I'm sorry this trip report is taking so long to post. Thank you to everyone for staying with me. I'm trying not to skimp on the details. I'm also sorry if I've bored anyone. The last part (Part V) will be posted early next week.

Day 7 (Thurs July 5)

After breakfast we headed out to Baie Rouge. We drove past it at first, as there is a small sign indicating the entrance. When I saw signs for Plumb Bay, I knew I had to turn around. Driving on the island wasn't bad. Unfortunately you can't really see the water from the road so it wasn't as easy to tell where you were, as in say Aruba, but we did pretty well and only had a couple turn-arounds. I guess it's another one of the many advantages of reading the TTOL board.

This was a lovely beach with which looked like a nice beach bar right at the entrance off of the parking lot. We packed lunch that day (left-overs from Skies the Limit) so I didn't get to try it. It was a beautiful day with lots of sun. I spent much of the day snorkeling, and my wife caught a little too much sun. The snorkeling here was great. I swam through the cave and all along the coast. There are a couple of beaches there that are only accessible from the water. One of them had a cliff (vertical wall) right behind the sand. I saw some pretty big fish out here too, but no sea turtles or rays. Funny how one is so buoyant in Caribbean water. With the snorkeling gear on, you float kind of effortlessly. I could literally snorkel all day.

For dinner that evening my lobster wife and I drove out looking for Lago One, but couldn't find it. I understood it was on the road out of Grand Case, but now I think it is on the main island road. Anyway, we weren't disappointed as we continued on to Poulet D'Orleans. Another wonderful dining experience. It is just like dining on someone's porch. For starters I had the broiled escargots and my wife had the stuffed mushrooms, which were stuffed with fish instead of the usual crab meat. Very good! The entrees were creole shrimp for me and BBQ chicken breast for my wife. Each dish came with carrots, plantains, broccoli, and mini corn on the cob. There was also a side dish with rice, beans, and potatoes. Everything was fantastic. I couldn't believe the depth of flavor on food from such a little inexpensive place. The bill, with a bottle of wine, came to $69, at 1 E for 1$. After dinner we spoke with Tony, who I assume is the owner, for a quite a while. He told us stories of how the island was years ago. It was very interesting to see how much things change. Tony is a very nice man and we enjoyed his company.

Unfortunately my wife's sunburn was turning into sun fever and she really wasn't feeling well at all. We went straight back to the room so she could get in the air conditioned room and rest.

Day 8 (Fri July 6)

It's hard to believe how fast time flies… we now only had 2 days left! It was a tough decision. We really wanted to go to Happy Bay, but it rained when we were at Friar's so we never made it. We decided to try Happy Bay on this lovely morning. Since my wife is pregnant, I decided to check if we could get a water taxi from the water sports desk at the GCBC rather than hike over. She handled walking over Pinel ok, but I figured that was enough. Fortunately Laurent at the desk said he would drop us off and pick us up for what I thought was $15. Actually, it was $15 a piece. No big deal. We landed at secluded Happy Bay and enjoyed a wonderful 1/2 hour of solitude. Unfortunately, that would be the only time were alone on the beach. Suddenly, 3 boats appeared in the ocean. We watched as a 15 or so people entered the water with life vests and snorkeled towards the beach. I thought we were being invaded! They all came ashore, and we thought this would be a good time to go into the water. The invasion lasted about a 1/2 hour or so, as the troops decided to set up camp right near our chairs. Guess the beach wasn't big enough… so we stayed in the water until they left. Shortly after, several other parties started arriving. I guess Happy Bay isn't very secluded anymore. Believe me, I'm not complaining… but it would have been nice if we would have gotten lucky and picked a day when it wasn't very crowded. It's still was a beautiful beach though. After a while we set up our towels under some palm trees and had the lunch we packed. Sandwiches with French bead, chicken and pepper lunch meat (picked up in a market in Baie Nettle on the way home the previous day), and brie. It was very relaxing, and my lobster wife was able stay out of the sun. Laurent returned with the motor boat, and brought us back to the GCBC.

We took a walk into town an bought a few things. There was a creperie that we wanted to try. Earlier in the trip when my wife wasn't feeling well I walked down to get her a crepe and they were closed. Unfortunately they were closed again that day. We decided to stop into Le California and had crepes there. They were very good.

For dinner I returned to Skies the Limit and brought back food to have our last dinner on the balcony, as we planned to definitely go out on or last night the following evening. I kinda' hated missing out on trying another restaurant, but I said I was going to make it a point not to push my wife too much and didn't regret the decision. This time I went early, but it still took an hour to get the food! I went for the lobster again, it was sooo good! I was extra hungry that day, so I also got an order shrimp a'loil. For my wife, I brought back the grilled chicken legs. Mmmmm. More rice and beans, and this time delicious potato salad rounded out the meal. The bill was $41, 1 E for $1 again, and included the $30 lobster.

I returned to find the table on the balcony set with the orange shawl she had bought earlier used as a table cloth, and sea shells and small colorful rocks that we collected as decoration. It was a very beautiful sunset, and a very romantic setting. This was a honeymoon after all! This time we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the sunset. After dinner, we put on some music and I had some more of Ma's rum and another cuban. We went over to the Sunset Café for a bit to finish the evening. Tomorrow was our last day. I couldn't believe it. This was without a doubt the FASTEST vacation I ever had! Guess that's a tell-tale of what a great vacation it was.