Boo and Yay

First off, I must thank Sue for giving me one of her umbrellas. My dollar one broke a month ago and 95% of the time I head into Frigate, it starts to rain on me. Like this.

I was quite pleased to have an umbrella that wasn't the size of a handkerchief and that stayed open the whole time. It later came in handy when it started raining at the bar.

So last night, our one after work drink turned into more and we ended up staying at the Shack through the Fireman show. There he is now!



X has invested in some crazy disco lights that make you look like you're covered in dots when you dance. Pretty funky.





I also ran into Maurice of the Romney Manor/Caribelle Batik/Island Hopper and was informed that his downtown store was closing. Now that is a darn shame.
Island Hopper had shrunk the last time I saw it and now it's closing. There aren't many stores on island that catered to both locals and tourists. What was great about them was that they sold reasonably priced "real" items and not just mass-produced trinkets imported from China and stamped with St. Kitts on them. I loved their monkey t-shirts. When we had visitors, that's the first place we took them to get their shopping done.  I'll be sad to see them go. Everything is at least 40% off, so you won't get better deals anywhere. Where to now for interesting gifts? Here are my recommendations:

• Only In St. Christophers (in the Treasury Building) 
• The Craft House
• Shellworks at Palm Court Gardens is fun
• If you're up at the Fort, their gift shop carries a few local goodies
• There are galleries carrying artists like Kate Spencer and  Rosie Cameron off Independence Square (they even had some glass art last time I was there) as well as inside the Marriott + Kate sells stuff in her own gallery up at Rawlin's Plantation.  
• Tom Jones sells paintings and Carla (The Potter's House) markets her jewelry and pottery outside the Shiggidy Shack on Thursday nights (starting around 5pm).
• Local artists sell their crafts down in booths down at Port Zante.
• There's a small gift shop at Ottley's Plantation that's worth a look if you're there.
• There's a craft market at the Marriott (at pool level)
• The St. Kitts Turtle Monitoring Network sells a few things that benefit the turtles and the fishermen who have stopped hunting them (you can ask the organization to give you a bunch of items and have a little tidbit party).
• Of course, there's Caribelle Batik

If I missed anyone, let me know and I'll add them to the list.

Michael & I went downtown for lunch to see what was going on in Island Hopper - which was doing pretty well and still had lots of stuff left. I did my part.



We then went into every store down there looking for shorts for Michael, found a few (very few) that should have fit but didn't and are back to square one. After seeing how flaky the sizes were, now I'm really reluctant to order any online. Grumble.

And then I was back to this. When will it ever stop?!

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On a lighter note, how many of you got this message?

Hello,

We have good news!  We're able to get this part of your order to you faster than we originally promised:

 Renee Petrillo "A Sail of Two Idiots: 100+ Lessons and Laughs from a Non-Sailor  Who Quit the Rat Race, Took the Helm, and Sailed to a New Life in the Caribbean"
   Previous estimated arrival date: April 18, 2012 - April 20, 2012
   New estimated arrival date: March 29, 2012 - April 02, 2012

Yep, the book is now being shipped out - at least to you people in the States. Everyone is going to have a copy before I get one. Hope you like it!

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