Les DeMerle & Bonnie Eisele
Les and Bonnie Best Wishes
Greetings dear friends, We are sending you our best wishes and support to you and your families during these very challenging times.
Here are the current details and update on our situation regarding our finishing our Royal Caribbean cruise contract on 2/20 due to my eye ulcer and our current details involving my doctor appointments in Miami and our return home to Amelia Island FL.
My Jazz Quartet began our 4 month cruise contract on Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of The Seas on 11/17/19 and everything was going great for 3 months of our 4 1/2 month contract.
My band with Bonnie were entertaining at a very high level playing to packed audiences nightly at Jazz On 4 until I scratched my eye after our show at about 1 am on 2/20/20 .
I was seen by the ship’s senior doctor on 2/21 and she through RCCL made arrangements for me to see an ophthamologist the next day in our next port, Cozumel Mexico.
My eye was in great pain at this point and even though the Cozumel Dr. suggested that I stay in Cozumel for treatment, I returned to the ship with Bonnie and again saw the Dr on board who instructed me to sign off the ship on Medical Leave on Sun May 23.
At first, they expected to sign me off by myself but Bonnie and I would not be separated. She signed off with me on Compassionate Leave in Cocoa Beach on Sunday 2/23 where we were driven to the Cape Canaveral FL Hospital ER.
Once there, several exams followed, RXs were written and then we were scheduled to see an eye specialist in Melbourne, FL the following day.
This doctor saw me 4 days in a row and then he referred me to a cornea specialist who treated me for three days before he referred me to be treated at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.
We were driven from the Best Western hotel, Cocoa Beach by RCCL to the Extended Stay Hotel in Coral Gables, FL where Bonnie and I had a cool little studio apt in a very hip and convenient part of town on the Miracle Mile.
My first call after my first eye appointment was to check in with our dear friend and Miami pianist, Mike Levine, to let him know we were in town for this unfortunate situation and also to ask if was playing anywhere near by. Mike told us that the next night he would be playing at Miami’s hottest Jazz Club, Le Chat Noir, and he invited Bonnie and me to come by and enjoy his quartet with Nicky Orta-bass Lindsay Blair-guitar and Mike’s son, Danny Levine, on drums.
Even though my eye was still hurting we went to the club and I could not resist sitting in with these great players when Mike debuted a tune he had written for me titled “Les is More”. At this time, the vibe was still pretty normal in Miami regarding the Corona virus and restaurants and bars were still happening and there was even a Latin Street festival”Carnaval” happening 2 blocks from our hotel on the Miracle Me where Bonnie and I danced some salsa to some hot Miami Latin bands.
After 19 days in Coral Gables, the next news we heard was that although my appointments at Bascom Palmer would continue, we would be moved to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale where we would have our meals to-go in our room from the hotel restaurant versus going out to public shopping centers and grocery stores.
We will continue to be at the Crowne Plaza for at least another week. My next appointment at Bascom Palmer is next Thursday 4/2 at 8 am.
We are comfortable here in a very nice, clean hotel room in a king sized bed with access to room service and take-out from the hotel restaurant.
Also, we take daily walks around this safe neighborhood to CVS, Publix, Walgreens and more. There is even a Wells Fargo bank within walking distance. So, for right now we are just fine relaxing a lot but still keeping things going between my Dr. appointments, paying bills online and taking care of Amelia Island Jazz Festival business.
Bonnie is my ANGEL giving me all of my meds on schedule. Plus we laugh a lot, listen to music together and always try to stay really positive during this unbelievable time in our world.
As you may already know, we have re-scheduled our Amelia Island Jazz Festival Big Band Bash Scholarship Benefit Dinner/Dance originally set for Easter weekend, Sat. 4/11. We now have it set for Labor Day Weekend, Sat. Sept. 5 at the Omni Hotel on Amelia Island.
We are excited that we have confirmed our exciting 2020 Jazz Fest Headliners: Guitarist/Vocalist extraordinaire, John Pizzarelli, and his Trio for Sat. 10/10 and world-renowned Saxophonist/Clarinetist, Ken Peplowski, on Friday, 10/9. Check out these top shelf artists online.
Tickets for our Sept. 5 Big Band Bash are currently on line at www.ameliaislandjazzfestival.com
We are sending our support and love to you and your family.
To feel our vibe, why not play some music documented on one of of our performances in Jazz On 4 - and dance around the house?
We feel the upbeat spirit is what’s so important now! So stay home, stay healthy and have some fun.
Also, please stay safe and stay productive and positive.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Much love, Les and Bonnie