joeyk wrote:

Read this and tell me it's just a little miscommunication...

LOL!  I was talking about the Key Deer.  Don't worry Joe, the kids still fear you. 

OwenImages wrote:
Been in the Keys with the kiddos. 

We have been having a blast!  We saw 25 Key Deer yesterday evening and 47 this evening.  Lots of pics (normal and iPhone5) and video clips (iPhone5).  We lots of cool stuff in just a couple of days.  On Marathon Key right now for a quick dinner stop...then driving home tonight.  Should be home by 3am.  I will go through the pics over the next week.  Yippppppeeeeee!  I hope I have a couple of good pics!  The kids had a freaking blast.  Let's just say they have ZERO fear of humans....they are endangered and therefore heavily protected.  They will walk right up to you.  So cute!  Okay, long drive time.....

Were you on Big Pine, out by the No Name Pub  .  .  .  I have a house back there on Dr.'s arm, the deer are pretty plentiful now  .  .  .  especially since they put the barrier fence around US1, and the tourists ain't smashin' so much with their rental carz  .  .  . 

SOS

sospix wrote:

Were you on Big Pine, out by the No Name Pub  .  .  .  I have a house back there on Dr.'s arm, the deer are pretty plentiful now  .  .  .  especially since they put the barrier fence around US1, and the tourists ain't smashin' so much with their rental carz  .  .  . 

SOS

We spent a LOT of time on Big Pine Key and No Name Key, of course driving by No Name Pub multiple times.  One evening in about 2 hours we saw 25 Key Deer.  The next evening in 90 minutes we saw 47 Key Deer!!! 

This was my 3rd time visiting the Key Deer but the first time I took the kids.

OwenImages wrote:

We spent a LOT of time on Big Pine Key and No Name Key, of course driving by No Name Pub multiple times.  One evening in about 2 hours we saw 25 Key Deer.  The next evening in 90 minutes we saw 47 Key Deer!!! 

This was my 3rd time visiting the Key Deer but the first time I took the kids.

That's one of my "secret" escape places  .  .  .    The shelf is only about 5 miles out past the bridge to the east, that's where all the BIG fishes iz  .  .  .  saw a guy lose a 100 lb tarpoon, to a huge hammerhead last spring right there by the pilings  .  .  .  next time grab a small boat at Bob's boats, and either go exploring in the inside around No Name (there's a couple small reefs just north of the island), or get a bigger boat and go oceanside for some nice tuna or dolphin  .  .  .  glad you guys had a good trip, it's always nice to head down that way  .  .  .

SOS

OwenImages wrote:

We spent a LOT of time on Big Pine Key and No Name Key, of course driving by No Name Pub multiple times.  One evening in about 2 hours we saw 25 Key Deer.  The next evening in 90 minutes we saw 47 Key Deer!!! 

This was my 3rd time visiting the Key Deer but the first time I took the kids.

sound like fun Greg..

EdwinR Photography wrote:

sound like fun Greg..

Yes, indeed!

Sounds like Ed is having a lot of his own fun! 

Chris Rifkin wrote:

Who threw up on a "pizza"???

joeyk wrote:

Who threw up on a "pizza"???

\best tasting vomit ever
kinda like a cow,get to eat it twice,

Chris Rifkin wrote:

\best tasting vomit ever
kinda like a cow,get to eat it twice,

thats just gross

Chris Rifkin wrote:
\best tasting vomit ever
kinda like a cow,get to eat it twice,

EdwinR Photography wrote:
thats just gross

I think we know now what he means when he says he gets some food in his truck and eats it for two days...lol

Chris Rifkin wrote:
\best tasting vomit ever
kinda like a cow,get to eat it twice,

EdwinR Photography wrote:
thats just gross

joeyk wrote:
I think we know now what he means when he says he gets some food in his truck and eats it for two days...lol

hey,always trying to save a buck now

bgcfoto wrote:
A story about Carl denying the ladies, posted on 04/01. Good one Carl, well played

Hahahaha

And yes Owen, that chick was PREGNANT!

bgcfoto wrote:
A story about Carl denying the ladies, posted on 04/01. Good one Carl, well played.



(yes Icewolf, I'm paying a dollar into the Tampa,chat tax jar) 

~OUT~

Hahahha
And yeah..y'all can keep the DR

Carl Roberts wrote:

Hahahaha

And yes Owen, that chick was PREGNANT!

Yeah 14 months pregnant at that. Happy April fools day too.

Carl Roberts wrote:
Chapter 6 - The Arrest

Easter Weekend! Perfect time to go down to the DR. Leave on Good Friday, back on Sunday!
Stay Friday night at my usual hotel, but Stay at the Playa at one of the all inclusive resorts instead of in the city on Saturday. Perfect plan.

I arrive on Good Friday and go to the bank to change some money there at the airport...Cerrado...Closed.
I go downstairs to "Orange" (The telephone company) to by a SIM card for the phone I brought...Cerrado
I'm like..oh oh

I need to call my driver Emilio so I stop some random person and ask them to call for me and give them a buck
Emilio comes and I'm like...the banks are closed! He says yes on Good Friday everything is closed and everyone comes to the beach (Playa)
So we are driving to the hotel and LITERALLY at every intersection where 2 roads meet there are a minimum of 2 or 3 cops. I have NEVER seen that many military and police out, anywhere, ever.
Emilio is like, yeah on Easter weekend the security is Crazy.
We drive along and a cop walks out into the road and pulls him over.
Lots of yammering and pointing at the crack in the windshield, finally I see Emilio palm 100 pesos and shake hands with the cop. When he pulls his hand back in the car the 100 peso bill is gone and we get waived on.
Emilio says he had been stopped on the way to the airport too, same deal.

I get checked into the hotel and get some money changed and go to the little bodega/bar on the Avenue Espana I like
It overlooks the Playa and the locals all gather out front and have a contest to see who can play their car radio the loudest so it is pretty busy around there during regular time. This being good Friday...it was CRAZY busy. We finally find a restaurant to grab a bite but by 11pm every single thing in that city was closed. Casinos? Closed, Bars? Cerrado...everything. I was in bed by 11:30.

In the morning we go to the Playa. Me, Emilio, my English speaking interpreter Evelyn, my friend Yokoris, her cousin Perla, the little baby boy that Perla was acting as an Aya for, and their pregnant friend who is 14 months pregnant. We all load into the car and head to the Playa.

Evelyn asks where I'm staying and I say the Don Juan. She says why aren't you staying at the Hamaca? I'm like when I called they were full. She says why don't we stop and you can check to see if there is an opening. So we stop there first.
I act like I have a reservation and after 15 minutes of frantic searching they say, look, we can't find your reservation but we can give you a room. $185.00(U.S. dollars) per person, per night. So for 2 people it would have been $370.
I'm like...uh...let me get back to you.

We drive to the Don Juan. $80 per person (Cheaper than at the Hotel Napolitano in the city) and it's all inclusive.
All you can eat, all the booze and beer you can drink, all included.
By American standards...very 3 star at least. No spa, but other than that, pretty darned nice. 2 pools, a Dance review number in the evening, right on the beach, big buffet restaurant, lots of beach bars pushing the frozen pina coladas with a heavy hand on the rum. Pretty darned nice truthfully. I would strongly suggest it for someone going to relax on the beach.

Being Easter weekend, the whole country came out to the beach for the day.
I can easily say I have never seen any beach as crowded as that beach was. It was CRAZY busy
All families with kids and old people and everybody just hanging out, swimming and walking the beach.
Lots of drinking with groups of kids carrying half gallon jugs of rum and a bottle of coke just walking along drinking.
Very fun to watch

Around 7 all of my friends left to go back to the city and I walked out into Boca Chica to check out the nightlife.

Because it was an all inclusive, and because I was out of country, I had consumed a few beers and a couple of the pina coladas. I say this because I had not had a drink of Alcohol for 14 years before I went to the DR. And even then, on my previous trips I would only have a couple of beers here and there, never really drank. This day, I had a bunch to drink and was definitely feeling it.

So I go to walk it off and see the sights.

As I'm stumbling along a group of 3 girls aproach me. They start talking to me, hey honey, how you doing, what's your name, that kind of stuff. Now I was tipsy, but not so tipsy as to recognize that they were not really very attractive and considerably hefty, so I just ignore them and walk on without responding.

Well these chicks were relentless. They follow me for a quarter mile.
Clearly I knew I was being hustled and figured at some point one of them would try to pick my pocket or lure me off to the side where I would be rolled.
Finally I see a group of cops in the middle of the road and walk over to them and stop. The girls split up and scatter. One of the cops looks at me and I say I'm just trying to get away from the hookers that are bothering me.

After a couple of minutes I start back to the hotel.
About 50 yards down the road the girls are back at my side and behind me.
Again talking to me, hey baby, how you doing.
This time I respond to them.... Ohayo Gozaimas, konnichiwa...
The girl is like...uh...Japonaise?
I say..Hai! Japonaise.
She's like...uh...hmm...(Turns to her friends) This guy is Japonaise. Anyone speak any Japonaise?
They are all like...um...hmm...no...

So the lead girl comes closer and puts her hand on my shoulder and tries to rub on me.
Well just then 3 guys rush up from behind and grab the girls and throw them up against the wall
Turns out the cops had been following me and watching what was happening
The cops were not just regular cops, but were "Tourist Police" and were there specifically to make sure the tourists stayed safe and were not hustled or harrassed.

They cuff the girls (who are now cussing and saying they were just asking directions) and hustle them into the police station just down the road.
I keep going and head back to the room where I once again am asleep by 11:30.

Sunday I get up and it's raining.
I walk away from the resort a bit to buy a gift and come upon this kid with a cart selling food.
He was making Empanadas.
The kid could not have been more than 15 or 16, but he had it down to an art, and he was selling a bunch of them.
In addition to the regular Empanadas he was making some by taking the Empanada shell, folding it, crimping about 3/4 around and leaving a gap. He would then take a raw egg and pour it into the opening and slowly drop the whole thing in the bubbling grease.
An egg empanada fresh out of the frier with a drink of pineapple juice.. .75 cents! Fantastic!

So there is no adventure quite like a Dominican Adventure where the story involves hookers getting arrested and Egg Empanadas!

I'm thinkin' you need Jake as a guard dawg next time ya go  .  .  .  jest don't let no one eat 'im  .  .  .  he's a little round right now, and kinda looks like a red pig  .  .  . 

SOS

Carl Roberts wrote:
Chapter 6 - The Arrest

Easter Weekend! Perfect time to go down to the DR. Leave on Good Friday, back on Sunday!
Stay Friday night at my usual hotel, but Stay at the Playa at one of the all inclusive resorts instead of in the city on Saturday. Perfect plan.

I arrive on Good Friday and go to the bank to change some money there at the airport...Cerrado...Closed.
I go downstairs to "Orange" (The telephone company) to by a SIM card for the phone I brought...Cerrado
I'm like..oh oh

I need to call my driver Emilio so I stop some random person and ask them to call for me and give them a buck
Emilio comes and I'm like...the banks are closed! He says yes on Good Friday everything is closed and everyone comes to the beach (Playa)
So we are driving to the hotel and LITERALLY at every intersection where 2 roads meet there are a minimum of 2 or 3 cops. I have NEVER seen that many military and police out, anywhere, ever.
Emilio is like, yeah on Easter weekend the security is Crazy.
We drive along and a cop walks out into the road and pulls him over.
Lots of yammering and pointing at the crack in the windshield, finally I see Emilio palm 100 pesos and shake hands with the cop. When he pulls his hand back in the car the 100 peso bill is gone and we get waived on.
Emilio says he had been stopped on the way to the airport too, same deal.

I get checked into the hotel and get some money changed and go to the little bodega/bar on the Avenue Espana I like
It overlooks the Playa and the locals all gather out front and have a contest to see who can play their car radio the loudest so it is pretty busy around there during regular time. This being good Friday...it was CRAZY busy. We finally find a restaurant to grab a bite but by 11pm every single thing in that city was closed. Casinos? Closed, Bars? Cerrado...everything. I was in bed by 11:30.

In the morning we go to the Playa. Me, Emilio, my English speaking interpreter Evelyn, my friend Yokoris, her cousin Perla, the little baby boy that Perla was acting as an Aya for, and their pregnant friend who is 14 months pregnant. We all load into the car and head to the Playa.

Evelyn asks where I'm staying and I say the Don Juan. She says why aren't you staying at the Hamaca? I'm like when I called they were full. She says why don't we stop and you can check to see if there is an opening. So we stop there first.
I act like I have a reservation and after 15 minutes of frantic searching they say, look, we can't find your reservation but we can give you a room. $185.00(U.S. dollars) per person, per night. So for 2 people it would have been $370.
I'm like...uh...let me get back to you.

We drive to the Don Juan. $80 per person (Cheaper than at the Hotel Napolitano in the city) and it's all inclusive.
All you can eat, all the booze and beer you can drink, all included.
By American standards...very 3 star at least. No spa, but other than that, pretty darned nice. 2 pools, a Dance review number in the evening, right on the beach, big buffet restaurant, lots of beach bars pushing the frozen pina coladas with a heavy hand on the rum. Pretty darned nice truthfully. I would strongly suggest it for someone going to relax on the beach.

Being Easter weekend, the whole country came out to the beach for the day.
I can easily say I have never seen any beach as crowded as that beach was. It was CRAZY busy
All families with kids and old people and everybody just hanging out, swimming and walking the beach.
Lots of drinking with groups of kids carrying half gallon jugs of rum and a bottle of coke just walking along drinking.
Very fun to watch

Around 7 all of my friends left to go back to the city and I walked out into Boca Chica to check out the nightlife.

Because it was an all inclusive, and because I was out of country, I had consumed a few beers and a couple of the pina coladas. I say this because I had not had a drink of Alcohol for 14 years before I went to the DR. And even then, on my previous trips I would only have a couple of beers here and there, never really drank. This day, I had a bunch to drink and was definitely feeling it.

So I go to walk it off and see the sights.

As I'm stumbling along a group of 3 girls aproach me. They start talking to me, hey honey, how you doing, what's your name, that kind of stuff. Now I was tipsy, but not so tipsy as to recognize that they were not really very attractive and considerably hefty, so I just ignore them and walk on without responding.

Well these chicks were relentless. They follow me for a quarter mile.
Clearly I knew I was being hustled and figured at some point one of them would try to pick my pocket or lure me off to the side where I would be rolled.
Finally I see a group of cops in the middle of the road and walk over to them and stop. The girls split up and scatter. One of the cops looks at me and I say I'm just trying to get away from the hookers that are bothering me.

After a couple of minutes I start back to the hotel.
About 50 yards down the road the girls are back at my side and behind me.
Again talking to me, hey baby, how you doing.
This time I respond to them.... Ohayo Gozaimas, konnichiwa...
The girl is like...uh...Japonaise?
I say..Hai! Japonaise.
She's like...uh...hmm...(Turns to her friends) This guy is Japonaise. Anyone speak any Japonaise?
They are all like...um...hmm...no...

So the lead girl comes closer and puts her hand on my shoulder and tries to rub on me.
Well just then 3 guys rush up from behind and grab the girls and throw them up against the wall
Turns out the cops had been following me and watching what was happening
The cops were not just regular cops, but were "Tourist Police" and were there specifically to make sure the tourists stayed safe and were not hustled or harrassed.

They cuff the girls (who are now cussing and saying they were just asking directions) and hustle them into the police station just down the road.
I keep going and head back to the room where I once again am asleep by 11:30.

Sunday I get up and it's raining.
I walk away from the resort a bit to buy a gift and come upon this kid with a cart selling food.
He was making Empanadas.
The kid could not have been more than 15 or 16, but he had it down to an art, and he was selling a bunch of them.
In addition to the regular Empanadas he was making some by taking the Empanada shell, folding it, crimping about 3/4 around and leaving a gap. He would then take a raw egg and pour it into the opening and slowly drop the whole thing in the bubbling grease.
An egg empanada fresh out of the frier with a drink of pineapple juice.. .75 cents! Fantastic!

So there is no adventure quite like a Dominican Adventure where the story involves hookers getting arrested and Egg Empanadas!

By the end of Chapter Six, I was looking for Travis McGee and The Busted Flush.
If you know anything about Florida authors you know who I'm referring to.

Frank Lewis Photography wrote:

By the end of Chapter Six, I was looking for Travis McGee and The Busted Flush.
If you know anything about Florida authors you know who I'm referring to.

Or, Marion "Doc" Ford  .  .  .  from Randy Wayne White  .  .  . 

SOS

Chris Rifkin wrote:
Rain at home
Winter here in Chicago
GLoooooooooooooooom and depression in deleware

Blah with a side of meh

Today is a beautiful day on the beach!!!  The next couple not so much maybe.  It might clear by Friday afternoon maybe?  Fingers crossed.

Frank Lewis Photography wrote:
By the end of Chapter Six, I was looking for Travis McGee and The Busted Flush.
If you know anything about Florida authors you know who I'm referring to.

Of course!
One of my favorites

Good old John D MacDonald

Chris Rifkin wrote:
Ick

Quite the contrary, sir!  It is very nice on the beach right now, although it might get to ick levels mid to late afternoon with thunder storms rolling in...but, as you know that could provide some good photography opportunities around sunset with lightning strikes over the water. 

Koryo Photography wrote:
"We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?"

[Holds up prize]

"Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired."

I thought you already went that route once and it did not go so well for you?

Hope you are either driving or eating steak soon!