Falcon Photography

So in my last post I mentioned an ocean view room. Because all rooms on an island are ocean view, right? Better put, I would say I had a parking lot/construction view. There is a view of the ocean… it’s just a little farther than the patrons on the other end on my hall had. They had a beach/ocean view room. All in all, I can’t complain. The room was comfortable and I really wasn’t there to see a room. See a panorama view from my room.

After a leisure breakfast, I decided to walk the other way on the sidewalk… the path more traveled. I walked past many fine resort hotels, bars, & stores. As I walked I could hear some scurrying noises coming from the lush plants, bushes and flower beds along the path. I found a nice bar on the beach. No surprise here. It was named Gilligan’s. Of course, the S.S. Minnow was there too. On the back of the boat, was a phrase that is Aruba’s mantra, “One Happy Island.” No joke. The car license plates has this so it must be true! I think it became my mantra during my stay there.

They had a sign post showing how far it was back to Houston, Texas. Now I am no navigator but I think someone needs to pull out a map and check their mileage of some of their signs. Go ahead, you do the math on Manhattan. I’ll wait… Unless there is a Manhattan, Texas, I think they missed it by a few miles.

Oh, back to that rustling noise I heard. There be some lizards on that island, matey! At first I thought it might be some birds, or a mouse/rat but nope, they have these very shiny, blue speckled lizards. A little further down, I saw another lizard, er, I mean iguana. Fast little suckers. Camera shy too.

Hey, you know what else I found on my walk about? Boats. The island has got them some boats. Funny thing, most of them were anchored. Not doing much of anything except waiting for someone to come along and rent them.

After walking a good ways, the hotels ended, the temperature rose, and I got thirsty. I stopped at another beachside bar, got a bottle of water and did what everyone else was doing… people watch. Later that evening, we went to dinner at a very nice restaurant. I would say that I had one of the best meals there. Not only was it a great meal, the location was very unique. Have you ever eaten dinner while sitting in the ocean? It was called the Flying Fishbone. Check out the website and look at the pictures. All outdoors and some of the tables in the water. Made for a memorable dinner.

Lucky for me, Aruba is a direct flight from Houston on weekends. Saturday morning flight gets your feet on the island in 4.5 hours. A 20 minute cab ride and I was standing at the front desk getting the key to my “ocean view” room. More on that later.

After quickly unpacking my suitcase, I was out the door with camera in hand. Must get a view of the beach and see if I can locate some colleagues who probably are laying on the beach and sipping some suds.

The Westin hotel, where I was staying is located in the resort area of the island which is on the Northwest side of the island. Hotel after hotel lined the beach and they had a wide sidewalk for the people to walk along taking in the sites. So when you come to a fork in the sidewalk… what do you do? Talk one and go seeking an adventure.

I took the sidewalk less traveled (really) it just happens that the direction I headed brought me to an area where the beach has public access. And they happen to be constructing a new hotel next to the Westin. So I ran out of sidewalk pretty quickly. I took these pictures before I turned around and headed back towards the hotel bar on the beach. Local brew is called Balashi. I stayed around to catch the sunset. Have you been to Aruba? Tell me about it.

So I leave for Aruba tomorrow.  Going for work but hope to squeeze a day in for some photography of the island. Will try and post at least once while gone but I do have a busy schedule.

Have you traveled this summer? Drop me a comment on what you did for your summer vacation. A lot of people affected by hurricane IKE said that took a “hurrication” to survive. Think someone created a new word. Hey, dont forget the drinks.

So when I finally got a chance to review some of the emails that backed up while I was off the net, I came across this fun read from my friend Eric. I had a good laugh and can’t wait to get back in my house and try some of these fun cocktails. If you try any of these, drop me a comment on what you think.

According to the email, the manager at the St. Charles Tavern…

Max Hiller sent this list of “Hurricane Drinks” for your pleasure because it is New Orleans policy to follow all instructions and report to the nearest liquor store in the event of a hurricane!

MANDATORY EVACUATION
1 1/2 oz. Absolut Ruby Red vodka
1/2 oz. vermouth
Clamato
Prune juice

Combine vodka and vermouth in cocktail glass. Fill remainder of glass with equal parts clamato and prune juice. Stir. Drink. Ask next-door neighbor whose ficus tree blew over and crashed onto your roof– even though you’d warned him for months to uproot it–if you can use his bathroom. Repeat.

CATEGORY 5
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. tequila
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. gin
Sweet-and-sour mix
Splash of fruit juice

Combine vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and gin in a tall glass. Fill remainder of glass with sweet-and-sour mix and splash of juice. Stir, then garnish with an inverted drink umbrella. Drink during peak storm hours, and vow not to believe anyone who tries to tell you the hurricane that flooded your garage and destroyed your shed was just a Category 1.

CONE OF PROBABILITY
1 oz. cinnamon schnapps
1 sugar cone

Pour the schnapps into the sugar cone. Every time you hear a TV weatherman say, “cone of probability,” bite off the end of the cone and down the shot. If you hear Weather Channel StormTracker Jim Cantore say it, drink two shots consecutively. (they should change this to the “Cantore Zone”… damn him.) Have you ever noticed that, despite all the cone of probability talk, if Cantore is parked in front of your house your ass is toast?)

FEEDER BAND
2 oz. Midori
2 oz. rum
1 scoop vanilla ice cream

After your home loses power, combine Midori and rum in a cocktail glass. Add a scoop of the vanilla ice cream that is melting in your freezer. Stir, and drink through a straw.

BEACH EROSION
1 1/2 oz. Goldschläger
1 1/2 oz. apple brandy
1 pack Sugar in the Raw

Combine Goldschläger, apple brandy and sugar in cocktail glass. As you drink, seriously contemplate moving your Yankee ass back to New Jersey where it belongs.

DOWNED POWER LINE
1 1/2 oz. rum
5 oz. Jolt Cola

Combine ingredients in a cocktail glass. Drink while trying to figure out how the heck you’re supposed to go two freakin’ weeks without television and AC.

FLOOD ZONE
2 oz. Kahlúa
2 oz. Baileys Irish Cream
4 oz. rum

Serve in a 6-ounce glass and laugh-cry deliriously as the mess spills all over the countertop.

COLD SHOWER
2 oz. Blue Aftershock
4 oz. Sprite

Combine in a cocktail glass with crushed ice you received after waiting in line for three hours at a mall parking lot. Take a deep breath, sip and scream like a little girl when the cold beverage hits your tongue. Repeat.

LOOTERS WILL BE SHOT
1 oz. Jack Daniel’s
Splash of sarsaparilla
Rock salt

Load both barrels of a shotgun with rock salt. Climb to the roof of your house with gun, bottle of Jack Daniel’s and can of sarsaparilla. Fill shot glass with Jack and splash of sarsaparilla. Watch for looters. When you spot one, blast his ass with rock salt. Drink shot. Repeat.

THE CHAIN SAW
1 oz. Goldschläger
1 oz. Rumplemintz
3 oz. Jim Beam
Splash of vermouth

Combine Goldschläger, Rumplemintz and Jim Beam in an empty soup can. Add splash of vermouth. Drink. Remove chain saw from garage and attempt to cut up fallen tree limbs in yard. Ask neighbor to drive you to hospital when it all goes horribly wrong.

FOUR-WAY STOP
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. vodka and Midori
1 1/2 oz. vodka and Galliano
1 1/2 oz. vodka and grenadine

Pour each ingredient into a separate shot glass. Serve one to yourself and three other people. The person with the clear shot of vodka drinks first. The person to his right drinks the Midori shot, and so on. If somebody drinks out of order, develop a quick case of road rage and beat the living crap out of him.

BLUE TARP
1 1/2 oz. Curacao
2 oz. pineapple juice
Splash of lime

Combine ingredients in a leaky paper cup and serve. Wait six to eight months for someone to repair the cup. If you’re impatient, hire an unlicensed, out-of- state contractor to do the job for an exorbitant sum and pray he doesn’t hurt himself in the process.

FEMA FIZZLE
1 1/2 oz. Southern Comfort
2 oz. sloe gin
Tonic water

One week after the storm has passed and your neighborhood is still in ruins with no sign of help on the way, combine Southern Comfort and gin in a cocktail glass. Fill remainder with tonic and add a dash of Angostura bitters. Serve with a nut brownie. Before drinking, raise the glass and say the toast, “Doing a helluva job Brownie.”

Anyway, my wife and I get a real enjoyment from observing and providing (feeding) for these birds for their journey south. We put out the feeders a couple of weeks ago to test if they were migrating there way for the winter. About a two weeks ago we saw one, then two birds frequenting the feeder. We then put out another, then another feeder as the number grew… then IKE came. We were sure that this would force the birds south early and our fall observation of the migratio would be over but (yeah!) hurricane IKE did not send them away.

Sunday morning, while sweating outside (’cause my power is out due to the hurricane), I paced the feeders back up. Not more than 30 minutes later, I had 3 hummingbirds show up and start to continue the gorge fest. Another hour or two later, I counted a total of 8-10 birds swarming over the 7 variety of feeders that i had placed around the yard. If you have never experienced this buzzzzzzing sound of the birds blurring past you while in the yard, it’s quite an experience. I quickly grabbed my camera to snap a few pics of the visiting birds. You know, they sure are some quick, camera shy suckers! Enjoy.

Flying hummingbird in backyard at feeder

Flying hummingbird in backyard at feeder

Sitting hummingbird in backyard at feeder

Drinking hummingbird in backyard at feeder

Red Wasp - Unfriendly visitor

Since the passing of IKE, there has been the after-the-storm effort of helping people who are stranded, without house, power, whatever… to provide essential products such as water, MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), and ice. Well if you watch the media, Houston has failed MISERABLY in providing that assistance. Well I have to tell you, I disagree.

C’mon people, it’s a emergency situation. No one can predict the actual path of a storm nor can they blink and have multiple 18 wheeler trucks instantly appear where the people need the emergency goods. I have watched every TV media complain (er, I mean question) the emergency response leaders on why the trucks weren’t at said location at a specific time. Here’s an example. And another. It really bothers me when the people who are being helped scream & moan about the service provided but are sure to make sure they get their share and more if possible. To make matters worse, the emergency response leaders actually bit on the baited hook the reporters tossed at them. So it became more about who did what when vs. who didn’t. I wish they would have just said “Hey people, we have these locations providing food and water… let’s focus on the people and provide the goods.” Press conference after conference where different leaders explained what the problem was, who should have… yada yada yada. Enough!

Anyone who stops and pays attention immediately can see that the main problem is that over 90% of the storm affected area was out of power after the storm passed. And yes, that can get people riled up. It’s ot fun trying to sleep in 80+ degree weather. It’s coming up on 72 hoursand I still don’t have power. But I am not complaning. I know that the rescue, electrical workers are working double time to restore power to the remaining people of the storm affected people.

So give the people who are helping you (many who are volunteers) a break. Please say thank you as you receive the emergency rations to tide you over until Houston recovers. Treat them rudely and these good people might not be there to help us weather the next storm.