Coquina Hotel - 9. Chapter 9

I started to advertise in more magazines. I advertised under the name of the Hotel Coquina and Motel Coquina, offering fishing as an activity. As bookings began to increase, I bought another car to provide transportation between the Motel and the airport. My staff had increased, and I was becoming well known in town. It seemed I was a very successful man and Jon, being my partner, was just as successful.

I received a letter from Mr. Metendorf. The Lodge was taken off the market. They reconfigured the Lodge to provide apartments which they sold. Reading the letter, he seems to indicate he was satisfied with the outcome. I told Jon, and he just smiled.

Including seafood on our menu started a new business for the residents of the town. I noticed a few old fashion rowboats on the water with men and boys fishing. I told Jon he was in charge of that enterprise. He hired two boys to clean their fish for a fee. The increase in fish offal increased the number of crabs. A pleasant surprise was the presence of shrimp. The method of harvesting crabs didn’t work for shrimp, so the boys used nets to catch the shrimp. I was waiting for one of the boys to bring me a lobster. Jon just smiled when I mention the idea of getting a boat was paying off.

An excellent result was that we had fresh fish on the menu for lunch and dinner and various dishes containing fish. Diane created a fish pie that was in the dining hall at the Motel. The quantity of shrimp and crabs did not support a standing menu item. When we had sufficient quantities, we offered them as a special.

Jon wanted to build another pier and extend it further out into the sea. One night he showed me a drawing. He had measured the depth of the sea at various distances from the shore. He already knew we could go as far as the first pier he built. He wanted to double the length.

In conversations with Mr. Jones, they came up with a scheme to float a pier. They would drop guide posts far out into the ocean. The problem, they could only go as far as the height of the post. The new pier would extend one and a half times further into the ocean than the original pier. They did add to this new pier a cross piece so that it looked like a T, if you looked at it from the Hotel grounds.

Jon was happy when it was finished, the boys were happy, and the town folk was happy. It seemed everyone appreciated the additional pier.

A few of the town men had rowboats. Jon put pegs into the sand, which allowed them to pull their boats up onto the sand and tie them off. Those that had motorboats had to use the pier.

Jon was smiling every time I looked at him. There was no question that fishing was an added attraction to our business. We posted signs at the Motel and in town highlighting the piers and that the Hotel would buy any edible fish. As a result, we now had fishing gear for rent and a car from the Motel to the beach.

“Roge, if this keeps up, we are going to need to extend the beach.”

“Why?”

“I was thinking of providing beach cabanas for the guests. We could provide towels, drinks, and even some snacks.”

“And how we would arrange to get these items to them? You can’t have the kitchen staff running back and forth.”

‘’Give me a few days, and I’ll think of something.”

I kissed him and headed back to my office. No matter how hard I tried to concentrate on the books, my mind kept going back to Jon’s suggestion. I had to do the books, so I decided it was Jon’s project, not mine.

Over the next few weeks, I’d find Jon talking to the boys. One of the boys brought a magazine with him to show Jon.

At dinner that night, “Roge, if I find a way to provide cabanas and offer drinks and snack foods, you would go for it?”

Looking into his eyes, I’d promise him everything. “You have a solution?”

“Yes, the cabanas we can buy. I can put a cabinet with a flat board on the top in the cave and have a cooler in the cabinet for cold drinks. We can store some snacks, and the boys can come to the kitchen to replenish the snack inventory.”

He was so happy I couldn’t say no. The downside would be the money it would take to build the cave cabinet and purchase the cabanas. “Okay, go ahead.”

Jon was never demonstrative in front of people, and he was now. He got out of his seat and gave me a kiss that promised something special tonight.

“Jon, wait. Finish your meal.”

He would take a bite, look at me, and smile. He was like a kid that got his favorite gift.