Tuesday, September 8

Discover SCUBA and Drunk Bay

Small fiasco where I could not remember where I'd put the key to our rental. I fished through every bag and got increasingly frustrated. It's humbling when you forget where you've placed something. We did find the key and we were off. Down the hill, we enjoyed a tasty breakfast at the Deli Grotto once again. For just two coffees and a breakfast item or two, it's hard to get away for anything less than around $25. We both got the Sunshine Day Dream and I know I'll miss the breakfast sandwich greatly once I'm home again.

We set off in the direction of the dive shop after parking the car right outside The Beach Bar. Our dive sites were Little Saint James and Cow Rock, two sites I've never been to before. At Little Saint James, Mom got to SCUBA dive for the first time, ever! The dive was short and shallow, but she did it! I do mean short and I do mean shallow, though. Mom's not exactly a natural born Jaques Custeau, but I think after some more practice and time in the water with SCUBA gear, she could be crawling the bottom and playing with the lobster in no time.

For the second dive, we headed to Cow Rock, where I joined Mary and George for the dive. Mom stayed on the surface and snorkeled around the rock and back to the boat. Cow has the most amazing swim-throughs, filled with enormous lobster, corals, and fish hiding in the shadows. After you emerge, you can see your bubbles sneaking out through tiny holes, bleeding bubbles to the surface. I didn't see it, but someone else caught a glimpse of a reef shark. Ironically, we were on the hunt to see one the entire dive. I did however, see a sting ray floating across the sandy bottom. It was a fantastic dive and I felt a great sigh of happiness and sadness, knowing it will be my last dive in the Caribbean for a while.

As if two dives and a morning on the boat weren't enough to fill our day, we only were half-started. Mom and I enjoyed a lunch at Woody's, getting the grilled mahi sandwich and curly fries, with a corona. I know my mouth will water just thinking about this lunch, when I'm far away in Alexandria and without a Woody's to satiate my hunger. It's always delicious to enjoy a fish sandwich for lunch after a morning of diving. After some time perusing the stores around Wharfside Village, mom found a beautiful ring she had a hard time leaving in the store. We picked up a gift for her friend Gail and stuck our faces against more glass display cases. We did a few errands, which included me getting my final paycheck at Low Key Watersports (insert sad face) and taking it to the bank here on the island. We got some extra gas for the rental car (just over 2 gallons for $7) after our shopping and erranding around the shop. With a more full gas tank and still wearing our suits from the boat, we drove off.

We cruised around the island, enjoying the four wheel drive in the Suzuki Grand Vitara. Our next stop after lunch was the Love City Mini Mart. We got a bottle of Cruzan Coconut Rum (it's a whole dollar cheaper here than at Starfish! Crazy!), a coke for me, and ginsing up for mom. She says it's like carbonated apple juice. Drove to Lameshur where I showed mom my favorite ruins. The beveled window looking out to Little Lameshur Bay is fantastic. From there, we continued, driving to Salt Pond Bay's parking area. The 0.6 mile walk downhill was fairly easy. We found a shady spot near a picnic bench and swam around Salt Pond Bay. Mom filled up her empty bottle of Ginsing Up with sand from the beach. We decided to walk the extra 0.3 miles to Drunk Bay. Passing between large bushes, slightly overgrown vegetation, and the salt pond, we nearly collided with several cactus. As is the tradition when you visit Drunk Bay, we built our coral people. I started out with a figure for Kevin, since when we were here we didn't know that when you visit, you're supposed to create your own coral person. Then, I made mine, for the last visit. For the current visit, I made another, and so did Mom. Hers was the best of all four. We walked back to Salt Pond Bay for more swimming, just as dusk approached. The sand flies, no-see-ums, and other biting flies came out in full force, since we had the beach to ourselves, the bugs found us extra-appetizing. We quickly hauled it back up the hill in time to escape more bites. In the trunk, we extracted the jug full of fresh water and showered in the parking lot. After changing out of our suits we drove back into Coral Bay. We ate a tasty and delicious dinner at AquaBistro. Skipping the booze, we ordered Coke. I got the Gyro (out of this world kind of tasty) and mom got the Flatbread Pizza, which was also good. During the drive home, mom made it apparent that the inding roads are not her favorite part of the island. I was more hoping she'd feel like she was in a non-stop amusement park.

Got back to the house just in time for a few minutes of light. I rinsed off my SCUBA gear for one last time and dunked them in some diluted bleach water. Hopefully by noontime-ish tomorrow, the items will all be dry. We got back to the house and in a fury, we packed up all of our alcohol/duty-free rum goodness, clothes, and everything but what we need for tomorrow and Thursday. I figure it's much easier to pack at night, just before bed, so when you're exhausted after packing, you are already due for bedtime. We both felt quite tired from our big and long day anyway, so it was a bit like hitting the wall for me when I got through the first bag of luggage. Between us (this is mostly my fault), there are five large bags and two bookbags. That's a lot of stuff. I did live here for three months, though, so these bags are more like moving boxes than luggage. With bags packed, I emptied out the fridge, took out the trash, and threw in a final load of laundry.

On a side note: during her time here, Mom has seen mongoose, soldier crab, donkey, goat, lizards, pearly-eyed thrasher, seagull, ants, termites, fish, corals, and more.