Tuesday July 19
Chapter 4
On our second morning at Mary’s Boon I decided to drive to a little French bakery I happened to see on the main road not far from us. I found a parking space across the street and walked over and into a smallish store filled with the delectable fragrance of freshly baked bread, croissants and other assorted pastries. Patrons were sitting at tables sipping coffee and ingesting their choice for the morning’s breakfast. Some read papers while others chatted together. I wondered whether they were on their way to work or were they tourist pausing for a quick meal before embarking upon some excursion. As for me, I must have a loaf of the French bread and two croissants filled with peach preserves. The icing on top was just the right finish. It was raining gently and I had to rush back to the car. Rain always smells sweet for those few moments after it first falls. Looking up at the sky I could tell that this was only going to be a passing shower. Our day would prove to be sun filled again.
I arrived back at our plantation house and found a freshly brewed pot of coffee waiting. We opened the door to the shared balcony area, though we were only 5 feet above the sandy ground, and watched the water break on the beach ahead as we ate our breakfast together. The plan for the day would be time on the beach, as we needed to work on those tans again. However, I wanted to purchase a set of goggles so after breakfast we drove down to the shops along the Simpson Bay area after making an inquiry at the front desk as to whether such a purchase could be made nearby. We were pointed in the direction of the shops around the Royal Palm Beach Club and the goggles would prove to be a fun addition to my water time in the ocean. Only because it kept the stinging salt water out of my eyes not because there is much to see on the sea floor directly in front of Orient Beach.
When we returned from our brief journey we found the jack hammering had commenced again on the area beneath our room. As I contemplated a call to the front desk, the phone rang. It was the front desk! “How are you two doing in that room?” I tried to respond but the noise interrupted and was so loud I knew he would not be able to hear me. I managed to get in, “It’s a bit loud over here.” He replied that they wanted to move us, as the excavation would probably continue for a few more days. As it turned out, the room they wanted us to have was the exact room we had last year. We really appreciated the care and sensitivity of the Mary’s Boon staff to remedy our situation. Our stay for the duration of our time there was quiet and very enjoyable. We liked being in our second floor room.
We spent the rest of the morning laying on the beach, reading and listening to our music, with intermittent periods of wading in the cool water to take the edge off from our time in the sun. The water was cool on by comparison. Sea temperatures during our stay were around 83 degrees. I tried out the goggles and found a few shells but otherwise barren water floor. I was growing a bit restless laying out on this day so I decided to walk up the stairs of the Mary’s Boon observation tower, a vantage point to watch incoming air traffic. A sign as you approach reads something to the effect that the steps to the tower above were built by a local school for the blind. “Nice”, I thought. The tower is really the roof of a building that sits along the road in front of Mary’s Boon. The steps lead to an area large enough for six patio tables and built in concrete bar. It did not look like the tower had been used for bar purposes or dining for a while and it was almost intolerably hot as I waited for one of the larger planes scheduled to arrive around that time.
Soon a guy came up with a camera. He was in his twenties and asked if I was a pilot. “No, just like planes.” He then said he worked for an airline. “Oh”, I said, “are you a pilot?” “No.” “Are you a co-pilot?” “No, navigator” was his reply. “Cool, the closest I’ve been to a cockpit was when I had Microsoft Flight Simulator on my computer!”. We talked a bit more and then he grew impatient waiting for a plane and ambled back down the stairs and disappeared into the courtyard. The hour for the plane’s arrival passed by so I decided to go back down to the beach where I had left Marilyn. I knew the large jet would still be arriving so I kept an eye out toward the west for a large approaching plane. Sure enough, in a few moments I could see that the airliner was approaching the runway. I ran through the courtyard and up the stairs, which interestingly leaned downward rather than sitting parallel to the ground, and got to the top of the lookout in plenty of time. Brush and trees blocked my view of most of the runway, but the larger planes taxi to a stop and turn around virtually right across from the observation area. I heard the reverse thrusters before I ever saw the plane and then there it was, huge from this vantage point. It finally slowed and then made an obligatory 180 degree turn to taxi back to the airport concourse.
We napped after lunch and decided we would take the Peg Leg Pub up on the free coupon, which was handed to us the night before during our Pub Crawl excursion. To be honest, I can’t remember if it was for a free meal with one purchased or a free drink. We had such a good time there last night and enjoyed the food so much, so whatever the coupon was for it was a secondary motivation. We dined out on the patio area that had been “mooned” the night before. A family or two were already there eating and by the time we finished almost every table was occupied. Our meals were very good. We both had steaks washed down with a couple beers. It was a very peaceful meal looking out at the still water of Simpson Bay and peering up at the clouds in the darkening sky.
Back at Mary’s Boon we took advantage of the honor bar off the lobby area. You indicate on a clipboard what you imbibe during your stay and it is added to you bill. We were having two glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. As I made my way back to the room I could see flashes of lightning in the distance and soon the rumble of thunder. What a perfect evening! We sat outside on a shared balcony area but were 18 feet above the beach and ocean now. In the distance the clouds lit up as the storm approached. The thunder still indicated, though, that the rain wasn’t as close as we might think. After a while, a cool breeze began to stir and then the pelts of rain started to fall, slowly at first and then picking up their pace. Almost immediately it was pouring and we had to go back into our room. The rain upon the roof above was very loud but we enjoyed listening to it as we finished our first glass of Cab watching the Weather channel. I was hoping we might be able to walk on the beach later so wanted to see if this storm was extensive. It turned out to be short lived.
The rain calmed and I made another trek down to the honor bar. This time I decided upon a Merlot for each of us. We had to wipe off our chairs before sitting back down on the deck. In the distance to the left, toward the stretch of road where you find Royal Palm Beach Club, Horny Toad Guesthouse and a scattering of restaurants, we could see in the town lights a curtain of rain cascading down from a cloud and wondered if it was heading in our direction. It evidently expended itself and we were spared precipitation for the evening and had a wonderful walk on the beach that night. We did not stroll too far as it was pretty dark and we did not want to stray from the hotel this late at night. We have been married for 36 years and are still very much in love. So there are other things to do on the beach at night but I’ll leave that to your imagination.
To be continued…..
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