We Have Begun Human Testing
Guys, things have been pretty crazy around here. Sorry for the delay in my blog. However, tonight, I find myself full of pork fried rice, wine, and a fancy cigarette a nice Jamaican man gave me, so I can finally get to work and catch you up. Also, I am going to attempt my first double feature- publishing two blog entries at once. Let's see how this goes...
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As the little sparrow bravely leaves the nest; as the astronaut blasts off atop the rocket; as the Titanic leaves on its maiden voyage; all great things must have a beginning. Over the last couple of months, we have thrown out three full dumpsters of trash, brought hot water to the facility, and cleaned this place up pretty well. So, after polishing this place up, we decided to strike out on our plan. Rooms were organized, the kitchen was cleaned, and toilets were repaired. We found ourselves ready to have actual people stay at the place. Or, as I like to put it, we were ready for human testing.
Our very first guests were friends of our friend Tina, the owner of Mis Amigos, a fantastic Mexican restaurant on the island. They were coming to the island to do some business, and needed a short-notice place to stay. They needed a place to crash for a few days, I needed test subjects; it was a match made in heaven. Chand, Tim, and Steve, hailing from the upper northeast, were subject to the untested Banyan Inn. We were fairly sure they would survive. The guys were awesome, and, in addition, fixed our oven, provided a sound system for our first party (a going-away party for one of the dive instructors from the place next door), and brought their own massive grill. (We will expect this level of effort from all future Banyan Inn guests.) We also got to enjoy great conversations on the deck into the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the day, I am proud to announce that our first guests started as strangers and left as friends- a tradition I hope to keep up with all Banyan Inn guests.
Our second group of guests was Amy's mom, dad, and her mom's friend Elizabeth. Now, I not only needed for them to survive, but I also needed them to have a fairly good time. Of course with parents coming down we needed to up our game substantially. For the three days prior to Mama coming down, we cleaned, organized, and got this place up to mother-in-law standards. Of course, I knew I would get straight answers from Mama when she came down, because the one thing you can say about my mother-in-law: the chick keeps it REAL. I knew that Mama would give me an honest answer about how we were doing. Also, it gave us a chance to be real hosts on the island, doing some touristy things, and also learn a few new things about the island and the things available to do on it. We had a great time with Elizabeth and Mama, found a kick-ass snorkeling spot on the north side of the island, and had a beautiful dinner with Amy, Elizabeth, and Amy's mom and dad, where Amy's parents could both give good advice and beam with pride on the life their daughter had made.
Amy's dad, in a dad-of-the-year kind of way, came down for one night. I was pretty sure we could keep him alive, but with any Depwe, often times it is not in your control. Otto had been staying with him, and as soon as Otto got his papers, Randy brought Otto down to us. Yes, the man flew to another country to bring his daughter her dog, for the sole reason that he knew she wanted to see Otto. Amy's dad, in addition to bringing Otto down from Texas, found the after-hours whiskey distributor on the island, complete with delivery to our door. ("What do you mean they don't sell Crown (Royal) after 9?!") Bleary-eyed, we got Randy to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
All-in-all, it was a great way to kick off our adventure with our family. It also reminded us that we didn't move to Mars, at a time when we were getting pretty homesick. Our finest moment was, as Mama left, we asked her what she would change, and she said "it's fine the way it is." As I said, Mama tells you how it is, and we beamed with pride knowing that the place was up to her standards. BOOM- Mother-in-law certified. We now had a standard that we could live up to.
Riding high on our family approval, we went to work to improve even more. We wanted to "take it to the next level," where actual unbiased guests would feel at home. Amy and I sanded and painted beds, washed and painted walls, painted lockers, and set up what would become our prototype room, up for business.
In the end, the room turned out great. Not to pat ourselves on the back too hard, but if you told me that I could come to the Turks and Caicos Islands, stay for $50 a night (the current airbnb price), and walk to three different dive operations, I would take it in a heartbeat. Also, if three other buddies came down, we could split the room four ways, making the stay almost free. (SHAMELESS PLUG: if you want to know how the diving is down here now, visit our friends Mickey and Jayne's Flamingo Divers page on Facebook or on flamingodivers.com. They have great videos of their trips.)
I am pleased to announce that the day after we put our room on airbnb, we got our first booking. I am also pleased to announce that we have our first booked-to-capacity weekend coming in August. We are now racing to get the two other rooms on-line to accommodate the bookings.
It was around this time that Amy took a well-deserved break. Amy needed to head back to Chicago for, among other things, getting fingerprinted. (A story for another blog.) Also, Amy didn't have a chance to do a farewell tour of Chicago, and it was a great opportunity to see her friends and recharge her karmic batteries.
I, of course, took this as an opportunity to make my "sonic entrance" to the island. I had work to do. I had music to play. So, I made my usual pact with the dogs when Amy is away ("you're on your own, good luck") and set off to renovate the other two rental rooms...
Next up: Sonic Entrance
***
As the little sparrow bravely leaves the nest; as the astronaut blasts off atop the rocket; as the Titanic leaves on its maiden voyage; all great things must have a beginning. Over the last couple of months, we have thrown out three full dumpsters of trash, brought hot water to the facility, and cleaned this place up pretty well. So, after polishing this place up, we decided to strike out on our plan. Rooms were organized, the kitchen was cleaned, and toilets were repaired. We found ourselves ready to have actual people stay at the place. Or, as I like to put it, we were ready for human testing.
Our very first guests were friends of our friend Tina, the owner of Mis Amigos, a fantastic Mexican restaurant on the island. They were coming to the island to do some business, and needed a short-notice place to stay. They needed a place to crash for a few days, I needed test subjects; it was a match made in heaven. Chand, Tim, and Steve, hailing from the upper northeast, were subject to the untested Banyan Inn. We were fairly sure they would survive. The guys were awesome, and, in addition, fixed our oven, provided a sound system for our first party (a going-away party for one of the dive instructors from the place next door), and brought their own massive grill. (We will expect this level of effort from all future Banyan Inn guests.) We also got to enjoy great conversations on the deck into the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the day, I am proud to announce that our first guests started as strangers and left as friends- a tradition I hope to keep up with all Banyan Inn guests.
Our second group of guests was Amy's mom, dad, and her mom's friend Elizabeth. Now, I not only needed for them to survive, but I also needed them to have a fairly good time. Of course with parents coming down we needed to up our game substantially. For the three days prior to Mama coming down, we cleaned, organized, and got this place up to mother-in-law standards. Of course, I knew I would get straight answers from Mama when she came down, because the one thing you can say about my mother-in-law: the chick keeps it REAL. I knew that Mama would give me an honest answer about how we were doing. Also, it gave us a chance to be real hosts on the island, doing some touristy things, and also learn a few new things about the island and the things available to do on it. We had a great time with Elizabeth and Mama, found a kick-ass snorkeling spot on the north side of the island, and had a beautiful dinner with Amy, Elizabeth, and Amy's mom and dad, where Amy's parents could both give good advice and beam with pride on the life their daughter had made. Amy's dad, in a dad-of-the-year kind of way, came down for one night. I was pretty sure we could keep him alive, but with any Depwe, often times it is not in your control. Otto had been staying with him, and as soon as Otto got his papers, Randy brought Otto down to us. Yes, the man flew to another country to bring his daughter her dog, for the sole reason that he knew she wanted to see Otto. Amy's dad, in addition to bringing Otto down from Texas, found the after-hours whiskey distributor on the island, complete with delivery to our door. ("What do you mean they don't sell Crown (Royal) after 9?!") Bleary-eyed, we got Randy to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
All-in-all, it was a great way to kick off our adventure with our family. It also reminded us that we didn't move to Mars, at a time when we were getting pretty homesick. Our finest moment was, as Mama left, we asked her what she would change, and she said "it's fine the way it is." As I said, Mama tells you how it is, and we beamed with pride knowing that the place was up to her standards. BOOM- Mother-in-law certified. We now had a standard that we could live up to.
Riding high on our family approval, we went to work to improve even more. We wanted to "take it to the next level," where actual unbiased guests would feel at home. Amy and I sanded and painted beds, washed and painted walls, painted lockers, and set up what would become our prototype room, up for business.
In the end, the room turned out great. Not to pat ourselves on the back too hard, but if you told me that I could come to the Turks and Caicos Islands, stay for $50 a night (the current airbnb price), and walk to three different dive operations, I would take it in a heartbeat. Also, if three other buddies came down, we could split the room four ways, making the stay almost free. (SHAMELESS PLUG: if you want to know how the diving is down here now, visit our friends Mickey and Jayne's Flamingo Divers page on Facebook or on flamingodivers.com. They have great videos of their trips.)
I am pleased to announce that the day after we put our room on airbnb, we got our first booking. I am also pleased to announce that we have our first booked-to-capacity weekend coming in August. We are now racing to get the two other rooms on-line to accommodate the bookings.
It was around this time that Amy took a well-deserved break. Amy needed to head back to Chicago for, among other things, getting fingerprinted. (A story for another blog.) Also, Amy didn't have a chance to do a farewell tour of Chicago, and it was a great opportunity to see her friends and recharge her karmic batteries.
I, of course, took this as an opportunity to make my "sonic entrance" to the island. I had work to do. I had music to play. So, I made my usual pact with the dogs when Amy is away ("you're on your own, good luck") and set off to renovate the other two rental rooms...
Next up: Sonic Entrance
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