Monday, September 7

Touring The Island: Tourists For a Day

Woke up just after first light and checked on the status of our sunburns. Mine is largely tan now. Mom is less fortunate. At any rate, we both slathered on a thick layer of aloe vera to quench our skin's thirst. With a small bowl of granola and yogurt out of the way, we loaded up the special honey baked ham for Thomas into our pack and walked down the hill. Mom really prefers walking down the hill via paved road, and enjoys less the rocky and uneven Lind Point Trail.

Real breakfast at Deli Grotto: the must-visit place for a tasty breakfast burrito and your morning coffee. Mom and I sat with our daily cup of wake-up and passed the time until we could head for the Hospitality Car Rental office to pick up our rental for the rest of the week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we might get a Jeep. I'm anxious to start showing her places around Northshore Rd. and along the way, stop at Keith's, where there is a gathering going on starting around noon today. Yay for Labor Day! I think we'll go make a special trip to Starfish market to pick up a tasty bottle of wine. My latest favorite wine is Barefoot's Cabernet Savignon. I've not ever been one that is too fond of wine, especially reds, but I've found this one is more than tasty. I could likely drink an entire bottle to myself, if left alone with a wine glass and a full bottle.

Got the car, not at the initially planned 9am, but a little after. Thomas was extremely happy about getting the Ham. He was all smiles and very pleased. We drove off with the car and the favor was immediately returned with a nice gesture of maybe letting us have the car for extra time or without having to worry about refilling the tank. I wish we could use the car for another day! Too bad we'll need to go into St. Thomas then night before we leave- the car won't do us much good on Thursday unless we could leave it at the airport.

Got the car, went to get a bottle of wine for Keith. Stopped at Shop and signed up Mom to go diving tomorrow! She'll be doing Discover SCUBA Diving (DSD) and I'll be fun-diving.

With the car I was ready to start cruising the roads. We drove along Northshore Rd. and stopped at all the overlooks and beaches possible. I got to even show mom Island Fancy! There's someone living there now, so he let us inside so she could see my old bedroom. I still felt like I was getting home when I walked through the house. She got to see the views and smell the air. We talked to the new resident and had a great time. Then we drove over to Maho Bay Camps and mom got to see one of the tents there that are part of their accommodations. It's very spartan.

We continued East and drove all the way to the end of the road at the East End, to Sloop Jones' studio. He's closed for September. It's a shame since Mom was quite excited to see his place and collection of shirts and other items I'd e-mailed her about. We turned around and decided to make our way back toward Cinnamon. However, by this time, we'd both skipped lunch and were getting kind of hungry. We went into Lily's Market in Coral Bay and got some goodies, BBQ chips for Mom and Babybel semisoft cheese for me, and sodas for us both. I do love those little cheese wheels wrapped in wax.

Drove to Keiths and joined the fun being had on his beach. We sailed the sunfish, swam around Cinnamon Bay, had some awesome pulled pork sandwiches, and enjoyed the sunshine. On my sandwich, I added a few drops of Miss Anne's hot sauce... the number one ingredient is habanero peppers. It's hot. Mixed with some bbq sauce, it ended up making a pretty mild few bites. As the sun started disappearing over the horizon, the boat left the bay and Ronnie started the trip to return it to Maho Bay. As the crowd thinned we followed suit and headed home for the night. Rinsed off and fresh feeling (it does feel amazing when you rinse off the crusty salt water), we went back to Starfish Gourmet & Wines and picked up our fill of duty-free spirits. I got three bottles of guava rum, one dark rum, and one light rum, all Cruzan. Mom got her blackstrap Cruzan (actually she got that at Lily's Market in Coral Bay), some Pineapple, Mango, and Black Cherry Cruzan, and Jim Beam Whiskey on top of that. She has six bottles total. I can't remember her sixth bottle, but I bet it is something tasty. Oh I know! It's the Coconut rum we haven't picked up yet (see tomorrrow's post). Then, we went in search of a proper dinner. We found Morgan's Mango open and not crowded. Mom enjoyed the recommended Hurricane Hugo. I also ordered and enjoyed a Hurricane Hugo. Something about that drink makes it very easy for me to fall asleep at night. We both got the special appetizer, which was 4oz. of sashimi quality tuna with a rockin' spicy wasabi sauce and yummy soy and ginger sauce drizzled across the plate. The meal of an appetizer was tasty and hit the spot. We glugged down the drinks and felt happiness with each sip. I love drinks that taste like strawberry puree.