We rode out to the gravel pit where we saw "Arkansas" driving a huge backhoe. We had met him the night before at the eatery where we had dinner. He never saw us watching him but now we know he really is the Gravel Guy of Ambergris Caye.
We loaded up in the golf cart and they "re-explored" and we experienced for the first time all the things on the north side of the island. After lots of golf cart riding and looking we headed as far north as you can go in a golf cart which ultimately puts you taking a narrow path along the edge of the water. We started out at the bar at Tranquility Bay way north. Joanne and I swam while the guys got caught up over Belikens and whiskeys. We all grabbed a drink to go and the next stop was another bar called El Norte. I remember that because I bought a t-shirt there. We chatted with the bartender who was from Canada and recently bought the tiny (I mean really tiny) bar. Joanne and Larry had visited this bar on one of the previous days but the bartender/owner was not there. Only his compadre who we are yet to figure out his story. But, he is building houses here and had wanted to show Joanne and Larry the house he had for sale. Evidently when they had left the bar Larry and dug way deep into his pockets and pulled out a Belizean $1 coin (US 50 cents) and left it as a tip. Not meaning to be a cheapskate but just getting confused about the value of the coin. Well, after staying here for quite a while, we decided to load up and head to the next place. I was with mysterious compadre guy getting my t-shirt at this time so I missed it but evidently compadre guy was so taken aback by the cheap American the day before that he had filled in the bartender. The bartender, not knowing he was talking directly to the culprit, started ragging on "some guy that left a $1 coin as a tip yesterday". Joanne blew beer out her nose and Larry never said a word about it being him. OK...time to move on.
It started to get a little foggy after this, but I know we made it Rojo's Lounge and it was open. We discussed how in just a few short years this was pretty much the end of the line for going north. Rojo's used to be out in the middle of nowhere, but now they have the greatest bar ever and it is nice. Great drinks, great bartenders, and nice-looking guys that go to this bar. We met and talked with people here for quite awhile. We got invited to a Pub Crawl the next day. Sounds like fun! But wait, we are on a pub crawl now. The parrot is pretty cute too. I would say we all let our hair down for sure. There was another bar where we had drinks and eventually ordered food. Terry said it was either Paco's or The Tiki Bar. I think we all knew it was time to go home now.
So, getting back to the Fruitstand. During the day, we saw so many interesting things that you have no idea what it is or what the significance of it is - half-completed buildings, where did all those unmatched shoes come from that washed up on the beach, the beautiful birds you have no idea what they are, the list goes on. Larry and Joanne told this story about one time Dad and Larry were traveling together and they passed a half-completed building on the side of the road and my dad casually said he wondered what that was gonna be. Larry's response was that "it may be a fruit stand". Of course Larry had no idea what it was, and my dad didn't either so who could dispute the other. But of course Dad did dispute it. It became the catch-all for anything you don't know the answer to. "It may be a fruit stand." There were a lot of "It may be a fruit stand" moments on this day of golf cart cruising the outback areas of the north part of the island.
We slowly got moving on Saturday, headed into town for breakfast and some shopping. It remained a fairly slow-moving day...thank goodness! You need those ever now and then. This day seemed to go by very quickly. We spent the afternoon lounging by the condo pool and ended up eating dinner around the pool. Joanne and I finished off the rum punch she had been given while we lounged in the pool. Terry and my plan was to get up early Sunday morning and catch a taxi into town. We were going to sneak out quietly letting Joanne and Larry sleep in peacefully. We had made reservations on a Tropic Air flight for 7am. When we found out the cab tare was $50 we decided to make Larry wake up and take us into town instead...yes, we are cheapskates. It was hard to leave good company but we had places to go and we knew Joanne and Larry wanted to have their time alone for enjoying doing whatever they wanted to do without us being underfoot the whole time. We made a pact to do a little more scheduling and coordination next vacation meet-up so we could do a little more joint traveling.
Good-by to Joanne & Larry and Hello to Hopkins, Stann Creek District, Belize
We slowly got moving on Saturday, headed into town for breakfast and some shopping. It remained a fairly slow-moving day...thank goodness! You need those ever now and then. This day seemed to go by very quickly. We spent the afternoon lounging by the condo pool and ended up eating dinner around the pool. Joanne and I finished off the rum punch she had been given while we lounged in the pool. Terry and my plan was to get up early Sunday morning and catch a taxi into town. We were going to sneak out quietly letting Joanne and Larry sleep in peacefully. We had made reservations on a Tropic Air flight for 7am. When we found out the cab tare was $50 we decided to make Larry wake up and take us into town instead...yes, we are cheapskates. It was hard to leave good company but we had places to go and we knew Joanne and Larry wanted to have their time alone for enjoying doing whatever they wanted to do without us being underfoot the whole time. We made a pact to do a little more scheduling and coordination next vacation meet-up so we could do a little more joint traveling.
Good-by to Joanne & Larry and Hello to Hopkins, Stann Creek District, Belize
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