The 3 Charlies of Vieques

Like most tales of travel in the Caribbean you will expect to hear things like the sweltering heat was unbearable in paradise. For that reason, I will start this recollection of Vieques with an upbeat approach. I was in Vieques trying to salvage a relationship. Needless to say the relationship is no more, but there definitely was a miraculous context to the island. The story begins with our arrival at San Juan, which was an ordeal in itself. With today’s delays at every airport and our trying to save money we had a layover. The layover and the flight are not worth mentioning, except that I recommend for a few extra bucks—take a direct flight. If you have to save up for a few extra weeks, do so.

So if you want to hear about Vieques the island, you have come to the right place. I’m not talking about the beauty as seen in the natural landscape, but the people that reside there. Let’s be real here, isn’t that really the reason we travel in the first place, to meet new and exciting people. Well to make sure that I speak appropriately for the people that I met in Vieques, they fear the coming commercialism. As with any pristine place left on earth, this is a valid fear. There will come the Donald Trumps of the world with their minuscule brains of what humanity needs and wreck the place so that it becomes unrecognizable. Enough beating up on capitalism, let’s get to the heart of the matter. I’ve done some traveling in the past, but have not written about it. So on that note, this is my first story of my travels. It’s been over a month since I visited La Isla Nena (the tiny island: young girl) as the locals call it, so things are going to be a bit sketchy, too bad.

OK, OK, so you want to hear some cool stuff about Vieques. Here you go, visit the bio luminescent bay it's the brightest in the world. Second, drive any direction and you will find your own secluded private beach to play out your own “Here to Eternity” scene. If for some reason you don’t know what I’m talking about, google it and then go out and impress your partner. And if you don’t know the scene, you are the prime candidate to visit Vieques as it’s curtailed for the young. I once mentioned that life is wasted on the young, but not here. They can actually become matured by nature to a new level of consciousness. This is an island for the young, heck who am I kidding here? It’s an island for the young at heart as my three Charlies are older than forty and truth be told nearer to their fifties.

So what’s important about the three Charlies you ask? Everything! These are the people that you look for on any trip. They are markers to remind you of the experiences on that particular trip. Now, I know you have been fooled by all the television travel shows that the place is what’s significant and that the people are props. Yes, I know they show them briefly on the tube and might even mention their names, but what they fail to do is introduce you to the real person. Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you read a really good book without characters. I know, there are the exceptions where a location or an unseen is the protagonist, but how often? With that being said, let’s say that the island is a background character and the people that are there are our heroes, stars, main characters or whatever you want to call them. And most importantly, in this small surmise of mine about the La Isla Nena, the three Charlies are everything.

So here we are on a cab/van (el publico as the locals call them) heading to the Southern tip of the island. The fare was a merely three dollars per person. I did the math and questioned how the bus could be in service with the price of gas. Maybe they know something I don’t, but oh well. The driver picks up several more passengers at the ferry dock. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that you have to take a ferry from the main island to Vieques. I think that cost us four dollars. The ride takes about an hour, so if you’ve been traveling all day, it’s a perfect time to take a well-needed nap. By the way, don’t sit in the middle seats as the air conditioning vents there are relentless, you’ll be a Popsicle by the time you make it to your destination. We started in the center seats and immediately moved to side seats. As I mentioned, I slept all the way there. Now that we’re back on track, we are heading to the southern end of the island and along the way, the publico stops to pick up a dude that I’m sure I met once in Key West. You know the type, older gentleman with leather skin, a beard and long grey hair with a ponytail. And yes, he is wearing a Guayabera (Cuban shirt—google it) and a pair of light cotton pants. Yes, I’ve definitely met this dude before. He even smells of island booze, rum. After about a half hour on el publico, we arrive at our destination.

Surmice: the pony-tail was the first Charlie, the second Charlie was the bartender on the main strip and finally the third Charley was the husband and wife team from New Jersey. So there you have it simplified many years later...the three Charlies. Time to make a painting out of them.

...to be continued