I have placed this cache at the former site of the Sea Venture
Restaurant. It was owned and operated by my parents and I had the
"pleasure" of working there from the age of 12 - after school and
on weekends - until I married.
There was an aquarium west of the cafe. It was a neat place but
my parents had no inclination to promote it. I thought that was a
shame. Adderley's Bicycle Shop and Bobby Green's Beauty Salon were
east of the cafe. And east of that was Darrell's Wharf and the
Inverurie Hotel. Across the street from the Sea Venture, my parents
owned a variety store. West of the variety store was Lindley's
Grocery. What wonderful memories I have of the people who worked at
these businesses!
Because the cafe was on the water's edge, my sister and I were
allowed to go swimming after the lunch and evening rush hour.
Sometimes, Claudia - a friend of my sister's who lived on Hinson's
Island - would row her boat over and swim with us. What was funny
about Claudia was that sometimes, however, half way between
Hinson"s Island and Darrell's Wharf she would get tired of rowing
and would jump overboard and holding the rope in her teeth, would
swim to shore, pulling her boat behind her.
On Saturday afternoons, my uncle and I would go to Riddle's Bay
and dive for golf balls that were lost by golfers trying to hit
across the inlet to the next hole. He used these to golf with the
next week.
I wasn't as smart about getting out of work as my sister. We
found that she spent an awful lot of time in the bathroom. Since
the cafe had been broken into several times, my parents had put
bars at all the windows. She had cleverly realized that since it
was on the waterside, she could fish from the bathroom window -
which she did frequently when she was supposed to be working. The
fishing line tied to one of the bars of the window gave her
away!
My father's motto at the cafe was "The Customer Is Always
Right". I didn't agree but I learned to live with his motto. It was
a good learning experience.
It was hard work for a kid and I grumbled a lot to myself
because I had to work there, but when I left to live in America,
the Sea Venture was one of the first things that I missed. I missed
the people who frequented the place. They had become my extended
family.
I realized many years later that working there gave me a good
work ethic because of the example my parents had set for me and one
I have tried to emulate my whole life.
This cache is easy to get to but I would not recommend it for
anyone in a wheelchair since there is a small ledge to get to it.
Since this is a small cache, please bring your own pen. There are a
few Bermuda coins in the cache.