Dolly passed through last night and nobody noticed. When we went to bed last night, we left the windows and doors to the bedroom deck open, not only to get some breeze but so we would awake when the storm rolled into town, just in case we were needed at the hotel. We never heard a thing. We were awakened this morning to our usual alarm clock of tropical birds in the banana trees outside our house and of course lots of dog licks. Gypsy always seems amazed that we’re still here every morning.
During the night, Dolly had decided not to strike Playa del Carmen after all but slipped through the straits between Mexico and Cuba, where the Gulf of Mexico runs into the Caribbean Sea. We got a little rain during the night and a little more today, but it’s not even as strong as a normal thunderstorm. We got lucky, but unfortunately Dolly is still rolling north and now has hurricane potential. Our thoughts are with our friends in Texas where Dolly seems headed next.
As for us, our favorite meteorolist, Dr. Jeff Masters at weatherunderground.com, says that conditions are building in Africa for another storm system. Hurricanes are born as weather systems off the coast of Africa. Moving westward over the warm waters of the Atlantic and the even warmer waters of the Caribbean Sea, they build in strength and can turn into major storms, even hurricanes. You can be sure we’ll be keeping our eye on this latest situation. However, it’s really nothing new; it’s just life in the tropics for us. As our close and personal friend Jimmy Buffett sings, we’re just “trying to reason with the hurricane season.”
Well, here we are again, blogging about a storm bearing down on us. It’s been almost a year…so we guess it’s about time. Still, Tropical Storm Dolly took us by surprise. It was supposed to be just another band of thunderstorms passing through when it suddenly organized itself into something bigger. It was only about midafternoon today that we discovered Dolly was upgraded to a tropical storm and that her 60+ mph winds were going to make landfall in Playa del Carmen this evening around 11 or 12 pm.
Taking advange of the unseasonal breeze, we went to lunch at El Pirata on the beach for some of the best Sopa Azteca in Playa and to check out the pre-storm ocean. We ran into some friends and took a few pictures. We wandered back through the crowds to the Luna Blue and found our bar filled with people. Unfortunately we also found that the thundershowers we had been awaiting had turned into a tropical storm of pretty good force, that it was going to hit in 6 or 7 hours, and the city in its wisdom had declared all alcohol sales prohibited. We made the disappointing announcement to the bar, bought one last round for everyone on us and began a speeded-up version of our pre-storm checklist. With our receptionist Jaime and our bartender Jose assisting, we quickly moved through the hotel taking down hammocks, carrying loungers and chairs to the bodega (storeroom), tying down the columpios (swings) in the bar, and generally securing anything that might swing or blow away in the upcoming winds.
And for the first time, not on our checklist was grabbing Blue and putting her into a room to keep her safe from the storm. We wiped away a tear over that.
While spreading the news among the guests, we assured them of their safety. After all, this is just a storm, not a hurricane, and we’ve certainly weathered worse, but we still take it seriously. With the hotel secured, we headed home to follow the same routine for our home. This being only a tropical storm, there’s no need to board up windows, but we still need to make sure there are no items out in the open that can be thrown about by the wind.
That having all been done, we now settling in to enjoy our dinner, play with our new kitten (that’s another blog entry!) and watch the Fool’s Gold DVD we rented at Blockbuster a few days ago.
Right now it’s quiet and humid with an occasional gust of wind and burst of rain. If we’re awake and the storm warrants it (and we have power, of course), we may blog later tonight about what’s happening here. Otherwise, to all our friends and family, don’t worry, we’re safe & sound. And if you’re coming to Playa soon to visit, don’t worry about that either. The storm will move quickly through, damage if any will be minimal, and Playa will be up and operating by tomorrow afternoon.
We’re very sorry to say that Blue, the much beloved hotel cat of the Luna Blue, passed away today. Blue had been a member of our family since we found her in a litter of feral kittens that had been born in our garden about two years ago. Blue was the only one we could save, and we kept her and raised her.
When we found her, she was the sickly runt of the litter, a frightened, hissing little ball of fur. She eventually grew into a wonderful pet and a great ambassador for our hotel. She lived in the garden of the hotel, or in bad weather inside the office. During last year’s tropical storm, she even got her own hotel room.
She learned to love people and attention. She generally hung out during the day on the front desk and would think nothing of crawling into the lap of any guest sitting on one of our couches. She also loved lounging on the floor of the bar, watching the people go by. She made it a habit of sauntering up when we stood talking with people in the reception area, where she would lie down across our feet as if reminding us who was really in charge.
Like all great cats, we didn’t own Blue; it was more the other way around. And Blue had more than just us at the hotel to adore her. She was a regular feature at Las Cazuelas, the tapas restaurant directly across the street. She knew she could count on Miguel, the owner, for a handout and would not be shooed away if she sat at customers’ feet begging for a bite of whatever was being served. The staff at Las Cazuelas is as sad as we are today.
Blue went very suddenly. She became extremely ill last week and we took her to Paco, our favorite vet. It turns out that she had a blood deficiency which does not allow the blood to regenerate. Because of this, she was unable to fight off an infection that spread through her body. Paco gave her a full blood transfusion and massive antibiotics. She rallied for a day or two, and there was some hope that she would return to the Luna Blue. Yesterday she took a turn for the worst, and this morning Paco gave us the bad news that she would not recover, and that it was time to stop her suffering.
Blue is going to be laid to rest in the garden at the Luna Blue, the only place she knew as home. She was a sweet, gentle cat, and we will miss her very much.
It’s about time. Jimmy Buffett has had his summer vacation break and, starting this Thursday, he is back on the road with the Coral Reefer Band and the lovely Reeferettes. Of course all of Jimmy’s roads lead to Playa Del Carmen via Radio Margaritaville’s satellite concert broadcasts. And as always, every time Jimmy is performing somewhere…anywhere…we will be playing the concert live at the Luna Blue Bar.
Our Luna Blue Bar-Jimmy Buffett Live Concert-Parrothead Parties were a great success in June and figure to be just as much fun for the second half of Jimmy’s “The Year of Still Here” tour. You can see a little bit of one of our Parrothead parties in the following video, courtesy of our friends at Playatube.com.
So starting July 17th we will again be having our Parrothead gatherings. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in July the Luna Blue Bar will have “Dos por Uno” (Two for One) House Margaritas, the best cheeseburgers in paradise grilled bar-side by Papa T, prizes, giveaways and best of all, Jimmy playing and singing LIVE for your pleasure. All the parties in July start at 7:00 pm. In the weeks to come, look for some special happenings, including the Dos Equis XX girls as guest bartenders (dates to be announced…watch here for details!). And remember…if Jimmy EVER utters the words “Playa Del Carmen” during a concert…it’s tequila for the house on us!
So deck yourself out in your best, funniest, sexiest Parrothead attire (or come as you are), and bring that giant thirst for a boat drink down to the Luna Blue Bar. The Gypsies are in the Castle tonight. Fins Up!
Well, here we are again, blogging about a storm bearing down on us. It’s been almost a year…so we guess it’s about time. Still, Tropical Storm Dolly took us by surprise. It was supposed to be just another band of thunderstorms passing through when it suddenly organized itself into something bigger. It was only about midafternoon today that we discovered Dolly was upgraded to a tropical storm and that her 60+ mph winds were going to make landfall in Playa del Carmen this evening around 11 or 12 pm. 
We wiped away a tear over that. 
While spreading the news among the guests, we assured them of their safety. After all, this is just a storm, not a hurricane, and we’ve certainly weathered worse, but we still take it seriously. With the hotel secured, we headed home to follow the same routine for our home. This being only a tropical storm, there’s no need to board up windows, but we still need to make sure there are no items out in the open that can be thrown about by the wind. 
We’re very sorry to say that Blue, the much beloved hotel cat of the 
