Set your alarm. Or set your TiVo. Island celebrity (I think he may kind of hate us calling him that) Homer Hickam is on Good Morning America tomorrow. Turns out he’s one of the Seven New Wonders of America. Well, at least the Saturn V rocket that he helped design.

Homer, a best-selling author, and his wife split their time between Alabama and their home in Upper Carolina.

In case you missed it, you can read our January interview with Homer, here.

(Homer, 1986, ready for the neutral buoyancy simulator.)

The Tap Room boys are adding Massachusetts to their list of stateside distribution and Kevin and Cheech are heading to Boston to kick it off. They’re making a personal appearance in Cambridge at The Cambridge Commons in Harvard Square, where Tropical Mango Pale Ale and Island Summer Ale will be on draft. Cambridge Commons is well known for its beers on tap — 30 of them! – and calls itself “the first spot in New England to introduce the latest and greatest microbrews.”

That’s a tough audience, and getting in the door at a place like this is a pretty big deal for Kevin and Cheech. You should tell them so next time you see them.

If you’re in Boston, mark your calendar. They’ll be there Thursday, May 22nd starting at 6 p.m.

This is the fourth state Kevin and Cheech have cracked. They also have distribution deals in California, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Desert dust or volcano ash?

The haze caused by Sahara dust is usually a summer thing. The hazy air of late might also have some ash mixed in from the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat. There was some volcano activity this week, according to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. (Check out the picture gallery. Pretty cool.)

The Jared-inspired lunch is no longer an option in town. Subway, which has been for sale for quite some time, is now officially closed. (Before you cheer the demise of stateside influence, that was a cheap place to get a relatively healthy lunch and workaday folk can’t afford to lunch at places like Lime Inn and Waterfront Bistro every day.)

The Cruz Bay Subway franchise was owned by the same person who owns the relatively new IHOP pancake house franchise on St. Thomas, which now we hear is also closing.

So now, a whole bunch of Subway fans are going to get fat again.

The lease, and possibly the Subway franchise, are still for sale. There’s still time to keep Cruz Bay skinny.

Low Key Watersports mascot Tigger, born September 26, 1997, passed away Thursday, May 1, 2008.

As many readers know, Tigger was striken with an unusual and debilitating disease earlier this year. Tigger fought back and made a miraculous recovery, but relapsed in recent weeks.

Even in his final weeks Tigger did what Tigger always did best. He made everybody who came by to see him smile.

If you knew Tigger, take a minute to remember him…then smile.

The old Chilly Billy’s space is open for business again, starting Wednesday morning as “Jake’s”, named after Jake, the son of owners Carl and Shaun (related story.) Jake’s will start with a hearty breakfast menu until 2 p.m. Lunch and dinner ‘til 10 p.m. will be added soon. Check out the breakfast menu, here.

Jake, the restaurant’s namesake, turned 1 year old May 1st. Nice birthday present kid.

We don’t ride the passenger ferry much. That’s a shame. It’s always a great treat to come across actually being able to see everything, and to breath and feel the sea breeze on your face, not to be buried between a loaded down Suzuki on one side and an idling delivery truck on the other, like on the barge.

Take a ferry ride across, below. (Apologies to those of you who don’t get to get off the boat when we get there.)

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