This year, I did not want to do town and decided quiet luxury was how I would ring in 2019. That meant I was heading to The3SIXTY LoungeBar at Playa De Sala. I knew it the instant I saw the bookface party invite that was where I was going to take myself and whoever felt like joining me. I opted to rent a cart from Carts Belize and easily got my reservation with tacogirl discount done via facebook messenger. Thankfully so as I almost had no wheels due to busy season.

Also pitched the idea to a few friends to see if anyone wanted to catch a ride south, I had 3 spots open. In the end, my head count was only one, my friend and temp roommate Dennis. The other two friends that said they would join us, Jon and Eddie, had their own wheels and met us there for the cake. I almost had a cute Turkish Tinder date, Memo. However, as he saw the setup by the big glitter 2019, he got bedazzled. It was his last night on the island and a big NYE street party close to his hotel was an appealing enough option to sway him. I was not fussed though, instantly I waved my magic wand and turned him from possible date to live correspondent. Memo agreed to shoot some town shots to give you more 2019 as you will see below. I chose a few nice ones out of the 28 he sent me – score.

One last Surprise

Aimée below is one last small surprise. I was not able to get Judy and Tom’s pic printed on time for them to “come” to the party. They wanted to be there but Black Orchid Restaurant took presedence – business before play. I included them below for cake time.

I have to say, after all the single Tres Leches slices I have bought at Casa Pan Dulce, (a lot) I was thrilled to be able to buy the whole cake this time. A dream come true 😀 I was also mildly shocked at just how heavy a full Tres Leches cake is. Definitely was an arm work out carrying it home. Thankfully once we got to Playa de Sala they had staff take over and assigned me a wonderful cake carrier before we headed up to the rooftop bar.

It was a feat that 3SIXTY Ryan was able to get a wish light going, thankfully he had a plan b to my candles. Even though it was sheltered by the wall, the breeze was strong that night. Aimée cut the cake and the lucky ones got flowers. There was enough for everyone at the bar and someone got lucky the next day too with a big wedge. Leches for all my friends 😀

Another reason we wanted to do NYE at The3SIXTY LoungeBar at Playa de Sala was to check out the food. I have long followed Chef Dean St Pierre’s cooking on facebook and was looking forward to trying it. So was Aimée as this is the closest restaurant option to her house.

Beforehand I had messaged bar owner Ryan and Chef Dean in regards to a vegetarian protein option. He came up with the oooey, gooey yumminess on the right, which was a gourmet macNcheese. Aimée and I browsed the Ipad menu and immediately decided we were good with a split – I love my foodie friends. That way we got to try the black and blue burger with bacon blue cheese and Thai shrimp wonton with spicy sauce.

We got a bit of a wet patch, thankfully I was prepared as Evelyn at Carts Belize had told me I would be smart to bring my trenchcoat that night and waterproof myself. It was wet enough briefly that we all ended up crowding in behind the bar to dry off. ( Second time I have been privileged to enjoy a behind the bar party there 😀 )

Of course the bar did champaigne and noise makers to ring in 2019.

It was great watching the San Pedro Town Board fireworks at midnight. They always put on a big display, and I managed to catch a few good shots from 4.5 miles away. Yay Nikon stalker zoom and good settings 😀 We also saw a few smaller displays across the island throughout the night. So much fun and just what I wanted. To make peace with 2018 and tastefully welcome 2019 with a sense of peace, excitement and open arms.

Meanwhile, my date turned correspondent, Memo, was doing a great job of taking pictures for me so you could see some of the town party.

P.S. Paul and Marci, I wanted to talk to you more at the party as I have some incredible stuff to share, but I did not want to trash talk at the party.

New Years Day

The party continues. Another person who wanted to celebrate Aimée, but decided she wanted to spend a chill night of reflection at home was our friend Lara. She caught up with me the next day, feeling rested and ready to ring in the New Year. She decided to add our friends, Michelle, and Cranky Cori.

We opted to go to the Palapa as they were doing a Bloody Mary bar and live music for those that had goma (hangovers) but still wanted to party 😀 It was a gorgeous day and their dock was packed. Another girl Lavern joined us for drinks and a snack.

I took a shot at the gas station for my Canadian crush as I was filling my unmarked Darth Vader rental before returning it. Cost of gas for about 12 miles driven at 15 mph or less – $10 BZ.

We ended up taking Lara’s tricked-out wheels. Our friends had their own plus two dogs ginger and max. After Palapa, the gang decided to kick it old school and go hang out at Cholos for one last drink before going our separate ways. Carlyn joined us and we had a great time hanging at the beach.

Here is my first nature shot of 2019. We were on our way out of Palapa and I was going to shoot this really nice looking pelican in the water. No sooner did I have my one plus 5 out and zoomed in on the bird did it decide to take flight. I moved fast and managed to catch this inflight shot instead.