My Visit to Haiti

I just returned from Haiti. This was my 4th visit to Haiti. (My 1st since the terrible hurricane in January). Haiti is on the West Side of an Island in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic is located on East Side of the Island.

One of the cities that I visited was Montrouis. Montrouis a Beachtown that is near Saint Marc and is about two hours from the Capital of Port-Au-Prince. Montrouis is a coastal town in western Haiti. Montrouis is also one of the best beach towns in Haiti, with several well renowned hotels and resorts, including le Moulin-sur-Mer. Montrouis is located on the Cotes des Arcadins, one of Haiti's longest stretches of pure white sand beaches. It is also a great place for sailing and fishing.

I am interested in beachtowns all over the world and have been working on a project called The Worlds Best Beach Towns. Click Here to Visit. In addition, Click Here to Visit my Blog.

Check out my Haiti blog: http://ADayinHaiti.com and learn about the Caring House Foundation Project and Hope to Haiti - 2 of my Favorite Charities.

Check out my video of Montrouis.

Doug meets Tony Bourdain from the Travel Channel

As I travel the world in search of unique Real Estate opportunities I often have the pleasure of eating unique and local foods. I still remember seeing Scorpion and Seahorse fried on a Stick in a back street China food market. One of my favorite TV shows is No Reservations on the Travel Channel. Anthony Bourdain is the host of that unique show. Last night I had a chance to meet and chat with Tony.

Douglas Doebler and Anthony Bourdain

Tony travels the world in search of some of the oddest food delicacy. His show is a mix of travel and unique food adventure. "Real cooking said Bourdain, is not about doing simple things with the best ingredients, like filet mignon, it's about turning the inexpensive and ugly and yucky things like organs and tongue and brains into something delicious and interesting".

If you are not familiar with Tony, click here to visit Tony Bourdain’s Website

Click here to see Tony Bordain’s Blog

How did I happen to meet Anthony Bourdain?

I was reading the paper yesterday and saw an article by Jack Garner. Jack was staff film critic at the Democrat and Chronicle for 30 years before he retired in June, 2007. He continues to write for the paper as a freelancer. This is article he wrote yesterday about the upcoming appearance. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009911200310

I read that and before I knew it, I was getting tickets!

Romero Britto and Keuka Lake New York

I have enjoyed the art work of pop star artist Romero Britto for many years. It all started about 5 years ago when I discovered him. Since then I have been collecting his prints and paintings. I love the way he expresses his painting with pulsating, vibrant colors, using pop themes. He has become the premier contemporary Artist of our generation.

This print by Romero, was a poster for the South Miami Art Festival in 1997, is hanging in my Lake House.

Many times, while I was visiting Midtown Miami, I visited his gallery on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, Florida. I have followed his work and his TV appearances including Donald Trump's Apprentice (working with Kendra Todd), Martha Stewart and other high profile shows.
Last night I had the honor of meeting the star pop artist Romero Britto at the Nan Miller Gallery in Rochester, NY. I attended a "Meet the Artist" there last night. There was a large crowd and many of his works were on display.

I was excited to have the opportunity to meet Romero. I was able to talk to him and have my picture taken with him. I was surprised to learn that Romero has spent summers on Keuka Lake for many years. Keuka Lake is not far from my home. He is a world known artist and he is familiar with the Fingerlakes in New York - I was amazed!

The title of this painting is "Keuka Lake"

Romero Britto and me

Romero lived a very modest lifestyle growing up with 8 brothers and sisters in Recife Brazil. His creativity allowed him to fill his life with images and colors of a beautiful world. Today Romero is world wide art star. I will continue to follow Romero and hopefully we will meet again someday.

To see Romero's online gallery & learn more about him, visit his website at http://www.britto.com/

Yes, There is Hope for Haiti!

I just returned from my 3rd trip to Haiti with Frank McKinney. We visited the city of Cabaret. Cabaret was devastated by the hurricanes last year.

I put together another photo essay so you can see what I saw while I was there. Click here to visit my photo journal.

I also started a blog called "A Day in Haiti" Click here to visit http://www.adayinhaiti.com/.
This new blog is jam packed with all kinds of information about Haiti including maps, videos and recent news. You can comment or ask questions there.

Yes, There is hope for Haiti! Visit my Blog and you will see what I mean.

My Visit to the completed Baltimore Ritz-Carlton

I've been traveling quite a bit in 2009 and I recently returned from a visit to the Ritz-Carlton Residences in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. I was there checking on the project I started working on in 2004. It was very exciting to watch the progress and the completion of this condo project.

The Ritz Carlton Residences

The Ritz Carlton Marina

The Ritz Carlton along the Harbor

Down to the Docks at the Marina

The Ritz-Carlton from Key Highway

The impressive lobby at the Ritz-Carlton Residences

The members public lounge area

The Ritz-Carlton indoor pool area

Click here to see all my photos from my visit.

Note - these photos are in my Facebook account. You will need to be a Facebook Member and sign in or Register with Facebook to view the photos. If you are not a Facebook member and do not want to join just send me an email & I will be happy to email the photos directly to you.

WOW - I got to meet Bob Parsons! CEO of GoDaddy.com

At a recent internet conference I had the great pleasure of meeting Bob Parsons, the CEO of GoDaddy.com (you know the guy with the great Superbowl ads and NASCAR Sponsor). We discussed the several hundred internet domain names I have, most of them I purchased at Godaddy.com

Doug Doebler meets Bob Parsons