And so it was that I found myself living in Palm Beach, as if I belonged there. Many days were spent riding around in my convertible with the top down, perusing shops on Worth Avenue, dating various young men whose families and fortunes were well known and therefore eating at some of the best restaurants and drinking at some of the best lounges. The sun was almost always shining, the exotic tropical plants and flowers were everywhere, the clear waters of the intercoastal and the ocean were practically at my doorstep and I was far away from reality.
So, it became necessary to get a job. I'm not really sure how I found this job in the first place. There was a man who was opening a perfume shop on Worth Avenue. My job was sort of a glorified gopher (go for this, go for that) and whatever he needed, I arranged it. Remember, this was before cellphones and blackberries, computers and such. The telephone was my link to everyone and everything. Marketing, models, photo shoots, newspapers, contractors all brought together to produce a business venture which I had envisioned as this very classy perfume shop. Did I mention the bodyguard? He had a bodyguard. I guess I should have wondered why.
Then he told me we were going to the Bahamas for the weekend. Been there, no big deal. Light dawns and I told him no. He insisted it was for business and he needed me there. I agreed as long as he understood it was business only and I wasn't " staying" with him for the weekend. He agreed. As it was , there was a lovely room and he sent me to the hairdresser at the hotel to have my hair done. We went to the casino and he gave me money to play the slot machines while he did serious gambling. I don't know that he ever did anything that had to do with his business venture.
Then there was the bodyguard and the phone calls and somewhere along the line a connection to the "Canadian Mafia". I didn't know there was such a thing. What I did know was it was time to find another job and all the while looking over my shoulder again and wondering if someone was going to come and get me in the dead of night, again.
So I crossed the bridge, literally, into West Palm Beach. The fairy tale life was over and it was time for reality to set in. Time to get an apartment and a real job.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Daydreaming
As I try to remember the people, the places...the next thing you know I am daydreaming. The waters are so clear that you can't define their depth, the beaches have beautiful soft sand that on some of the islands is pink or black or powdery white, the flowers are everywhere. How I wish there had been pictures to capture everything, instead the pictures are all in my mind. There is a blog that I came upon quite by accident called Cruising on "ARITA". If you have the time, take a look at it and you will see some really incredible pictures as well as great commentary on sailing the islands and definitely paradise found.
We stopped at all the islands going out from St. Thomas; St. Bart's, St. Kitt's, St. Martin or Maartin (Dutch on one half and French on the other) and on down to Grenada. We never actually got to Grenada. It was late and we anchored out. In the early hours of the morning there were strange sounds and we came up on deck only to see British paratroopers dropping out of the sky. Needless to say we hauled up the anchor and hauled away! Even paradise has its dark side, which brings me to how this all ended.
The captain always wore a white uniform. He was stunning in that uniform, absolutely gorgeous and he knew it. He attracted every female wherever he went and the admiration was mutual. Unfortunately, he was married. Unfortunately, he wanted the best of both worlds. I went through a very rough time over this. For many days I never came out of the stateroom. For many days I contemplated slipping over the side into the dark depths of the water, never to be seen again. I've never told anyone about that and it has taken me awhile to get the words out here. We parted ways. It was more or less amicable. He helped me purchase a car. It was a red Mustang convertible and let me tell you, that certainly did wonders for shoring up my self esteem! The owner let me stay in the Palm Beach house for awhile as no one was there at the time except the caretakers. So now the next thing on the agenda was to get a job.
We stopped at all the islands going out from St. Thomas; St. Bart's, St. Kitt's, St. Martin or Maartin (Dutch on one half and French on the other) and on down to Grenada. We never actually got to Grenada. It was late and we anchored out. In the early hours of the morning there were strange sounds and we came up on deck only to see British paratroopers dropping out of the sky. Needless to say we hauled up the anchor and hauled away! Even paradise has its dark side, which brings me to how this all ended.
The captain always wore a white uniform. He was stunning in that uniform, absolutely gorgeous and he knew it. He attracted every female wherever he went and the admiration was mutual. Unfortunately, he was married. Unfortunately, he wanted the best of both worlds. I went through a very rough time over this. For many days I never came out of the stateroom. For many days I contemplated slipping over the side into the dark depths of the water, never to be seen again. I've never told anyone about that and it has taken me awhile to get the words out here. We parted ways. It was more or less amicable. He helped me purchase a car. It was a red Mustang convertible and let me tell you, that certainly did wonders for shoring up my self esteem! The owner let me stay in the Palm Beach house for awhile as no one was there at the time except the caretakers. So now the next thing on the agenda was to get a job.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
My resume (5 continues)
Most of my days were spent cleaning up after the guests and serving meals. See the world thru a porthole; not exactly the glamorous lifestyle you were imagining. One day, on our trip back up to Maine, the cook got off the boat and never came back. So, here we are off the coast of Maine and the owner says "can you make clam chowder?" I said, "of course". Then he said there would be twenty people for lunch tomorrow and if the chowder was any good I was the new cook. You have to realize that all my worldly possessions were in one little suitcase. Other than clothes it contained my Fannie Farmer cookbook. What was I thinking? My experience was cooking for two and quite probably not well. Lunch for 20? And so it was that Fannie and I made clam chowder and thus began my new career as a cook.
The owner was pretty set in his ways as far as food went. No matter what was served for lunch, there had to be a platter of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Cocktail hour at 5:00. Dinner was very basic meat and potatoes and vegetables. Lamb chops were one of his favorites. He liked them rare, which I had never heard of, and it didn't matter what the guest's preference might be because everyone got rare lamb chops.
One of the places he had for the boat was a slip on Australian Docks in Palm Beach. He had a home in Palm Beach also. Every day he was in Palm Beach his table was set for him for lunch at the Bath and Tennis Club. I don't know that he ever ate there while I was cooking for him.
I had carte blanche as far as providing food. When we were in Palm Beach, I would call and everything would be delivered. When we were in Maine I actually shopped at a grocery but never paid for anything as they would send a bill. And then there was the lobster fisherman who would drop off a mesh bag from his boat to the bow of our boat and I would wake up in the morning and find live lobsters on the deck. How many ways can you cook lobster? Fannie and I were in lobster heaven.
The owner was pretty set in his ways as far as food went. No matter what was served for lunch, there had to be a platter of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Cocktail hour at 5:00. Dinner was very basic meat and potatoes and vegetables. Lamb chops were one of his favorites. He liked them rare, which I had never heard of, and it didn't matter what the guest's preference might be because everyone got rare lamb chops.
One of the places he had for the boat was a slip on Australian Docks in Palm Beach. He had a home in Palm Beach also. Every day he was in Palm Beach his table was set for him for lunch at the Bath and Tennis Club. I don't know that he ever ate there while I was cooking for him.
I had carte blanche as far as providing food. When we were in Palm Beach, I would call and everything would be delivered. When we were in Maine I actually shopped at a grocery but never paid for anything as they would send a bill. And then there was the lobster fisherman who would drop off a mesh bag from his boat to the bow of our boat and I would wake up in the morning and find live lobsters on the deck. How many ways can you cook lobster? Fannie and I were in lobster heaven.
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