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Saturday 8/1/11

Made a cup of coffee in the room and sat on the patio watching the world go by below. Nick and I went over to the Home Hotel, where Mike had made a sausage and cheese frittata for us for breakfast accompanied by a fresh fruit plate. We met Marie, who was enjoying a bowl of cow heel soup one of the other guests had prepared for her. We met up with Tony and he gave us a ride back to his place. It was dark when we got there last night and he wanted us to see his gardens in the daylight. Tony is originally from St. Lucia, but moved to Calgary where he attended the university. He ran a successful business and is now retired. He and his wife have opened a small guesthouse/restaurant/ bar in the hills of Fonde St. Jacques. You could hear the pride in his voice as he showed us all the fruits, vegetables and herbs that he grows. I am a pretty good cook myself and when I told him that I believe the one ingredient that is necessary in every dish, one that cannot be bought at the market or grocery store, is love; he immediately agreed and his eyes lit up having met someone with the same passion for good food that he has. The gardens are separated into small plots each with an assortment of produce. Sugar cane is growing everywhere, and Rabbi cut some for us to try and take back home. There is a patio area that Tony built himself; surrounded by lovely tropical flowers and trees. Mt. Gimmie is directly across from his place and a cool mountain breeze blows through all day to keep things cool. He is also raising Tilapia in a small pool that he will cook when they have grown a little more. If you are going to Soufriere for the first time, you should visit all the eco-tourism sites there; the volcano, Pitons, hot springs and botanical gardens. But if you have seem all that before and are looking for something special and different I would highly recommend visiting Tonys’ place for a nice lunch or dinner and drinks. This would be a nice shore leave trip for those arriving by yacht and looking for a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. His local numbers are 487-9767 & 520-9792. Call ahead as everything is picked or bought fresh and cooked to order. He will be glad to provide transportation to and from the Soufriere area. This is the type of business I really love to patronize while I am traveling; someone who is excited to share his culture with visitors and is trying to bring some income into an area not often frequented by tourist. He is so warm and welcoming, he made us feel like old friends. After returning to town I went down to the beach at the Hummingbird for one last dip in the sea before we leave tomorrow. I stayed long enough to watch the sun go down and then went back to the room where Nick was taking his afternoon nap. I got a little rest myself and then went to the Creole Waterfront Restaurant for an order of fish cakes and a Caesar salad, $10 EC each. We had planned on going out but opted for watching the football games on the TV in the room. We had gone to Soufriere to unwind and tonight it seemed as though we had met our objective.

Sunday 9/1/11

Got up early made coffee and packed. It was raining out same as when we arrived. Nick and I made one last visit to the park area along the waterfront and finished up the rum in the flask. Our taxi arrived at noon as arranged and we drove to UVF to catch our JetBlue flight back home. We had lunch at the restaurant in the airport, pretty good for airport food. I had a Creole pork meal, $18 EC, and Nick had a small pizza, $15 EC. We had a few Pitons at $6 EC each then checked in for our flight. Flight home was uneventful, although our luggage didn’t make it due to the short connection time at JFK, 2 hours. After clearing immigration, customs, rechecking our bags and going back through security they had already started boarding by the time we got to the gate. All in all it was a great vacation, especially since it was the first time Nick had ever done anything like that. I will post some highlights and photos as soon as I catch up on work. Being back to reality sucks, but I have the Leewards trip to look forward to next month so that should take the sting out of the cold Buffalo winter for the next three weeks. I hope everyone enjoyed the reports, sorry if they ramble a little at times and if anyone has any questions about the places we visited I would be happy to answer them.