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March 2013 Monthly

Featuring Preferred Pools of Houston Inc.

Spring Break 2013

Crawfish specials

Captain BoBFashion Puh-Leeze

At Play with Gordon in Paradise

Photo provided by Rock Bottom Catarmaran

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PublisherAl Rubio

(713) 503-0326al@coastal-breeze.com

EditorElizabeth Gonzales

Ad Design Patricia Koh

Director of Sales & MarketingAngela Miller

(713) 503-0326angela@coastal-breeze.com

PhotographerRobert Williams

Advertising SalesChristina Belter(832) 213-7271

christina@coastal-breeze.com

Joseph Tamez(713) 366-9445

joseph@coastal-breeze.com

Lissa Johnson(832) 385-6052

lissa@coastal-breeze.com

Tish Monte(832) 576-2901

tish@coastal-breeze.com

Contributing WritersMelinda Emmons

Captain BobGordon SchnurrDebbie Streater

www.coastal-breeze.comwww.facebook.com/coastalbreezemagazine

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FashionStripes Referring back to the great Coco Chanel, she loved stripes because they are crisp and fresh, and she popularized the look for women in the 1920’s. Women always say that stripes make you look fat. Please don’t even think this; you have to know how to wear stripes to falsify this statement. Obviously, vertical stripes are slimming, but horizontal stripes can balance your proportions. For instance, wear horizontal stripes on top if you have wide hips or on the bottom if you have a large bust. It’s like magic! Narrow stripes are easier to wear than wide but this season, you’ll see a mixture of both in one garment. Be careful of striped silhouettes that are tight-fitting as they will highlight your curves. An A-line dress or skirt with bold wide stripes is ideal for most body types. Add a solid top and pumps and you are ready for Spring 2013. And don’t forget about accessories! Handbags, sunglasses, and shoes in stripes are trending as well..

Chevron Chevron is an inverted V design, and it’s a big-time trend in clothing as well as home decor. From shorts, to tops to skirts to dresses, chevron is a safe and worry-free style and appropriate for most body types, if not all. A dress in chevron print is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time to get dressed. To add shape to a dress in this fun pattern, add a belt. Solid color shoes, whether pumps or sandals, look best, as do solid-color accessories such as a gold cuff and earrings. Chevron is stunning in black and white, but you will see various color combinations this spring and summer such as peach and green, orange and white, aqua and pink, etc.

By Melinda Emmons

PUH-LEEZE!!March Into Style

High Top Wedge Sneakers Every season, there is a trend that you either love or really hate. This year, it could be the wedge high-top sneaker! Whether they are sporty and flirty, adorned with studs and crystals, or plain leather with a studded Velcro strap, this shoe is sure to grab attention and add personality to your wardrobe. Almost every high-fashion designer is pairing these high-top sneakers with their creations in categories from luxury to casual. In addition, many affordable brands are releasing their own take on this trend -- even Converse! Wear this fashion-forward sneaker with skirts and dresses for a girlie look or with skinny jeans that stop at the ankle for an edgy look. Just remember to show them off! On many styles of the high-top, its wedge heel is concealed and provides much comfort. The sneaker comes in a variety of colors, solid and multi-colored.

Keep your Eyes On: Statement Sunglasses: The bigger, the better. Have three or four pair to change up your look throughout the spring and summer.

Orange is the new Neutral: Don’t run scared! Orange plays well with other colors and looks great in clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry – anything!

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GIVE AND TAKE IN by Gordon Schnurr

Buck Island, St. Croix U.S.V.I 1989 In the beginning, there was a card game, probably the most famous game on St Croix. The afternoon Gin Rummy game at Frank’s Restaurant in Christiansted. Sure, there was money on the table; sure it was illegal; and sure, everybody knew about it. But you didn’t trifle with Frank…ever. Seated at that table was an assortment of the island’s most nefarious, yet lovable, expatriots imaginable. CHUCK - Not sure where he came from – might’ve been California -- but Chuck’s the kind of guy with a drawer-load of passports from everywhere and could travel “light” at a moment’s notice. He had this tin coffee cup from Pusser’s that held his rum and eventually ate a hole through the bottom of it! I think Frank somehow managed to have it patched for him, if for no other reason than to keep Chuck drinking and his five-figure bar tab running. It was a standing joke that at a precise time every day, Chuck’s wife would wander through the door hoping to drag Chuck away from the table. It never happened, not in all the years I was there. I learned to admire her tenacity. JACK - Always smilin’ as if he knew something no one else did. I believe he had a jewelry shop -- or maybe it was a front for something -- but his business card said jewelry shop, so we all stuck with it. Everybody’s got cards in St. Croix, as a kind of shadow, protecting the predator until he’s ready to seek his prey. These guys were like family to me, and it was like I was nestled comfortably in the bosom of Ocean’s 11. LARRY - Hailed from Seattle where he worked as a policeman, detective, or God knows what. Gave up the badge and the rain for the booze and the sun and never looked back. Over his shoulder a time or two, but never all the way back. He was one of my best pals, and so was Chip, his trusty sidekick. Many adventures that can never be discussed were had by the three of us, but what happened on this particular day is the reason for this story. FRANK - The man. The legend. The holder of all the strings. The puppeteer of paradise. He owned and ran the best restaurant on the island with a bar so rich in fabled stories that if they were told, they would send half the population off to the black hole of Calcutta. Of Italian descent, Frank wandered to paradise via New Jersey, deciding it needed his “magic touch.” To further his grasp, he started a distributorship for all things necessary for the island’s bars and eateries: Booze, food, fixtures, etc. He called the place Buy Rite, cuz if ya didn’t buy it from Frank -- needless to say -- you didn’t buy it right. Business boomed louder than Capone’s Chicago typewriters (nickname for

Paradisemachine guns). This made Frank happy, or at least as happy as Frank ever got. How I came to meet and know Frank is another story. The Virgin Islands, small as the three isles are, has its own lottery. It’s not a huge jackpot and it never seems to roll

over into a bigger jackpot and several politicians’ wives have miraculously won said jackpot, but a jackpot by any other name, right? Island “Lotto Ladies” roam the streets selling lotto sheets, consisting of 50 “stamps” or “portions” per ticket. Each sheet constitutes one number and should you wish, you may purchase the entire sheet or just a portion of it. They are very friendly, floating through the streets and alleys, imploring you to seek the guaranteed riches that are sure to be yours. The lady I always dealt with was Miriam. She was heavy set, dark as night with a smile that ran the entire length of the latitude. She seemed to be able to find me at will,

sometimes waiting at the dock for me to get back from a charter, to announce that she was holding on to “da ticket gonna make you rich boy.” Who was I to argue against this kind of five-star service? Yeah, that’s right, I’m a sucker. I’d come back to port, secure the boat, and head over to Frank’s for a little liquid relaxation. The gin game was in full swing with the characters at their seats and Frank -- pencil tucked in his ear -- keeping the tally on the ever-increasing bar tabs as well as the game. He didn’t miss much. Chuck’s wife had blessedly come and gone and the game and money and booze flowed as perpetually as Niagara. In a matter of moments, though we didn’t know then, fortune was about to smile on one of us. Also unknown to us was that it would be stripped away by God himself. And so begins the story. Miriam walked through the door late in the afternoon carrying the Samsonite-sized bag she always did in one hand, her lottery clipboard in the other. She made a show of letting all within earshot know that she only had one ticket for the upcoming Friday drawing left. She sipped some water at the bar, wetting her mouth in preparation for her lengthy spiel of inevitable fortune. Man, she was good. This woman was a walking Evangelist for the divine dollar and always maintained a captive audience. As she floated around the card game, using the last lotto ticket she had (lest we forget), fanning her smiling face from the implied heat (it was air conditioned in Frank’s), she spoke of awaiting riches beckoning like the siren’s call (yeah, the one that almost sent Ulysses’ ship on the rocks). As she passed me at the bar, she stopped, looked me in the eye; she blinked a long slow blink as if it were a secret sign that today was my lucky day. Funny, she always did that. She left me with the feeling that I was long overdue. She knew I already had one ticket so she abbreviated the blink and moved on. To be continued....

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The Plan Is…There Is No Plan

This quickly became the motto of our Latest Caribbean Adventure! What a better way to travel, without a hard agenda to follow.

Most travel plans and organized trips follow a specific agenda. Our original plan was to pick up our rented vessel from the Moorings. We planned to take the boat 17 hours to The Leeward Islands. The weather condition was turning the trip into a minimum of 20 hours with 25 - 35 knot winds and 8 to 12 foot seas! Seasoned sailors may have said, “Big deal,” and headed out…Now let me tell you about our crew!

The multi-talented Captain Bob organized the event. Bob has a 100 ton Captain’s license but this comes along with 50,000 blue water miles and three transatlantic crossings from South Africa to the Caribbean. He also chartered in the Caribbean for seven years. My experience was a couple of events in the Caribbean and then purchasing a boat in need of rescue. We own WINDSONG, a 1978 58’ Formosa. We have been restoring WINDSONG for seven years this April 2013 (by the way, restoration never ends). We started chartering her in 2007. Through my experience, I actually qualified as first mate to allow us to take the trip. The five people that joined us loved the water but had limited experience in sailing and vessel operation. This was an extreme vacation that left their comfort zones. One of the friends that joined us had experienced a Bahamas trip from Florida once and loves to cook…no brainer on that one!

We’ll start with our flights landing in St. Thomas. We coordinated to meet at the Ferry to Tortola and all had to show passports and travel plans to be allowed entering the BVI’s (British Virgin Islands). How embarrassing that my passport had expired three months before. Luckily, the Immigration Officials permitted me to enter since it was for a short 10-day vacation. I thought I would be hanging on St. Thomas and St. John alone. “Right, I would have never let that happen, Argggg!” said Captain Bob.

The ferry ride over was extreme. It was very rough, and the vessel was airborne and crashing down, rocking and rolling. My friend and I decided to move lower in the boat which was a very bad idea. You guessed it! Here I am, the most experienced, and sea sick! We finally arrived in Tortola and checked into a hotel for the evening. We took a taxi over to Pusser’s for our traditional “Pain Killer” and excellent fish and chips.

Recipe for original Pain Killers:• 3 oz. rum (must be Pusser’s Rum)• 4 oz. Pineapple Juice• 1 oz. Orange Juice• 1 oz. Cream of Coconut

The next morning we checked out of our hotel, gathered everyone’s luggage, and dropped it off at the Moorings. We had briefings before taking possession at noon. This is the time to shop to provision the boat. Besides planning meals, you need to plan on drinking water and refreshments. Liquor is inexpensive everywhere but water and soft drinks have the value of gold. The other ladies were worried about purchasing too much and stated that they would get more elsewhere if needed. I told them that this was the best place to buy, but I didn’t push it. Lesson learned: provision properly or you’ll pay a premium later and your selection is very limited or non-existent. The main grocery stores (Bobby’s Pic) to provision are located on Tortola. There are only little markets on a few of the Islands and it is hit or miss on what they stock.

To be continued...

By Captain Bob Edwards

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real estateSwede’s

Serving Bolivar Peninsulafor Over 60 Years

1-800-624-0071www.swedesrealestate.com

salesrentals

propertymanagement

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Located at 8500 Bay Area Blvd., in Pasadena, the Armand Bayou Nature Center (ABNC) is the largest urban wilderness preserve in the United States. It contains 2,500 acres of the natural wetlands, forest, prairie, and marsh habitats and is home to over 370 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. ABNC offers hiking trails, exhibits, field trips, birding and a lot of fun for all!

Mission The mission of ABNC is twofold: To preserve the wetlands prairie, forest and marsh habitats with which we have been entrusted and to provide opportunities for people to experience the Armand Bayou habitats and the importance of preserving these vanishing habitats. Through preservation and education, ABNC strives to “Reconnect People with Nature.”

Background ABNC was founded in 1974 as a result of efforts begun by an environmental visionary, Armand Yramategui. Armand was able to see the urban growth around Armand Bayou and strove to have this land remain a wilderness. His tragic death in 1970 inspired a local, regional and national coalition of people and organizations to acquire the 2,500 acres of land that is now preserved and named in honor of Mr. Yramategui.

History Excavations by local archaeologists have shown that the area was occupied by Native Americans for last 7,000 years. Ancient remains such as pottery, and arrowheads within ABNC indicate this area was once a major campsite for Native American tribes, and they used the Bayou area for hunting and fishing until the mid-to-late 19th Century. About a dozen families of European descent occupied the Bayou area during the mid-19th Century. They also lived by hunting and fishing as well as growing produce which they floated down the bayou in barges to market. The settlement even had a post office and a school. A very well-known local resident, Jim West, owned 28,000 acres surrounding this area. He raised cattle and maintained his ranch as a preserve for deer, prairie chickens, and quail. In 1938, Humble Oil and Refining Company purchased the entire Jim West Ranch for its oil and gas resources at a price of $8,500,000 plus royalties. In 1962, Humble created a real estate subsidiary, Friendswood Development Company, and placed 15,000 acres and 7,250 acres under its control for residential and industrial development, respectively.

Current Day Programs EcoCamp is a program that brings children closer to the natural world. These camps provide meaningful experiences that touch their hearts and build a sense of conservation stewardship. EcoCamp is a day camp for children ages 4 to 13 years and may include fishing, seining, canoe rides and other activities and learning opportunities. Other fun activities for adults and children alike include

the Owl Prowl Night Hike, Sunset Pontoon Cruises, and Guided Trail Hikes to name a few.

Great Horned Owl, nesting

Armand Bayou Nature Center

Please refer to the website, www.abnc.org, for more information and hours of operation.

Real estate development in the current ABNC area began in 1962 when NASA selected 1,698 acres of the former West Ranch for the Manned Spacecraft Center.

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March 9-17th.

March 14th.

March 17th.

March 20th. March 23-24th.

March 23-24th.

Kemah Spring Break CelebrationLive entertainment and fun all weekend long.Discounted passes to Kemah Boardwalk and Pleasure Pier in GalvestonGalveston--Pier 21 Party on the PierPier 21, 21st and Harborside Dr., Galveston, TxGalveston--Live Music at East Beach Sunday 1-4pmFirst day of SpringGreat Outdoors Event in KemahVisit local home and garden vendors and enjoy some tropical tunesLeague City UncorkedA Global Wine and Art ExperienceSat 1pm-10pm and Sunday 1pm-7pmWalter Hall Park. Buy tickets online.

March 29-31st.

April 12-14th and April 19-21st.

April 4th.11am - 2pm

Easter Weekend on Kemah BoardwalkDecorate Easter egg cookies, pics with the Easter Bunny and our Bunny hop egg hunt (kids 8 and under)

Kemah Crawfish Festival--2 weekends

Broadway on the Runway Fashion ShowBenefiting The Bridge Over Troubled Waters.South Shore Harbour Resort Ballroom Shopping, Door Prizes, Raffle & Lunchkkankel@tbotw.org for information

MARCH EVENTSEaster Basket Cupcakesadapted via creativemommas

1. Cut the bottom off the sugar cones. Place sugar cones in cupcake baking cups and in cupcake pan. (Tip : I used the mini cupcake baking cups to catch any stray cake batter at the bottom of the open cone.)

2. Prepare cake mix, fill cones half way and bake cupcakes. Color coconut with food colouring.

3. Remove cupcake baking cups from cone and frost cupcakes once they have cooled.

4. Dip tops of cupcakes into colored coconut.Top with Jelly Beans. (Tip: if Jelly Beans fall off, put a little frosting on the back side of Jelly Bean to make it stick to top of coconut.)

5. Cut licorice to size and place on cupcakes to look like basket handle

You can also make these without the cones. I make reguar sized cupcakes with the rest of the cake batter and we braided the licorice for the handles.

Cake Mix Sugar ConesFrosting CoconutFood ColouringJelly Beans Licorice

CrawfishSpecialsin townJackie’s Brickhouseph# 832-864-2459Every Tues and Thurs $3.99/pdEvery other day $4.99/pd Swamp Shackph# 281-334-5000Everday 1-4pds $5.99/pdOrder 5pds @ $4.99/pd

Dempsey’sph# 713-503-2994$4.50/pd all day everydayexcept for happy hour specialson Weds 7-9pm for $3.00/pdand Saturday all u can eat $18.99 Floyd’s Cajun Restuarantph#281-332-7474$5.95/pd daily

Bakkhus Tavernaph# 281-538-1800Every Weds night 5-10pm$7.99/lb Latitudes Restaurantph#281-339-1110$3.99/pd everyday

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Patio Dining

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Crawfish Races - Every Tuesday Night. Crawfish $3.99/lb. At Flamingo

Spring Breach 2013 Island Style!

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409-515-7800 www.flamingosteakandseafood.com

Wood Grilled to Perfection on an Open Pit

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Monday: Monday Night Football. Free Hot Dogs

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Wednesday: $2.50 wells. Carl Piano Smith Happy Hour.

PUNK WEDNESDAY! Live local music + barbecue

Thursday: Instant Karma Karaoke + $2 domestics

Saturday: Yappy Hour! Bring your dog, second drink FREE

Sunday: Sunday Funday! $2 Bloody Mary's and Mimosas.

Robert Kuhn LIVE!

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Holiday Special$500.00 Off New Unit

SAVE $500.00 OFF a New Unit and Installation, Save $35.00 off any repairs

over $175.00 and Save $35.00 off service calls, regularly $79.50 • $25.00 off heat

maintenance w/FREE carbon monoxide testing.

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LocalPostal Customer

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