10 more days in paradise, part 5

[liamsaunt]

Day 8

Up and pack-goodbye Gallows, hello Caneel! I woke up with itchy fingers today-which meant one thing-shopping! We fortified ourselves with breakfast at the Deli Grotto and then headed out.

First stop, St. John Spice for spices, books, wine glasses, and a hefty dose of island gossip from Ruth and Ron! Next stop, Donald Schnell for some pottery bowls and a big pottery utensil holder type thing. Finally, a stop at the Best of Both Worlds gallery for a piece of art. I had scoped out the place in June, and was trying to decide between a reefscape wall sculpture and a beautiful glazed painting I saw there. I ended up choosing the reefscape for the wall over our TV. I hope it arrives soon! Wallet shut!

Over to Caneel, where the manager who helped us locate our meandering bags a week ago greeted us with a smile and a great big upgrade from oceanview to Cottage 7!

Our room was not ready yet so we hiked over to Honeymoon for the afternoon:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1797101656/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/179 ... 9576dc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="honeymoon beach entry"></a>

It was a little crowded so we snorkeled over to Solomon:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1797127352/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2365/179 ... 608d53.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="solomon palms"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1797125004/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2396/179 ... ed5cea.jpg" width="500" height="438" alt="solomon palms 5"></a>

And yes, there was a fat hairy nekkid man there. We did our best to ignore him and took in the view of the palm trees. We had some good snorkeling here too-a big school of blue tang:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796273129/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2400/179 ... 4d26e7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="solomon eating tang 2"></a>

jacks, lots of elkhorn and pillar coral:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796274817/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2083/179 ... a76e3f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="solomon elkhorn"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1797110708/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/179 ... 93ba79.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="solomon coral"></a>

I also found this little crab. As you can see, he was not intimidated by me!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796271491/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2279/179 ... 689ffb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="solomon crab 2"></a>

After our snorkel and swim:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1797106568/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2274/179 ... e5315c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="john at solomon"></a>

we headed back to the front desk to get our room keys. Whoo-hoo! Look at this place!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1797100786/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2106/179 ... 2910a3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="caneel cottage 7"></a>

I could have had the entire forum over for cocktails on this deck!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796249457/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/179 ... 52bdd3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="caneel our deck"></a>

John and I enjoyed our complimentary Moet while looking over the ocean. We were in heaven.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796253733/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2399/179 ... 04de5f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="cottage 7 bubbles"></a>

Tonight's dinner was at Asolare. However, we discovered a "slight" problem when it was time to leave. Namely, that we didn't have the keys to our jeep! John had them in the velcroed pocket of his swim trunks, and they must have floated out while we were snorkeling. Argh! "Don't worry," I said to John-"we'll deal with it in the morning. Let's just take a taxi." So, that's what we did!

Off to dinner...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796249047/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/179 ... ec73de.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="caneel kayak view"></a>

Have to stop for the sunset:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1796251517/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/179 ... ad3404.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="caneel sunset trees"></a>

At first I was irritated with the table they gave us as it had a very obstructed view, but I quickly got over myself. We started with a wasabi tempura shrimp with a spicy chili dipping sauce (we seemed to eat shrimp a LOT this trip), which was quite tasty-I especially liked the sauce. It had a decent amount of heat to it. Then, I had a seared mahi with green curry roasted eggplant and coconut basmati rice-very, very good. John had red snapper and a Caribbean lobster tail with mashed potatoes. He said it was good but not exceptional. Dessert was crispy mango-stuffed spring rolls with vanilla ice cream. It was OK.

Back to Caneel, where we attempted to stay awake and follow the Red Sox game on John's blackberry. I didn't make it, but John woke me up to tell me that they won, hooray!

Day 8 bug bite tally: 3

[waterguy]

Thanks for another great report

[PA Girl]

Loving it. You are making me yearn for a return visit to Caneel. The only problem with an upgrade (for me) is that I would have a hard time going back "down"!

[California Girl]

It looks like you had perfect weather! The pix of Salomon are just great! Love that little crab trying his best to look like a big, scary crab! LOL!

[Ksea]

Those Solomon pics are just beautiful. No pic of fat hairy nekkid man?

[Kentuckygirl]

Beautiful pictures at Honeymoon and Solomon! Your cottage at Canneel looks great too!

[Tracy in WI]

Wow! That cottage at Caneel looks incredible. What a beautiful room and even more beautiful deck and view. I would have joined you for some cocktails!

Tracy

[naturegirl]

Liamsaunt, your trip reports truly are "the bomb"! You should be a travel/food/writer/photographer! I would buy your books in a heartbeat!

[naturegirl]

Liamsaunt, your trip reports truly are "the bomb"! You should be a travel/food/writer/photographer! I would buy your books in a heartbeat!

[designbyroe]

I second that as a travel writer or a food critic......I forgot how spacious so many of the cottages are at Caneel. When I taught there I got to go to one of the cottages to work with someone.......
the propety at Caneel is just gorgeous.......

[mbw1024]

great pictures! makes me wish I was going to Caneel this trip. It's probably coming in your wrap up installment but what did you think of Gallows?

[MIG]

Liamsaunt - I'm sure it's posted here somewhere, but what model of UW camera do you use? Do you have both an UW and a regular one with you?

Thanks - MIG

[Coden]

Another awesome TR & pics. Thank you!

Awesome room at Caneel...a room to die for!

[cptnkirk]

Oooooooohhhhh my favorite beach Soloman can hardly wait to be under one of the three palms sippin a Carib! Leave Wed 5 am wooo hooo!

[silverheels]

You snagged the most coveted cottage at Caneel. Congratulations. Your pictures are awesome and the running dialogue with them keeps me looking for more.
Thanks so much for your reports.
Just finished watching the Rolling Rally, were you in the crowd taking pictures???