Easter Sunday......

Breakfast at the Yacht Club, again. We got to chat a bit with both Monique and Chris and then the place started to fill up. We only saw 2 or 3 boats go through the bridge. Many of the big boys have departed now that the high season is pretty much behind us although we did notice that grey sailboat “A” return to the area, though at this point I don’t remember if that was Sunday or Monday we saw it. Yup! I still think it’s butt-ugly! But to each his own. I’m much more of a traditionalist when it comes to ships and boats and I prefer the lines of the older ‘Titanic’ or QE II style ships to the boxy lines of the newer ships built today - the ones big enough to transport whole cities.........

We didn’t do much of anything beyond hanging here at the RI pool but it’s a lovely island pool setting so between the fact it’s Easter Sunday and I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent, and I know only too well how crazy the beaches can get on the holidays, this was fine.

We did go out for a late lite dinner at Bar Code since every so often a burger is just the thing. One fish burger and one bacon blue cheese burger later we headed back home as my night-night was calling. The road through Mullet Bay golf course was crazy with cars parked everywhere and we remembered again why we usually spend the holidays at our pool, wherever that pool happens to be on any given Easter visit.

Easter Monday

We made a calculated choice to avoid the beach today as this is traditionally an island-wide party day for those who live here. Did breakfast in on pastries from Jules and spent the bulk of the day here at the pool. At noon my personal cabana boy made baguette sandwiches that we enjoyed poolside. And no, he’s not for hire - he only works for limited and selected people.

As the sun day drew to a close we decided to head to El Zafiro for dinner. We have always had very good luck with our meals here and this was no exception. John had a Sea scallop app served in a white herb sauce and I really enjoyed the coconut shrimp. Our entrees were grilled rack of lamb for me and steak for John. All was enjoyable but no room left for desserts. We enjoyed talking to a group of gentlemen, long time visitors here like us and who are from the same area of Cape Cod where my Granddaughter and her husband live, and we compared SXM notes on island escapades over the years. It was a very enjoyable evening and we should have left it at that and called it a night but sadly, so close to the Dunes, we stopped and made another small donation to the owners well- being. Enough fun for another day so home to bed.

Tuesday, April 23

We decided to change it up and do something different today so we had breakfast on our balcony instead of in the kitchen. How’s that for spicing things up!?

They always seem to have some small activity going on the pooldeck - yesterday there was an Easter Egg hunt for the kids and today it was poolside trivia for the adults - Thirty questions and I think we got thirteen right. We did great on island history and trivia but music and sports? Not so much! Another lunch on the pool deck catered by chef Johnny and then some serious bingo. Yeah, you guessed it. Didn’t do well there, either. But it was fun and Tortuga, the restaurant here at Royal Islander where the bingo was played makes a very good BBC.

All that activity and in one day, no less.

Dinner was at Bavaria - a longtime favorite of mine but Johnny not so much since he doesn’t really enjoy or crave German food. So I had the pork schnitzel with fried potatoes and J had the roast pork dinner which they very nicely Americanized for him by ditching the red cabbage and spaetzl and substituted mashed potatoes and green beans so we were both happy campers. And of course, a shared apple strudel to finish the evening along with a little discussion with Annette regarding her Irma experiences, which by Island standards were pretty good. Another island day maybe not so well spent by some people’s standards but truly enjoyed by ours.