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Good news to report ... Pastory and its Compass Rose restaurant are open for business.
A change of ownership happened Thursday night, according to a fellow who answered the phone Friday afternoon.
Great sunsets, fun miniature golf ... cold beer. What's not to like?
On the other hand ... Pastory Gardens is still on the Multiple Listing Service. The "Excellent business opportunity. Well established restaurant and mini-golf course" is offered at $3.9 million.
A Coral Bay correspondent reports:
"Great
news! Shank is back on St. John with his human. The dog made it to
shore and was hanging out in Great Harbor on Jost. The two have been
reunited and are back on St. John. I just spoke to the owner and
confirmed this."
Andrew Burnett, a frequent visitor to the island who's shot a lot of video, passed along this screen grab of the dog, Shank, which he met last fall. (Click here to see his stuff on YouTube.)
A Coral Bay resident is holding out hope to find his dog -- lost at sea in a swamping mishap between St. John and Jost Van Dyke. The person was kayaking from Coral Bay to Jost with his dog and a friend when a wave swamped the kayak, throwing all three into the water. We believe this happened on Monday. He has tried to contact everyone possible on Jost; it was also mentioned on the local ham radio net, which has participants from Tortola as well as the USVIs.
(That's not a picture of the dog. It's Clip Art from Microsoft Office. But I'm sure the missing dog is just as cute.)
Following the swamping, the dog took off swimming towards Jost. After awhile, they lost sight of him -- mainly due to distance and choppy seas vs. going under. The humans were picked up just at dusk by a passing boater heading to the BVI. They had been in the water for several hours. That was great luck; otherwise, they might have drowned out there.
The dog is a small-breed mix, medium brown with a hound appearance, neutered with a bobbed tail. It has a collar and tag (with a Massachusetts phone number). The owner does not have a local number so, if anyone finds the dog, please leave word at Crabby's in Coral Bay -- 340 714-2415, and they will contact the owner.
Curators at Coral World and several trainers from St. Kitts, BVI are on the lookout for sea lions.
Over the weekend, a call was received by the Planning and Natural Resources department that a sea lion had been seen playing in a pond near Water Island.
The Virgin islands Daily News said there is speculation the mammal may be one of four South American fur seals which escaped their kennels as Hurricane Omar blew across the Caribbean 10 days ago. A long way to swim, St. Kitts is a 45-minute airplane ride away from the VIs.
The curator of Coral World told the Daily News he's received reports the sea lion(s) have been seen along the south shore of St. Thomas and near St. John.
Read the Daily News story here http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17629921
StJohnJulie gives the new Cafe Roma thumbs up.
It was showtime for the new owner of Cafe Roma.
The opening last Friday night night followed several months of cleaning, polishing and refurbishing to the second-floor space above Joe's Diner in Cruz Bay. The new owners, John and Michelle Hiebert, moved to St. John from Vermont in July.
Hiebert has years of experience in the restaurant business, both as a chef and manager. He intends to maintain the menu that's been so popular at the landmark for almost 25 years. "The restaurant isn't broken," Hiebert said, "so it doesn't need any fixin'."
He'll be open 5 to 10 p.m., closed Sundays. But when winter season arrives, he'll be at it seven days a week.
One thing that is new is the restaurant's web site. It greets you with a ballad by Dean Martin. The address is http://stjohn-caferoma.com/9caferoma1.htm.
A former bartender at the Stone Terrace has returned to the island's foodie business, taking one small step to what could become another St. John restaurant.
Allen Lancaster's Gastrogrub is an unpredictable, imaginative dining experience at the Inn at Tamarind Court. The Inn is known for its value priced rooms, but also its dining patio which features a different specialty food menu each night of the week, prepared often by locals who like to cook.
An anonymous reviewer at the St. John Sun Times praised Gastrogrub's "sinfully rich" Swedish meatballs and pork braised in St. John Brewers' Tropical Mango Pale Ale. But, added the paper, "The blue ribbon goes to the Gangsta Mac n cheez - you simply cannot go wrong with seven different kinds of cheese."
Gastrogrub is 'open' Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The menu: http://www.gastrogrub.com/menu
The Washington Post published a travel piece Sunday about the islands last weekend that focused as much on the denizens of the bar at Skinny Legs as the island's beaches and Park.
Reporter Andrea Sachs wrote, "It's easy to feel the love, or at least the like ... in Coral Bay, the wacky sister of Cruz Bay."
She was two sips into a beer at Skinny's when she began talking with Carl and Lisa, Chris and two others. By the end of the evening, Lisa had given her earrings, Phillip went into the kitchen to make her a salad, and a sailor named Vince invited her to join a regatta team. "St John love all around," she said.
Read the Post article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/24/AR2008102402975.html?nav=emailpage
The man who brought Sunday afternoon jazz to the Beach Bar is bringing the blues back to Iraq.
Steve Simon's Bluzapalooza second concert tour will feature Shemekia Copeland, Michael Burks, Deanna Bogart, Zac Harmon and The Bluzapalooza All-Star Band in 12 days of concerts for the troops presented by Armed Forces Entertainment, now through Nov. 11.
"We are thrilled to be going back to Iraq (and Kuwait) and to have so many great Blues artists volunteering to go to a war zone," Simon said. "This is certainly an historic event for the Blues and for our men and woman who so proudly serve our country.
You can see videos of some of the performers on Bluzapalooza's MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/bluzapalooza as well as video from Simon's first tour to Iraq, in April this year.
The VI Port Authority has approved installation of Video Lottery machines in the waiting room at the St. Thomas Airport. The Virgin islands Daily News says 10 terminals will be placed between gates 7A and 8. The Authority, which manages and is responsible for maintaining the sometimes-functioning air conditioning and baggage belts, gets 7% of the gross.
Mrs. Inquiring Iguana didn't seem negative about this idea. The Inquiring Iguana, himself, is not so sanguine. Seems to him like an opportunity for the islands to leave visitors with a low-class impression of the place.