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Trip Reports: Darlene's Trip Report 10/8/05 -10/22/05 Part one
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2005-08-09 to 2005-12-26: Darlene's Trip Report 10/8/05 -10/22/05 Part one
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1744) on Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 1:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Travel:
I flew Boston, San Juan to Bonaire on American and American Eagle with the tight connection and made it with no problems. I was greeted In San Juan by Cynde in her Pink Flamingo hat, Barbara and Norma!! It was nice having them there to share the rest of the journey with! I just wanted to note that while we were waiting for our flight three different American Eagle flights asked for people to volunteer to be bumped so I would suggest not to arrive to late for your flights if possible.
The return flights went pretty smooth. When I was in San Juan they gave me the wrong gate number and I was almost late for my flight when I got to the right one!! I was just an hour late arriving home. American Eagle in Bonaire asked for volunteers to be bumped as well.

Shopping:
I had a visit to the Cinnamon Art Gallery to see Jake, Linda's and Yana's beautiful work as well as Avey's and the other art exhibits. It really is a beautiful gallery!!!

I always make it a point to go to JanArt's open house on Friday evenings. I love her paintings. The fish are my favorites. She is also doing beautiful clay sculptures.

It's always fun to stop by and visit Michael Gaynor at Chat n' Browse. He has the best deal around for renting cell phones and you can use the internet at the same time. He also carries a lot of great merchandise!!!

The store at the Divi is one of my favorites. Luti, one of the dive masters at Divi owns it now. He makes and sells some very nice gold jewelry there. He also carries a lot of nice merchandise as well as some staple food supplies.

The Jewel of Bonaire is becoming one of my favorite stores. I used one of Michel's phones to call my husband in the states to see if he wanted to get me a Seahorse ring for our 20 year anniversary together and he said yes!!!! How cool is that!! :-)

I did my grocery shopping at Cultamara. I usually buy breakfast, lunch, snack and soda supplies at Cultamara and then have my dinners out in the evenings.

Restaurants:
Gibi's: He serves great local food right from his home. I have enjoyed meeting all the BT folks on island there and have been able to put the faces with the names of the people that I felt like I already knew. This trip there was a ton of us there and it was a hoot!!! The first Tuesday Gibi catered the BBQ at the Golden Reef Inn for Kelly and Yanaˇ¦s Birthday Conga Bash!! I never stopped laughing the whole night! The second Tuesday was at Gibi's house and the food and fun were great once again. I had red snapper that was to die for!

Bo Bo Jans: It is located on a little side street just past It Rains Fishes. Most people just do take out but I like to eat in their little back garden. I went there several times. Their steak is delicious and so are their ribs and both are very reasonably priced.

Antriol Catering: It is a local place located in Antriol that I have no idea how to get to! :-) I had the Wahoo and everyone enjoyed their meals at a very reasonable price! So if you can get directions, give it a try!

It Rains Fishes: Located on the waterfront in town. I had Grouper in mustard sauce that was excellent!!! They are noted for their mustard sauce and I can't tear myself away from always ordering it when I am there. For desert I had a coconut mousse with Carmel glaze. Yummy!

CoCo's: It is a Mexican restaurant located on the waterfront right in the center of town. I had steak that was good and reasonably priced.

Pasa Bon Pizza: It is a really nice pizza place just to the north of town on the main road. They say they are at the only stoplight in Bonaire which is a cute little ad for them because the stoplight is on their fence and not a real traffic light as everyone knows there are none on Bonaire! There is a nice dining area there with a bar. The pizzas are really, really good!!! Pasa Bon Pizza is open till eleven at night so it is another good place to eat for those late night arrivals which is just what we all did! Just take note that it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I love their specials that have the fish on them. This time the special was a Greek pizza and it was outstanding. I made sure I had enough for leftovers!

Croccantinos: It is an Italian restaurant located on the main road in town with outside dining and a nice presentation of food. I had one of the specials which was Lobster and Asparagus Pasta. It was excellent! Another good Italian restaurant is Donna & Georgioˇ¦s but they were closed the night we decided to go.

Swiss Chalet: Serves great fondue and Rosti!!! I always enjoy my meal there!

Will's Tropical Grill: I had filet mignon that was perfect and an appetizer of shrimp bisque. Very well presented and excellent. I had a Pina Colada mousse for dessert that was delicious!
Casablanca: Much to the surprise of the waiter, I ordered the mixed grill for two! It is unbelievable!!! There is enough food on it to feed an army and it is very good. I put a small dent in it and brought the rest home for my lunches! :-) The prices are reasonable for the quantity and quality of food.


Lodging:
Dive Inn ---This is my second time staying at the Dive Inn. The room was very clean and well kept and Babs is just great. The location is great for me as the Cha Cha pier is their front yard for easy entry into the water. The Divi is a short walk away and that is where the Woodwind sails from. And Town is just a short walk in the other direction!!! Very convenient and reasonable.



 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Meredith Lynch (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #108) on Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 10:02 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene,

Great report! Where is the Jewel of Bonaire and please tell me about the Seahorse ring!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #324) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 10:06 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

jewel of bonaire is on kaya grande next to harbortown realty. as i remember, there are two sides to the store...one side is mostly jewelry and the other side has more souvenier (sp?) stuff. friends who visited us a few years ago bought us a metal crab sculpture from there as an appreciation gift. (that was the same friend who was diagnosed with dengue after she got home...good thing we got the gift first...LOL)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By T-Shirt Divers John and Sue (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #290) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 10:22 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jewel of Bonaire is nice. I bought a pair of earings there in Sept. I was also looking @ the seahorse rings which are very pretty. Sorry we missed you this year.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1749) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 8:13 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the nice comments.
Meredith, He makes his own jewelry and has a lot of sea life. I took this picture in the waters of Bonaire!
seahorse ring

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By BEVERLY A FILLIO (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #125) on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 2:25 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darlene You mentioned the Woodwind is still at the Divi???? Can you give me an update on what is going on with it and ULf and Dee and the boys I had heard they might have to change docking place Please let me know your information
In fact if anyone has current information on the Woodwind would appreciate hearing

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By BEVERLY A FILLIO (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #126) on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 2:26 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

PS love the ring !!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1826) on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 11:21 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Beverly,
I love my ring too! :-)

The Woodwind and Divi came to an agreement and The Woodwind is still sailing from the Divi.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By BEVERLY A FILLIO (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #127) on Saturday, December 17, 2005 - 1:07 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Darlene The Divi is lucky to have them there. We mention their wonderful different cruises to everyone that is going there. Between Dee and Ulf's Woodwind tours and Rene's
snorkle trips Bonaire and the Divi particularly are fortunate to have both there.

 


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