Wednesday was spent at Karakter. There are six ships in port today, so Orient would not have been a good choice. We started the morning with a walk down past Beachside Villas; the sand is coming back there and we were able to walk all the way to that end of the beach. Todd and MJ joined us and a little while later Elizabeth and David arrived, so we had a nice day with good company. It was warm enough to require several dips in the water, which was nice and calm. For lunch David and I shared the Karakter Taste for Two, which consisted of a variety of their menu items presented tapas-style along with two glasses of Prosecco. The more interesting items included were their cocoanut shrimp, which are tasty and light (not deep-fried), and are served on the rim of a glass filled with a salad. I also enjoy the chicken satay with enough peanut sauce to flavor the chips that come along. There was a wrap with feta cheese, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes, and two tiny cups of chilled tomato soup decorated with basil oil…David traded his soup for the second half of the tuna sandwich, which was fine with me, as I’m not a sandwich eater. Todd, Mj, Elizabeth and David left early, as they were taking part in Jeannie’s Murder Mystery dinner that evening. We hung around for around another hour and then headed back to LaVista for a quiet night in. We stopped at Market Garden for the elements to a simple pasta with ricotta, Kalamata olives, capers, tomatoes, and arugula (Market Garden sells fresh arugula and other items that are grown on the local Rasta farm). The meal was tasty and a nice break from the heavier food we’ve been eating.
Thanksgiving Day has started off a little cloudy, and we headed to Orient to spend the day at Palm Beach with Todd and MJ. It was pretty cloudy and windy most of the day. I was really looking forward to a nice meal, and was pretty disappointed. I was hoping for mussels, but they didn’t have any, and they have drastically pared down their menu from what it was the last time we were there. David ordered the pasta special, which he enjoyed, and MJ and I both ordered the grouper, which was just ok. Todd had the brie-stuffed flank steak, which everyone agreed was probably the best meal at the table.
Palm Beach has always been our “go to” place when we wanted to spend a quiet day on Orient, and the beach still fills that need for us. Sadly, unless something changes at the restaurant, we’ll find somewhere else to eat.
In spite of the clouds and spf 30, both David and I ended up with sun bumps by the afternoon, so we decided to stay out of the sun on Friday. We spent the morning around the pool at LaVista Beach, and went to Karakter for lunch, as we had made plans to meet folks there. It was nice to meet Dan and Pam, and to see Vicki and Rick again. Todd & MJ and Elizabeth and David were also there, and Bill and Elaine stopped by as well. For lunch I had their blue cheese crusted grouper, which was delicious, and David had the Teriyaki chicken salad, which he said was quite good as well. They were extremely busy, and the service was quite slow, but when you’re having a nice conversation with good friends, who cares?
Friday evening we met Bill & Elaine for drinks at the Dream Bar at Caravanserai, and met the famous Marty. Since we had eaten a fairly large lunch, we decided to stop by White Flag for a light bite. What a treat this place is! It’s on the rooftop of the Market Garden building; the view is gorgeous and one we hadn’t seen before. We had heard about the martinis there, so David asked Natalie to surprise him. We have no idea what was in it, but it was absolutely delicious. It was happy hour, and drinks are two for one, except the martinis, which are huge. We ordered their smoked beef bruscetta and got the tuna bruscetta free, as it was the special. There was more food than we could eat, and it was all delicious. The bill came to $29 for one martini, three glasses of wine, and the food. Natalie is delightful, and we enjoyed talking with her about her place. She’s very enthusiastic about it….we hope she’ll be successful.
Today we both still felt a little itchy from the sun, so decided to stay away from the beach again. Hearing the weather reports, that may not have been the best decision, because apparently there’s some heavy rain on the way. We had breakfast at Bon Appetit; I had the eggs benedict and David the French toast. After breakfast we drove to Philipsburg to do a little shopping. The swimsuit shop I like there is closing and all their suits are half price. Unfortunately the selection was kind of small, but I still found one I liked. We had lunch at Toulula Mangos, which was good. We both just had appetizer portions; I the ribs and David the chicken skewers with peanut sauce. After a little more browsing we were ready to head for home, until I saw another swimsuit shop on the way out and decided to pop in. Big mistake….but it’s the most gorgeous suit I’ve ever owned.
Tonight we’re going to the I Love My Island Dog benefit at Bikini Beach.
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