Blue Papaya Trip Report Part 3
Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:12 am
Part 3 - Nov. 11th - We awoke again to clouds and choppy water. We had left several phone messages for our boat captain the day before and had not heard back fron hin so we assumed that our trip was a "no go" given the clouds and the swells.
Before going to bed the night before I had put together a couple casserole dishes full of breakfast bake (bread cubes, browned sausage, cheese, green peppers, eggs, milk, seasonings) which I popped into the oven in the morning while having coffee on the deck. By the time that breakfast was done and cleaned up the clouds were starting to break up even though it remained a little windy.
A few of us decided to take Mr. Bill for a walk inside Virgin Grand Estates. It was really difficult due to the steepness of the streets there but the views were magnificent along with the lush landscaping. We found some areas where there was evidence of the recent hurricanes and heavy rains - washouts and small rock slides.
The heat and humidity started to climb once the sun came out so we decided to head to a beach to see how things looked. We had earmarked several that wse hadn't been to yet, so Gibney was the plan if we could get parking. We packed a lunch and headed off to the North Shore. There was one car parked there when we pulled up, but they were just leaving so we had no problem fitting both of our jeeps in. SCORE!!! We stayed way to the left as instructed by other forumites and passed through the iron gate and down to Robert Oppenheimer's beach house wihich is now the Community Center.
No one else was around so we set up "camp" next to the building since there was very little beach showing at that time and the waves were a little rough, A few other couples wandered down to where we were but apparently the size of our "herd" scared them off...or maybe it was the size of the waves....at any rate we had the entire place to ourselves for almost the entire time we were there. The water was very churned up so no snorkeling, but we were able to play in the waves and the sun was out long enough for everyone to bake their bones for a while. After several hours the clouds started to darken again and the rain returned. We took shelter on the Oppenheiner porch and watched the waves crashing so close to where we sat and we could hear the rocks and coral being rattled with each wave. It was so soothing and hypnotizing even in the rain that it was easy to understand why Mr. Oppenheimer could find solace and comfort looking at this very site. We talked about how he probably needed that knowing that his momentous discovery was responsible for so much destruction despite bring an end to WWII.
The rain eventually let us and we headed back to the villa. Mr. Bill decided to try out the pool for a while. Then we got cleaned up and decided to try Sogos for dinner. The best item of the night turned out to be the goat stew. Several of us were disappointed that the Mahi Mahi was overcookedk, but with a party the size of ours maybe we were pushing the limits of the kitchen so early in the season. As we headed back to the villa I noticed a little tickle in my throat......hmmmm. Some of our group stayed up late drinking wine on the deck but I decided to hit the hay early to fight off the tickle. As I drifted off to sleep that night I cursed the wild-haired coughing man from the plane and I hoped that he was still partially deaf from the screaming toddler!
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Before going to bed the night before I had put together a couple casserole dishes full of breakfast bake (bread cubes, browned sausage, cheese, green peppers, eggs, milk, seasonings) which I popped into the oven in the morning while having coffee on the deck. By the time that breakfast was done and cleaned up the clouds were starting to break up even though it remained a little windy.
A few of us decided to take Mr. Bill for a walk inside Virgin Grand Estates. It was really difficult due to the steepness of the streets there but the views were magnificent along with the lush landscaping. We found some areas where there was evidence of the recent hurricanes and heavy rains - washouts and small rock slides.
The heat and humidity started to climb once the sun came out so we decided to head to a beach to see how things looked. We had earmarked several that wse hadn't been to yet, so Gibney was the plan if we could get parking. We packed a lunch and headed off to the North Shore. There was one car parked there when we pulled up, but they were just leaving so we had no problem fitting both of our jeeps in. SCORE!!! We stayed way to the left as instructed by other forumites and passed through the iron gate and down to Robert Oppenheimer's beach house wihich is now the Community Center.
No one else was around so we set up "camp" next to the building since there was very little beach showing at that time and the waves were a little rough, A few other couples wandered down to where we were but apparently the size of our "herd" scared them off...or maybe it was the size of the waves....at any rate we had the entire place to ourselves for almost the entire time we were there. The water was very churned up so no snorkeling, but we were able to play in the waves and the sun was out long enough for everyone to bake their bones for a while. After several hours the clouds started to darken again and the rain returned. We took shelter on the Oppenheiner porch and watched the waves crashing so close to where we sat and we could hear the rocks and coral being rattled with each wave. It was so soothing and hypnotizing even in the rain that it was easy to understand why Mr. Oppenheimer could find solace and comfort looking at this very site. We talked about how he probably needed that knowing that his momentous discovery was responsible for so much destruction despite bring an end to WWII.
The rain eventually let us and we headed back to the villa. Mr. Bill decided to try out the pool for a while. Then we got cleaned up and decided to try Sogos for dinner. The best item of the night turned out to be the goat stew. Several of us were disappointed that the Mahi Mahi was overcookedk, but with a party the size of ours maybe we were pushing the limits of the kitchen so early in the season. As we headed back to the villa I noticed a little tickle in my throat......hmmmm. Some of our group stayed up late drinking wine on the deck but I decided to hit the hay early to fight off the tickle. As I drifted off to sleep that night I cursed the wild-haired coughing man from the plane and I hoped that he was still partially deaf from the screaming toddler!
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Those sunset shots are Gorgeous, Beautiful Foilage, & Flowers everywhere ! Love it !!! Nice to see Mr. Bill enjoying himself 
Thanks for posting . ~ Happy 2011~ !