After a lovely drive south on the Hummingbird highway, we arrived yesterday afternoon in Placencia, a small peninsula village that radiates a fine coolness. Placencia obviously needs tourist dollars but it doesn’t feel touristy…not really.

The local culture is arts-and-crafty (handmade artisans selling their goods along beach promenade), and the general vibe reminded me in some ways of Key West without Duval Street. Plus it has a few inexpensive places to flop, and a hardware store, an auto-repair garage, a one-man carwash joint, a barber shop, plenty of restaurants, high temps mitigated by gentle Caribbean breezes…hot and humid but calming regardless. The sea aroma is magnificent.

I dropped by Omar’s Creole Grub for some shrimp tacos, but I couldn’t stay awake.

Right now HE’s Placencia lodging is the Sea Spray hotel, an air-conditioned two-story complex with five or six stand-alone cabanas. White, electric pea-soup green, teal. Our bungalow runs $75 per night.

After crashing a little after 9 pm, I awoke at 3:30 am — the basic pattern since arrival day. And as I sit on the fenced-off outdoor porch (hammock, eating table, four chairs, beach view), I’m thinking how much I adore tapping out the column, and indeed writing itself. It’s always there, the well from which I drink, the hill upon which I stand, and the only assured safe-space activity that I know. It nurtures and provides (even with the reduced ad income). Happiness is a warm Macbook Pro.

We’ll be moving around noon (Wednesday) into the Cozy Corner hotel, which is even closer to the beach and has an adjoining restaurant.