Entries from September 2009 ↓

Old San Juan is pretty cool. The main attraction is the Old Spanish Fort…well, it’s pretty much a big rock island that’s covered with/surrounded by old stone sentry points and cannon sites and stuff. anyone trying to sail past would most certainly be blasted by cannonballs and stuff. unlike Tybee, there would be no “Cannon Firing Today”.

up the grassy hill, at the lighthouse, people take advantage of the ocean winds and fly kites…dozens of colorful kites whirl around, as  flocks of bright green parrot-like birds do their own sky dancing.

other than that, the cute Old Towne area is over-run by frantic Cruise Ship People, trying to buy their Cartier and Polo, before their ship sets sail. I found that many of the “local” shops have NO price tags on anything…so it’s all negotiable…I bought Robin a “that’s $100.00” outfit for(eventually) $15. I’m sure quite a few tourists have given $100 for the same thing…<G>

dang mang…it’s getting about time to head back to my Fake Reality of AthensGA.

I’ll try to make it out for the Thursday PM session at SPOA!

p’s out

In my opinion…the best thing about the San Juan end of the Island(other than the beaches) is BEBO’s BBQ. a semi open-aire place that sells all kinds of BBQ meats and (scary)sausage type things. many people said we should go there, so we checked it out…it’s near the airport/rental car places. it looks like everyone from every walk of life eats there, so you know it’s gotta be good! For lunch, we got a half chicken, big tub of rice and peas, and 2 drinks…under $10. insanely tasty and beyond delicious is the only way I can describe it. they have slot machines along the walls, so you can win big while you wait for your order…

saturday morning, I went down to Jobos for a dawn patrol surf session.

the waves weren’t as clean as they were friday, but a little bigger. I got a few nice rides, and saw a few of the other tourist guys and gals I had met previous days in the lineup…friendly happy people…all smiles and sharing waves. it’s so nice to have someone say “take it! go, go, go!!!” …of course, there were some locals out there, hogging waves and giving stink-eye. effemm. My arms didn’t have much power at 8am…was feeling a little worn out for some reason…maybe a bit tired from the previous night’s partying…anyway, I got some waves, and we headed back to the villa to check out…and Headed East.

on the way to our next destination, Isla Verde(san juan area), we stopped at the Arecibo radio telescope…another site used for filming James Bond Goldeneye…also used in the movie ”contact” with jodie foster. the 20-acre dish is dubbed “an ear to heaven”. The dish is 1,000 feet in diameter and 167 feet deep…but they won’t let you skate it. bummer.

leaving Arecibo, we headed towards Isla Verde. as we neared San Juan, the roads, traffic and drivers got even more horrible…I won’t even go into the HELLISH drive. it sucked. period.

we finally reached our hotel/casino on the beach(pretty much across the road from the airport). pretty crazy ritzy place. hung out by the casino and checked out the salsa band and hootchee-mamas…then got some dinner and some sleep.

the jet airplanes started flying in/out at 4sumptin a.m. and woke us up. dang. with sleep not possible, we did the next best thing…we went down to the pool and hot tub at 5am and enjoyed the facilities to ourselves. then we laid on the beachfront hammocks and watched the sun rise over the ocean. who needs sleep anyway!

the ocean here is flat as a lake today, so I don’t have to go surfing. just as well, my arms/shoulders are about locked up.

today, we’re heading to San Juan Olde Towne and the fort and lighthouse and stuff. thankfully, there’s a bus to take us there…I’m about done with driving around these shoddy roads and dealing with the A-hole people on this end of the island.

p

many Young Adults seem to enjoy the “18 to drank”  laws here…

friday morning, we went on a horsey trail ride with Tropical Trail Rides. Turns out, we were the only ones to make reservations for Friday morning…so me and robin got a DE-LUX private ride! Our guide was very cool…as was Mango, my redheaded horsey.

We rode through the Almond trees and forests along the beach. In the woods, there were several large concrete slabs…they once had missles sitting on them, aimed at Cuba during the Missle Crisis. Of course, the best part was…riding Mango down on Survival Beach, ocean on one side, forests and cliffs on the other…and no red clay. We explored some cool Sea Caves at the base of the cliffs, under what was the Ramey Army Base…now a Coast Guard station. yah…it was a good time!

after a some refreshing snorkelling back at Villa Tropical, and Red Snapper feesh tacos…we headed back to Jobos for more surfing.

DOOOOD! crystal clear water, thigh-waist high, clean glassy crumbling waves lining up with/breaking along the reef…go right and just keep sliding that log down the line. I got a few really long rides…50meters+! I ended those rides grinning from ear to ear…then I about wanted to cry, when I saw how far I had to paddle to get back to the lineup! but I’ll tell’ya…this past month of working out/swimming at the Y, really prepared me for the task.

we were gonna go check out Rincon, the historic Surf Town…but for some reason, I was starting to feel a little bit tired and didn’t feel like driving an hour to a beach when I was staying at one, ya’know what i mean?

so we chilled at the crib, cooked up the rest of the Red Snapper and enjoyed the sunset with MEDALLAs and Gasolinas…and it was allll good.

after dark, we walked down the lane to Ola Lolas, and enjoyed some cold sports drinks and stuff with the local surf/dive/beach hippie crowd. OMG, this place is so cool…ALL the people are so nice and friendly. John, the owner is truly happy to see you and stuff. it’s kinda’ like QuinT’s GarageMahal…’cept with tables, chairs, and Iguanas…serving many cervezas and mixed dranks…and John’s wife works the kitchen(in the house), making the best grilled chicken sammiches and other tasties. If you ever go to Puerto Rico, GO to Ola Lolas at Isabela/Shacks beach…and tell John we sent ya…<G>

on thursday, after skating Aguadilla Skatepark…

and a FUN little surf session at Jobos, we headed to the Rio Camuy Caverns. very cool BIG limestone caves and stuff. Turns out that this is the cave system used in the James Bond Goldeneye movie…where they had the big evil computer system setup and stuff. There were some big’ol bats up in there…

On the way back to the crib, we stopped at Crash Boats beach…we went to the Association de la Pescadoras and bought a bag of waaaay fresh Red Snapper(3 nice feesh).

Grilling fish, sipping refreshments on the deck…and watching the beautiful sunset over the ocean…dewd, that’s a highly reccomended way to end yer day!!!

yesterday, the waves had picked up. I caught some fun rides on the 9′6″ Nat Young…there’s nothing like flying across the water, looking down and seeing brain coral, elkhorn coral and stuff passing by, right beneath the crystal clear water…knowing if you fall, you might end up bleeding. I shook hands with some elkhorn coral and got a little roughed up…it’s hard to de-program the “Tybee Jump-off”…I’ve been working hard at laying back down on the board at the end of the ride. Today, I’m gonna surf Jobos…there’s an inside sandbar break there…a little less sketchy than the GNAR reef at Shacks. I might take a short board today. Villa Tropical has rental boards…$50 for your stay, and there’s a nice choice of boards, take any board out whenever you want.niiiice.

the Aguadilla skatepark is pretty cool. smooth concrete, pretty good flow…but it’s got some funkiness to it. the “pool” is only like 7′ deep, and the deep end is a tight kink-bowl, with what seems like accidental over-vert.

I’m about to go get a morning skate session, then after a little surfing/snorkelling and lurnch, we’re heading to the Rio Camuy Caverns.

P’s outt

  southeast of Tybee viddy#1

monday morning…ATL rush hour…monsoon flooding…I-85 southbound fully shut down…found alternate route…missed the planned flight, flew out a couple hours later…arrived in Puerto Rico, just in time for San Juan afternoon rush hour. doh!checked in to Villa Tropical in Isabela at sunset. very cool, very friendly…super laid-back surf vibe abounds. went around the corner to Ola Lolas…a little bar/cafe…more like a tropical shed/patio setup in  John’s front yard. ahhhh, the life…met some new friends over cold Presidentes.

went for a touristing drive this morning, got a flat tire. No big surprise, the roads here are beyond BEAT! huge potholes and stuff…few traffic signs, nobody uses turn signals, lane stripes don’t seem to concern anyone, lanes merge 2 into 1 without warning…Robin keeps saying, “driver’s choice” when we get to these intersections with no signs and stuff…and I’m just guessing what most of the signs I see mean…<G>

went out for a little surf…not much for waves, but I gotta get wet, yo! Shacks Beach is crazy. you take off in shallow water where the reef bumps up…it’s only a few feet deep and you see coral heads popping outta the water to your left, big blue Parrotfish swimming under you…make the takeoff and go right, away from the scary elkhorn coral garden…I admit, it was kinda scary/sketchy.

tomorrow, we go fix the tire and head to Ramey Base Aguadilla skatepark.

adios…

p

please READ the title of MY blog;

PATIO’s RAMBLING AIMLESS BLOG

  moved to a future date, due to rain…check with the Skate Shop for details.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SKATESHOP

 we’ll be in Cognito next week…leave a message and I’ll get back to you.

staying oceanfront on the point, yo…

+18° 30′ 52.84″, -67° 6′ 5.68″

weather report

 an excellent time was had by all. or most. well, most def’ some of them cats was Cheshire.

The launch ramp session was goin full-steam…until a technical difficulty sent the ramp behind the wall.

the Deathrace was chock-fulla controversy. something about following the chalk arrows…in the end, dustin(the wind) won, james slept.

the switch-stance race was fun…until the fast, carving backerds corners. kinda tricky.

Doug won the manual contest, with John challenging closely. the final between them was 3 runs each, and they kept busting the previous best distance…great balance/control for sure!

The park race was another wild time. several tumbles and bent fence posts, but no real injuries. I actually made it through the course with a decent time, popping outta the deep end and rollin through…woohoo

thanks to those who brought/cooked food and snacks and them 5dolla pizzas seemed to be a hit as well…

most important-thanks to TY2K for once again putting together a most excellent use of a football saturday.

btw…O.G. GeorgiaSkater Fred Franklin(Progressive Team Skater back in the day) showed up and enjoyed the festivities, and was a fun guy to talk to. Sounds like he’s got some tasty 70’s pool pics to share with us!!! It’s always good to hear there’s more Georgia skate history out there.

links to SKITCHFEST photos and videos;

CLICK HERE for viddy from manual contest and stuff…

“this is why we can’t have nice things…” (click for Bob Brussack’s skitchfest gallery)

Wiremoto got the bear a ladder so he could get outta’ the bowl…

after SKITCHFEST repairs will be needed.

For the Complete Story, CLICK HERE.

click here and go there

 SPOA weekend hours will see a drastic reduction, as ACC Leisure Services runs it’s PRIVATE money maker at the PUBLIC Skatepark. Saturdays, SPOA opens to the public at 11. Sundays, SPOA opens to the public from 12-3 and after 5.

First off, ACC Leisure Services changed SPOA’s Sunday Morning opening time to NOON! There’s been a whole community of skatepark users, fitness walkers and others at the park EVERY Sunday morning. I know that…because I am one of the people who was out there every sunday morning.

Shortening the park hours was a way to save money??? They pay a guy $7.50/hr to go out there and unlock the gate and hang out. So by shortening the hours at SPOA, they save $22.50…and have ruined the Sunday morning plans of dozens of Skatepark users and fitness walkers, etc.

in light of those savings of $22.50 per Sunday…CLICK HERE for another article, where the same ACC Leisure services is working hard to spend 2.3 MILLION dollars on another tennis center. sheesh, like there’s not enough unused tennis courts around here already…

So Now…for you people who work jobs during the week and like to skate SPOA on the weekends…for you people who like to visit Athens to skate SPOA and spend money in our local economy. yer’skrewed!!!

ACC Leisure Services is having some sort of skate/bmx lessons…at which time the PUBLIC SKATEPARK will be off limits to THE PUBLIC. dang, that just doesn’t sound right…

Here’s more info and who to contact;

Hot Wheels I and II
The Athens-Clarke County Department of Leisure Services begins registration for Hot Wheels on Monday, August 17.

Registration is accepted at Bishop Park, 705 Sunset Drive, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. � 4:30 p.m.

This program, designed for children ages 6-14 years, is a co-ed BMX and skateboarding program for the beginner and intermediate bikes and skateboarders. Hot Wheels Session 1 is scheduled for Septembers 12-13; 19-20; 26-27, and October 3-4. Saturday sessions take place 9:00 � 11:00 a.m. and Sunday sessions are set for 3:00 � 5:00 p.m. Hot Wheels Session II is scheduled for October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 26, 31 and November 7 Saturday sessions take place 9:00 � 11:00 a.m. and Sunday sessions are set for 3:00 � 5:00 p.m All sessions take place at the Skate Park of Athens at Southeast Clarke Park on Lexington Road.

The program fee is $42 for Athens-Clarke County Residents and $63 for non-county residents. Scholarships are available for qualifying Athens-Clarke County residents.

For more information, please call Camille Branch at (706) 613-3871.

CLICK HERE for the story…

 SKITCH’s official website

for those who are wondering…it’s just a bunch of skaters having a session. and hanging out telling lies and and eating $5 pizzas and of course, skating…

deathrace around the park, in the endless quest for cardiovascular fitness…about a mile.

 get back on the bussss…

skateboard hockey, known as SKOCKEY. buy you a regular wood hockey racquet at academy for $10 and bring IT.

and other fun activities and stuff

check georgiaskater’s photo gallery for pictures from previous skitchfest events…or google it up on the youtubes.

p