Greetings peeps, Kermit D. Frog here bringing you coverage from the pre-DC Carnival fete Islands in the Sun fete which as usual, took place on the Saturday before DC Carnival. This year as I found myself watching the thunderstorms sweep through the area that morning, I wondered if the evening’s activities would be a washout. I mean, these were no mere thunderstorms. At one point, I could have sworn that I saw an ark going down the street. By mid afternoon however, the rain had stopped and the sun came out so I made my way to the Lake Arbor Golf Course to begin the festivities early.
My typical plan for these types of all-inclusive events is to arrive early, eat for a solid hour, and then begin my assault on the bar. On this occasion I arrived around 6:30pm and was surprised to see a fair number of people already present. The grounds looked to be in excellent shape and the first thing I noticed was that the dance floor and food station positions were transposed from last year. The food was atop the hill while the DJ and bar were situated down the hill and as the night went on, I must say that I preferred this setup as it kept the attendees in a nice group and gave a cozy and intimate feel to the partying.
I made my customary circle of the venue and after picking up a starter drink at the bar, I followed my nose and made my way to the food tent. As usual the food was catered by 2 Island Bwoyz and as usual it was very tasty and plentiful. While I did not chow down for a full hour, I did eat until my tank was nicely filled with their deliciously jerked and BBQ’d food. After all, I had some serious drinking to do and there was still 5 hours left of feteing on the agenda. After the feeding, I proceeded back to the bar for a refill or five and I cast an eye around to see what was happening. I noticed a very animated group gathered around an iceblock in the distance so I made my way over to scope it out.
If course it was the old big-assed-iceblock-shot tent and the hotties in charge of this attraction were very zealous about getting rid of the alcohol they had. All one had to do was pass within 50 feet of the tent and one of the lovely ladies would hasten over and entreat you to come over to check it out. The next thing you know, you are crouched under the block drinking a beastly cold shot of something. Having my camera in hand afforded me some protection from their efforts but I did not have to fend them off for too long as there was a steady stream of people walking in to the fete and of course once they passed the tent, they were snapped up and wined under the iceblock as you will see in the pics.
The fete was filling up and while the crowds were not as large as in previous years, the folks that were here were here to have a good time and they wasted no time making that happen. As a matter of fact, the diminished numbers enabled things to get out of hand even faster than usual. With less people, you waited less to get served. Food was procured and eaten quickly and as for drinks, lawd have mercy. The bartenders were acting like they wanted to get rid of ALL the liquor. It was as if they themselves would have had to pack up whatever remained and carry it back to the truck so they were determined that there would be little, if any, left. As you leaned on the bar, they immediately popped up ready to assist. It is my belief that this level of service contributed greatly to the behavior that will be described 2 paragraphs from now.
Of course our resident audiologists were tearing up the 1’s and 2’ (and 3’s and laptop) and since the sun had set, the crowd was feeling the feeling. The DJs were situated on a small stage under a tent at the front of the paved dance area. Of course Sprang International was front and center but while he took a break, his relief was more than able to maintain the pressure and keep the tunes flowing non-stop. Clearly the relief was in a zone as he selected big tune after big tune after big tune stopping only to wipe some drool from the mouth of the baby that was strapped to his chest. Yes my peeps, he was spinning the tunes and hyping the crowd with a baby in a harness strapped to his chest and the child seemed to be happy with the situation. I will confess that I did not notice this during the fete. It was only while editing my pictures that I noticed what I thought was an unusual kind of bling that the DJ was wearing and after zooming in, I saw the baby. The only explanation that I can think of is that it wasn’t actually a baby but was in fact a mini-me. I have no comment, none.
Soca Baby aside, by now the party was in full swing on the dance floor. The footing was good, the music was loud and the bar was only 35 feet 8 inches away. This was an almost perfect location for winery (toilets were too far away for it to be perfect) and the revelers made full use of the situation. Man was wining on woman; woman was wining on man; a man was wining on the tent pole on stage; groups of women and men were forming, wining low, falling down, getting back up and reforming. In case you missed it, let me repeat: a man was wining on the tent pole in the stage. It all started off pretty innocuously with two men on the stage wining for the women and then it evolved to a pole routine that would have made Jodie Foster blush. Clearly Jodie’s timidity was not a sentiment shared by the audience because some of the ladies decided to reward the men’s efforts by rushing to the front of the stage and “making it rain” on them. I was able to catch the piece of the shower of cash in mid flight.
What could possibly follow such an act? I am not even going to talk about the lady in white pants doing her superman cape impression. I won’t even mention the fellow that went on stage to advertise Zen and got mobbed by the three Zen-girls. Not even the fellah that while wining down low behind a line of women was making a phone call with one hand on the ground could come close. (Yes, saddis was making a call fuh real!) The only thing that can compare to the dynamic-duo took place later in the night when one of the dynamic duo went back on the stage and an extremely fit looking young lady decided that she would like to join him. She did and he welcomed her with open arms and after a brief warm-up wine, he used his open arms to hoist her up in the air and into what can only be described as a “back-to-front-donkey”. The young lady was enjoying her position so much that she grabbed the top of the tent to steady herself. Now picture this, he on de stage, she on he and the floor real far. I found myself wondering what their exit strategy would be? When ons is drunk, it is far easier to get someone onto one’s shoulders than it is to get them off safely so I waited with camera poised to see what would happen. I need not have worried because I was apparently dealing with two wining experts and a mere donkey dismount would not challenge their ability at all. After a swing to the right and a swing to the left, she slid gracefully down the front of his chest, was caught by him, and in their best “dancing with the stars” form, they struck a pose. The crowd went wild! It is always a treat to see professionals at work and these two made it look easy.
The rest of the night was a blur of beautiful people, hot music, and good times. Once again the Wynah Krew did their thing in style and as I sipped hot corn soup on my way out, I knew the DC carnival season was off to a roaring start.
