Trip Advisor

Why a restroom photo? To start a discussion about Trip Advisor.

First, let me say in general, I like Trip Advisor. If you're not familiar with it, it is a site where "real people" can post "real opinions" about restaurants, hotels, attractions, just about anything travel related. The idea is travelers can read what other travelers say about a place before they go.

I honestly don't expect everybody to like us (although I secretly do expect everybody to like us). Some people aren't happy because we don't have rice-and-beans. Some aren't happy because there is nothing fried on our menu. Everybody has an opinion about food, good, bad or indifferent.

The opinions I don't mind. I do object to factual errors. Our first bad review complained about an "$8 banana." The same review stated we said desserts are our specialty. Neither of these statements is true. Why does it matter? Because other people read this stuff and believe it. We can - and do - write "management responses" to every review. It takes 3-5 days for management responses to be reviewed and posted. In that time some number of people have read the misinformation and don't know about the response. So that factually incorrect review is all they see.

Some reviews I just don't understand, like the person who said our menu was like "a high school or hospital cafeteria." Dude! What high school did you go to? Elaine spent six days in the hospital in May and the menu wasn't anything like ours.

Which brings be back to the restroom. The picture is our men's room (although it doesn't matter because the two are mirror images of each other). On reviewer described this as a "nasty skanky latrine." Say what? Other people have told us our restrooms are cleaner than those in the nearby big international chain hotel. But that comment didn't make it to Trip Advisor, just the "nasty skanky" comment.

Oh well, it's all part of the business. Gotta take the nuts-o with the good.

It's early fall in Puerto Rico

It's the beginning of fall here in PR. A lot of people from more temperate climes, where the four seasons are definitely more pronounced wonder how we can tell.

There is a definite change in the light, just like there is in the north. Cooler temperatures haven't hit yet; that won't really be noticeable until December. But some trees to change color.

The almond tree for example changes to a red-orange and loses it's leaves. But at the same time, it gets new leaves and flowers. Strange tree. It's part of that "drops something - leaves, flowers, stems or almonds - 365 days a year" thing.

Birthday adventure continues

Elaine's sister Amy came to visit for Elaine's birthday - and just to "get away." As part of Elaine's birthday adventure, we went paddleboarding on Rio Guajataca with Amy (the sister), Amy (the daughter) and Miguel with Miguel from Verde Azul. We had a blast!

And to close out the day, Elaine and Amy (the sister) went horseback riding on the beach on Chocolate and KTJ. I think Amy liked it.

FuFu

 Mango-orange-agua de coco sangria at Fu-Fu

 Elaine planned her own birthday lunch with her sister Amy (visiting from Ohio for Elaine's birthday) and our Ola Lola staff. She took us to a (relatively) new Afro-puertoriquean restaurant called Fufu.

Fufu is a food made from starchy vegetables that originated in Ghana and is common in West and Central Africa. Local variations here in the Caribbean include mangú and mofongo. At FuFu, fu-fu is firmer and more mofongo-like rather than doughy like it's African ancestor. This one had plantain and yuca with vegetables and shrimp.

FuFu also has pasta like this, also with vegetables and shrimp.

It's just a small place but it's wonderful (kinda like Ola Lola's - but way different). We will definitely go back. There's lots more on the menu to try.

We capped off the day with a get-together complete with birthday cake at Amy and Miguel's.

9/11 (but not what you think)

Today, of course, is 9/11. All over the country people are offering remembrances of that horrific day 11 years ago. Here, we are quietly (or not so quietly!) celebrating Elaine's birthday. Of course we remember those who died in the World Trade Center and on flight 93 and their families who still struggle with the memories - how can we ever forget? But this date was Elaine's birthday first.

We talked and talked and talked about how to continue to celebrate her birthday in light of those events. First we decided we'd move her birthday celebration off by six months and celebrate in April, not realizing that every news, infotainment and propaganda organization would do a six-month retrospective replay. Finally, we - or rather she - decided to claim her birthday as her own. After all, she was here first.

So despite the tragic undertones, here's wishing mi dushi, mi amor, my love a wonderful and very happy birthday.

Horses on the move

For five years we have had the great privilege of waking up and looking out our window or off the balcony and seeing the horses hanging out under the big almond tree or in the yard next door. For five years our neighbors have very graciously allowed us to keep Chocolate and KTJ literally next door. 

That arrangement ended this week. Our neighbors are planning to remodel the house and the yard and don't want the horses helping with the landscaping. All we can say is thank you for five amazing years of having our horses right outside the window.

For the past couple of weeks we've been building a new home for them - right across the street! Our other neighbors offered part of their land as pasture for Choco and KTJ.We had to move bunch of rock and construction material to make a safe space for them. That was a much bigger undertaking than anyone imagined. First we tried a front-end loader. That didn't budge it. Then we brought in a Cat D-4 bulldozer. That moved some of the rock but couldn't clear the whole area. The construction people wanted to bring in a Cat D-6 - at a mere $1200 a day. And they couldn't guarantee it would be done in one day. Ya know, it's tempting but...no. We'll work with what we have. 

This could be a temporary solution as well. If the family finds a buyer for the property, we have to move them again. Given that, we're using electric fence for most of the perimeter.It's much easier to remove if and when we need to. This weekend we built another small wood corral for them. It's not as pretty as the first one I built but so far it's holding them and they seem happy. And Ola Lola's guests get to watch them grazing right across the street.

We have such great neighbors! Thank you!

 

First early season swell

Lilac Alvarado rips on a wave at Middles

We got the first little taste of a swell on Monday. It was great timing since most people had the day off work for Labor Day, I went to Middles for a great early season session. This photo of Lilac Alvarado was just one of a number of great photos. You can see all the good ones on our PuertoRicoSurfPhoto.com website.

SwellInfo.com is still predicting six-foot plus waves for the weekend. We'll see how that pans out. I'm ready for it.

Happy birhtday, JI

Today would have been my father's 88th birthday. (He's the tall one in the photo.)

He used to say his birth date was easy to remember - It was the day World War II started. (Hitler and Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.)

I think celebrating his birthday is way more fun. Happy Birthday, JI!

Guns don't cause crime

A friend of mine posted a really stupid photo (I could editorialize here and say, "are there any other kind?") of Ted Nugent waving two of his automatic weapons with the caption "If guns cause crime, then all of mine are defective."

This is one of the propaganda tricks of the gun lobby. It goes right along with "Guns don't kill people; people kill people."

This is just stupid because it misses and sidesteps the obvious: People WITH GUNS kill people. Yes, people kill with knives, poison and any number of other assorted weapons. But only guns are designed to kill. They have no other real purpose.

Guns don't "cause" crime. No one ever said they did (except the gun lobby propaganists). Guns just make it easier for people to frighten and intimidate other people. And guns make more crimes deadly. 

This is written by a person who has been robbed at gunpoint - me. Without the guns the people in the black ski masks were pointing at me, there would have been no robbery. 

So, no, the guns did not "cause" the robbery. They just made it possible.

Isaac a dud

We're very happy to say that Tropical Storm Isaac was, for us at least, a dud.

We did a lot of work to prepare, to tie things down, to be ready, and...nothing. Well, not really nothing. We got about half-an-inch of rain and 35-40 knot winds but that's it. And honestly, we're grateful.

Elaine has been in a couple of tornadoes; I've been in or very near four. We both agreed we don't really need/want to experience a hurricane. Last year Hurricane Irene went right over us. Fortunately (for us anyway) she'd dumped all her rain on the eastern third of the island. All we got was 70-80 knot winds. Seventy to 80 knots winds are nothing to sneeze into. They are dangerous and deserve respect. But - we had 60-70 knot winds in Michigan, usually when it was about 10 degrees. Here at least it's 80 degrees. Anyway, the point is Irene is as close to a "real" hurricane as I want to get.

Tropical Storm Joyce, the next one in line, is already churning across the Atlantic but she's already well north of us. The surfers are all hoping she pushes some waves our way.

Waiting for the hurricane

Last year it was Irene. This year the first hurican to skirt us is Isaac. He became a Tropical Storm yesterday and is forecast to be a Cat 1 by Thursday afternoon just as he passes south of PR. This morning's projected track indicates Isaac has slowed a bit and will develop into a Cat 1 a little farther east than earlier predictions. The track has also moved north a little bit putting more of PR within the "cone of possibility." Let's hope it doesn't veer too much farther north.

I went out to do our weekend shopping last night. Stores were a little crazy as people began stocking up on canned goods and water. Many shelves were already empty. There were lines at the gas station as people filled their tanks in anticipation of power outages that render gas pumps useless. Of course, we many not be allowed to open Friday regardless. Last year when Irene went through the governor ordered all bars closed and a ban on all alcohol sales - except beer. I guess beer was allowed because it's considered a food group.

Anyway, we're hanging in for now, watching and waiting. Stay tuned.

I'm me again!

When I got my Puerto Rican driver's license almost four years ago, they made a mistake in my name. In spite of a couple of (half-hearted) attempts, I couldn't get it changed. This meant among other things I had to use my passport to fly because the name on my ID (i.e., my driver's license) didn't match the name on my ticket. One of the big tourism selling points for PR is you don't need a passport to travel to and from the U.S. Well, I did need my passport. Renting a car was sometimes interesting. I had to explain why my DL name didn't match the name on the reservation.

Yesterday I was at CESCO (the PR version of the DMV) and finally got it changed. This time it was amazingly easy. I was truly surprised. Unlike previous visits to CESCO, people were helpful, the process was pretty straightforward, and made sense in this age of instant electronics. In about half-an-hour (including standing-in-line time) I had a new, correct driver's license.

The whole passport thing is not a really big deal but it was a pain. Now I can just use my shiny new Puerto Rico driver's license.

Names are funny things. Having the name wrong somehow felt like it wasn't really me.  Because it wasn't really my name on that little plastic card, it wasn't really my card in spite of the picture and all the other correct information. For reasons I can't fully explain I feel a sense of relief that my card now has my name on it.

At Ola Lola's we recognize the importance of names. We introduce ourselves to guests and ask their names. We try very hard to remember the names so when guest return a second (and third) time, we can greet them by name. It's a little thing and we don't always succeed, but we think it's important, part of the welcoming, the-first-time-you're-a-guest-the-second-time-you're-family feeling at Ola Lola's.

New dive site

There is a new (to us at least ) dive site we've gone to a couple of times now over the past couple of weeks. It's a really great reef right in downtown Aguadilla, appropriately known as (wait for it) Downtown. It's a pretty short swim out to the reef. We drop in about 25 feet of water. Along the outside the reef drops to 70 or 80 feet, almost like a wall dive. There are some very interesting, very healthy coral on the reef with lots of varied life swimming around. Considering it's location we were pleasantly surprised at the health of the reef and how unspoiled and untouched it is.

The two times we dove this reef visibility hasn't been very good. That may be one factor in why more people don't dive it more often. But the limited visibility has given me the chance to play with my new underwater flash.In the murky water you have to get close to things to photograph them so I got work with the flash set up close up. The colors really pop with the flash. Some things, like that purple sponge, look brownish under water because the water filters out various wavelengths of light as you go deeper, starting with the reds. So anything with a lot of red in dulls out as we descend. But the flash adds all the wavelengths back in, letting us see the "thing's" true colors.

 We're all looking forward to diving Downtown on a clean day. Hopefully this winter, after hurricane and the rainy season, we'll get some cleaner days on the reef. It should be diveable most of the winter, even in surf season. Because of where it located, it should be pretty well protected unless there is a lot of "west" in the swell.

Here's looking forward to a bunch of great dives on a new site!

beach clean-ups

There is a beach clean-up at Playa Pastillo this Saturday. Pastillo is a beautiful beach on the other side of Isabela. We've been there a number of times, just not recently. It's below the cliffs of Royal Isabela Golf Club and runs all the way to Guajataca.

We used to participate in beach clean-ups a lot when we first got here. We're still members of Rescate Playas Isabela (Rescue the Beaches of Isabela). Once a month or so I volunteer to take water samples at various beaches so they can monitor bacteria levels. But we don't go to beach clean-ups any more and people wonder why.

There are really two reasons. First, we do beach clean-ups every day. Every day when I run the dogs on the beach I pick up trash people left behind. It's usually plastic grocery bags, plastic cups (yesterday I picked up over 100), beer cans and beer bottles that people brought to the beach but were too drunk, too lazy, too ignorant or too apathetic to take home (or at least to the trash cans in front of Ola Lola's).

I come from a hiking/backpacking/canoeing and now snorkeling/diving background. The rule is "take nothing but photos and memories, leave nothing but footprints" and in the case of canoeing and diving, leave nothing. In other words, you carried it in, you carry it out.

"My" bit of beach runs from the end of the little calle we take to get to the beach to about the end of Yippie Calle aka Deadend Road. It's about a quarter of a mile of beach front. Not at lot, but it's "mine" and I want it clean.

Does my small effort help keep the beach at Jobos clean? No. And that brings me to the second reason we - or at least I - don't do beach clean-ups any more. I'm just not into picking up other people's trash. If people are too (see above) to pick up their own trash, they deserve the trashy beaches they get. It's not my job (paid or unpaid) to pick up after them.

I'll donate money. I'll work on education projects. I'll pick up on my own little stretch of beach. But I won't spend my free time picking up trash somebody else was okay bringing to the beach but was too inconsiderate to pick up and dispose of properly.

Here endith my rant.

NIght dive last night

Night dive! I won't bore you with the two seahorses or the two starfish or the school of mackeral scad or the whole bunch of decorator crabs or the octopus or the beautiful lionfish we saw. I'm just going to jump right to the baby reef squid. I love the reef squid! This is the first time I've seen them at night, fluttering in our lights, changing colors. They were a little freaked out by the lights I think so we didn't focus on them too long.

(I hate that lionfish are here. They are a terribly destructive invasive species. But they are beautiful.)

Sorry - no photos from this dive. We're working on a light setup for night dives.

Spring

 We've known for several years there was a cave and fresh-water spring at the base of the cliff near the beach called Dunas. Dunas is past Villa Pesquera about 6 miles east of Ola Lola's. Hole 13 of the Royal Isabela Golf Club is on top of the cliff, right straight up the cliff face.As I said, we've know about it for a long time but never found it until yesterday. The spring came up again in a conversation with our friends Stanley, David and Tito Monday night and we decided to hike back and look for it again. This time we found it.

It's a beautiful setting with lush greenery hanging over the cave and ferns growing on the racks around the pond. No one is really sure but rumors are the pond is 60 feet or more deep. There has been talk about scuba diving into it, just to see were it goes but so far there are no solid plans for that.

It's a bit of a hike along the beach to get back to the spring from the end of the Paseo Lineal (the biking/walking trail from Jobos to Villa Pesquera) by the Isabela del Mar condos. Deep soft sand makes getting back there by vehicle impractical. Walking is about the only way to see it. It was well worth the hike. I'm really glad we found it.

1000 Peanut Butter Burgers!!!

 Elaine, wielding the Ola Lola Sword of Super Powers, congratulates Tim Flatt for ordering and eating our

1,000th Peanut Butter Burger!

A handmade, specially seasoned 100% beef patty grilled to order. Sweet pickle relish. Creamy smooth peanut butter melted on top. Served on lightly toasted bakery-fresh bread. All brought together with love.

If Ola Lola's has a signature, the Peanut Butter Burger is it. We have people from all over the country - indeed, the world - come and say something like, "What's a peanut butter burger? I heard about it and I hear it's really good."

It IS really good - amazingly surprisingly wonderfully good. As of last night we've sold more than 1,000 Peanut Butter Burgers since we put them on the menu. Tim Flatt ordered Peanut Butter Burger number 1,000. (Yes, we really do keep track.) Tm got a big celebration at Ola Lola's and a gift pack that includes a Stand Up Paddleboard adventure from our friends at Verde Azul.

We're sending out a huge THANK YOUs not only to Tim but to the other 999 adventurous souls who the strange-sounding but unbelievably good Ola Lola's Peanut Butter Burger.

If you haven't tried one, you should. And even though we sold number 1,000 Ola Lola's Peanut Butter Burger month continues all through July. Everyone who orders a Peanut Butter Burger this month gets a little gift. C'mon down and get yours!

It's a holiday - who knew?

I've been trying for nearly three weeks to get some documents to the Environmental health people so we can finally get our health department permit. Ours expired in October. We've been inspected and passed; now it's just paperwork. I've been there several times and they were closed - too early and the office wasn't open yet, closed for lunch, too late in the day, whatever.

Today on what appeared to be a normal sunny beautiful Monday I cruised to the hospital where the health department office is located. I felt like I'd driven into the Twilight Zone. There was not one single car in the parking lot! Rod Serling's voice in my head, "This is strange." I parked in my personal choice parking space and walked up to the hospital door. Locked. A hospital door locked? Yep. Granted it's a small hospital. But locked doors?

I called Elaine and said, "I'm in the Twilight Zone here. Is this a holiday I didn't know about?"

"I don't know. Let me check."

Sure enough today is Luis Muñoz Rivera's birthday. Luis Muñoz Rivera was born on July 17, 1859. He was a poet, journalist and politician and a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico from both Spain and then the US. His birthday is a government holiday celebrated the third Monday of July.

Postcard from 30 feet down

A school of mackerel scad under the piers at Crashboat Beach yesterday.

I've been diving every day. Except today. This one of those "yes-we-live-here-and-we're-not-on-vacation- so-now-I- have-to-catch-up-on-all-the-things-I-haven't-done" days. I could have gone diving  but I gotta go to the bank.

More "postcards" to come.

Return of Ola Lola's

Tonight marks the return of the "regular" Ola Lola's menu. Peanut Butter Burgers are back. Trinidad Burgers are back. Borinquen BBQ Pork is back.Coco-lime Chicken is back!

Our deepest heartfelt thanks goes out to all our Guest Chefs in the month of June - Chris, Tami, Mimi, Julie and Danny. You all more than exceeded our hopes! Our guests were blown away by the wonderful food and wonderful choices you offered. Thank you all so much! We will do some variation of Guest Chef Night/Week/Month again.

Sometime this month we will reach our 1,000th Peanut Butter Burger. We have a package of prizes for the lucky diner who gets number 1,000, including a Stand-Up Paddleboard tour courtesy of Verde Azul. Check back for updates.