Michigan Girls trip report April 2014 - part three

[michigan girls]

Part one: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... 1iLGfldUZI
Part two: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... 1iNK_ldUZJ

Day 5 – Saturday

Saturday Mayra decided to have another chill day at the villa, so Sherry and I headed out to Leinster. We arrived around 8 and set off down the path. Being the first ones to arrive, we set up in the widest spot. While setting up, we kept seeing turtles poke their heads up, so we headed out to snorkel. We came across several turtles right away

100_0691-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Here is the link to my turtle video from this morning:
https://flic.kr/p/njjo6X

As we were hanging out with turtles, along comes this beauty.

100_0716-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

An eagle ray two days in a row – Sweet!
Here is the link to my eagle ray video:
https://flic.kr/p/njjcpr

Another stop at the turtles before heading to the other side of the bay.

100_0743-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Along the way to the other side, we came across quite a few baby barracuda guarding their little bits of underwater real estate

100_0756-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

The number and variety of fish along the right side was pretty impressive.

100_0761-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

I also saw the smallest sea turtle I've ever seen over there. He was about 8 inches long – what a little cutie

100_0782-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Also saw this impressive stingray hanging out with this handsome trunkfish.

100_0787-4 by heidifunk, on Flickr

By 10ish, the sky was getting dark and we decided to pack up and head back to the jeep. About the time we got everything packed in the jeep the rain started. And it rained, and rained and rained. We decided to take the opportunity to do some exploring by jeep, so we drove all the way out to the end of the road on the East End. On the way back through, we stopped at Vie's, as I argued that we might as well be in the water if it's going to rain. We tried it for bit, but Sherry was not loving it, so we headed back to the jeep.

We had our empty water jugs in the car, so we decided to head into town to refill them at St John Ice. After this, we decided to pick up some lemon bars from Baked in the Sun. There were no spots left in front, so we parked by the ACC and I walked over. I was so soaking wet by this point, a little more was not going to matter.

By the time we got back to the house around 2:30, the rain had slowed to a sprinkle. I decided it was a great time for reading a nap, which was lovely. While I was sleeping, we lost power. After I got up we decided to grill by candlelight. We had chicken breast marinated in vinaigrette and some green beans. It was tasty. The lights came back on as we were eating, so that was nice. We lazed about and read the remainder of the night, very relaxing.

Day 6 – Easter Sunday

Easter morning brought another gorgeous sunrise to start our day

DSC_0014-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

We headed off to Miss Lucy's for Sunday jazz brunch. We arrived very early to secure a good table and spent some time beach combing. I've already posted in another thread about the terrible service, so we'll just let it go at that, and the statement that I was far from impressed at a place where we have always had great service in the past.

DSC_0008 (2)-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

After (finally) receiving our food and paying, we headed for Salt Pond. The snorkeling was just so-so today. Just before we headed for Drunk Bay, my flip flop broke. I decided to do the hike in just my snorkel booties. That was not a great plan, but I survived. I adore Drunk Bay, it's a must do every trip for me. I sit on that old weathered log and stare out at the waves and am freshly awed by it every time. It's a deeply spiritual place for me, so it was very meaningful to me to be there on Easter. It stirs my soul, makes me so very thankful for all I have and centers my mind.

DSC_0021 (2)-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

My sculpture this time was pretty basic (as my feet were killing me!), but I still like it

DSC_0039-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Dinner reservations for Asolare were set for 6:15 to take advantage of the sunset, so we headed up the hill (the death march!) and went to get ready for dinner.

We had a great table right at the end of the rail closed to the sunset – it was perfect.

DSC_0051-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

I had given up chocolate for Lent, so I asked the bartender for any drink with chocolate in it. He made up something, I don't know what it was, but it was delicious

DSC_0048-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

The view here after the sun goes down is also wonderful

DSC_0077-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

I had the Japanese pork belly for an appetizer and the duck for my entree, it was absolutely wonderful.

DSC_0084-5 by heidifunk, on Flickr

For dessert, I had the lavender crème brulee – it was also amazing. Everyone's food here was wonderful, it was definitely the culinary highlight of the trip.

[PA Girl]

Nice pictures!

[SandyPants]

Holy cow, gorgeous pictures--am drooling, and not certain if it is over the food or sunrise/sunset!

[shoemak38]

[jmq]

Nice photos - I am a sucker for any of those "rising turtle" shots.

Plus, that night shot with the palm in the foreground is very cool.

[ColumbiaSCTraveler]

Okay, get ready to be shocked - we have YET to snorkel Leinster!!!! Seriously!!! Must do that this year. So is the water shallow there? Kinda looks like it. Looks like a lot of little babies, too, which is fun!

Eagle Ray video = SO COOL!!!!! We saw our first one last year at Francis. Gorgeous creatures!

Drunk Bay is such a neat place! I agree!

And Asolare! We went there once time, and really enjoyed it, too!

[michigan girls]

Okay, get ready to be shocked - we have YET to snorkel Leinster!!!! Seriously!!! Must do that this year. So is the water shallow there? Kinda looks like it. Looks like a lot of little babies, too, which is fun!

This trip marked our first time snorkeling Leinster in the beach area. We had been to Waterlemon from a boat, and I had done the Leinster drift area from a boat, but this was our first time from the beach. It is quite shallow around the shoreline, although in areas it does get quite deep rather quickly.

It did get pretty busy there by about 10, so we were glad we had gotten there early. It's not the greatest sitting beach, so I don't know that I'd spend the whole day there, but it was a nice start to the day. I think in the future we will not bother bringing all our stuff, just the snorkel gear and then move on to a different beach for lazing about.

[Becky&Mike]

Your pics are beautiful....what type of camera did you use?

[michigan girls]

My "dry land" photos were taken with a Nikon 5100 DSLR. The underwater photos were taken with a Kodak Playsport - which died on this trip.