I am an early riser so I am usually making coffee and on the patio before sunrise. As stated yesterday, lots of morning rains but if finally cleared and was again windy. Shortly after 9:00 I headed to Le Sucrière for an eclair. They had a security guy manning the parking lot, directing traffic and getting cars in and out. They were very busy. Made the drive to Mullet Bay and was one of the first people on the beach. It was calm so I got a lounger in the front row, only to be told I would have to pay for 2 chairs unless I wanted to move to the second of the two rows. It was not Chester and they young guy had a real attitude so I picked up my belongings and wondered a little furth down to where Chester had his loungers. Same story so I took a second row for $10. Shortly after I settled in a group of 6 (4 adults/2 kids) took 4 front row loungers (with 6 people mind you) and 5 large inflatables and spread themselves out to the point one had to go in either direction to find beach access. I also had to change loungers as the original one was broken, as were several others, and I was almost sinking to the sand.

It was a steep entry and exit to the water but it was pretty clam water with a very rare bigger rolling wave. Several catamaran tours came and went, I took several swims and then negotiated a massage. The massage ladies actually had 3 tables back in some trees and she did a good job. She cut the time a few minutes short but the price was right so I was satisfied and she did a good job.

Inflation has hit as 2 years ago it was $15 for a set and now it seems to be $20. I did not go down to the area of D'Watering Hole but they had a lot of empty front row spaces the entire time I was there. No idea if their prices are higher or not. Rosie's had a board up with some drink prices but no food prices. Most of the drinks were in the $8-$9 range with a daily special of something at 2 for $12 and the serving cups seemed to be much smaller than in the past when the drinks were $5-$6. I took a small cooler with 3 beers so I did not buy anything. I thought about a hot dog but when I left about 2:00, the line was more than I wanted to deal with.

To each their own but for the several people wearing the NON-MEDICAL masks on the beach but taking them off to enter the water, sorry but I do not at all get it.

I went across the causeway to get gas ($20 US) as I was down some and wanted to stay ahead of needing gas as I have seen stations here run out in the past. I have a Nissan Versa that was at 7/8 full when I picked it up, it was only down to 3/4 full but did take the $20 US to top it up.

Quick stop at Carrefour for 2 items and the NON-MEDICAL mask game was being played there. I complied but will likely not need another grocery stop this trip. Again, I personally do not get it.

Bill and Mort were on a Sunset cruise so I drove up to The Hideaway to meet the bartender/waiter (Jean-Marie) who we have known for 25+ years, only to find the restaurant closed. The website clearly indicates they are open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but a sign indicated otherwise. Personally, how hard would it be to reflect your current hours on your website? I hope to meet him tonight or tomorrow night.

Dinner was pizza at Isola and a quick visit with Marco. The restaurant was busy after about 7:00 but not so prior to that. I had made reservations and the earliest I could get was 8:15 but I went there at 5:30 since The Hideaway was closed and was able to get a 7:00 table. We enjoyed the pizza, conversation, drinks and had some leftovers for today. Very good service and several large groups but all were handled efficiently. 15% service charge added to the bill at Isola.

We did notice a person who writes a newsletter and has a Facebook group page came in after us. He is well known for pushing his sponsors and travel insurance and kicking people off his Facebook page. It did make for some interesting "people watching".

Not sure what is on tap today. No rain yet that I am aware of and I actually slept until 6:30 this morning. Hoping to meet up with my local island friend for dinner again.

On another note, while I still have a SXM cell phone, my Spectrum wireless has worked very well when connected to wifi and at little or no cost and minimal cost when not connected. I am rather surprised at the quality of the connection.

It also appears UTS/Chippie is now FLOW or part of FLOW. Not sure when this happened and it appears you can top up your SXM phone from the FLOW site.

that 'front row' dodge is kind of annoying. I don't recall they did that when we were there last, but it was off season. Sounds like Simpson Bay is pretty busy overall, which I guess is good for the restaurant owners. Have a good day!

Many times, I have been front row on Mullet when alone. I was surprised how close the loungers were since it was not a really busy day. Yes, many places very busy in Simpson Bay.

That is discouraging, putting chairs so close together, when there is no need.

Chippie had become FLOW when I was there in Oct/Nov/Dec. I am still topping up from the Chippie site.

Ok, thanks. It was news to me as I have not been here since March 2020. My SXM cell could easily become obsolete with how well Wi-Fi calling is working on my regular cell and the low cost of other calls when not on Wi-Fi.

Pieter and Miriam said to tell you hello.

We liked Mullet a lot in the past but this trip it was plain stupid(at least for our likening…) Locals were bringing in speakers the size of a washer machine and the music was deathening….Constant thump thump thump… On top of that, every single bloody boat that visited Mullet were playing it’s own tunes trying to overpower the others…
And the issue with chairs is annoying to us too…. We did get one chair from Chester a few times since my daughter liked to lay down and we set our own chairs and umbrellas for wife and myself. And yes, they wanted $20 this year for a set of 2 chairs and umbrella hence we got our own from Leslie Bruce…

As for the people wearing masks on a beach… To each their own, I can picture them wearing condoms laying in bed by themselves for “just in case” reason…

KGB--I assume maybe that was on the weekend, that locals were bringing their own huge speakers? I avoid Mullet on the weekend like the plague, and I have never seen that when I have been there during the week.

Personally, I would avoid Mullet on weekends, especially Sunday, I might hit it tomorrow early but will depart if it gets out of hand.

Yes Carol, it was on Sunday. We know about the weekends there and always trying to go somewhere else on weekends. But the wind and the waves and the lack of sand on other beaches that we frequent made our choice that Sunday…
But the tour boats are coming every day….

Great reporting JD! I have been enjoying all of them. Glad to hear you are having a good trip.

Thanks!

Yes, the tour boats come every day, but usually they are there for maybe 45 minutes or so at a time and they don't bring loud music with them.

Thank you!