Hollywood revisited

 It's not often that I go on the monthly trips organized by the Tamarac senior center, as most are to shopping centers or casinos and I have no interest in those activities.

However today's outing was to Hollywood beach, so I tagged along. 

And it was great camaraderie and lots of free vitamin D.🙂

And we had to do quite a bit of walking as the Tamarac driver Shawn, for some strange reason, refused to let us off at our destination, Margaritaville.

Eric consulting the girls?

Carol striking a pose

A group of us stayed together and as Meredith and I were starving, we headed straight to lunch at Margaritaville. 

It was quite good and the prices were not as exorbitant as one had expected.

Ivy strikes a pose too

Meredith and I 

It was a pleasant day as we only had limited time to do anything else before having to catch the bus back home.

There wasn't much else to do anyway and I don't know if it was because school was back in session or because Trump had scared off the tourists, but the beach was really empty.

Some pics below tell the sad tale about the current tourism situation today at Hollywood beach.

Bikes begging to be rented

We virtually had the beach all to ourselves!👍

My karate queen👏

 My granddaughter did a four hour test today to try to earn her black belt in karate.

Four hours! Wow, that's arduous.

The word on her group though is that they all need further preparation.

There she is. What a stance♥️!

In that case, it can't be on the students, It must be on their trainer.

She says she is done though. Not doing the test again.

Can't say I blame her. It's rigorous and if the trainer is substandard, why bother?

She now has the skill and can kick ass and defend herself in an emergency. That's certainly a lot better than I was at her age. For then, I had started judo and never even passed yellow belt😞.

Go Maddy go😊

Emancipation 2025

Jamaica's Emancipation Day is celebrated on the 1st August each year and I think, this is the first year I celebrated it outside of Jamaica. 

I couldn't find anything interesting to attend in Broward, Florida so when my friend Carol told me of a street session in the parking area at a Jamaican restaurant, I told her to pick me up.

Judy, Carol, Joan.

Sure glad I did, for if I didn't, I would never have met some interesting Jamaicans, the phenomenal one being Nesta Leeloo.

Nesta.

Omg, this lady is something else. She is 108 years old.

That's right 108 and her mind in 100% and the body? Well she doesn't even use a walking stick and was so pleasant to boot!

Actually, I had never heard of Butter Flakes Jamaican restaurant before, although in the past, I have visited the strip mall where it is located.

 But back to Miss Nesta.

She was born in Mandeville, Jamaica in 1917 and was Nesta Lewis, before getting married to a Trinidadian, hence the name Leeloo. They had eight children and so far, she has outlived three. 

Yup, and she still plays the piano and does crossword puzzles everyday. 

As she walked outside to where the DJ had set up the music, she started to jig!😊 Several hours later, at 10pm, when we were packing up to go, she looked like she wasn't going anywhere for the next few hours!

Miss Nesta is definitely now my new role model.😊.

It was a nice jam session with oldies reggae music, and we met quite a few other Jamaicans who had come out to eat, listen to good music and socialize.

We even met too ladies, Gail and Diana who drove all the way from West Palm Beach to attend, as they say they always enjoy the food and vibes there.

Gail and Diana. 

Yup. It was a nice evening. Not my usual Emancipation style celebration, but I enjoyed it, as variety is indeed the spice of life.

Gail, Judy, Carol, Joan 

Trek to Alligator Pond.

Wi nevva even catch cole!😭

That's the fate of fisherfolk. Sometimes the fish are running and sometimes they keep their mouths shut.

About a week ago, we went out from our usual spot in Duncans, Trelawny, but not even the fisherman who took us got a bite.

So,  having been told that Alligator Pond in Manchester had better fishing grounds, we drove over three hours for the big catch.

Shanti who took us out

We stopped at Sunny Isle Cay. Last year's hurricane wrecked sections of it.

This is by Sunny Isle Cay off the coast of Alligator Pond. 

The only thing we caught all morning was sea weed.😭

Three times I thought I got a bite and it was sea grass. Not even the fisherman got a nibble.

That area would be great for manatee (sea cow) but we ate them into virtual extinction on the south coast.

Anyway it was a good trek as we got an Airbnb and lymed at Little Ochi the night before.

Our Airbnb 

Port Kaiser and Lovers Leap in the distance.

Hanging out at the Airb&b.

Lots of fishing boats around

David, Bernie, Joan, Kai, Father Topping

Mitzie and David 

Mr and Mrs Evans who organized the trek. They gave us lots of fried lobster and curried crab😋

David and his dad

Yup we came home empty handed, but next year we gonna catch those critters .

 I can't believe it's tomorrow that I have to leave😭. 

How time flies when u having fun.