Gromit's Adventure in Happy Land: Day 2
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:13 pm
Gromit's Adventures in Happy Land: Day 2
(Long but worth it!)
Location: Mayan Sky (Upper Carolina) Coral Bay
Gromit's Cast of characters:
Gromit: ME!!
Mr. Gromit: Hubby
MIL: Mother in law (Newbie)
FIL: Father in law (Newbie)
*Other Krewe members will be added as the days progress!
Monday December 8 (Day 2 of 7): Beach Day at Jumbie, Lunch at Skinny Legs, Grocery shopping at Starfish and Pine Peace, Dinner at Aqua Bistro, Making gourmet Jell-O shots with garnish and triple chocolate Ghirardelli brownies.
Woke up to a gorgeous sunrise over Coral Bay. I think another poster published a really pretty photo from that day in another post.
No matter how late I sleep in at home I can never seem to sleep past 7:00 am on island.
I went outside onto the deck and spotted the FIL. He was drinking a cup of coffee and just looking at the view. He had this huge smile on his face. I said, "Doesn't suck does it?" and he replied, "Nope. It definitely doesn't suck."
Mr. Gromit and I have been married for 10 ½ years and we’ve been coming to the island together since our honeymoon.
We’ve also been asking his parents to join us for almost as many years but they never have. Finally, for whatever reason they agreed to come down and I think that the FIL in the back of his mind was kicking himself for not making the decision sooner.
Breakfast McGromit Style
I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and some packets of sugar. I sat down next to the FIL and started emptying the packets into the bowl. He looked at me like I had two heads. I told him, “Just wait.” I placed the bowl on the ledge and within 15 minutes one of our little bananaquit pals showed up. He loved it!
I decided to go in and make a McGromit sandwich (a specialty of mine). Basically it’s bacon, egg and cheese on an English muffin. Normally I’m not a big breakfast girl but knowing that I’m going to be really busy and active during the day I find it’s best to eat something hearty so I’m not hungry before noon.
The in-laws are the “healthy eater” types and weren’t too excited about the heart attack inducing McGromit but I warned them that they needed something substantial if they were going to be engaging in sun and fun activities. They indulged me by splitting one. Whatever!
Gromit opens mouth and inserts foot
Finally everyone got themselves together. I suggested that they apply sunscreen (SPF 15) BEFORE getting their suits on since the sun is much stronger than they are used to. Thankfully they followed the advice.
I planned on heading to Jumbie for the AM and then off to Skinny Legs immediately from the beach.
All ready to go we waited for MIL who finally strolled out in strappy sandals and a Pareo tied at the top with just a swimsuit underneath.
Now keep in mind that I forewarned them that STJ was a t-shirt, shorts and Keens kind of place and urged them to pack accordingly. I have to admit that my brain to mouth sensor was malfunctioning at that moment and I blurted out, “You aren’t going to wear that are you?”
CRAP!!! DID THAT JUST COME OUT OF MY MOUTH?? SHUT UP GROMIT!! QUICK! RECOVER WITH SOMETHING NICE!!!
“Ummm…. What I meant to say was that we’re going to Jumbie and there’s a bit of a trail and then we’re going to head straight to lunch at Skinny Legs…. and if you walk in like that….. unmmm….. well….. people will look at you funny. So…. Ummmm…. That’s really cute but you’re going to need some better shoes and a t-shirt and shorts. Actual clothes. ”
YEAH. NICE. LIKE THAT WAS ANY BETTER!
At this point I thought it better to just shut my mouth. MIL retreated into the bedroom to grab the aforementioned actual clothes.
Beach + Skinny Legs = Good Time
Off we headed in two separate Jeeps to Jumbie. The FIL needed the practice. Arrive at Jumbie with three spaces available. SCORE!!
Going down the path we passed another family coming back to the lot. Apparently, their little one “didn’t like the beach.” Oh well more for us!
The in-laws were pretty impressed with Jumbie. We had the beach to ourselves for most of the morning. Showed the in laws the mongoosedem which hang out in the rocks waiting for unsuspecting tourists to leave their lunch lying around. FIL’s smile was still plastered on his face. MIL was equally impressed.
Jumbie was a bit rough but we were just there to get some sun and relax.
We hung out at Jumbie until we started to get hungry. Off to Skinny Legs!
In-laws were equally impressed with Skinny’s. After telling them about it for years we were afraid we’d oversold it.
Mr. Gromit describes Skinny’s as a cross between a Jimmy Buffet song and the bar from the first Star Wars movie. Just sayin.
Anyway, burgers and Red Stripes all around and FIL even grabbed a Skinny Legs T-shirt and koozie. Score!! I have to admit it’s hard not to see Doug there. He was a good man.
Grocery Shopping with Newbies
After lunch Mom wanted to head into Cruz Bay and check out Starfish market. She was intent on buying “Fresh Fish” or Caribbean lobster to cook on the grill. We swing by the Fish Trap fish market to see what they had and spoke with Lisa, Aaron’s wife. Glad to hear that Aaron is doing better these days.
Fish market was closed on Monday but she gave us the scoop on what they would have tomorrow. Lisa is great!!
We then headed to Starfish. I tried to explain that generally Mr. Gromit and I eat out a lot on island and that the only real food we buy are snacks, breakfast stuff and some hot dogs (just in case we’re too lazy to go out after a long day of snorkeling).
I generally find that after you buy all the fixings for a meal like you would make at home you end up spending as much if not more than if you went out—especially with a smaller number of people.
That being said however, I did bring down some taco spices and Zatarains red beans and rice (knowing that it could be doctored with anything to make it into a meal).
I don’t think the MIL believed me until she saw the prices. Hey, what do I know?
Anyway, I’ve learned just to let her do her thing and figure it out. I grabbed a couple of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia peace pops and headed to the car to hang with Mr. Gromit. I need a drink!
A few mins later the IL’s returned with a cup of pre-cut pineapple, four steaks, hot dogs and buns and $80 poorer. Alrighty then.
We did a quick swing by Pine Peace to see what they had. We grabbed some rum, vodka and tequila for the Jell-O shots and general consumption for the week.
I love Ting so I bought case of it I am pleased to report that a Case o’ Ting is $23 for 24 bottles! Bargain! Love that stuff. Great straight or with vodka or rum!
Mr. Gromit was like, “You’re gonna have to bathe in that stuff to get though 24 bottles in the next 5 days!” Oh well.
Needless to say whoever rented Mayan Sky this week and at least 8 Ting’s waiting for them in the fridge!!
Headed back to the house with my case o’ Ting and then jumped in the pool to refresh. I have to admit that a pool during the winter months on STJ is not as essential as it is in the summer months for me. The pool is fairly cool and not as refreshing but we still used it.
No Karaoke for Gromit! Denied!!
After a few drinks, we showered and got ready for dinner. I had planned to go to Island Blues that night since they were also doing Karaoke. Thought it might be fun. Well, MIL was NOT INTERESTED. No way, no how, no karaoke. Oh well.
Little did she know that in just three days she would be singing John Denver’s “Country Road, Take me Home, West Virginia” aloud at Skinny’s with her new Canadian friends (more on THAT moment in a few days!!)
Since a lot of stuff is closed on Mondays we decided to try Aqua Bistro. This was my first visit to Aqua Bistro and I have to report that I was impressed.
It seems that the old bartender for Island Blues, Kenny, has moved to AB and brought the local contingent and his local following with him. The bar at AB is the only bar licensed to sell Larry’s “Drink right, Keep Left” specialty originated at the Tourist Trap near Salt Pond.
Apparently Larry only trusts his pal Kenny with the secret recipe and I can report that this drink and their Painkillers were excellent. FIL was becoming a Painkiller expert at this point so this is high praise.
Food was very good. Again, I am a complete loser and have no idea what I ate but there was not one complaint from anyone and the in-laws declared later in the week at AB was their favorite restaurant of the week.
Meanwhile….. Back at the Villa
It was early so I decided to get a head start on making the Jell-O shots and baking brownies for Wednesday’s boat outing with ScubaGirl and Vicki.
I brought down two packages of Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownie mix in my backpack. Going through security I was a bit nervous thinking that they would want to search my bags for what looked like 2 kilos of chocolate scented cocaine. Thankfully there were no issues!
I also brought the Jell-O with me. Not sure what this costs on island but it is light enough that packing it was not a problem.
Better Living through Chemistry
Anyway, I baked the brownies and started up the Jell-O shot lab. My good friend Keith at the local Outback at home supplied me with small Styrofoam cups. These were great. Each box of jell-o will yield enough to fill eight of these cups ¾ full. Each cup then becomes the equivalent of one shot of alcohol.
I used Orange, Lime, Lemon and Watermelon Jell-O for the shots. For the liquor I used rum, tequila, vodka, triple sec and sour mix. Here’s the site I used for the recipes:
http://www.myscienceproject.org/j-shot-3.html
Orange+Triple Sec+Vodka = Cosmopolitan Shot
Lime+ sour mix + tequila = Margarita shot
Lemon+ Vodka = Lemon Drop shot
Watermelon + rum = Watermelon rummy yummy!
Mr. Gromit and I got an assembly line going and before we knew it we had produced 32 lovely cups of Jello-Shot joy!! I even made little quarter wedges of lime and placed them on the Margarita shots and sprinkled sugar on the lemon drop shots. GARNISH!!
Jell-O shot tip: In retrospect I was glad that I did these a full day ahead of time just to give them plenty of time to set and get cold.
If transporting them make sure you have a cookie sheet that is small enough to fit in a cooler Wrap well in saran wrap. Brownies also need to go into the fridge for safe keeping in the humid climate.
A full day behind us, I did few Tequila shots with FIL and then hit the sack.
Tomorrow: Snorkeling at Salt Pond, Lunch at Vie’s, a visit to Sloop Jones, shopping for shorts, more shopping at Lilly’s, Gromit as magic chef at the villa (Liamsaunt would be so proud!); and the Jell-O shot taste test (also known as “Better living through chemistry!)
(Long but worth it!)
Location: Mayan Sky (Upper Carolina) Coral Bay
Gromit's Cast of characters:
Gromit: ME!!
Mr. Gromit: Hubby
MIL: Mother in law (Newbie)
FIL: Father in law (Newbie)
*Other Krewe members will be added as the days progress!
Monday December 8 (Day 2 of 7): Beach Day at Jumbie, Lunch at Skinny Legs, Grocery shopping at Starfish and Pine Peace, Dinner at Aqua Bistro, Making gourmet Jell-O shots with garnish and triple chocolate Ghirardelli brownies.
Woke up to a gorgeous sunrise over Coral Bay. I think another poster published a really pretty photo from that day in another post.
No matter how late I sleep in at home I can never seem to sleep past 7:00 am on island.
I went outside onto the deck and spotted the FIL. He was drinking a cup of coffee and just looking at the view. He had this huge smile on his face. I said, "Doesn't suck does it?" and he replied, "Nope. It definitely doesn't suck."
Mr. Gromit and I have been married for 10 ½ years and we’ve been coming to the island together since our honeymoon.
We’ve also been asking his parents to join us for almost as many years but they never have. Finally, for whatever reason they agreed to come down and I think that the FIL in the back of his mind was kicking himself for not making the decision sooner.
Breakfast McGromit Style
I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and some packets of sugar. I sat down next to the FIL and started emptying the packets into the bowl. He looked at me like I had two heads. I told him, “Just wait.” I placed the bowl on the ledge and within 15 minutes one of our little bananaquit pals showed up. He loved it!
I decided to go in and make a McGromit sandwich (a specialty of mine). Basically it’s bacon, egg and cheese on an English muffin. Normally I’m not a big breakfast girl but knowing that I’m going to be really busy and active during the day I find it’s best to eat something hearty so I’m not hungry before noon.
The in-laws are the “healthy eater” types and weren’t too excited about the heart attack inducing McGromit but I warned them that they needed something substantial if they were going to be engaging in sun and fun activities. They indulged me by splitting one. Whatever!
Gromit opens mouth and inserts foot
Finally everyone got themselves together. I suggested that they apply sunscreen (SPF 15) BEFORE getting their suits on since the sun is much stronger than they are used to. Thankfully they followed the advice.
I planned on heading to Jumbie for the AM and then off to Skinny Legs immediately from the beach.
All ready to go we waited for MIL who finally strolled out in strappy sandals and a Pareo tied at the top with just a swimsuit underneath.
Now keep in mind that I forewarned them that STJ was a t-shirt, shorts and Keens kind of place and urged them to pack accordingly. I have to admit that my brain to mouth sensor was malfunctioning at that moment and I blurted out, “You aren’t going to wear that are you?”
CRAP!!! DID THAT JUST COME OUT OF MY MOUTH?? SHUT UP GROMIT!! QUICK! RECOVER WITH SOMETHING NICE!!!
“Ummm…. What I meant to say was that we’re going to Jumbie and there’s a bit of a trail and then we’re going to head straight to lunch at Skinny Legs…. and if you walk in like that….. unmmm….. well….. people will look at you funny. So…. Ummmm…. That’s really cute but you’re going to need some better shoes and a t-shirt and shorts. Actual clothes. ”
YEAH. NICE. LIKE THAT WAS ANY BETTER!
At this point I thought it better to just shut my mouth. MIL retreated into the bedroom to grab the aforementioned actual clothes.
Beach + Skinny Legs = Good Time
Off we headed in two separate Jeeps to Jumbie. The FIL needed the practice. Arrive at Jumbie with three spaces available. SCORE!!
Going down the path we passed another family coming back to the lot. Apparently, their little one “didn’t like the beach.” Oh well more for us!
The in-laws were pretty impressed with Jumbie. We had the beach to ourselves for most of the morning. Showed the in laws the mongoosedem which hang out in the rocks waiting for unsuspecting tourists to leave their lunch lying around. FIL’s smile was still plastered on his face. MIL was equally impressed.
Jumbie was a bit rough but we were just there to get some sun and relax.
We hung out at Jumbie until we started to get hungry. Off to Skinny Legs!
In-laws were equally impressed with Skinny’s. After telling them about it for years we were afraid we’d oversold it.
Mr. Gromit describes Skinny’s as a cross between a Jimmy Buffet song and the bar from the first Star Wars movie. Just sayin.
Anyway, burgers and Red Stripes all around and FIL even grabbed a Skinny Legs T-shirt and koozie. Score!! I have to admit it’s hard not to see Doug there. He was a good man.
Grocery Shopping with Newbies
After lunch Mom wanted to head into Cruz Bay and check out Starfish market. She was intent on buying “Fresh Fish” or Caribbean lobster to cook on the grill. We swing by the Fish Trap fish market to see what they had and spoke with Lisa, Aaron’s wife. Glad to hear that Aaron is doing better these days.
Fish market was closed on Monday but she gave us the scoop on what they would have tomorrow. Lisa is great!!
We then headed to Starfish. I tried to explain that generally Mr. Gromit and I eat out a lot on island and that the only real food we buy are snacks, breakfast stuff and some hot dogs (just in case we’re too lazy to go out after a long day of snorkeling).
I generally find that after you buy all the fixings for a meal like you would make at home you end up spending as much if not more than if you went out—especially with a smaller number of people.
That being said however, I did bring down some taco spices and Zatarains red beans and rice (knowing that it could be doctored with anything to make it into a meal).
I don’t think the MIL believed me until she saw the prices. Hey, what do I know?
Anyway, I’ve learned just to let her do her thing and figure it out. I grabbed a couple of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia peace pops and headed to the car to hang with Mr. Gromit. I need a drink!
A few mins later the IL’s returned with a cup of pre-cut pineapple, four steaks, hot dogs and buns and $80 poorer. Alrighty then.
We did a quick swing by Pine Peace to see what they had. We grabbed some rum, vodka and tequila for the Jell-O shots and general consumption for the week.
I love Ting so I bought case of it I am pleased to report that a Case o’ Ting is $23 for 24 bottles! Bargain! Love that stuff. Great straight or with vodka or rum!
Mr. Gromit was like, “You’re gonna have to bathe in that stuff to get though 24 bottles in the next 5 days!” Oh well.
Needless to say whoever rented Mayan Sky this week and at least 8 Ting’s waiting for them in the fridge!!
Headed back to the house with my case o’ Ting and then jumped in the pool to refresh. I have to admit that a pool during the winter months on STJ is not as essential as it is in the summer months for me. The pool is fairly cool and not as refreshing but we still used it.
No Karaoke for Gromit! Denied!!
After a few drinks, we showered and got ready for dinner. I had planned to go to Island Blues that night since they were also doing Karaoke. Thought it might be fun. Well, MIL was NOT INTERESTED. No way, no how, no karaoke. Oh well.
Little did she know that in just three days she would be singing John Denver’s “Country Road, Take me Home, West Virginia” aloud at Skinny’s with her new Canadian friends (more on THAT moment in a few days!!)
Since a lot of stuff is closed on Mondays we decided to try Aqua Bistro. This was my first visit to Aqua Bistro and I have to report that I was impressed.
It seems that the old bartender for Island Blues, Kenny, has moved to AB and brought the local contingent and his local following with him. The bar at AB is the only bar licensed to sell Larry’s “Drink right, Keep Left” specialty originated at the Tourist Trap near Salt Pond.
Apparently Larry only trusts his pal Kenny with the secret recipe and I can report that this drink and their Painkillers were excellent. FIL was becoming a Painkiller expert at this point so this is high praise.
Food was very good. Again, I am a complete loser and have no idea what I ate but there was not one complaint from anyone and the in-laws declared later in the week at AB was their favorite restaurant of the week.
Meanwhile….. Back at the Villa
It was early so I decided to get a head start on making the Jell-O shots and baking brownies for Wednesday’s boat outing with ScubaGirl and Vicki.
I brought down two packages of Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownie mix in my backpack. Going through security I was a bit nervous thinking that they would want to search my bags for what looked like 2 kilos of chocolate scented cocaine. Thankfully there were no issues!
I also brought the Jell-O with me. Not sure what this costs on island but it is light enough that packing it was not a problem.
Better Living through Chemistry
Anyway, I baked the brownies and started up the Jell-O shot lab. My good friend Keith at the local Outback at home supplied me with small Styrofoam cups. These were great. Each box of jell-o will yield enough to fill eight of these cups ¾ full. Each cup then becomes the equivalent of one shot of alcohol.
I used Orange, Lime, Lemon and Watermelon Jell-O for the shots. For the liquor I used rum, tequila, vodka, triple sec and sour mix. Here’s the site I used for the recipes:
http://www.myscienceproject.org/j-shot-3.html
Orange+Triple Sec+Vodka = Cosmopolitan Shot
Lime+ sour mix + tequila = Margarita shot
Lemon+ Vodka = Lemon Drop shot
Watermelon + rum = Watermelon rummy yummy!
Mr. Gromit and I got an assembly line going and before we knew it we had produced 32 lovely cups of Jello-Shot joy!! I even made little quarter wedges of lime and placed them on the Margarita shots and sprinkled sugar on the lemon drop shots. GARNISH!!
Jell-O shot tip: In retrospect I was glad that I did these a full day ahead of time just to give them plenty of time to set and get cold.
If transporting them make sure you have a cookie sheet that is small enough to fit in a cooler Wrap well in saran wrap. Brownies also need to go into the fridge for safe keeping in the humid climate.
A full day behind us, I did few Tequila shots with FIL and then hit the sack.
Tomorrow: Snorkeling at Salt Pond, Lunch at Vie’s, a visit to Sloop Jones, shopping for shorts, more shopping at Lilly’s, Gromit as magic chef at the villa (Liamsaunt would be so proud!); and the Jell-O shot taste test (also known as “Better living through chemistry!)
