8th February - Holy crap! Woke up to discover my legs covered in bites, about 20 on one leg and 6 on the other. I didn’t realize I had gotten so many; hubby also has a bunch too. The bites look like nasty, little red bruises which is not the normal reaction I get; hubby’s look the same. Not sure if they are all mosquito bites or something else, because it is unusual I didn’t see them biting me. There’s nothing we can do about them and hope they fade soon. Spent part of the morning unpacking, and listening to hubby complain about the lousy internet service, before heading out to pick up some baguettes for lunch. After lunch we parked ourselves by the pool to unwind.

We decided to go to Marty’s Bar for Happy Hour and noticed things we hadn’t last night when the sun was setting. There is a barrier now at the entrance to the parking lot to Alegria, so once you drive in you can’t get out without paying at the exit, unless you have frequented one of the establishments that will stamp your parking ticket. There is now a sign indicating parking rules and prices posted by the entrance. Hence, people are parking on both sides Beacon Hill Road; during the day it was quite chaotic with all the taxis and buses arriving with “cruisers”. The first eatery past The Refuge is boarded up and closed, the second one (what was the Chinese restaurant/market) is open but renamed Sushi Q. The C Lounge is a burnt out shell; Taco Macho is still going strong.

Marty’s Bar was not open! Nobody was around the pool. We got a look at the pools in the daylight and they were both pretty cloudy; I wouldn’t want to swim in either one. The ladies toilet was “Out of Order”, it’s apparently been that way for several months now. The gents is still usable.

The next stop was the The Refuge for dinner. After 6 p.m. food is not being served in the “old" part of the bar, so you have to eat in The Refuge. The girl at the reception desk informed me it was Ladies Night and handed me a small menu; I took a quick look at it and wasn’t impressed with the selection. Regular prices appeared to be mid-range, but they were half-price because of Ladies Night. Hubby got handed a regular menu that looked nothing like the old one they used to have. He gave it back and we left. It would appear prices have increased for food, and prices in the gift shop are up too. I priced an item earlier in the day at $7.99 they wanted $10, a hat was $20. We’re setting a record here, 2 days and we haven’t had a beer there yet!

Our final stop was the Driftwood bar and this time the kitchen was open, so we ate there. I ordered the wings and ribs combo and hubby had an order of wings and a pizza, food was great and reasonably priced.

So ends our first full day on the island.