After Midnight - Happy New Year!

The night was cool, the stars were bright and Debbie had a party at the Coral Reef Bar and Grill that was one of the best New Years Eve parties ever! The evening started out with the Salt Cay Rake 'N Scrape Band featuring Newton, vocals and bucket, Wilce on bucket, Dwight on the saw, Ranfully on tambourine and maracas and Spigot on the harmonica with guests joining in on the maracas that Mike Hawkins made and brought to the party.

Mike made about six maracas of coconut shells filled with small shells and rocks... great instrument for those of us who can't play the saw or harmonica! Spigot took a break from playing his harmonica to have a beer (or was that a glass of rum?) and play the maraca while visiting. That's the great thing about Rake 'N Scrape... you can take a break while the other band members continue on and join in at any time. Fantastic!

The Salt Cay Rake 'N Scrape band played for about an hour before it was time for their break (they played again after midnight joined by Shine on the bucket).

The rest of the evening DJ Newton (aided by Police Officer Cameron) spun a great selection of tunes and everyone was dancing, laughing and having an absolute great time!

Midnight arrived and kisses, hugs, and shouts of "Happy New Year" rang out through the night. Coral Reef Bar & Grill had two anniversaries and one proposal that night... a truly memorable and happy occasion!

I danced all night... we went home and I cooked bacon and eggs at 3AM... and today (January 3rd) I finally feel normal again! It just doesn't get any better than this.

After Sunset

Sunset on Salt Cay is a time to stop whatever you're doing and celebrate the beauty of the world. Sometimes it looks like Michelangelo walked across the horizon painting the partly cloudy sky with color.... other times it's aglow with golds and blues. Any of the Turks and Caicos Islands have beautiful sunsets, but I think that watching the sunset on the very quiet island of Salt Cay is more special than sitting in a fancy resort. There's just the feeling of being one with nature that you can't get other places...

This picture was taken looking out the West "window" of the Coral Reef Bar & Grill at Deane's Dock. Deane's Dock is a small harbor where all the local boats are kept. Salt Cay Divers boats, local fishermen's boats and Mike's new old boat are there along with Shine's new community boat and the submerged old community boat.

The old community boat sank during the hurricane and no one has taken it out yet - the Seas are currently too rough to move it safely right now. There are a number of people ready to get the boat out of the harbor and make it into a dive site off the reef somewhere within the next week or so.

Once the sun has set, Coral Reef Bar & Grill is a favorite place to hang out. This picture was taken last year. If you look closely you can see me at the end of the bar and that's Mike sitting at the bar watching Levi sing. Karaoke on Saturday nights can be fun. There are some really great singers on island... and then there are the rest of us. I bring my kazoo along and have actually gotten quite good with it. There is actually a video on Youtube of one night with me playing the kazoo with a bunch of guys singing Dollar Wine. Pretty funny. :)