100th Blog - July comes to an end.

Welcome to the 100th posting to the Boesch's Great Adventure blog!!!! Hard to believe there has already been 100 stories to tell since this was started Jan 2008. We hope you have enjoyed them at least half as much as we have in sharing them. The move and life on the island has truly been an adventure and a dream come true! We are blessed to be able to have made it happen!!

July comes to an end.........

Hurricane season has started but with no named storms in the area yet it has the weather forecasters all worried. We are predicted to have 9 named storms this year and now it only leaves 3 months to get them all in. I checked the hurricane site this morning and they still don't see any new storms forming in the next 7 days. Late August, Sept & Oct may be an interesting time.

Tom has been busy with Mel Fisher Atocha Adventure. It is a new program they started to allow people who aren't investors come down for a week, stay in Old Town, tour the museum, and do a few dives out at the treasure site. He has done two weeks so far with one more group scheduled for next week. Here is the site if you want to check it out and come down to dive for treasure.

http://www.melfisher.com/myadventure/default.asp

There have also been a lot of investors in town since Mel Fisher Days so he has been taking them out to dive too.

Then when he isn't out at the treasure site he has also been working for one of the local dive shops, EcoScuba. He works for them as either a captain or a dive master depending on what they need to dive the reefs or the Vandenberg. His first priority is working for Chris or Mel Fisher so he works for Eco when he has an open day. Here is their site if you want to check it out. http://ecoscuba.com

All of the work has left him busy, out of the house and paying the bar tab, YEA!!!! He has actually had to turn down EcoScuba to get day off over the past month.

It's interesting since he went from not working much due to instructors classes in the first 4 months of this year to 26 days of work in the past 3 months. He is really enjoying it and getting great experience as both a boat captain and dive master.

Mini lobster season just ended. It cracks me up about what a big deal it is here. It gives people 2 days to dive for spiny lobsters before the commercial season opens. Now mind you there are 7 months that they can hunt for lobster but the 2 days when the season opens is a BIG deal. We have people from All Over come down. The marinas are full and there are boats and people EVERYWHERE in the water. Next weekend is the lobster festival on Duval and of course we will be there.

Our friends Louie and Maureen (their house is The Resort we love to go to) are also having a booth at the street festival for their sign shop, Montage. They lost their shop on Duval last March when it burned down. The art store next to them had an electrical short and burned which took Montage and the creperie place with it. They lost everything they had in the store (luckily their shop is on Stock Island so they didn't loose all of their inventory) and the building, with the 3 stores, had so much damage they leveled it. Now there is only an empty lot. So they have been waiting for the insurance to pay out, summer season to end (this is a slow time and not a good time to open a store), and are looking for a new store to rent on Duval in the fall so they can open for season. Check out their website. They have have great signs! I think we now have 3 and I have already decided on my 4th one. http://montagekeywest.com

So what will the 4th sign be you ask..... Iguana Cafe! Our favorite bar is closing next Friday. Our favorite bartender, Mike, already left a month ago. We will be there next Fri night for our final drink!! It will be a sad day for us indeed!!!!

Then of course that brings us to the hunt for a new 'favorite hangout'. We have been trying various places especially since it's been so hot we have been targeting the ones with AC that we can hang out in year round. A few of our current favorites are Rum Barrel, Sports Page and the BottleCap Lounge. Last night we were at the BottleCap and had a great time. They have also opened up a cafe next door which delivers food to the lounge. Definitely a keeper!!! There are still a few more on the list to visit. Some we have never been to (yes I know that is hard to believe) and others we are visiting more than once to be sure.

Now what is the criteria for our 'favorite hangout' you ask.....

• Air conditioning - there are just some places we won't go in the summer since it is WAY to hot. We love Schooner Wharf but its not a summer time place
• No smoking in the bar
• Great happy hour prices - there are some great deals for happy hour and we are finding them all
• Food - we don't require great food but at least good food that is not to expensive
• Location - since we walk we are limited on some options. Don't get me wrong there are PLENTY of places in Old Town to visit. It just there are other bars, such as Hogfish, that we really like but won't drive to every Fri.
• Great bartenders - ones that remember you after couple visits, remember what you are drinking, are nice and fun to talk to. Unfortunately this is not the case in all bars. Being a tourist place some of the bartenders have become jaded (lost their island spirit) in their work and are no longer a good time.

And so the search continues... I will be sure to updated you when the latest place is found. We don't mind the hunt since that is all part of the adventure!!