A good friend of my parents had just graduated from UVA Law (1970ish) so he and his brother wanted to 'road trip' south of the border and see how far they got with out running out of money. They ended up in Belize City and were in a bar when this island girl came up to them pimping her hotel on an island right off of the reef. She asked them if they liked to fish and eat good food and they of course said yes but asked her "what if we don't catch anything or don't like it?" Her reply was "You don't like it, you don't pay" so off they went to Ambergris Caye and stayed at Holiday Hotel with Celi McCorkle playing that island girl.
I think it was '78 when my parents made the trip down for a week of fishing with Manuel and they were hooked from the moment they landed in Belize City and met this little airport bar owner named Jet. I finally got to go down there in '79 and when I didn't want to go fishing (like everyday) I was able to explore, play soccer with the school kids when at recess, and able to run wild all over the island on a bicycle, it was great.
The last time I had been down to San Pedro was in 1995 as my parents had divorced and I had just gotten married and was doing cruises and trips like that. I think it was 2003 when Ms Trumpet, our NYC good friend/traveling companion and I talked of making a trip to Belize and to the island. Maria had friends who spent a week at XXX resort and they loved it and we should all do that and also rent a villa. I recall standing there making the 'No Face" and explained that if Celi or Ms Kim found out that I had snuck onto the island and didn't stay with them at Holiday then that they would kick my arse up and down the island. You see those two women used to look after me when Chico Flores and I would 'get into trouble' and they kept it from my parents, so I have some good history with them. We made the trip and both Ms Trumpet and Maria fell in love with the island, the hotel, and the friends that we have made over the years and the rest is history.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
