A good day on the catamaran "Flamenco Gato"

720/2014 Day 2 in Panama

Rebecca had a 2 mile run today, so I joined her as we ran the roads of Albrook.  Today's main activity was to take out a catamaran with another family, the Bradleys at the marina on the Causeway.  Grabbing some provisions at El Rey we made some sandwiches, picked up Christina at the Country Inn Suites in Amador, and were off to the Cat.  Our guide was named "Alejandro", however, after determining he was from Portland, and didn't speak Spanish, his true name Austin was revealed.  A very friendly guide for our excursion on the Flamenco Cat.

We had hoped to see some whales and catch some fish on our half day boat trip.  Although we enjoyed a very relaxing cruise around Toboga Island, we didn't spot any whales.  We did get a couple of hits from some mahi mahi, called "dorado" in Panama.  We could spot them trailing our trolled lures in the clear blue waters of the Pacific.  It turned out to be a very relaxing ride on Flamenco Cat.

The kids are thoroughly enjoying play time with their other cousins.  William and Jack are the young favorites, and are keeping all of them entertained.  All of these kids are getting along famously, even on our maxed out passenger van rides of 10-12 people.
After a little time chilling in the afternoon, we ended up deciding on the Causeway restaurant, Penkos, where we have  had some great meals in the past.  The Causeway traffic was slammed as a Cage 9 concert was being held this evening.

Instead of attending the Cage 9 concert, we opted instead to go to Alex Reyes home for an impromptu practice of Shorty and Slim, a favorite CZ band. This band is made up of childhood friends of the Grimison family, and their ballads describe their fantasy childhood experience whilst growing up in the Canal Zone. Again, the kids enjoyed the company of their cousins as well as the families of the Seitz, Bradley, and Reyes children.  Christina and Tom Grimison visibly enjoyed the evening, and it appeared that 10 years melted off Tom's age as he sat in an old Albrook home, surrounded by family, sipping a Panama beer and listening to songs of the CZ.

 The girls posing on a marker column from the American Canal Zone days, where one side designates CZ, Canal Zone, and the other side designates Republic of Panama.

                                       Shorty and Slim, the ballad singers of the Canal Zone

A great night to complete a great day.