Lagoon to Rojo Relaxation

Rob and I made ourselves take last Wednesday off, as we skipped our day off the previous week to run a private party at The Snack Shack. So with going two weeks without a day off, we were clawing our way through the week to make it to Wednesday. And it was well worth the wait!

I am sure some of you are getting sick of hearing about Lynn and Carl, but we went out with Lynn and Carl again on The Newt. Ha ha.

We had plans to go scuba diving, however the waters were way too rough. It is hard to believe we have lived here for four months now and have yet to put on the scuba gear!  That is one of the main reasons we picked Belize, as it is home to the second largest barrier reef in the world. I guess when you have your mind set on something and you are focused, you forget to try to enjoy the things that make you happy at times. Well, I promise, we will get out and scuba pretty quickly, as the waters have calmed down and it is almost like glass in the mornings.

So....back to our Wednesday with Lynn and Carl. We headed out for a relaxation day on the boat. We have not been to quite a few resorts and bars up north, so Carl took us to Rojo Lounge. Now if you are a big Bachelor fan, you know that Ben took the final four women to Rojo Lounge for their final rose ceremony when they were in Belize. So I was amped to see this place. 

Rob and Lynn enjoying our ride.

Captain Carl.

Because the waters were extremely rough, Carl took the "back way" to the north end of the island.  We went lagoon side, which I was very excited to do.  It gave us a chance to see the other side of the island and also for me to get some great pictures.



Since Carl is Belizean, he has obviously been here his entire life. He has so much information to share with us and I absolutely love that.



He tells us about who owns what properties, what the bars and restaurants used to do, where people place their boats for the hurricane season, how the locals get across the lagoon, where the crocodiles live. The list goes on and on. It is awesome to go out with him and learn something new every time.

Riding through the lagoon.

So as we headed through the lagoon, we saw a few boats fishing and then a spotted eagle ray jumped out of the water right in front of our boat. I was looking the other way, unfortunately, so I did not get to see this amazing species.  But according to Lynn, it was huge and she has never seen one jump out of the water like that.  Spotted eagle rays have been reported as having jumped into boats and even killing one women.  Boy....am I glad that didn't happen to us! They are also hunted by various sharks.  But what a gorgeous species!



Spotted Eagle Ray

As we made our way north in the lagoon, we passed the main barge on the island.  This is where everything is stored that is brought from the mainland and then is distributed throughout the island. I have heard about the barge numerous times throughout our four months here, but have yet made it back to see it. As we passed in the boat, we saw a load of sofas and chairs being brought in.



The Barge.

We also headed past DFC.  This is one of the "neighborhoods" located in San Pedro. The backside of DFC is located on the lagoon and this is also where Lynn and Carl live. They have a cute house that is waterfront and are looking forward to building a dock that will allow them to tie their boat to, rather than renting a dock that is oceanside.  It is a great little neighborhood that we actually looked at living when we first moved here.

Lagoon view of DFC.

As we continued to head north, we began to see a ton of boats that were capsized or looked like they were left to fend for themselves.  I was amazed at the amount of boats throughout the lagoon.  However, Rob and I looked at each other and said, "This is a place we need to come to get some decorations for our next adventure." That story will be later in our blogs in the coming months.

Carl said this is a great place for the crocodiles to live.

Not quite capsized, but it is on it's way.

Even Winston got some great views.

After we made it through the lagoon, we hit the bridge. The bridge is the landmark that distinguishes whether you live "north of the bridge" or "south of the bridge". If you are walking or biking, it is free to cross the bridge, however, if you are on a golf cart, you have to pay each time you cross the bridge. If you live here permanently, you can buy a bridge pass that will save you money throughout the month.

At the bridge, on the north end, is the big movie theatre here on the island.  To be honest, I do not know much about the theatre. I do know they show a few movies now and then and do some special features, but other than that, I am not sure the hours or how often the movies are shown.  But it is a pretty theatre.

Movie Theatre.

Heading under the bridge.

And when we hit the other side of the bridge, there is a big public park on the right. The kids were outside playing and looking like they were having a blast. However, this kid looked like he might have been in a little bit of trouble.......

And.......then........we.........came........to........Rojo.......Lounge.........

I felt like I was at a five star resort in Miami. They had the lounge chairs with big fluffy cushions, little hideaways for couples looking to get romantic, and a cool infinity dipping pool that was relaxing.

Our little hideaway for the afternoon.

The infinity pool.

This screams relaxation! (minus the winds-check out the palm trees)

Total relaxation for the day...and a few "fu-fu" drinks (Rob).

We relaxed on the cushions, dipped our feet in the pool, walked the beach, ordered some lunch, had a few amazing drinks. I had a ginger mojito and Rob ordered some rum concoctions that were out of this world. It was a little pricey, but well worth it on this day. We had needed a relaxing day like this for quite awhile.

Even Winston had a fun day.......chasing coconuts in the water and then ripping them to shreds.  Absolutely hilarious to see in person.

Winstonian! Our second favorite dog on the island...only to Jager.

After a few wonderful hours at Rojo Lounge, we headed back south and stopped at Captain Morgan's.  For those of you that don't remember from my previous blog, Captain Morgan's was home to the reality show, Temptation Island, that was filmed back in 2001. This is a timeshare resort and is massive in size. There are numerous restaurants and even a coffee shop on site.  We made it to the older pool, but I hear the newer pool has a poolside bar and it seemed to be more crowded...which makes sense.  It seems like a great place to spend the day also.  They have a casino on site, but it was not open when we arrived....too bad.....I wanted to sweep their slot machines clean!

Carl headed to the pool.

The groundskeepers at Captain Morgan's were doing some "coconut cleaning." I found this very inventive and a safe way to keep tourists from getting their coconuts knocked with a coconut. Ha ha.

Groundskeepers pulling down coconuts. Yes,
that is a guy sitting in the bulldozer.

Wow.....what a long blog today! I didn't realize I took so many awesome pictures on this day. I hate to not share them with everyone, as I think we have seen so many neat things.  This was another amazing day to put in the books for us. I know we will be back to Rojo Lounge for those special occasions and I will make it to Captain Morgan's to hit their slot machines.

It is another beautiful day here in San Pedro and it is time for us to head to work.

Keep smiling!

A Day Full of GREEN

Although I am not fully Irish, I do have the red hair to go with the holiday, so I absolutely love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day...even in San Pedro. Rob and I packed our green St. Patrick's Day gear, along with green beads, when we first moved down and I was pumped to finally pull them out of the box.

After going through about four outfits for the day....I had to figure out just how much green I could get away with....I finally decided not to deck out in complete green. I figured my Irish shirt, green toenails, green bracelets, and green headband were enough. So....off to The Snack Shack, where we had green beer, Irish Car Bombs, and corned beef and cabbage for the celebration.

Rob and Jager enjoying the day.

The corned beef and cabbage was a hit! It was moist, a little salty, and absolutely delicious with the cabbage. Thanks so much to Carolyn and Surendra for supplying us with this fantastic dish. St. Patrick's Day just wouldn't be the same!

We were packed for lunch and everyone made sure to wear their green.  Well....almost everyone!

Carl with Jager. Carl made sure to put on his camo bandana.

Even Jager sported green for the day!

Everyone enjoying the corned beef and cabbage.

And then we had some daring patrons drink an Irish Car Bomb.....CHEERS!

Tien and Adam. Adam owns Casa Picasso and Tien is their chef.
And Nina always jumps in photos..that's her to the left. Ha ha.

Lynn and I had to test the shots the day before, of course!

I know there were a ton of celebrations around the island, although Rob and I were too tired after the day at The Shack to make it out. So until next year....I will put my green gear back in the box. To go along with the fun celebrations, I am thinking we may do a Christmas in July celebration...that sounds like fun!  Why wait until December to get out the Christmas tree and carols!

Sneak Peak of Adult Water Olympics

This has been an extremely busy week at The Snack Shack. After the Island Academy party on Monday and the cocktail party on Tuesday for Exotic Caye International, we hosted Renita and Cindy from Changes in Latitudes B&B yesterday. They brought about 20 people to the pool and had an awesome day at The Snack Shack.

After feasting on paninis, fruit, veggies, and chips and salsa, they headed to the pool for a test of our adult water olympics. We are having the complete version next Saturday and hope to have a full bracket of teams. But this group was kind enough to be our guinea pigs and boy, was it a great time!

Rob, of course, was the MC and took charge of the energy right away. He had the teams lined up and ready to go after the first couple of rounds of beer and rum punch were served. The first event was the frozen t-shirt relay. Each team, which consists of 4 members, was given a frozen t-shirt in a plastic bag. Each member had to get the shirt on and off and then place the shirt back in the bag. The pool deck was booming with energy.

Frozen T-Shirt Relay

The cheers occurred all day long. This crowd was very competitive!

I believe one of my favorite events was the cannonball contest. There was a panel of judges, me included, that rated each cannonball based on height of the splash. We received a few boos from the crowd, as some thought we gave low rankings, but overall, the judges table felt the love from the crowd.

Judges' table.

See the stick-this is how we judge how high.

That looks like good form to me.

Jacob's pre-jump dance moves.

We found that if you do a can opener, or just one leg tucked, the splash goes much higher. This contestant's can opener was also disallowed due to "not following the rules".

After numerous games of fun, both in and out of the water, we finished the day with a little friendly cornhole. Thanks to Renita and Cindy, they brought their cornhole boards from Changes in Latitudes for us to use. Below is the crowd gathered to see the teams compete in a round robin format.

Cornhole crowds.

The winning team: The Twisted Liquors

Here is a list of the games we will use next Saturday:

Best Team Name
Cannonball Contest
Egg Balance Relay
Frozen T-Shirt Relay
Sponge Relay
Sunken Treasure Hunt
Watermelon Push


A big thanks goes out to Renita, Cindy, and all the participants. It was a great day and I know a few of them are coming back to compete next Saturday. You can win a case of beer! Who wouldn't want to participate?

Up next......St. Patrick's Day!





The daily sights of our life

After living here in San Pedro for three months, Rob and I have seen some things that are only available in other places than Ohio. I come home every night and my jaw drops when I enter our new condo. The sights that come upon me from our balcony are amazing and I have to pinch myself every time. Do I really live here? Is this where I call home? How did I get to this place in my life? Am I still dreaming?

Our condo is the top floor.

We are extremely lucky to have this opportunity and to have our family support our decisions. It is hard to say goodbye to your family, knowing you are moving to a foreign country, having to communicate mainly through the internet, and not being able to just get in the car and drive to see them. I do not forget the sacrifices my family and friends have made for us to follow our dream. So I partly do this blog so they can feel like they are a part of our journey....and then I have to admit, I sometimes do post these pictures just so others will be jealous of where we are.

Beautiful sunrise from the dock of our condo.

Before we moved, I purchased a new camera. This camera has all the gadgets on it and I have yet to learn how to use the manual setting. I do have to say the auto setting has taken some amazing pictures for me. However, I think I could do a lot more if I would actually take the time to read the manual. One day......

So the other night, there was a full moon here in San Pedro. I whipped out my camera and tried to use the manual adjustments. It took me quite a few tries, but I think I got a couple shots that turned out pretty decent.  What do you think?

Full moon over the water.

Jager and I get up early almost every morning and we usually head outside to the beach and the dock. This is my favorite time of the day: watching the sunrise, feeling the fresh breeze, the quietness of the beach. It is pure serenity. Jager absolutely loves the beach and he is learning to chase the waves. It is adorable and it makes me smile every time I see him hopping along the wet sand, knowing we made the right decision.

Jager and I watching the sunrise.

I know I have posted pictures of our Belizean transportation-our bikes. But if you are wondering how we get Jager all around the island, this is how we do it!

True island dog!

And then I saw something that amazed...and maybe scared me a little....the other night. Rob and I were riding home from work and we always pass a place the locals call "croc lake". I'm thinking, okay, right, there have been crocs spotted there, but no way will I ever see one.

I. Was. Wrong.

There were a few golf carts pulled to the side of the road and some locals fishing in the lake.  I was thinking they caught something really cool.  And then I realized there was a crocodile laying near the shore and everyone was just starring at it. I said.....I have to get a picture of this! Don't worry, I didn't get too close! And I stayed on my bike, just in case he/she decided to charge. I was thinking I could out-bike the croc, but that will have to be tested at a later date. Or maybe never!!

See the guys' fishing poles!

Unbelievable! Yes...I did take this picture.

So after witnessing some local crocs and seeing the sunrises at the condo, we had a huge party at The Snack Shack the other day. Monday was another holiday here in San Pedro and the local private school, Island Academy, decided to bring some of the students to the pool.  Well, the 15 original students they told us about turned into about 30 kids! The pool was rockin'! I got everyone to get together to take a picture at The Shack. CHEEZE.....

So for today we have a private adult party, which should be a good time. We are testing some of our games that we will use next weekend for our first ADULT WATER OLYMPICS! I cannot wait to document that day.

And then everyone knows what Saturday is! ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

We are having Irish Car Bombs, Green Beer, and CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE. Many of you may not think that is a big deal, however, there is no corned beef on the island. How are we getting it, you ask?  Well, that is our little secret.

So until then.....

GREEN BEER ON SATURDAY AT THE SHACK!

Bachelor party...moving time.

These days at The Shack have been extremely busy, minus Monday and Tuesday, when we had a "cold" front and some rain. Last week we were entertained by a group of guys from Colorado. They were here for Andy's bachelor week and they visited The Shack four days in a row. I have to give Andy's fiance two thumbs up for allowing him and his friends to come to Belize the week before their wedding. Maybe she hasn't seen The Hangover yet?

But in all honesty, they were a great group of guys and I wish Andy and his soon-to-be wife a happy life together.

Goodbye shot with the crew (Andy is on the far right). CHEERS!

We have also added buckets of beer to our drink menu. $20 BZ ($10 American!) will get you 5 beers of your choice. I think it is a great deal and we are hoping others will catch on to the idea and head down to The Shack for March Madness.

Rob serving up our FIRST bucket of beer!

And now for the exciting news of the week.....WE MOVED! When we decided to sell everything and head down to San Pedro, we rented a place sight unseen. We liked the place we ended up with, aka "the purple house", but when we visited some friends that live beachfront, Rob and I looked at each other and said "this is why we moved down here, we need to move!". And that began the process.

We contacted our landlord and asked him to put our place back in the rental pool. And within days it had been rerented. OH NO, we thought. We did not have a place nailed down and thought we might be in a bit of trouble. We had been looking and talking with others about possible places that would be available, but nothing that we had set our mind on.

We knew we wanted to be south of town and the more we looked, the more we realized we would rather be further south than we initially thought. It is quite funny, the island is not that big, but if you move south past a certain point, everyone will look at you and say, "wow, that's really far south, how are you going to get into town?".

So with those thoughts thrown at us, we decided on an amazing beachfront condo that is about 2.5 miles south of town. We timed it and it is a 12 minute bike ride from our new condo to work. That is NOTHING compared to being back in Ohio and waiting in traffic or having to drive 50 MILES to work! Oh, how island life changes your thought process.

Rob and I both believe we got extremely lucky finding this condo. It is a dream place for us and to know that we moved to a foreign country and found our dream place within 3 months is a feat in itself. As much as I do not like Rob talking and being so outgoing, I will admit his personality helped us in finding this gem.

To finish this short blog, I will just give you the details of our new home:

BEACHFRONT

THIRD FLOOR

TWO BEDROOM

KING-SIZE, FLUFFY BEDS

TWO FULL COUCHES (one for me, one for Rob)

INFINITY POOL

QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD

WASHER/DRYER (very important in Belize)

HEAVEN!

OUR DECK

KITE SURFER VIEWED FROM OUR DECK

BEACH AND DOCK FROM OUR DECK

INFINITY POOL (from our deck)

LOOKING NORTH (from our deck)

VIEW FROM OUR BACK DOOR (my favorite picture!)

What I woke up to this morning.

Rob and Jager relaxing at the pool after our big move-in day.

Jager was a little chilly after playing in the ocean.

Tonight is a full moon. I am looking forward to getting some awesome pictures from our condo. Hoping to share those within the next few days.