If you’ve never experienced the Sunday, late afternoon “seating” (a euphemism if ever there was one!), here’s a small glimpse of the scene. A new (thank you SBH Online!) friend was celebrating his quite young birthday there today & graciously, when meeting at Eddy’s earlier this week, invited me to join the party!
Between lunch at Ti Corail, however, & a few afternoon hours helping Wendy in cleaning debris from the garden (a bad business plan for me!), I slipped on some loose gravel in the road & fell, crashing my head on the pavement. Not knocked out, but a sufficient impact that the Apple operator’s voice came over my watch to ask if I required help! (She’s becoming a good friend!) Wendy wasn’t nearby, but a passing car of kind souls stopped & helped me get up! (The alternative was to drive over me!). St. Barths people are the best!
That was the end of garden clean-up for the day! But, still wanting to be part of the birthday celebration at Nikki Beach, as I committed to do, I rallied with a shower & clean clothes.
So, here I was at Nikki Beach . . . about 5:45. I’ve been there on numerous occasions . . . particularly in years that I can claim were “younger!” Though I never danced on a table. Always fun times, nonetheless, & tonight was no exception!
Tonight, however, marked a milestone! . . . with a large group of young, impeccably turned-out young people anxiously waiting behind a red velvet rope for admission, the guardian at the “gate” waved me in! Who knows! Maybe he saw me fallen in the road earlier in the afternoon. I guess that I’ve crossed a milestone in St. Barths life — living long enough seems to be vital as a guest.
The Nikki Beach late-Sunday afternoon scene is unlike what I’ve ever seen elsewhere . . . surpassing The Hamptons & Fire Island. (Of course, I haven’t experienced South of France . . . so I’m a neophyte in such worldly hedonism.) Nonetheless, the Nikki Beach weekend party scene challenges my frames of reference . . . not appallingly, but simply because it’s a culture that is a bit overwhelming in my life.
The party goes on . . . how it has changed since this venue was “The Beach Club,” 40+ years ago!
In the interim, my thoughts turn to our friend Jimmy Buffett & a song about earlier rockin’ times:
”Hello, everybody
This a a little tale about a hotel in the Caribbean that I used to own
Well it wasn't really a hotel
It was a patio bar with funky rooms and an outdoor disco with bad wiring
Some people said if you looked between the cracks of the floorboards of our dance floor, you would see Hell
If you ever went there, you'd know what I'm talking about
If you never did, then thought we'd sing you a little musical souvenir from another place and another time
Back in the old St. Bart's
You know, in the beginning of rock and roll, Bill Haley used to rock around the clock
Back in the late '80s in St. Bart's, we used to rock around the rock
Here we go
Some say it was a planet, some say it was a rock
For five wild years in Lorient, the party never stopped
There were pirates from the Indies, there were models from Paris
There were locals and New Yorkers and the Brazilian Navy
By mini-Mokes and scooters, in cabs and stolen cars
Came the creatures of the evening from St. Martin and from Mars”
Boy! Great times on this great rock!
Between lunch at Ti Corail, however, & a few afternoon hours helping Wendy in cleaning debris from the garden (a bad business plan for me!), I slipped on some loose gravel in the road & fell, crashing my head on the pavement. Not knocked out, but a sufficient impact that the Apple operator’s voice came over my watch to ask if I required help! (She’s becoming a good friend!) Wendy wasn’t nearby, but a passing car of kind souls stopped & helped me get up! (The alternative was to drive over me!). St. Barths people are the best!
That was the end of garden clean-up for the day! But, still wanting to be part of the birthday celebration at Nikki Beach, as I committed to do, I rallied with a shower & clean clothes.
So, here I was at Nikki Beach . . . about 5:45. I’ve been there on numerous occasions . . . particularly in years that I can claim were “younger!” Though I never danced on a table. Always fun times, nonetheless, & tonight was no exception!
Tonight, however, marked a milestone! . . . with a large group of young, impeccably turned-out young people anxiously waiting behind a red velvet rope for admission, the guardian at the “gate” waved me in! Who knows! Maybe he saw me fallen in the road earlier in the afternoon. I guess that I’ve crossed a milestone in St. Barths life — living long enough seems to be vital as a guest.
The Nikki Beach late-Sunday afternoon scene is unlike what I’ve ever seen elsewhere . . . surpassing The Hamptons & Fire Island. (Of course, I haven’t experienced South of France . . . so I’m a neophyte in such worldly hedonism.) Nonetheless, the Nikki Beach weekend party scene challenges my frames of reference . . . not appallingly, but simply because it’s a culture that is a bit overwhelming in my life.
The party goes on . . . how it has changed since this venue was “The Beach Club,” 40+ years ago!
In the interim, my thoughts turn to our friend Jimmy Buffett & a song about earlier rockin’ times:
”Hello, everybody
This a a little tale about a hotel in the Caribbean that I used to own
Well it wasn't really a hotel
It was a patio bar with funky rooms and an outdoor disco with bad wiring
Some people said if you looked between the cracks of the floorboards of our dance floor, you would see Hell
If you ever went there, you'd know what I'm talking about
If you never did, then thought we'd sing you a little musical souvenir from another place and another time
Back in the old St. Bart's
You know, in the beginning of rock and roll, Bill Haley used to rock around the clock
Back in the late '80s in St. Bart's, we used to rock around the rock
Here we go
Some say it was a planet, some say it was a rock
For five wild years in Lorient, the party never stopped
There were pirates from the Indies, there were models from Paris
There were locals and New Yorkers and the Brazilian Navy
By mini-Mokes and scooters, in cabs and stolen cars
Came the creatures of the evening from St. Martin and from Mars”
Boy! Great times on this great rock!
