Category Archives: Rincón Continentals

Magical Music and Other Moments

Party Scene
Awesome photography by JR Imagery

We’ve been focusing a little more on our music with the band again. It has been somewhat of a slow season for tourism and that has affected everyone’s ability to get gigs. We’ve started trying out a new strategy to help take away some of the risk for the bar owners and it seems to be working. We really do love to play out and I take it as an opportunity not only to play music but for performance art.

Cassie band
Thanks to Squid for this pic

If you are part of a live band, in my opinion, you should treat it as a show. That means gimmicks and fun and lots of engagement with the audience. I love this because it means I get to come up with themes and dress up. It’s like a costume party every gig! I am in my element! The more people who are in on the gag, the more fun it is too! We recently played out at Pool Bar as the opening band for Masking Tape and it was a lot of fun!

Cassie rock and roll crop 2 Kickass Cassie pixlr
Fun details like these thigh high stockings make a huge difference in visual interest

Band Pool Bar

Some people are harder to get encouraged to dress up, but that is how memories are made!

Not Blurry
See how much more fun it is to dress up?! (With Mark and Rob)

This past week we had another gig at Willie’s Bar at Club Nautico in the Marina. It was another memorable moment because it really tested our improvisational skills. Pretty much everything you could think to go wrong, did. The new bass amp was buzzing in one of the sockets, so we had to move it. Then our friend the conga player surprised us by arriving late and so we had to fill some air time jamming as he set up. Next, the power went out for a good 20-30 minutes during which time the only unplugged instruments who were Rob on the drums, Humberto on congas and Markus on Trombone continued playing as Roberto, Britton and I played a little percussion.

Then I went out into the crowd and pulled people up to dance in the dark with us to the rhythms of the drums. People from around in the marina area without power all came out to see who was playing in the dark! It was an awesome moment. The craziness wasn’t over even when the power came back though, as the microphones lost sound for two more songs. However, in spite of, and probably because of all of these set backs and our ability to steer (and dance our way) through, we have been invited back for yet another show in a couple of weeks.

Willies 2
Gig at Willie’s (thanks to Daisy for this pic)

Gypsy Cassie
My outfit for Willie’s was pirate wench/gypsy esque. The beads on my skirt actually helped when the power went out!

In addition to all of these musical memories, we have had some other magical and fun moments as well.

Los Hijos De Puntas Cindie Cassie Calypso
We like to go out and support other musicians and businesses as well. Hijos de Puntas at Calypso and me with Cindie Rice – a Rincon legend in her own right

We also had our first guests at the cabana and it was a lot of fun showing them around Rincon. It’s cool when internet meets reality!

First Guests Brian Petra
Fun at the ArtWalk with new friends Petra and Brian!

CK BK Flowers edit
And what says “Happy Valentine’s Day” more than flowers picked from our own yard!?

Life is ever surprising and such a strange stage for moments big and small, frustrating and amazing. Keep on, keeping on!

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Random Photo Update: Life in Toon Town

Here are a few photos that don’t probably deserve a post on their own but are just a part of the slice of life living in Puerto Rico. Sometimes the scenes and places we end up just seem so surreal, like we are living in a dream or some sort of cartoon. Sometimes it’s very strange, sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s just strikingly beautiful. But whatever it is, we’re living it up!

Palm Tree Cassie
The beach is always right around the corner

Ardilla Mongoose crop
I finally got a photo of the mongoose! The little egg bandit!

Turkey bridgeTurkeys need to cross bridges too! This particular guy is the hope for the future of our turkeys. The last surviving male.

Corazon
We are harvesting more and more of our own fruit from the finca like this corazón, a fruit that looks like a heart

Bilimbe
And these interesting bilimbes that are juicy and so sour but leave a cool buttery taste in your mouth

More plants
And we went out and got some more plants too!

Kitty
I forgot to mention that Kitty is adapting well to the move over to the cabin too

Cassie Aquario
Out and about there is always something cool to see and do

Barrita Los cocos
Like this little Coconut Barrita

Hibiscus Flor
Or this amazing hibiscus flower right in the plaza that took my breath away

Britton and beer
Check out the view from this roadside liquor store

Mannequin house
And there is nothing like the bottom half of a naked mannequin to draw attention to your store! 🙂

Britton congas
One of the conga players from the balneario came down and practiced with us in the jam space!

Sunset
There’s never a shortage of spectacular sunsets here!

Sunset
Marina Sunset

Sangria Cassie
And new spots to check out like Pal Monte

Cassie Ultimo Brinco stand
Which is just up the road from El Ultimo Brinco, Rincon’s little waterfall spot

Cassie wanted  Anthony Loops and Cassie
Or at the restaurant Cowboys which is like a little slice of Colorado in Rincón (with friend and musician, Anthony Lee). They even have rodeos here!

Cowboys Rubberneckers
And we got to see our friends play some country music – the Rubberneckers

Viking B
And if Puerto Rico is like Toon Town, we are now part of the loony fabric too! Here’s Viking man at the beach!

Cassie contemplating coco
Or the contemplation of a coconut in an abandoned house without a roof

Colorful downtown
And everything is so colorful!

Bienvenidos a rincon
Rincón even has the cartoon-like welcome signs!

Cassie rock
And did I mention the beach is around every corner?

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¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Bienvenido 2017

Here we are, another year gone by. Each year that passes we have an opportunity to reflect on the one before and plan for what’s to come. For us, this has been a year of many beautiful moments and also many challenges and hard work. We are hopeful for what the new year brings. As we finish up the cabin and get the cabana ready for visitors, we move to another level in our property and goals here. We are also evolving in our relationships: in the band, in our friendships and family and in our marriage. We hope that your 2016 was a good one and that 2017 brings you joy and all the lessons you need to fulfill you on your journey!

feliz-ano-nuevo-bk-ck
Feliz Año Nuevo from Cassie and Britton!

This New Year’s Eve we ran some errands and then jammed with the band. Later that evening we went out to La Copa Llena for the countdown and party. It’s a beautiful place near the Marina where the ocean laps peacefully at the soft sand beach. Here are some photos of the day and evening.

cassie-flag
Turning a corner in The Corner (Rincón)

rob-tod-mark
Jamming with our new member, Tod

jazzy-bk-crop
Britton stepping out of a 1940’s Jazz Bar

cassie-hair-up-edit
Poniendome elegante. Dressing up for the countdown!

britton-grapes grapes-countdown
12 grapes for the 12 months of the year

group
Fun with friends

colin-and-cassie colincassiewill
Even some of the cast of Saturday Night Live would rather be in Rincón than New York City over New Year’s! (With Colin Jost and Will Forte)

cassie-knocking
What opportunities are knocking this year?

happy-new-year-edit
La despedida del año

britton-and-cassie
Wishing you love, health and prosperity for 2017!

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Masquerade Ball and Rincón Halloween 2016

Halloween in Rincón means the start of season and the buzz is electric.

This year Halloween day fell on a Monday which would probably usually mean a pretty mellow Halloween. But not in Rincón! Here it meant a 5 day marathon. Rincón takes on Halloween the way the rest of Puerto Rico does Christmas. The festivities are intense! The first parties started on Thursday because of Art Walk and continued on until Monday.

band-daisy
Mysterious masquerade ball

Our band decided to have a masquerade ball at beautiful Villa Orleans featuring some of our new songs that we’ve worked on all summer. We figured that masks are an easy, elegant and fun way to celebrate without using your Halloween costume. The party was great. The location was amazing. Our music rocked and people were dancing next to crashing waves. It was magical.

ringleader
La maga, the ringmaster

party-shot

lauryn-daisy-cassie masked-people singers britton-and-tom
ricia-and-marci cynthia-troy

party-picWhat a fun night!


So fun!! Videos thanks to Jeff and Luis and some of the photos thanks to various friends 

party-scene
Party night!


Check out Britton AKA Aloysius busting some moves on Rapture

fire-lauryn-3And we had an extra special performance by my friend Lauryn, the fire dancer!


Hypnotic flames!

After that late night we were pretty worn out and didn’t go out to the Friday or Saturday parties around town. Saturday was probably the busiest of the days with parties at The Beach House, Calypso, El Bohio and of course the big one at Tamboo. We did however recuperate our energy enough to go out on Halloween evening. We weren’t sure how it would be since it was a little rainy, but sure enough the party was in swing!

cassie-and-britton-halloween-crop
I went as “Stormy” the rain storm and Britton went as the guru Aloysius Von Funk

cassie-rain-costume-crop     renee-and-cassie

edward-scissorhands shipwreck-party frida-vampire-cassie fred-pedro-pica-britton
group-photo
Party animals!

The Shipwreck party is always so much fun. People are just plain silly. There’s a DJ playing dance music while people get sweaty dancing on the white gravel. The bar is right down from the marina so the party spills out into the street and down to the beach. The best thing is that the costumes can get downright crazy!

trump-and-cassie
Here I am protecting myself from an unwanted “grab” by Trump

costume-contest-weiner
And this guy won first place in the costume contest!!

The night ended at the relative early hour of midnight since it was a Monday. The police came and peacefully broke the party up. We talked with the friendly police for a while and I said, “Me gusta su disfraz” and he replied, “¡Pero no es un disfraz!” And we both laughed! Claro que no…jaja.

with-the-policia
In character!

Another great kick off to the season!

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