Welcome to Raicilla Dreams, please make yourself comfy....you will find many photos, anecdotes and tales of Yelapa told by amigos that lived there before electricity and before it was totally discovered by the tourist world. I welcome your own memories and photos.


Start at the very bottom with archives and work your way up if you want to follow the order I posted. Otherwise, just feel free to skip around and read what suits your fancy...faye

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Dave the King

Just ran into Dave King in town the other day. I told him about Raicilla Dreams and a story about him to go with his picture. I thought maybe I should run it by him first. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable with what I say in the blog. Dave has given me carte blanche to say whatever I want...since everything has already been said about him. 

Today Dave is a respected real estate broker that stands at least a head taller than most. I mean that literally, he's a big, tall guy. When I met him, he was more the hustler type. He worked as a union iron worker off and on and had lots of shall we say “outside interests”. Like many of us from the 60's, he had his finger in many pies and his pinky in a corner of the underworld. He survived.

Dave has beautiful identical twin daughters with his X, Shannon. They were born prematurely in the early 80's and were the tiniest little creatures I'd ever seen. He could hold them both in one of his big hands. Now they are grown women.

In Yelapa he would find pretty girls on the beach and offer to rent them a room in his casa...like many folks did and still do to help out with the rent. Nothing wrong with that! However, Dave figured out a way to have his cake and eat it, too. He took on his “tenants” as occasional lovers, meanwhile letting them pay the rent! Clever boy. I used to think that was really nervy, but it certainly worked out for Dave. He had a lot of chutzpa! 

Dave, I salute you for sticking with the program and making such a success of your life! Did you know we all knew about your little paying love trysts?


Thursday, August 7, 2008

Cracked Nut

I was enjoying a few uninterrupted moments in my hammock at Casa Cynthia when some friends dropped in.We were joking around and being all casual when the ropes suddenly snapped and I fell straight to the floor. Only it wasn't just a floor, it was a little rock wall and the back of my neck smacked it pretty hard. I lay there for a minute or two stunned...checking my fingers, my toes, everything seemed to be moving as they should. I wasn't seeing double and although I was a bit dizzy, I thought I had survived the impact pretty well. We laughed it off and decided to head down to the beach. I don't remember getting there but the next thing I knew there was a drink in front of me. Someone had ordered me a coco loco and then things started getting interesting.

I was a little confused, but apparently, it wasn't that much different than my usual confusion and no one seemed concerned, least of all me. I don't remember much, but at some point I just fell over backwards off my stool at the hotel bar where we were all sitting. Victor helped me up and I stumbled over to the baño to pull myself together. 

When I came out there was no one around. Everyone had just disappeared. I wasn't really even sure if there had been any people in the first place. Well, I wasn't going to be looking stupid...I just acted as if that was perfectly routine and I had just been there alone the whole time. I sat back down and went on as if nothing had happened. Eventually, my friends reappeared laughing hysterically. They thought hiding was hilarious. What they didn't know was that I had a mild concussion and I wasn't just wasted at the beach. It took me 2 or 3 days to get right.

From then on, I always checked my hammock ropes before climbing in. I was lucky that day.

New Stories Coming Soon

Sorry, friends, I've been too busy remodeling my own little place to sit down and write some new posts. I haven't forgotten you!

Isabel promised to write some stories and Joanna wants to tell a tale or two. Please feel free to send me any memories you might like to share and I'll post them.

FYI...There is a Yelapa North Party Potluck in Santa Cruz on August 17 at Frederick Street Park next to the Upper Harbor. I'll try and find more info and post.