8 pounds 9 ounces. Daddys and Daughters......

She is 100% perfect!!!

Mum looks good too!!!

What a cute little princess she is!!

Yes Brady, she really is "that small"!!!!

Brady and Shanley say that they are all three doing well and adjusting to family life aboard the Nepenthe, due to set sail back to San Pedro in a week...
We are so excited to have you back as a part of our community with your new little bundle of joy!

Pool Party

The South Ambergris Caye Neighborhood Watch Group hosted a fundraiser on Saturday. The fundraiser was to boost awareness of the Neighborhood Watch groups on the island, and to involve the entire community in a project that promotes personal, residential, and business safety.

On hand, was Kelly McGuire (www.redfishisland.com) to entertain guests. There was good food, cold drinks, and lots of frivolity over the course of the day! A good time was had by everyone!

Local musician Gino sits in with Kelly and crew for a set. Since he began playing here several years ago, Gino's music has improved greatly and he is a true island treasure. Also playing with Kelly today was Tanya, a local girl who plays a mean steel drum.

Kelly's conga line Tammy in charge

As usual, Kelly gave a great performance He will be playing again today, Sunday, at Sandbar beginning at 2:00 pm



Lots of people won prizes, including Tacogirl, caught here taking pictures for her blog!

Sheeeesss Baaaaack!

She's back! Some of you will remember her from my birthday party two years ago....




Or maybe from Cinco de Mayo in May?

She showed up today with Jason in tow and they are out to "do San Pedro"!!!!!

Welcome back Kristin!!!

Friends Stopping By

Surprise visitors are common here on the island. Had just finished running around today and was getting ready for lunch, when the bell rang, and there was our friend, Kelly McGuire. He is an awesome performer, and comes to San Pedro several times a year to play music at various venues. Kelly will be playing tonight at Fido's Sandbar. If you would like more information about Kelly and his music, check out his website and listen to songs from his CD "Boat In Belize" at http://www.redfishisland.com/home.htm



Running down to CG Esthetics for a hair rescue, then off to Fido's to watch Kelly perform, and whatever else comes along!

Here's a sample of "whatever else"!

Mary, Alex and Renita...he's such a little salesman!

Three Kelly McGuire dancers

I'm a sucker for a photo op!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, we went to have a little Thanksgiving lunch with BrusselSprout at Blue Water Grill.....I had, of course, my usual Cobb Salad, and it was as good as ever!

Made a coconut rum cake to take to Caye Casa later for dinner, along with some yummy sweet potatoes with pineapple and coconut!
It was a great party.....the turkey was moist and tasty, and a happy Thanksgiving was had by everyone!


Also, things are moving along with our new library/media center over at the RC School. Looks like by next week the kids will have a new air conditioned room to study in! We will have a ribbon cutting ceremony next week, and the kids will be able to start using the building.


If things go as planned, we will be able to complete this project and also refurbish another dilapidated building on the school grounds. This would make lots more room for the nearly overflowing building.

Looking forward to Saturday when our friend Kris comes down for a week!

First Annual San Pedro Sauce Off

The Robilios were in town, and that means it's time for BBQ. We had lots of help that morning from CBT, TG, ChunkyRuth, and more.






CBT started the chicken cooking around 8:00 am, using his favorite herbs and spices, and sat the chickens on a half a can of Belikin Stout. "Drunk Chicken"

The poor things looked so plain sitting there on their cans, (literally) on the grill, so I decided they needed some smiling faces, just to make them feel better. I tried to convince CBT that they needed tuxedos, but he drew the line at the faces.

After they cooked and cooled, ChunkyRuth, CBT and a host of others donned their plastic gloves and began taking the meat off the bones. CR had a rule that if anything dropped in her lap, she could eat it.....she only wished that she had thought to put some BBQ sauce in her lap prior to starting!!




Later that day, we met up again with Dita and Ed, and had a great time with them....They are just a hop and a skip from our homebase in the US...so we'll have to go and see them next time we go back!


This year's winner, was CBT, although the tally was challenged, no one really cared! We raised $500 which went to a variety of charities on the island, some of which went to the 2008 Calendar Girls.......more on that later!

A funny thing happened on the way to the internet

Well, well well. Just when you think you've seen everything that technology can offer, up comes something new.

A friend is down from Tennessee. We are supposed to have dinner with another couple this evening. He and his entourage have headed inland to Tikal and are somewhere near the Guatemala border when he realizes his "crackberry" won't send messages to me about dinner.

So, having given up on dinner, I didn't expect to hear from him until late this evening. About 3:00 this afternoon I get an email from a friend who comes down alot, but who is currently in Texas. She emails me that she has a message from our mutual friend, near the Guatemala border, texting her in Texas, that they can't make dinner tonight.

So if you are ever deep into Belize, near Guatemala, and your Crackberry won't work, think about this. You can text your friend from Guatemala who is in Texas, and she will send an email to your other friend who lives on an island off the coast of Belize.

Aint technology a wonderful thing?

Best Bloody Mary in San Pedro

The Best Bloody Mary in San Pedro

November 14, 2008 In order to ascertain who has the best Bloody Mary on the island, we form the Saucy Six and set out on a mission to find the best Bloody Mary on the island. Given that we had only one day, we were limited in the number of establishments we could visit in about six hours.Each drink was scored on the following criteria:

1. Presentation – Appearance 5 points2. Aroma – Smell 5 points3. Flavor 6 points4. Overall – does it make you want another? 4 points

The scores were tallied and the results are as follows:

Cholos $9.00 Overall score 13.4 / 20

Presentation 2.4/5 Aroma 3.5/5 Flavor 4.5/6 Overall 3/4

Oscar was our bartender. He was very pleasant and surprised to see six women coming into his bar in the middle of the afternoon! When we told him our mission, he immediately apologized for not having any olives or celery. He may have lost a few points on the presentation side, but his concoction was right up there at the top.

Fidos $14 Overall score 12.25/20

Presentation 2.4/5 Aroma 4.5/5 Flavor 2.92/6 Overall 3/4

Shaggy was behind the bar in Fidos when we arrived. It was around noon and kind of slow. He threatened to “look you up” if he didn’t win…sorry Shaggy, but still nice product!

There was a carrot down in the drink but you can’t see it in this picture…..One of the notes many of us wrote was that the two drinks weren’t consistent….they both tasted different

Playa Lounge $14 Overall score 13.08/20

Presentation 3.91/5 Aroma 3.75/5 Flavor 2.83/6 Overall 2.58/4

Trevor treated us to an awesome looking drink, and told us that they have a Bloody Mary buffet on Sundays, where you can mix your own and add your own condiments….. Most of us thought the drink itself was beautiful, but there was too much pickle juice in it for our tastes!

Tackle Box $12 Overall score 12.33/20

Presentation 3.75 Aroma 3.33/5 Flavor 2.75/6 Overall 2.33/4

Kevin greeted us when we arrived at the Tackle Box…with a smile as always….. The presentation was awesome and he brought us our own glasses for the tasting…

BC’s Beach Bar $10 Overall score 12.3/20

Presentation 2.25/5 Aroma 2.42/5 Flavor 4.2/6 Overall 3.6/4

Nora was behind the bar when we arrived and explained our mission. She mixed our drinks and set them on the bar. The drink looked good and smelled nice as well.


Blue Water Grill $13 Overall score 13.3/20

Presentation 3.1/5 Aroma 3.7/5 Flavor 4.2/6 Overall 3.2/4

Christian was tending bar when we arrived at the end of the lunch crowd. He mixed us up some tasty drinks

Estelles $12 Overall score 13.18/20Presentation 3.92/5 Aroma 3.0/5 Flavor 3.58/6 Overall 3.0/4Charles was bartending when we showed up. Having had a Bloody Mary there before, most of us knew what to expect. Just for the record, I waited tables and did not get tipped!!!

Wild Mangos $16 Overall score 13.91/20

Presentation 4.0/5 Aroma 3.42/5 Flavor 3.42/6 Overall 3.0/4

Novel was behind the bar at the end of his shift when we arrived…as you can tell by the score the drink was very pretty and we liked it!

Crazy Canucks $14 Overall score 11.83/20

Presentation 3.0 Aroma 2.83 Flavor 3.33/6 Overall 2.83/4

Ali was behind the bar and a little bit swamped as we arrived. By now it was nearly 6:00 pm. We liked his Bloody Marys and he told us they are having a special starting on Sundays with Bloody Marys garnished with three shrimp…we would have liked to taste those!!!

Final tallies Overall score winner Cholo’sPresentation Wild MangosAroma Playa LoungeFlavor CholosNext week…..new drink tasting….will your bar be on our list???