Anguilla Trip Report (part 1)
Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:56 pm
I thought you all may enjoy reading about our recent trip to Anguilla & St. Martin...
Just a little background - hubby and I are 29 & 31, and truly enjoy the Caribbean. We like laid back & relaxing vacations that include beautiful beaches, daytrips on the water, and wonderful food & drink. Past Caribbean trips have been to St. John, BVI's, Bequia, & Barbados. We absolutely love St. John, and didn't think we'd find another island that captivated us as much as it does!K.that is, until we found Anguilla!K
We flew direct from Charlotte to St. Martin, cabbed it to the ferry terminal (about 20 minutes), and caught the ferry to Anguilla (30 mins). Got a cab to our hotel - driver was very nice, stopped in town so we could get some groceries. Provisioning in Anguilla was much better than we'd anticipated. The larger market in The Valley had a great selection, and the prices weren't too bad. For $60 we got a case of beer, bottle of wine (you see our priorities, right?), chips, loaf of bread, sandwich meat, cheese, juice, and a few other snack items.
With supplies in hand, we head off to our home for the week, the Allamanda Hotel. On the way to our hotel, we were struck by the sparseness of the island. It is truly scrub vegetation, and not the lush greenery we're used to in St. John. Our driver drops us at the hotel, and I swear, it's the quietest place I've ever seen. As it was Saturday and the hotel owners are 7th Day Adventist, there was no one there to greet us. They had previously emailed and said they would leave instructions/keys in a box by the front office!Kand they had. Also left us a little care package with juice/crackers, which was a nice touch.
Our room had a full kitchen - a little cramped, but fine with us. The most "cooking" we do on vacation is making toast and mixing drinks! Basic bathroom, and a nice open bedroom area, with a balcony. There are comfy lounge chairs on the balcony, and they proved to be our favorite spot when we were at home base - sitting there with a drink and enjoying the view of the ocean. Our place was what we expected - basic, clean accommodations. Also have a nice clean pool. (side note about Allamanda!Kwe were obviously there at the beginning of low season, as we only saw other guests twice! Which was a little odd when we first got there - you expect to see other people, right? But we did enjoy the solitude.)
After we unpacked, we were ready for a drink. We took the short path from the hotel out to the beach, and entered onto one of the most fabulous beaches I've ever seen. Shoal Bay beach is breathtaking, and we felt so lucky to be staying in such a beautiful location. Gwen's Reggae Bar was open, and we had our first of many rum punches. This was the start of Matt's "rum punch tour of Anguilla". In the end, Gwen was at the top of his list. After a couple of drinks with our toes in the sand, the long travel day melted away and "island time! started.
After our drinks, we decided to have dinner at Zara's, which was located at our hotel. We were the only diners there! We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, and wonderful dinners. I had the Penne a la vodka, and Matt had grouper in a buerre blanc sauce that was out of this world. And to add to the ambience, the chef (Shamash) sang throughout our meal as he was working in the kitchen. We had a nice chat with him after dinner, and he said that week was his last week on island for the season!K.once low season starts, he closes up shop and heads to the Hamptons for the summer season, where he chefs at a local restaurant. To anyone heading to Anguilla - Zara's is not to be missed!
Just a little background - hubby and I are 29 & 31, and truly enjoy the Caribbean. We like laid back & relaxing vacations that include beautiful beaches, daytrips on the water, and wonderful food & drink. Past Caribbean trips have been to St. John, BVI's, Bequia, & Barbados. We absolutely love St. John, and didn't think we'd find another island that captivated us as much as it does!K.that is, until we found Anguilla!K
We flew direct from Charlotte to St. Martin, cabbed it to the ferry terminal (about 20 minutes), and caught the ferry to Anguilla (30 mins). Got a cab to our hotel - driver was very nice, stopped in town so we could get some groceries. Provisioning in Anguilla was much better than we'd anticipated. The larger market in The Valley had a great selection, and the prices weren't too bad. For $60 we got a case of beer, bottle of wine (you see our priorities, right?), chips, loaf of bread, sandwich meat, cheese, juice, and a few other snack items.
With supplies in hand, we head off to our home for the week, the Allamanda Hotel. On the way to our hotel, we were struck by the sparseness of the island. It is truly scrub vegetation, and not the lush greenery we're used to in St. John. Our driver drops us at the hotel, and I swear, it's the quietest place I've ever seen. As it was Saturday and the hotel owners are 7th Day Adventist, there was no one there to greet us. They had previously emailed and said they would leave instructions/keys in a box by the front office!Kand they had. Also left us a little care package with juice/crackers, which was a nice touch.
Our room had a full kitchen - a little cramped, but fine with us. The most "cooking" we do on vacation is making toast and mixing drinks! Basic bathroom, and a nice open bedroom area, with a balcony. There are comfy lounge chairs on the balcony, and they proved to be our favorite spot when we were at home base - sitting there with a drink and enjoying the view of the ocean. Our place was what we expected - basic, clean accommodations. Also have a nice clean pool. (side note about Allamanda!Kwe were obviously there at the beginning of low season, as we only saw other guests twice! Which was a little odd when we first got there - you expect to see other people, right? But we did enjoy the solitude.)
After we unpacked, we were ready for a drink. We took the short path from the hotel out to the beach, and entered onto one of the most fabulous beaches I've ever seen. Shoal Bay beach is breathtaking, and we felt so lucky to be staying in such a beautiful location. Gwen's Reggae Bar was open, and we had our first of many rum punches. This was the start of Matt's "rum punch tour of Anguilla". In the end, Gwen was at the top of his list. After a couple of drinks with our toes in the sand, the long travel day melted away and "island time! started.
After our drinks, we decided to have dinner at Zara's, which was located at our hotel. We were the only diners there! We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, and wonderful dinners. I had the Penne a la vodka, and Matt had grouper in a buerre blanc sauce that was out of this world. And to add to the ambience, the chef (Shamash) sang throughout our meal as he was working in the kitchen. We had a nice chat with him after dinner, and he said that week was his last week on island for the season!K.once low season starts, he closes up shop and heads to the Hamptons for the summer season, where he chefs at a local restaurant. To anyone heading to Anguilla - Zara's is not to be missed!
