Recovery Tour trip report: Back, Balls and Bug Bites
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:14 pm
Back, Balls and Bug Bites
(Wednesday)
We were up at 5:00 and read til 6. Blaine's all about Harlan Coben these days, and I started "The Girl She Used to Be." I made us a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, then packed up the backpack cooler and we hit the road.
We headed to Waterlemon, but it was too rough there, so we turned around and went back to Maho. We were the first ones on the beach again, what a delight! We saw tons of turtles eating a sea grass breakfast. At one time, there were five turtles in my line of vision...pure magic! Blaine wasn't liking this snorkel at all. He's seen a million turtles in his life, so we went back to Cinnamon Bay.
At this point, Blaine said that Cinnamon Bay was the best snorkeling he'd done. We'd gone out around the little cay. He said that in Hawaii, there are many more schools of fish, but that the diversity here was much better than he'd seen. At this point, it was the best. We didn't know how much better it could get!
We probably should have changed into dry clothes, but we left our suits on and I threw on a cover dress and Blaine added a tshirt. A better wife would have also packed the Ben's, that Gromit had recommended.... We went up to the front desk for my daily call in to work, and then we headed to Miss Vie's. What a fun ride! By now, I was completely over my fear of the steep hills and curves, and actually more comfortable being a rider on St. John than at home, cause Blaine had to be so attentive.
We had our first of many donkey encounters. I had our cash on my lap, and jumped out to see the donkeys so quickly that I forgot it was there. The donkey promptly picked up the wad of cash and started chewing it!
I certainly was not going to put my hand in his mouth, so I just watched and hoped. And yep, he didn't like it and spit it out. Yay! I took a picture of the pile that I'll try to post from home.
We found Miss Vie's place easily enough, though it was a much longer trip than I expected. We ordered everything; garlic chicken and johnnycake, rice and beans with meat sauce, and conch fritters. All that plus 5 cans of soda (you must get the gist by now, that we drink alot of Diet Coke) came to $30. Blaine was crazy for the conch fritters. I liked them, but loved the rice with meat sauce. The chicken was okay; nothing to write home about, and Blaine wouldn't even taste it, in the presence of so many chickens!
Our plan was to snorkel and relax for the afternoon, at Honeymoon and Solomon. We stopped at Haulover on the way, and wondered what made that a difficult snorkel. On to Lindt trail. Big mistake. I was wearing contacts just for the snorkeling, and my depth of vision was seriously impaired. Blaine's back and damp swimtrunks made it difficult for him, and the bugs were out now. The trail was wet from all the rain. I would not classify this as an easy hike. It was muddy and slippery. We made it down to Honeymoon where it was windy and the sand was blowing around. We got in and snorkeled while, but the water was pretty choppy. I'm so new to snorkeling that I didn't do well in the choppy water. We rested awhile and then walked out. The hike out was much easierfor me,because I didn't have the depth of vision problems. Blaine still had a hard time. We met a couple about our age and fitness level, and they asked is it worth it? We unanimously told them no! Not today!
We went back to CBC for long showers, and Fabian made us dinner again. We loved Fabian. He works both at Cinnamon Bay and at Caneel, and he's just a doll and a great cook! Though I can't recall what we had, we did have fantastic service. The waitress had the most beautiful big smile. We talked about the trip report over dinner. It'd been a big day, hitting Waterlemon, Maho, Cinnamon Bay and Honeymoon!
Blaine knew that I was naming the reports, and he asked to name today "Back, Balls and Bug Bites." Poor boy. Next trip, we're taking 14 pair of swim trunks. Nothing dries out when it rains in paradise.
But tonight we sleep again in paradise. The night birds have prettier songs than the day birds..... "Chewy. Chewy. CHIT! CHIT!" Long, contented sigh......
(Wednesday)
We were up at 5:00 and read til 6. Blaine's all about Harlan Coben these days, and I started "The Girl She Used to Be." I made us a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, then packed up the backpack cooler and we hit the road.
We headed to Waterlemon, but it was too rough there, so we turned around and went back to Maho. We were the first ones on the beach again, what a delight! We saw tons of turtles eating a sea grass breakfast. At one time, there were five turtles in my line of vision...pure magic! Blaine wasn't liking this snorkel at all. He's seen a million turtles in his life, so we went back to Cinnamon Bay.
At this point, Blaine said that Cinnamon Bay was the best snorkeling he'd done. We'd gone out around the little cay. He said that in Hawaii, there are many more schools of fish, but that the diversity here was much better than he'd seen. At this point, it was the best. We didn't know how much better it could get!
We probably should have changed into dry clothes, but we left our suits on and I threw on a cover dress and Blaine added a tshirt. A better wife would have also packed the Ben's, that Gromit had recommended.... We went up to the front desk for my daily call in to work, and then we headed to Miss Vie's. What a fun ride! By now, I was completely over my fear of the steep hills and curves, and actually more comfortable being a rider on St. John than at home, cause Blaine had to be so attentive.
We had our first of many donkey encounters. I had our cash on my lap, and jumped out to see the donkeys so quickly that I forgot it was there. The donkey promptly picked up the wad of cash and started chewing it!
I certainly was not going to put my hand in his mouth, so I just watched and hoped. And yep, he didn't like it and spit it out. Yay! I took a picture of the pile that I'll try to post from home.We found Miss Vie's place easily enough, though it was a much longer trip than I expected. We ordered everything; garlic chicken and johnnycake, rice and beans with meat sauce, and conch fritters. All that plus 5 cans of soda (you must get the gist by now, that we drink alot of Diet Coke) came to $30. Blaine was crazy for the conch fritters. I liked them, but loved the rice with meat sauce. The chicken was okay; nothing to write home about, and Blaine wouldn't even taste it, in the presence of so many chickens!
Our plan was to snorkel and relax for the afternoon, at Honeymoon and Solomon. We stopped at Haulover on the way, and wondered what made that a difficult snorkel. On to Lindt trail. Big mistake. I was wearing contacts just for the snorkeling, and my depth of vision was seriously impaired. Blaine's back and damp swimtrunks made it difficult for him, and the bugs were out now. The trail was wet from all the rain. I would not classify this as an easy hike. It was muddy and slippery. We made it down to Honeymoon where it was windy and the sand was blowing around. We got in and snorkeled while, but the water was pretty choppy. I'm so new to snorkeling that I didn't do well in the choppy water. We rested awhile and then walked out. The hike out was much easierfor me,because I didn't have the depth of vision problems. Blaine still had a hard time. We met a couple about our age and fitness level, and they asked is it worth it? We unanimously told them no! Not today!
We went back to CBC for long showers, and Fabian made us dinner again. We loved Fabian. He works both at Cinnamon Bay and at Caneel, and he's just a doll and a great cook! Though I can't recall what we had, we did have fantastic service. The waitress had the most beautiful big smile. We talked about the trip report over dinner. It'd been a big day, hitting Waterlemon, Maho, Cinnamon Bay and Honeymoon!
Blaine knew that I was naming the reports, and he asked to name today "Back, Balls and Bug Bites." Poor boy. Next trip, we're taking 14 pair of swim trunks. Nothing dries out when it rains in paradise.
But tonight we sleep again in paradise. The night birds have prettier songs than the day birds..... "Chewy. Chewy. CHIT! CHIT!" Long, contented sigh......
)