Last Utila Blog!

Incredible restaurant, hotel, bar..Jade Seahorse on Utila

Took 15 yrs to build...this is full of shells, bottles, etc.

The detail work on this place is stunning

Jade Seahorse rooms...enchanting, would love to stay there

Has to be seen in person to really appreciate

Beautiful arch

So many nooks and crannies at the Jade Seahorse

HH cooks, Zeidi and Mirna with Mgr. Loretta

HH employees Tammy (we had lots of laughs, thanks for the lobsters Tammy!) and Ellen

Simba a cutie patootie. sorry for the sideways pic

HH employees, Ellie and Lori, twins that I can never tell apart!

View from the HH Internet Room, nice, eh?

HH Internet Center, where I was most of the time

Beautiful sunset coming back from Utila to the Cay, for you Joann!

Yes, a real beach! But on Utila, none on the Cay

Delicious Cantaloupe Juice, Zanzibar Cafe, Utila

Very nice place to stay on Utila called Lighthouse

Getting towed to Utila after breaking down

Stranded after breaking down on Mr. Donald's water taxi

Licsy and Erin....help, come rescue us!

Maybe we don't want to be rescued..we're in paradise!

Pam and me goin' with the flow after breaking down

Jade Seahorse

Kelly at the Jade Seahorse Inn

Feeding apples to the horses

Kelly at the caves where you can swim

Beautiful ocean view from Pumpkin Hill

Local Cayon woman salting fish which they sell to visiting Catholics for lent

Me at ML which I was marketing to sell land

Doing my fave thing...shell hunting

Henry with HH in background

Garifuna cleaning a Black Fin Shark

Well folks, it's finally time to say goodbye to the wonderful Cayons, divers and tourists I've met along my interesting journey to the Utila Cay in the Bay Islands of Honduras. I leave tomorrow morning for an uncertain future back in San Diego, California. Not sure what I will be doing there for work, but I am open to almost anything. I'm going to stay with a firefighter friend of my sons. All I know is I will be closer to Ocean Beach which is my dream place to live. Someday...and soon I hope.

I have had a lot of fun with my new roomates of the last few weeks, Kelly and her Dalmation, Basil. We went horse back riding on the most beautiful trail on Utila at Red Ridge Stables a few days ago..and I've got some sore thighs to prove it. She said horses always looked so emaciated in Guatemala, but they were well fed here. I might have mentioned this before, and am too lazy to look back...but her and her husband Dave are cruisers and live on their boat. He's got it up in dry dock on the mainland repainting it while Kelly has been working with me here at HH doing marketing. She's a tech whiz compared to me on the 'puter. But having her live in the house with me has been one of the bright spots on my journey. We have really had fun bonding, telling deep dark secrets (ha!) to each other and cooking together. We're damn good cooks if I do say so myself. And once Basil warmed up to me, she has been a total cuddlebug. I'm gonna miss her...ok, and you too Kelly. Thanks for turning me onto Maya-Ik hot sauce...gotta find me some of that stuff back home.

I am really going to miss the employees I worked with at Harbor House. Didn't get pics of them all, but thanks for making my time there that much richer, and teaching me about your culture, a little Spanish, absolutely fascinating. Antoinette, Tracy, Tammy, Loretta, Zeidi, Mirna, Janis, Ellie, Lori, Nicki, and new girls Ellen and Erin, thank you all.

All the locals have been so incredibly sweet. When I would tell each one I was leaving, they all said, "You're coming back, ya?" And Sheila, one of the market owners told me that I'm now a Cayon..that pretty much brought a tear to my eye. I guess I do have to come back now.

My only regret was not seeing that giant leviathan of the deep, the whale shark. Even though I went out on the dive boat to snorkel several times, I always seemed to just miss seeing them by a day. One day they saw 5 of them. Another reason to return.

Several of my friends have asked what did I learn about myself while I was here. I think I might have to digest that first and do a bit of hindsight introspection. Kind of hard to see it while I'm still here. One thing I can say though, I did find out that I'm a pretty good creative writer. Victoria really was pleased with a lot of the marketing material I wrote. Most of it was quite humorous, which I wasn't sure she would like, but she certainly did. I'm now applying for creative writing jobs, relating to marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and entertainment reviews.

The horse back riding trip that Kelly and I went on was fun. I used to own a horse, but haven't ridden in over 15 yrs..and man, are my thighs sore today. Two hours in the saddle is a lot when you haven't gone out in a long time. But what gorgeous trails we were on. Mostly very lush, green and shady. We did one full out gallop and I almost felt like I was going to fall off the saddle..shows how long it had been for me. I'm a little ticked off that Kelly's thighs aren't sore..must be the luck of youth I guess. 2 hours for $25...much cheaper than anything back home.

Actually, everything here in Central America is very cheap. You come here with US dollars and it can go pretty far. But if you work here....not so much. I was offered a bartender position on Utila, but at about $15 a shift plus tips, which usually aren't much, I wouldn't have been able to save a dime. But rents are fairly cheap, especially if you have a roomate which you pretty much have to do. 1-2 bedroom places go for $250-350. Man, wish I could get that back home.

I think it's significant that when I would tell everyone that I was going home and it was too remote here for me, they would never feel the same way...they loved that about the Cay. People seem to love traveling through Central America...after all, it is quite affordable, especially if you are very young and don't mind giving up things that you were used to back home. In the long run, it is really not for me. I miss being able to go out to great restaurants, buying anything I want to make that special meal with, the creature comforts I've grown used to and am spoiled by. I'm a TV nut..so, I miss a lot of my shows back home. Maybe insignificant to some, but it's what I enjoy. I can still be near the ocean back home and go snorkeling if I want to. I know I will miss the color of the waters out here though. I could

never live in a land locked state..got to have that sea...for some reason I just can't live without it.

So, it's been a lot of fun sharing my Caribbean adventures with you all. Thank you for your personal emails to me, your support when I got lonely, and for your comments on here. I hope to have another blog posted when the next story unfolds. Life affords us so much if we only open our arms, reach out, and embrace the great adventure.

New Year's Eve 2008

My new roomate's dog, Basil

Two bunnies that live on the Cay..cute, eh?

Cassandra and Toby emerging from their NYE night dive

Toby, Anka, Jerry and Renee gettin' down to Michael Jackson

Jerry, Anka, Cassandra dancing the night away

Anka, Jerry...Jer..how do ya bend like that?

Cassandra kickin' it

Doin' the Swedish Hokey Pokey?

Jerry and his Dad Jim, trying to follow Renee

Renee and boyfriend Oscar leading the Swedish hokey pokey?

17 in our motley crew on New Years

Kingfish feeding the masses...yummmm!!!!

Jim and Lighter laughing it up over homemade hootch

Anka, me and Jerry welcoming in the New Year

Chowin' down

Curtis trying to fan the flames with an air tank!

Had another great party with all my diver friends on New Year's Eve here on the Cay. We stayed and partied at the Hotel Kayla where they all stay. I gotta tell ya, it is SOOOO cheap to stay there. It's very basic, backpacker's kind of hotel. $10 a night..and if you get their dive package...only $5 a night! Wow.

Alex, who made our fish feast on Water Cay on Xmas Eve, was the chef du jour again that evening and made a big Kingfish that you can see above. That along with some veggies and papas..and LOTSA rum, we were fueled to the gills..pardon the pun. There were 17 of us, and at one point, one of the Canadians pointed out that I was the token American. I reflected on that later as I was three sheets to the wind at the time she mentioned it. It is kind of cool making friends from all over the world...most only stay for a few days and then move on. You almost feel like you're saying goodbye to old friends. Some of the divers are instructors or staying to get their dive master certs, so those are the ones I know the best..they stick around longer. Either way, ya gotta move on at some point.

The pics where you can see us all around the table, standing on chairs or on the floor was a really fun thing that I thought was going to be stupid. As we sat around after finishing our meal, and looking like stuffed pigs, our Swedish friend Renee said..c'mon, lets all stand up, I have something fun for us to do. I thought..oh no....is she going to make us do the hokey pokey or something?? Well, my worst fear was realized, but it turned out to be quite a laugh. She did do something similar, but she would hold her hands up and make funny sounds, or non sensical words and had us repeat them..we were laughing our asses off and as she got us up off of them (our asses that is) and it really energized us all...for more drinking and dancing!

I brought my iPod and speakers and you can see us all dancing, mostly to Michael Jackson songs..and I just love the pic of Toby, our friend from Germany doing his best MJ. I hear there is a pic floating around of me grabbing my crotch, a la Jackson style, but I have yet to actually see it.

At midnight, we all went out to the top deck of Captain Morgan's dock and I had one bottle of champagne for us all, poured a few sips for everyone, and we celebrated with fireworks going off all over the Cay. We could even see big ones in the sky from Utila. Toby and Cassandra went diving at midnight to share a cerveza underwater..got a cool pic of them coming out of the water above.

A great time was had by all. It reminded me of the old days when I was younger and partied like crazy on New Year's Eve...usually I have a pretty quiet one the last few years. Ah youth....nothing like hanging out with them to make ya feel young again. Who am I kidding? I don't do most things someone my age would do. Like my 26 yr old dive master friend Frederick said the other night....you don't look 54, you don't talk like you're 54 and you don't act like you're 54. I know it's a good thing not to look 54, but is the rest ok?? Or am I in arrested development? Who cares. I'm in the Caribbean, I have two weeks left before I go home and I am richer for the experience. Life is good..turned upside down the last 6 months, but good.

HH Xmas Party, Party on Water Cay, Where I hang

Drifter just chillin'

Local kids putting on a Xmas play at church on Xmas eve

On the way back from Water Cay, one of the girls from Spain

Fooling around on the way back

BBQ pit on Water Cay

Cassandra the Monkey Girl

Lovely bunch of coconuts Vero just swinging and eating

The gang at Water Cay

Braiding Edoardo's beard

Enjoying the day

Alex our cook and host, and some friends

Cooking the barracuda under the fire pit

Anka and me. She is a divemaster and g/f of Alex

My cute new friends from Germany

Was a beautiful day on Water Cay

Who says it doesn't snow on the Cay?

The mayor of Utila, Alton Cooper and me

HH Xmas Party

Employee Xmas Party at HH

Chowing down

My famous sweet potatoes/marshmallows upper left

This is the view from Captain Morgan's Dive Dock
where I spend my spare time snorkeling and reading

Another view from the dock

I hope you all had a great Xmas and for some, I hope you are still having a great Hanukah. I had a couple of fun days off. On the 23rd, we had our employee Xmas party. Turkey, roast beef and a lot of trimmings. It was fun and the place looked lovely all decorated.

The next day I went with 23 other divers to Water Cay. We rented a boat, took over a load of food and partied. Alex, one of the locals, brought over a bunch of barracuda wrapped up in foil, buried it under the fire pit and cooked them to perfection. We also had food left over from the employee party and more food the divers made...too much food for sure. I guess sweet potatoes and marshmallows is a very American dish, as no one had had it before and it was a big hit at the HH party and at the Water Cay party. Soooooo sweet, almost like a dessert.

Was a very nice cosmopolitan mixture of people from all over the world. Germans, Spaniards, French, Colombian, New Zealanders, Canadian, American and Cayon. My Spanish is getting a bit better, but is still muy malo.

Some stayed the night...ummm..unless there is a camper to stay in, I'm outta there and I did go back with others who I guess felt the same. I tell ya, that boat ride back (about a 10 min ride back to the Cay) was the highlight of the evening. Just beautiful with all the stars out and a balmy night. Just what you would expect in the Caribbean.

The Haunted Howling Winds of Harbor House, seasickness, and good food..the missing of it.

Finally got to go out on the dive boat yesterday with all my new diver friends. I think what I like most about living here is meeting people from all over the world. Spent part of the day and a meal with this young Irish couple, very nice. It was my first full day off since working here.


So the boat...why am I in constant denial that I get seasick? I know I do, but not always. But the rolling waves were a bit much for me. I was fine when in the water, but once on board and moored waiting for the divers to come back up....ugh. No tossing of cookies, but just more like...get me offa this boat. Saw a lovely rainbow on the way out too. There is just a lot of wind here most of the time. I've been wanting to take a nice pic looking down into the water off the dock that I sun myself on and snorkel off of, but it has been too choppy lately.


Was nice to finally dive somewhere other than off the Cay here. I saw a few Black Durgeons, A Queen Angel (did you hear that Darlene?!) and some French Angel Fish. I was told they're all rather common out here.


I might have mentioned in one of my older posts that the winds around HH sound amazing when it is really blowing. I've decided to call them the HAUNTED HOWLING WINDS OF HARBOR HOUSE. Just sounds cool, doesn't it? I was thinking it had a lot to do with the unusual dimensions of HH and the winds just love curling themselves around it. When I was in here late at night a few weeks back making sure nothing got flooded, it was actually creepy in here because of those winds. I bet some sound guys would love coming in here and sampling those winds to use in a scary movie.


Man I gotta tell ya..I am just dying for a decent meal. I have not had any really good food since I've been here. There are only two restaurants here, The Fishburger and The Cay View. They are just mom and pop places with a few things on the menu..while not bad, they are way over salted. Not a bad thing when it's wicked hot and you're sweating like crazy and need to replace those fluids. But damn, my blood pressure must have been spiking after a couple of the meals I had there. But hard to complain when a full plate of food is under $4...but I guess I just did. I've been cooking too, but with very limited things you can buy in the little local markets here..you've got to be inventive. I think I'm finally getting sick of my own conch soup. And now that I found out they're being overfished, I won't be eating it anymore.


I would love to have a meal at some of my fave local places in LA and SD that I miss. The ribs at Dr. Hogly Woglys Tyler Texas BBQ, the chicken picatta at Fabrocinis (both in LA), anything at Craves or Yogurt Time (amazing Pinkberry type yogurt AND sushi, ya I know, but WAY fresh) and Phil's BBQ, all in SD. I live in the land of fresh fish here...can't believe I haven't had or made my own sushi! But without wasabi..why bother?


Ok, my bitch session is over, time to go enjoy the little bit of sun we're getting. Currently reading "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse"....oh yeah, a book about food and the most famous restaurant in the US.

Roughing it on the Cay, Wondering about my next destination...and bread

Here is a picture of Victoria, Barbara, Me and Marilyn at Barb's house a couple of nights before Barb and John were leaving to go back to the states. This was from the turkey dinner I wrote about on the last post. Barb's ever present (on loan) parrot Paco likes to party with us. He belongs to her neighbor Bobby, who lives in the big hunting lodge type house. She says it's the first thing she does when she gets to Utila..goes next door and gets the parrot. Bobby is hardly ever there, and Paco gets lonely. Lucky parrot. Barb is a hoot. So is her friend Marilyn, we had a lot of fun talking up a storm that night, and burning the marsmallows as previously mentioned.

Speaking of storms....so tired of it raining. Well not today thankfully. But we actually had 5 days of sunshine, got to snorkel and lay out a bit...then the rains and winds returned.

It's cold here! Ok, maybe 67 doesn't sound cold to you, but again, when you're in the Caribbean...that's cold. And Henry finally got my suicide shower working....oh yeah, I said suicide. And that's not my term for it, it's a commonly used one here. You flip on this little switch and the water gets hot...and then it gets really hot..and then..well, you know where I'm going with that. So ya gotta kind of toggle the switch back and forth and you burn a little, you freeze a little. But last night I went home after work, got all lathered up head to toe and it stopped working..had to rinse off in cold water when it was cold outside and in the house...ok, that's about as much as I want to rough it.

On one of the nicer days, I went into Utila with Roger, my friend who lives next to all of the above. He picked me up in the big inflatable boat....pic on a previous post. That thing hauls ass. Was my first time having a few hours in town. I was on my own. Ended up at this bakery...of course. Had some incredible homemade walnut, raisin bread with Nutella on it...yumm! Sat and talked to these young girls for like an hour on the front porch of the bakery. We had this great convo about traveling and their adventures. Seems they were walking on the beach in La Ceiba one morning...La Ceiba is on the main coast of Honduras..and they were robbed in broad daylight by gun point! Bad guys took their cells, iPods, money..but left them unharmed. Wow. Said they had been here 4 months already. One girl was German, but didn't have much of an accent. The other girl was American. They were about to go get tattoos and invited me to come get one with them..I'm like....hmmmm....did that 27 yrs ago...don't really have the bug to do that again. But thought I would walk with them in that direction. That's when I found out they were only 16 yrs old!! They were exchange students living with local families. Again, wow. I just never had the opportunity to do things like that when I was their age, or didn't know it existed. They seemed older, like at least 18 or 20. Traveling definitely makes you more sophisticated...ok, maybe not sophisticated, but ya know, more mature. Can't wait for that to take effect on me.

I then strolled into this little food place and found out they could make me a loaf of sourdough bread. I was pretty excited about that. See what happens when you travel to far away, remote places? Bread becomes an exciting thing. Well, the bread here in Utila and on the Cay is just that mushy Wonder bread type stuff..which my Mother always said when I was growing up...any bread that you can roll up into a little ball is not healthy to eat. So of course I was always trying to do that with the bread I could get at my friend's houses...so cool I thought..and then I would pop it into my mouth...pure orgasmic carb overload. This young Irish guy was running the place and said to come back in two days and he would have a whole loaf of crusty sourdough bread for me. 70 lempiras, about $3.50. Henry went into town two days later and picked it up for me. Not bad..not sour enough though. But the loaf was so big and hard...could seriously knock someone out with that. Popped a slice into the toaster with some butter and a bit of salt on it...was heaven.

It's been extremely slow at HH this week. This is the low season here and they don't expect it to get real busy again until Feb. A bunch of crusiers came in yesterday. You could see them moored out in the harbor the last couple of days. 4 boats..none of them knew each other, but they all ended up coming in together. I met my first batch of cruisers on Bonaire a few years ago and I just really dig these people. They always have a bit of that, I've dropped out of society and I'm loving it kind of air about them. Would love to do that...if sailboats didn't make me seasick. Yeah, I know I dress as a pirate for the Ren Faires...so don't tell nobody, ok?

Have to admit I'm feeling more comfortable in some ways here. I seem to know most of the locals now and they know me too. Many have asked how long I'm staying and seem to be comforted by the fact that I'm here till the end of Jan. Don't know why that is, but that's cool. One asked today when I'm coming back after that..and I said I'm not. He seemed surprised. I said I have to look for work anywhere I can get it these days.

I even have an offer to possibly go to New York which I'm waiting to hear more about. But awfully cold there this time of year. But again, I will go where there is work. Because as I'm sure you all know, and the media keeps pounding it into our heads, there is work, but too many of us looking for it. I read on the CNN web site the other day that there is this 29 yr old marketing woman who has been applying to over 40 jobs every day for the last year with no results. Bosses telling her they're getting 500 applicants for each position. Remember I said that in one of my first posts on here? So she put her resume on a t shirt and is standing on the corner advertising herself! Now that's what I call thinking outside the box. Bet she gets an offer just from being on CNN and showing some ingenuity.

This is why I will consider taking a job almost anywhere. I'm getting offers of places to crash in Hawaii (where work would be even harder to find), New Jersey (2 different friends) LA, Las Vegas, and New York. But ultimately, I'm doing affirmations to end up back in San Diego where I've wanted to live for many years now and I will eventually. I'm even looking into professional house sitting situations..who knew there were web sites for that?

Victoria, Henry and I talked this morning for a long time. She mentioned that I need to be somewhere with more people and I couldn't argue with that. This place is just not for everyone, and I agree in the long run, not for me. So, I will just do my original commitment here and fly out on Jan 27...to where, I'm just not sure yet.

Back to work, Turkey and Xmas lights

Pics of an incredible sunset over the Cay (a bit blurry..taken from a moving boat!), view from my back porch and one of our employee's Tracy's dog..she says Frisky is the oldest on the Cay....14 yrs old!

V&H made it back just fine, no weather glitches. They brought back all kinds of cool stuff for HH. So, of course that meant back to work today for me. We are way slow in the cafe due to the fact that a lot of people don't know were back open again. But they sure seem to know the Internet is back up! Ah, the lure of the glowing screen.

Last night the 3 of us went over to John and Barb's house for that turkey dinner we never made. We also celebrated Norman's birthday, he's one of the locals. Also made friends with their neighbors, Jeff and Marilyn. Marilyn makes such a mean vodka/cranberry/pineapple, that I had to tell her to put my cranberry in it. Damn that drink got me lit!

I finally got to make my famous sweet potatoes with marsmallows, which we promptly burned all the marsmallows on because us girls got talking and drinking and...one of us said...doesn't that smell like burnt marsmallows? Uh, yeah. We literally scraped off most of the burnt part and it still tasted pretty good.

But the dish that had everyone talking was my conch soup. I only made if for the first time a few days before that. I was walking down the pathway here and one of the local Garifunas (very interesting culture, http://www.garifuna.com/) asked if I wanted to buy a little baggie of conch for L50...about $2.60. Geez, that sounds like a drug deal. I was like sure...now, how the hell do I cook this stuff? But there was a recipe in the Utila Cay Cookbook that Victoria is selling and I tweaked it a bit. First though, you have to pound the conch (pronounced konk) so it's kinda flat, then you have to boil it for awhile until tender. Pounding was a crack up. Nothing like flying conch in your kitchen. But I added cayenne and honey to it, and that gives it that sweet and savory taste I love. Then yesterday, that same Garifuna guy (he's hip to my sucker buying now!) asked if I wanted to buy a MUCH larger bag of conch, to which I said let me see it first...wow, really sounding like a drug deal now. This bag was way full and was 200 lempiras=$10.50. Froze some of it and made a batch to bring to dinner. Norman said it was the BEST conch soup he's ever had! Hmmmm...wonder if that was Norman or the cerveza talking? But everyone raved over it. I don't think conch is that easy to get back home, but sure would like to make it again.

The rain is really getting old here, but when I saw a ray of sunshine yesterday I grabbed my snorkel gear and practically ran down to the dock only to find that the water was like a urine colored golden yellow! Yuck. Turns out sometimes the channel drains here and puts all this dirt into the waters..no way was I going to tempt fate. Divers said it is about 5 ft deep but they get under it. Of course today, while it is sunny again, and I'm WORKING..it's a beautiful blue again.

Xmas underway here and a few houses do it up light wise, just like back home. It's kinda comforting. I even bought some lights from a store on Utila..where no one spoke English...kinda proud of myself that I was able to purchase my lights and a little wreath with my espanol..which is muy malo. So, this Jewish girl is able to kinda put up the Xmas cheer...too bad there are no menorahs around here..I don't think so. I grew up celebrating both. What can I say? My Dad's Dad was a rabbi, but my Dad didn't like all that strict stuff. He loved the decorations of Xmas so I was the lucky girl on the block that got the 8 days of Hanukah and all these gifts at Xmas too!

O.J., ferry breakdown, pedis & lack of privacy

Thank god for the Internet. I have been listening to my favorite radio shows based in Los Angeles on there. Mark & Brian on KLOS (been listening for over 20 yrs already) and Frosty, Heidi and Frank on 97.1 FM Talk. I was listening with rapt attention to the O.J. Simpson trial as they played the live feed on Mark & Brian. All I can say is...it's about time that smug, arrogant murderer goes to prison...for a loooong time. Looks like it will be at least 15 yrs for him!! YES! Justice FINALLY served for that MF'er! Not that I have any strong opinions about it or anything. I've just been following all his antics for 13 yrs..since he obviously murdered his wife, Nicole and Ron Goldman. Goldman's parents were in courtroom. I can't help wondering if they feel any satisfaction at all in this verdict. At least he's off the street for a long time....being the obvious criminal he is. I love how the judge said, she couldn't decide if he was ignorant, or arrogant...she decided he is both! Love her! Karma baby....payback is a bitch!!

On a more local note for me, weather is still bad and I just heard from one of the locals that the ferry from La Ceiba to Utila has broken down. This could be bad news for V&H who are supposed to return on the ferry tomorrow. I wonder if they will have to charter a plane to get back. I'm currently moving all my stuff that I have at their house back to mine. I will miss their crazy cat! But I can come visit anytime I want if I'm up for the abuse.

I used Mr. Donald's water taxi yesterday to get over to Utila for a much needed pedicure. Hey, I already had all my fake fingernails removed before I came here....that was hard enough. But the toenails were starting to look like a gargoyles worst nightmare..had to do it. The taxi....$3 RT, the pedicure....$7, the relief to have toes looking normal again? Priceless.

It is so weird walking out of the house and the locals asking me where I'm going. I'm just so used to being such a private person in my daily life, but it's a way of life here.