Sometimes, Key West IS Best ! - A Week on The High Seas With Las Tres Reinas (part I)

I have many circles of friends, kindred spirits that have gathered along the way and I am lucky enough to call sisters or brothers. Las Tres Reinas is a special triangle within one of these circles, comprised of my nearest and dearest friends; Queen Melila, who I met in college, and one of hers, Queen Oneca. It’s a beautiful thing when worlds come together seamlessly and we get along famously! Together, we planned our 2nd Carnival cruise for the end of August, 2008 to celebrate Melila’s 30th birthday in September.

Day1

We set sail on a hazy Sunday afternoon from Tampa’s port, originally headed for Grand Cayman. However, due to Hurricane Gustav’s activity in the Western Caribbean and Hannah’s antics in the east, they decided to redirect us to…Key West. Can’t say I was thrilled, since I’ve already passed through there once and more importantly, it is still on American soil, something we all were trying to escape. Nevertheless, a hurricane is not to be messed with and we were all glad the trip hadn’t been canceled.

Sunday afternoon and early evening was spent getting accustomed to the rocking motion, making last minute phone calls, changing our clothes, and dining at the late seating (8.15pm). We had a few drinks and checked out the jazz club (Satchmo’s) featuring a live funk band of mixed Asian ethnic descent. They were pretty good, especially their sassy and confident female lead singer.  They ended up holding us down most of the week, although I honestly don’t know how they can sing “We Are Family” as many times as they did without starting to pull out their hair or at least moon the audience. True professionalism… Read more

Do you like Merengue?

This is the question the tall manager at a local shoe store asks as I try on a pair of wedges. “You must let me take you out to dance tonight. You will love it. I will come get you at 8 o’clock.”  Surprised by his forwardness, I giggle off his advance with my friends and ask him about the local nightlife in Santo Domingo.

Merengue, the national dance of the Dominican Republic is played in clubs and bars throughout the island. Young and old will grab a partner to swing and show their fancy foot work. Though Ruben, our friendly manager’s offer was tempting, we decided to venture on our own to find out what Santo Domingo had to offer.

After dinner at El Meson de la Cava, we hoped to find a fun place to dance outside of the colonial zone where we were staying. After driving to many different dance clubs that were closed or looked a little shady, we finally ended up at Copa which is connected to the Hotel Melia. As we entered the club through a side entrance of the huge hotel property, we looked around at the empty dance floor and few occupied tables and chairs and we quickly began to feel disappointed. It seemed as though we had not found a fun night spot. We found a few seats at a round high table and were quickly greeted by a very friendly server. We decided to suck it up and order drinks. The DJ was playing a great mix of music, the drinks were great, and overall the atmosphere was nice even if it was empty…silly girls. This soon changed! Read more