SXM Day 10 June 13, 2006

We were awakened at 5:30 AM by a terrifically furious rainstorm. We were bedded in a third story loft bedroom, so there was nothing between us and the driving rain but a roof, and it was LOUD! We hadn't watched much TV and had been blissfully ignorant of the outside world ( with the exeception of the NBA playoffs ) and had no idea that tropical storm Alberto had gotten anywhere near us, but we were on the outskirts of it's wrath. I had asked those at the TTOL party where to get weather reports, since there were none to be found on TV. The answer I got was "look outside". Well, I certainly couldn't sleep anymore, and I wanted to see the storm, so I got up, made some coffee and headed to the balcony.

The rain was being driven so hard by the wind through the mountains that it was bouncing off the bay and pushed into waves across the surface of the water into fifty foot high horizontal swirls that travelled quickly and repeated themselves several times. It was an awesome sight! I snapped a few pictures, enjoyed my coffee and caught up on my journal notes as the rain subsided. The sun came out briefly, and I got some good shots with the morning light angle on the peninsula to the right of our balcony where the Sunset Cafe sits on top of a little hill, Anguilla in the distance. I also walked the entire resort and took a ton of pictures of this beautiful piece of heaven on earth. The landscaping is immaculate, and is attended to constantly.

Lynn got up a couple of hours later, and we just lounged on the balcony with our coffee, taking in the sunrise interspersed with wind and rain. The beginnings of a rainbow started to appear, but it never got very big, although it did make for nice viewing. We had planned on going to Orient Beach again, but that plan was in jeopardy. At about 9:30, we decided to take go to the Sunset Cafe for a little breakfast, I had an English muffin and coffee, while Lynn had scrambled eggs and a crossiant. Took some more pictures around the resort after breakfast, and decided to go to La California for lunch.

Our table at La California was beachfront and pleasant despite the light rain. Green awnings kept the precipitation away, and various bright-colored boats bobbed on the bay, close to the shore. We had a Tomato Mozzerella Tart appitizer which was very tasty, and decided to have a couple of glasses of champagne. They were served in tall, fluted glasses with a bowl of spicey olives. Both were great! Lynn had chicken breast in a mushroom sauce ( nothing I couldn't do at home ), and I had scallops in Saffron sauce ( very yellow and tasteless ) with a side of sweet peppers and cajun sauce on white rice, a good meal. We had another glass of champagne ( wish we had bought a bottle ), and they brought us our choice of complimentary shooters. Lynn picked the blue coconut spiced rum and I opted for the pineapple rum, both very nice. The interior of the restaurant is very eclectic and you could spend a good amount of time checking out the decorations and artwork therein.

After lunch, we wandered the streets of Grand Case in a light rain and did a little shopping. Nothing really jumped out at us and we left empty-handed, as the rain started ramping up, driving us back to the car and the Beach Club. It looked like we were going to be socked in for the day, so we decided on rum punches on the balcony. We went to an oriental quick market for some punch and got something called Disfruita Sin A Zucar Anadido by Junar (?) - I thought it would be red, but it turned out to be orange, but good. Mixed with the little bit of rum punch we had left over, half a frozen pina colada mix, some pineapple juice, the rest of the Cruzan and some of the little Barcardi bottle from the mini bar and VOILA! I set up the speakers to the small radio / cd player by the crack in the sliding glass door and we partied the afternoon away on the patio (OK, balcony ), listening to 91.9 FM, a surprizingly great rock and roll find. They played a lot of same stuff our local 96 Rock plays, but with some deep and live cuts you rarely hear on the mainland, along with some local flavor that is refreshing. Lynn read her book, and I rocked out. We had the music just loud enough for us to hear on the balcony, I thought, when Sweet Home Alabama came on and the couple in the water below us yelled out, "turn it up!" So Lynyrd Skynryd rocked across the bay and it was very cool to have a taste of home in paradise. I turned down the volume afterwards as Lynn coaxed me upstairs..........

We planned to go to Spiga's for dinner, again. While Lynn was getting ready for dinner, I was on the balcony, when I saw a huge bird, eagle-sized, brown, with dark-tipped wings and a pointed beak, buzzing the surf with incredible speed - this was a bad-a$$ed bird! He could fly the entire length of Grand Case bay in no time flat, and he made multiple passes by our balcony at a distance. He hit the water at high speeds and would slice underwater 6-8 feet after prey. After a while of watching this incredible raptor, he seemed to take notice of me, and started buzzing closer to our balcony as I tried to take pictures, as it was very fast and my camera kept fogging up. At one point it came within 20 feet of me and was checking ME out! I have never seen anything like this bird, if anyone knows what it was, please tell me!

Headed to Spiga, and there was a sign on the entranceway that said they were closed and would be open on Wednesday. Oh, well, I guess we know where we'll be eating Wednesday night! Plan B was L'Alabama, and a good choice it was. Ambiance and service were excellent, Lynn had Veal Medallions encrusted with hazelnut served with mushrooms, and I had Pork Tenderloin, with a sweet and sour sauce of carmelized apple. The meal and the evening was fabulous.

Back at the resort, we were pretty spent, Lynn went to bed, and I broke out one of the Cuban cigars I had bought in Marigot, and enjoyed half of it on the balcony in the cool of the evening. Very smooth.....................