Be prepared - this is gonna be a long one and really not saying too much of anything important.......

The day began with a very early wake-up but we had decided no coffee and/or breakfast in - we were heading to the Yacht Club for breakfast and then, on to P’berg to pick up a few things and say hello to a few merchants we’ve become friendly with over many years.

We pulled out of BSV’s security gate and immediately changed our minds and decided to have breakfast at El Zafiro instead of the yacht club in the hopes Erika might be able to rustle up that French toast John so enjoys. Sorry, John, not to be today but that was okay and breakfast was still good and as always, the dining area there is very pleasant. The seaweed seems to have backed off some and they have pretty much cleared the beach of it. There was a gentle breeze blowing and I could have spent my day right there. The sounds from the waves crashing just added to the joy of being there.

Just an aside - we had the pleasure of meeting Blackmercedes of TTOL while we were there and had we chatted a half hour longer we might have run into other friends there as well. But we were on a mission.

Headed into town and by now it’s late and the traffic was heavy through Simpson Bay and over the hill so we took Link One to avoid at least some of the traffic. It helped but by the time we hit Front Street it was all backed up too, and about half way down Front Street things came to a dead stop. When the car in front of us started backing up and turned into a side street, a man jumped in front of our car and put up a barricade, essentially closing the road, but with no warning and no explanation either, and forcing us to turn to plan B. We did finally get turned around and back to where we wanted to be and spent some time visiting with our friends at Caribbean Gems and picking out a goodie, too. We did ultimately learn there was an underground pipe that burst and the road closure was to allow them to make the repair. A little heads-up maybe?!

So we finished our chin-wagging with the CG staff and said our good-byes heading on to Old Street in the hopes of finding The French Touch open and Jean Pierre able to visit a bit. We ended up having a very light lunch there - J had an incredible chicken salad plate and I had a fresh fruit plate. Both were yummy and were excellent choices. Sadly for us but very good for him, Jean Pierre seems to be doing a very good business in that location and has picked up a lot of local trade as well as island visitors who, like us, knew him for years from Antoine’s Restaurant. Even with a pandemic in place, people need to eat and the locals know a good thing when they see it.

It’s hard to believe we’ve known the Budhrani family for almost forty years..and we’ve known Jean Pierre just as long. When we first met him he was the busboy at Antoine’s and hoping to someday make the giant leap to the prestigious position of Head Waiter there. I guess he’s come a long way, baby.

Anyhow, we headed out of town and back to Simpson Bay and BSV. OMGosh - the traffic was brutal and we were tired and hot. A nap on the porch and then met friends at Lee’s for dinner and a couple hours of sharing good memories of past times along with lots of laughter and happy moments.

Ah, life is truly good.