It had rained most of the night in San Pedro, but it had stopped by the time the sun came up Sunday morning so I was able to get in a nice one hour run/jog along the beach. I much preferred running the beach in San Pedro to Placencia because most of the beach I had found in Placencia was banked like a bicycle-racing velodrome. The morning was relatively cool and the sky was still overcast. After my beach run I had a leisurely breakfast at my new next door neighbor’s- Estel’s – during which I took great pleasure in reading a few more chapters of Jonathan Franzen’s fabulous new book, Freedom. I spent the balance of the morning back in my room at the Spindrift checking e-mails and writing another episode of my travel blog. At about twelve noon I headed out for a stroll through “downtown” San Pedro and on the beach, and ended up having a bagel at a nearby bakery. When I returned, I stopped downstairs at Wahoo’s Lounge and had a nice chat with Noele Sutherland.
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| The Lovely Noele Sutherland: Proprietor of Wahoo's Lounge |
Together with her husband Doug McLain, Noele owned and operated Wahoo’s. According to Wahoo’s Facebook page, they are “[L]ocated in the heart of San Pedro on the beautiful island of Ambergris Caye. We are home to the WORLD FAMOUS CHICKEN DROP and many other special events throughout the season. Overlooking the second largest barrier reef in the world on the beach, our pub offers drink specials, parlor games and an amazing view. Come refresh yourself after a dive or sailing trip or for happy hour before hitting the town. We can't wait to meet you!”
Among other things, I discussed the relative merits of both Facebook pages vs. web sites as marketing tools with Noele. I also asked Noele if she could e-mail an explanation of the rules of Wahoo’s legendary “Chicken Drop” so I could write about it in my blog. I found out that they had only had their bar open since about the first of the year, and that the place had undergone a pretty major remodeling job. Doug is also a scuba instructor, and he and Noele are also affiliated with Island Divers Belize which is located on the beach directly in front of Wahoo’s Lounge.
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| Doug McLain with One of His Underwater Friends |
Hence Noele’s catchy new T-shirt proclaiming that Wahoo’s “Puts the Dive Back in Dive Bar” (pretty damn clever)! In the middle part of the afternoon I decided to revisit my real estate obsession of the previous day. I found an Internet site for Grand Belizean Estates and read it carefully to make sure it was not the subdivision described in the appraisal I had obtained from the pre-law student I had run into on the bus earlier. The appraisal for the parcel in the Caribbean Coves Subdivision had been done by a gentleman named Lincoln Eiley of Triton Properties Realty. Coincidentally the address for his office on the appraisal was in the very same Spindrift Building in which my hotel was located! I found out from the hotel staff that Mr. Eiley had recently moved his office to Corozol. According to a posting on an Internet site I found while GOOGLING “Caribbean Coves”, the “original” Caribbean Coves subdivision was owned by an entity called Caribbean Coves Ltd.”
“Over the years,” the post continued, “many portions of the land have been sold off, I am pretty sure you are thinking about purchasing some land in the Caribbean Coves subdivision that is now owned by a new "developer." This new developer has nothing to do with the Caribbean Coves company.” What the Internet poster failed to say is that the new “developer” is the Town Council of San Pedro! The poster concluded her post by stating that “if you want to buy a lot in the original Caribbean Coves subdivision from a shareholder in Caribbean Coves Ltd, drop me a line. If you want to buy a lot from the new developer, it sounds like you already have his contact info. When you buy real estate in Belize it would be wise to work with a reputable established real estate company, pay for a title search and use a reputable attorney or paralegal for the transfer of title work.... The land in the Caribbean Coves area offers some of the most beautiful water front and sunset views on Ambergris Caye.”
Tomorrow—Monday – I intended to go next door and try to find someone with the Town Council who could (hopefully) give me the “skinny” on the Caribbean Coves subdivision. Sunday night I visited Micky’s again for dinner and was somewhat embarrassed to be the only diner in the place. They had already put up a bunch of Valentine’s Day decorations in anticipation of the big day (tomorrow) – and I figured that nobody was eating out tonight as they were probably saving their money for the real thing tomorrow night. After dinner I returned to Wahoo’s Lounge and found out that it was also empty. Weird! I went back to my room at the Spindrift and – for some reason – turned on my television set (probably for the first time since I had left Minnesota). My timing was amazing, as I had turned the television on just in time to watch the Grammy Awards. I actually got to see Lady Gaga emerge out of her gigantic egg and rock the world with Born This Way for maybe the first time! Having not seen any television for almost thirty days it was actually pretty entertaining!
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