10% Tanning Tax.....Are You Kidding?????

Apparently Congress has passed a Health Care Bill which includes a 10% tax on indoor tanning effective in July. I am a middle of the road political type of guy but I find it a bit peculiar that this was passed during a black president's rein. I don't tan indoors very often, but after a Christmas present of a tanning package, I found it nice to get a head start before our Mexican vacation.....especially when it is so warming and relaxing on a cold winters day. Furthermore, my daughter's first job was at a tanning salon while she was in High School/College on her way to becoming a Physicians Assistant.

It all reminds me of a time when I first acquired my boat. I asked my fishing friend Slinky, a black man from St. Croix if he wanted to go sailing with me. He said "NO MON! Ja won't get me on dat boat! Black people don't like boats! Ja tell me ya taking me to a betta place und I never see my home again. Dats why black people don't like boats!" Of course he was just kidding, but he never did take me up on the offer.

We have all seen beach goers bundled up in 90 degrees, either from real problems or taking their doctors warnings far too seriously, but they are far and few between. Still, I have a problem buying this as a "Medical Tax."

How much money do they really expect to raise from this tax? Already there are two tanning salons for sale in our city. Do they want to tax the sunshine next? Perhaps taxing Afro-Sheen would raise more money......can you imagine?

Take Care All and.....Don't get too much Sun.

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Back to the Beach in St. Augustine, FL

Terri and I spent 4 days in our nations oldest city last week. St Augustine has always been one of my favorite places and it was nice to return to the beauty and history of the city. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the Bridge of Lions was reopening after an almost five year long renovation. The beautiful bascule bridge (draw bridge) was built in the 1920s and is now in top notch condition. The temporary bridge will be removed in the next 3 or 4 months and the concrete from it used for an artificial reef. The major ceremony will be in 2011 after the Lions that sit at the base of the bridge are replaced. We crossed it on the first day it reopened.

We arrived to some wet and chilly weather but made the best of it. We did some shopping at the very nice Prime Outlet Mall and dined at several of the areas excellent restaurants. We tried The Seafood Kitchen, The Sunset Grill, and my all time favorite....Salt Water Cowboys. Salt Water Cowboys sits on a salt marsh viewing the intracoastal waterway and features authentic turn of the century Florida cuisine in the tradition of an old fish camp. The views from the restaurant are beautiful and the food is excellent.

I also stopped at Sailors Exchange, a marine consignment store to look at parts for the renovation of my boat.

Even on the chilly or rainy days we took a drive down the beach. We also drove to a beach near Marineland for a while. The last day we were there it warmed to the 70s and we spent the afternoon on the beach under a cloudless sky. It was the perfect end to a vacation in one of my favorite cities.

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Way Down South...In Mexico!

About a month ago, some friends from Michigan that we had met in Port Charlotte told us about a special they had booked to Barcelo Maya Resort on the Mexican Rivera. We booked our vacation through cheapcaribbean.com for about $900 per person for 7 nights including airfare from Atlanta, transfers, drinks, food, water sports and tips. It had been almost 20 years since I had visited "the land of the Mayans" but this would be my first trip to an all inclusive resort. Terri had been to an all inclusive resort only once during a scuba diving trip in the Caribbean. After over a 2 hour flight delay due to.......snow in Atlanta?...a rare occurrence, we were on our way. We arrived to find a five star resort with open air lobbies, several restaurants, several bars, huge meandering swimming pools, and catamaran, kayak, and windsurfing water sports all included. The resort far exceeded our expectations.

Most days I started the day by walking to the beach to reserve my Hobie Cat Wave sailboat, then we went to breakfast at the excellent buffet restaurant where they would fresh cook my Hueveros Rancheros (eggs ranch style) and the large assortments of Spanish sausage, mangoes, papaya and mimosa (champagne & orange juice). After breakfast we would get a Bloody Mary and then go to the beach or pool. We enjoyed conversation with our friends from Michigan, nine of them made the trip. On some days our friends would reserve a Hobie Cat as well and have me skipper the boat for them. My wasted youth sailing and racing Hobie Cats came in handy and I got to sail more than the 30 minutes a day allowed on the catamarans. I also windsurfed on the Hi-Fly Windsurfers available and tried out the Hobie Kayaks a couple of days. Other activities included swimming in the enormous pools or the beautiful turquoise Caribbean Sea. We would usually fit a light lunch in there somewhere between Mojitos, Mosquito Coasts, Mango Tangos, or Margaritas.

At night we would generally eat at the enormous buffet which featured main entrees including prime rib, grouper, pork & chicken dishes, shrimp, certain exotic foods, delicious desserts and a wide array of fruits and vegetables. A couple of nights we made reservations for the four smaller full service restaurants which include one for steak, seafood, Chinese and Italian. All restaurants including whatever you wanted to drink was all inclusive. With all the free drinks you might expect some rowdiness, but we found this not to be the case. Everyone seemed to be well behaved, happy and content. Perhaps if we all had an abundance of free food and drink, plenty of water, sunshine and water toys, the world would be a much happier and peaceful place.

At night, the resort provided entertainment, usually consisting of karaoke, dancers, circus and comedy acts in the large auditorium. There were also roaming Mexican Folk Bands, men with monkeys or parrots and Mayan attired people with which you could have your picture taken. Natural entertainment such as 2 foot Iguanas that roam the grounds could also be seen occasionally.

Arriving at the airport for our return trip we stopped at Jimmy Buffett's Air Margaritaville for a Cuban Sandwich and one last Corona Beer. The restaurant features a large replica of Buffett's Sea Plane hanging above it as well as pictures, soveniers and the singer performing on television. Did I mention that Jimmy Buffett is my favorite singer?

It was a great trip and one we will always remember, a Beach Bum's Paradise!

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