Panama - End of Day One

Sunset, beer, tequila and watching a boat drop a net for the catch. Cannot figure out what is going on. Will watch and look. Try to learn.

The boat is barely off the beach where the waves break. He has dropped a flag to signify the start of the net. We watch, he moves slowly and is about a mile from shore, having stretched the net out to sea. Different from the beach scene earlier in the day.

The sun disappears, we can still see the sun in the distance. A light flashing every so often. OK, he wins. We are hungry and there is no sign of him pulling up net.

We decided to go to a restaurant that we passed on the drive-in. It’s only about 5 miles up the street, on top of a hill. The Camerones.

The place is all lit up with lots of chairs. 4 tables are occupied. One is a table of eight, that happens to be the gringos staying at out place. The restaurant has table cloths and lots of candles, but no walls. Open air with a thatched roof overhead. Very nice. Our server brings the menu, which is in Spanish and English, and offers to get cocktails. Beer and tequila is a good start. Ceviche - cool and refreshing - either with shrimp, octopus or fish. We choose fish. He’s off to get our starters and we continue reading the menu.

I read two words (actually 4 in Spanish) shrimp and garlic. That makes it an easy decision for me. Tracy is found of rellaneos, usually breaded and fried peppers stuffed with all kinds of goodies. Looking at the menu, we were not sure stuffed with what, so we tried to ask.

Both are pork, but one was jowls and the other intestine. Let’s go with the jowls.

Drinks and ceviche arrive - yum! Fish, diced onions “cooked” in a vinaigrette. Perfect.

Large shrimp with heads on sauteed in garlic and butter. So simple, so good.

The rellaneos are four small roasted red peppers cleaned and peeled. Stuffed and smothered with pork. Very good, but not what we are used to.

The gringos speak as they are leaving, acknowledging Tracy as the fisherman from today on the beach.

Dessert, no thank you, but they do have a cheese plate. In Panama ? Why not.
It is supposed to be 5 cheeses but our server tells us they have only 3. It’s ok, we will still try it. I think they only have 2 ( brie and manchego) but they put enough on the plate, that we took some home for a pupu platter the next afternoon. All in all, a nice evening out.

Back to Las Sirenas #11.

Santa Clara - Panama - Day One

So…
Most mornings are very quiet in Santa Clara - Panama. The sky is gray with low clouds not yet burned off from the soon to be hot sun. Coffee is good and strong. We sit and listen to the waves crash, the birds singing and the heat thunder rumble.

A girl on horseback comes riding up the beach with a stray horse along side. He’s at full gallop and kicking his hind legs, trying to play with the other horse. Other guests are starting to come down to the beach for their morning walk. It’s a typical morning in Santa Clara- Panama. It’s nice to be in #11 - right on the beach.

For breakfast, scrambled eggs with cheese, tomatoes and chrizo sausage. Corn cakes with orange marmalade and strong coffee. Then a long walk on the beach.

We see some fisherman on the beach. They are slowly dragging in a net they had set hours before. It’s a team effort to drag the net in. They start about a hundred yards apart, in teams of eight to twelve, slowly pulling in the net that was stretched out to sea, in hopes of catching fish. As the net gets closer to the beach, more people come down to observe. It’s slow and tedious work.

My “gringo” husband has stepped in and has been helping pull for about 15 minutes. As the center of the net is visible, he yells to the others “Hey, how about some help?”. The eight “gringos” jump in to help.

Finally, the center of the net is on the beach. Fish are jumping and making a lot of motion. Pulling the net in means working with the waves. The fish in the nets weigh it down and it takes all efforts to get “the catch” to the beach.

Lots of fish. Lots of birds overhead. Quite a production. The net is in the sand where the waves hit the beach. Fish, eels and sting rays are in the net. The Locals are throwing the rays to the side. A woman is kneeling down with a knife, cutting on the sting rays. We asked what she was doing. It’s difficult, as she does not speak English and we do not speak Spanish. But she does say “tongue”, “medicine” and “asthme”. [As a side note, we really need to learn Spanish. How ridiculous not to know the language]. Other locals that were working the net have plastic bags or plastic laundry baskets. They begin throwing fish into each. Birds are swarming overhead. People are throwing small fish into the air, as the birds are diving to catch them.

The rain begins to move in. The Fishermen are happy with their catch. Everyone eats tonight !

Relaxing on the beach, eating and reading filled our afternoon.

Arriving in Panama

So…

Our jobs afford us the flight benefits and the time for travel. A couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves on our way to the Republic of Panama. It’s our second trip to Santa Clara, Panama - a tiny fishing village an hour and half west of Panama City. Beach and relaxation here we come. The drive is a an easy one, once you get to the PanAmerican Highway. A straight hour and fifteen minute drive, no turns, no exits, just straight ahead.

We did make two stops for cold 8oz beers at .35cents each. A quick stop at the “REY” a 24 hour supermarket for provisions for our stay, then on to Las Sirenas, where we find Mr. Inez waiting in his usual spot. He is the resident innkeeper at Las Sirenas, speaks very little english, but takes good care of you. He must remember us, as he takes our credit card, gives us the key and does not walk us to the cottage - like the first time.

Las Sirenas has hilltop cottages overlooking the Pacific Ocean or cottages right on the beach. We choose # 11 - the closest cottage to the beach. The cottage has an air-conditioned bedroom, living room (with sofa beds), porch (with hammock) and a fully-equipped kitchen. We turn the a/c all the way up, unpack our groceries, and change into shorts. A couple of .35 cents beers later, we truly begin our vacation.

Fourth of July

We started early with a pre-fourth of July dinner at Repast. We’d been there once before and really enjoyed it, so the choice was easy.

Chilled summer corn soup, ginger shrimp summer rolls and fried oysters for me. A foie gras appetizer special and grilled hanger steak for Tracy. Martinis and Wine. We are off to a really great start.

In the morning, we get up early to drive to Serenbe. They (the community) are having a Fourth of July parade and have invited us to participate. Actually, Tracy helped build the frame for a float, so, they have cordially invited both of us to been in the parade.

We arrive about 9:20. The float is GREAT. The body of the float has a lot of pink and red tissue paper, green tissue paper around the edges, black paper sprinkled in for seeds. It’s a perfect slice of Watermelon.

The girls have tiaras and pink sashes that proclaim “Watermelon Queen” and the guys have large red, white and blue hats and t-shirts that say “I’m with the Queen” on the front and “Watermelon Parade Brigade” on the back. Festive beads and dum-dum lollipops are the throws. Fun.

It turns out to be the only float in the parade but there are small children in various types of motorized vehicles, a couple of horses and many residents dressed in red, white and blue. Quite a production for a relatively new community. It will only get bigger and better in the years to come.

Home by Noon. Ribs on the grill. Nap until 3. Ribs, corn and potato salad at 5pm.

Our neighbors, Julie, Mark and Madighan came over for a late evening dessert of stawberries and shortcake. We hung a huge 15 foot by 25 foot flag from the trees in the yard. A few cocktails on the porch and we are ready to see fireworks.

Living in a small community like East Point, we have only to walk about 3 blocks and see a really awesome fireworks display.

It’s been a nice day.

Mark Mothersbaugh

The other night, Stacey and I went to the Rabbit Hole Gallery to see a Mark Mothersbaugh show. If you don't know, Mothersbaugh is a founding member of Devo, the 80s eletronic band with a great sense of humor. The show was named Beautiful Mutents. Mothersbaugh has recently been writing music for Tim Burton movies and the television show Rug Rats. He has probably been doing lots of work I don't even know about. For the last ten years, he has also produced prints of images made with a technic he has developed. He uses antique photos and a computer to create some very hauntingly beautiful works of art. Most pieces are portraits of one or more people. He stretches out or shrinks up the original image to make a face look slightly wider or more narrow. This gives the subject a freakish look. A tight tiny, face may appear to have pinched eyes or a fellow in a suit, wearing a hat is streched out enough to add a third leg. Hence "Beautiful Mutants".

The pieces looked very antique. The edge of some prints was faded and the frames were carved from dark wood. Old style gold print identified and dated some of the pieces. The names of a few of the pieces are "Baby Hoodie-Hoo, Portage County Trailer Park", "Halfway Sammy", "Two Suitors for Honeysuckle". The pieces ranged in price from $300 to $800.

Stacey and I purchased one named "Fairy Queen, Lisboa". It was one of the larger ones. The lady in it reminded us of an antique Mardi Gras Queen holding her hands in the air. And with our connections to Mobile Mardi Gras, we couldn't resist.

It was a really good show, I am glad we heard about it. We did not go with the intention of buying a piece but liked them so much we must have one.

Mothersbaugh was not there but the soundtrack was a special recording he had made for the art show. It was heavy organ music, quite fitting for the art.

Ingenuity Cleveland is hosting the next Mothersbaugh showing.

new welcome / about us

So, So Southern isn’t about the South so much as it’s about two people from the South and their day to day journey thru life. Stacey and Tracy have been on this journey for the last 25 years. It has been a journey of learning, about people and places and the things special about each. So here you will read about some of the places we have been, some of the folks we have met and some of the things we have done. Sometimes it will be about life close to home, here in Atlanta, Georgia. Sometimes we hope to take you somewhere far away. We always hope to share something interesting and maybe give you a tip on something you need to try for yourself.
Sometimes we might just tell you how our day went and what we had for dinner that night.
Whatever, we hope you enjoy.