Christmas Madness

Well that was fun! Pat and Steve set this hash and it was another good one. Well, I thought the walking trail was anyway (no thorns or slippery slopes - yay!). Michael got separated from the runners within the first 10 minutes and couldn't find the trail again (some hound). He ended up just circling back and waiting for everyone. He was not happy. Somehow he still managed to take a major spill and cut himself though - klutz. I have to wonder how the running group could have lost Michael with all those bells on his costume.

A lot less people seem to be dressing up for these things lately - how hard is it to find a green shirt and pin a gift bow on it or something? - but there were a few out there. Everyone kept insinuating that we had pulled our costumes out of our kinky bedroom wardrobe, but I can honestly say that it has NEVER been my fantasy to see Michael in an elf costume...It turns out we were standing on a red-ants nest to pose for this picture and we have the welts on our ankles to prove it. I hate it when that happens.

Here are a few more festive folks.



And the runners are off.





Walkers too.









I was behind these 2 for a while. I love the guy on the left. He always dresses rather formerly for the hikes. Sometimes he even wears a tie. And he barely breaks a sweat. Strange but impressive.






A few vista shots along our meandering hike.


Past some animals.



Across some railroad tracks.



The runners returning triumphantly. And the walkers too. Notice Pat's parents in the chairs on the side of the road cheering everyone on. Hasher groupies!



I seem to keep my own pace. Lonely Ms. Claus returning.





And we're back! Time for music, food, and drink!






And now the ceremonies. There are times when a hasher does something so memorable that it results in them getting assigned a hash name. It's quite an honor. Thanks to Michael's Christmas attire, he is now known amongst the hashing crowd as "Jingle balls." I'm so proud. Here he is going through his initiation.



I got dragged up there next because they noticed Mike's new sneakers. I was supposed to show true love by drinking from his stinky shoe, but that was NOT going to happen. Instead I threw the beer that was poured in it at Mike (and any innocent bystanders - sorry about that!). Love, Schmove - that's just gross.

Whoever sets the hash is supposed to drink up too, but Steve poured his over Pat's head (who, of course, returned the favor). Good times.



Next up. Santa Claus paid us a visit! Here's Ella sharing her wish list and getting a gift.


And here's Percy. Naughty or nice? I wonder...




Both of our cameras were dead by this point, but I think someone got a picture of Michael taking his turn with the Big Guy. If I get it, I'll be sure to share. Because the temperatures had been so much cooler, meaning much less sweat, dirt, and smell, we had no problem staying all the way to the end, socializing and sharing in the Christmas spirit(s). Really fun! And no rain! It's really a shame more people don't take part in the Hash House Harrier's, it's a great way to meet people, get some exercise, and see a country. Wikipedia has a great tutorial on how the HHH got started and if you're inspired to see if there's one where you live (and I'm sure there will be), you can check here.

Lest you wonder if they celebrate Christmas in the islands, the answer is yes, and they even have Christmas trees. These came all the way from Canada! Let the Christmas carols commence.

Another Weekend on St Kitts - Beaches & Hashing

Earlier in the week, Michael had a run-in with a Manchineel tree. These common trees are incredibly poisonous, with Wikipedia saying that Ponce de Leon was actually killed by an arrow with this tree's poison on the tip. Even burning the tree and then having the smoke get into your eyes and/or lungs can lead to blindness and respiratory problems. Eating the tiny apples is bad...very, very bad...One ancient torture method was to put victims under the tree during a rain and let the acid drip on them until they died from the burns. This can be attested to as being a horrible technique by CH's Kathleen who accidentally walked under such a tree during a drizzle and had some of the substance blister & burn her upper arm, leaving scars. Michael got lucky that he caught it quickly, rinsed it and took an anti-histamine right away. He looked like he had a black eye for a couple of days, said his arms felt like they'd been burned, but seems to be back to normal now.

Friday night, we attempted to do "one" drink on The Strip, and failed once again. We managed to leave around 10:30 this time though, so there's THAT! First we went to The Dock for a 2 for 1 happy hour (from 5-6). Had a weird sunset that had bright blue streaks in the sky - of course, pictures aren't doing it justice. Then we were wondering why Ziggy's, further down the beach, was so packed, and headed down there. Turns out they have a 2 for 1 beer happy hour too, but it starts at 3 and goes until 7. Plus they have volleyball nets. That brings the vet students out. We ran into a vacationing couple that wants to sail like we just did, so that ended up in a long discussion which obviously required several beers.

Saturday, Mike worked in the morning and then we headed to Spice Mill on Cockleshell beach and pigged out on a great pizza (thin crust, slightly burnt - mmmm) and 2 servings of french fries (we hadn't eaten the night before, so zip it).

Then it was time for some hashing. We ended up directly across from Ross University, right where we did our first hash on the island. We headed for the mountain, scaring us into thinking we might have to climb it, but this trail was actually one of the best marked, moderate hikes we've done to date.

The only crappy part was going through an area of Sandbox trees. It was a little slippery here and there and if you made the mistake of grabbing onto of these trees (even the roots!), you did not make the mistake again.


Of course, we always see Carnival's Victory heading out as we're climbing ever higher.


Headed across some farm lands, into the weeds...


Into the rainforest, by a babbling brook...


Time for some beers & food (water, thank you and I'm full for a week so will pass).


Always coming up with new punishments, we had to laugh when the hashmaster brought out these 2 huge buckets and then made Tanya & Charlie drink from them because they had actually skipped the entire hash, only showing up at the end to take part in the eating & drinking portion.

Sunday, we puttered around a bit and then headed over to The Godfather to hang with John & Tina a bit.


Mike headed to the Marriott to watch the Eagles play and I watched the Amazing Race later and saw the players running around Tallinn, Estonia - where my Mom is from! Was cool seeing people that looked a lot like me and that side of the family. Very pretty country.

And that's it! We're heading to Puerto Rico next and then maybe Montserrat after that (we're still getting details there). Gonna miss these guys though.

Oh yeah, here we were all paranoid about hurricanes hitting us and who gets whammied with one, or the remnants, at least? My Mom. The last of Ida brought 70 knot winds to the U.S. east coast, including Norfolk, VA resulting in badly eroded beaches, ripped off siding, flooded roads/driveways/basements/homes...Just goes to show....

Anniversary Hashing Day 4 - The Finale

Whewy! We have officially retired our pirate gear. We had a good time yesterday, but are ready to not have anything to do again for a few days.

So how did this end? Oh yes. Yesterday around 1, we headed for the dock. There's Jacumba!


And we're not getting on her! Ha! We're getting on this one instead and I don't have to drive it - wahoo!


Mike couldn't help crewing though (he said it was different since it wasn't "his" boat).


There he and the other show-offs are passing us on the way over.


Even though we used to anchor right behind it, I had never seen the interior of Shiggidy Shack's boat. I was impressed at how decked out it was. Lots of seating, a sun shade, even a couple of clean heads (toilets if you haven't learned by now)! Good job Mr. X!


We had a nice motor over to Nevis. Check out this wake. I love speed!


We got to our destination and were attacked by other pirates - Shiver me timbers!


Apparently the first 2 boats of St Kitts hashers got doused with water balloons as they tried to disembark. The attackers had run out by the time we got there. Lucky for them or we would have fed 'em to the fishes! Upon arrival, we did a quick "live" hash, where you just keep up with the lead person (the hare) as they walk or run along in front of you (no laying/following of sawdust or ribbons). We even started with a little plank walking.



Here are the runners.


We ended up on a really pretty beach for a bit.


Tropical little swampy area too.


Then it was time for food. We were prepared this time with our own fake chick patties - yummy.


Posing.


A couple of quick belches and then it was time for the games! First up was the coconut throw. We were lucky enough to have a shot-put champion on our team, Krista, and she won it for the "girls" and for our team, the Scurvy Dogs. Aa-wooooo.


Then the guys were up and the cheating started (you can't throw it like a football!). Darn pirates. Next up, the "dunk the towel in the sea, pass it along a line of people, and wring the water into a bucket until it's full" game. More sneakiness going on (no tossing! stop skipping people!), but this time the Scallywags won it.


Now for the "3-legged race," but with 3 people tied to each other (Tina & I book-ended Michael). Not only did Tina have one of her legs tied to Mike's, but so did I. AND Tina & I had to have both our eyes covered, while Mike had to cover one of his. Here we are practicing. The 2nd picture is of our tag team.


We're underway! Tiffany howling...



We kicked some serious booty, tagged our next team members and then watched as another team basically picked up their middle person (you know the only one that supposedly could see) and plowed us over. Blimey, you bilge-sucking sandbaggers!


Of course, the mini-swashbucklers couldn't be left out, so they had an egg toss.


At one point, someone on our team went after the flag of another team, but was only able to rip the fake parrot off of the top. A sand-wrestling match ensued and by the end, the parrot was no-more. Picture feathers floating in the air. A moment of silence please.



Then it was time for the "spin around the stick a few times, run (stagger really) to a cup of a beer, drink it without using your hands, run back and tag the next person" game. Here's Mikey, Kathleen, and Tina doing their thing while our captain, Tiffany screams at them.


It worked, we won that one! AA-woooooo!! Next up, the tug-of war. We were against some bigger players, unfortunately, but we put up one heck of a fight (both sides are nursing rope burns, thank you very much). Here's our team. I love the woman in white cheering us on (I think she was from Antigua).


Here's the other team.


Despite the fact that Mike tied the rope-end to a beached dinghy to help anchor us (very swarthy move), we still lost. Well, it was worth a shot. The munchkin buckos got a go at it too.


In the end, between points deducted for cheating, getting our flag stolen twice, forgetting our flag once, and stealing people's pirate money, we lost to the Scallywags. Hrmph. We think, since we WERE pirates after-all, that we should have been AWARDED points for our treachery! Aargh!

Of course, there are always punishments, but the worst offense was perpetrated by Paddy. He dropped, not one but TWO, cases of beer and had to be drawn & quartered for it. Ok, maybe not that, but he did have to sit in a container of ice & water and chug not one but two beers as we sang to him. He was even guarded to make sure he sat as long as it took to soak up all that nice, cold water.


Of course, he then ran around putting ice down everyone else's pants (including mine). Paybacks are a bitch, so wait until next hash...Then there was Laura, you remember her (where DOES she get these outfits?). She was called out for diving for some pirate money and hiding it in a...crevice...so no one else could get to it. Uh, keep the change please.





By now it was around 6pm and time to head over to White House Bay for some fireworks. I'm not sure what this was about, but know that Mike was certainly feeling no pain at this point (doubt he can say the same this morning though). I still remembered how I felt Saturday morning, so was a good girl (mostly).


There happened to be one sailboat anchored in White House and I thought - this is exactly how boater "moments" happen. Here they were probably sitting in their basement (how I look at monohulls) reading a book enjoying their quiet & solitude, when out of nowhere, 3 motorboats full of pirate-attired, sun-burned, sweaty children & adults descended upon them in the darkness screaming "Aargh," "Aa-woo," and aiming plastic swords at each other. There were several minutes of fireworks with us whooping & hollering in appreciation and then we were off, leaving them in sudden silence. They'll never have any idea what any of that was about and will have a seriously weird story to tell their pals.

The fireworks were really good. Happy 15-year St. Kitts Hash House Harrier Anniversary!


Then it was time to head back to Frigate Bay.


I must mention how relaxed I was knowing I didn't have to anchor in the dark, nor would I have to clean up after these people once they all got off. Awesome!

So there it is (Thanks again for some of the pictures Krista!). Just in case, we haven't had enough dress-up, we're heading to a Halloween party at the Marriott on Saturday. We will NOT be pirates, THAT I know.