Saturday: Wanted to have a beach day. Since it was raining off and on at Little Bay, we went to Baie Rouge, another first for me. What a lovely spot! It wasn’t at all crowded, and it appeared that many locals were enjoying the day there. Yes, the sand is difficult to walk on, but the water was delightful and we didn’t get rained on. Two chairs and umbrella - $15. Ate lunch at Gus’ Beach Bar (RM needed to cash a TC and Chez Raymond wouldn’t do it). RM had conch kabob, which she said was very good. I had snapper filet, which I thought was so-so. Don’t remember prices.
RM snorkeled a bit and said it was better around on the other side of the rock. Especially enjoyed watching a father playing with his two young children: splashing in the water, building a hole and laughing when the water filled it up. We didn’t leave until after 5:30 and were surprised it was that late. Since we were hungry on the way home and not exactly dressed for dinner, we stopped at Johnny B’s in the Simpson Fish Market. He was one of four restaurants open in the market, and we were his only customers. RM had goat stew, $12, and I had shrimp kabob, $13. Both came with sides of green salad, plantains, and rice and beans. I usually don’t care for plantains, but these were delicious. I had a taste of the goat stew and thought it was excellent, as were my shrimp. We’ll probably eat here again, and you can’t beat the price.
Early to bed; you know how exhausting it is laying on the sand all day!
Sunday: Attended the Divi welcome party again; still didn’t win any raffle items. Headed to Le Galion beach but decided to have lunch at Paradise View first. We both had crepes, which were absolutely delicious. They appeared to be made from whole-wheat or whole-grain flour and were square in shape, taking up most of the plate. We asked the server, and she said “black flour,” which we had not heard of but which she said was readily available. Might have lost something in the translation. But it was a very good lunch.
Settled in at Le Galion, where chairs and umbrella were $5 each; then I headed off to see Luiz. He had four pieces ready for me: bra, swim bottom, tankini top, and a sundress. He didn’t like the way the bra fit and wanted to keep it and the tankini to rework a little. I ordered 2 more tankini tops with matching bras, and he will deliver all to Divi on Tuesday. I simply cannot say enough about his professionalism. Back to Le Galion for an afternoon of sun, water, and watching all the locals playing with their families. Not at all a quiet afternoon, but fun.
Wanted to stay close for dinner so went to Front Street with the intention of eating at Fusion; closed (for good in that location, as reported in another thread). So we went on to Antoine’s. I had lobster bisque and roast duck; RM had onion soup and coquille St. Jacque appetizer. Good food and mildly expensive. Waiter who talks to you throughout dinner was thankfully off that night. We were served by Jean Pierre, one of the three owners who took over from Antoine when he sold. He and the cook were the only ones on duty, and Jean Pierre was doing everything from valet parking to waiting tables. Most of the waterfront tables were occupied while we were there.
Monday: A totally relaxing day at Divi. Breakfast on deck; snorkeling; lounging on beach; lunch at SeaBreeze café; lounging by SeaBreeze pool. Total vegging. Still no winnings at the welcome party, despite having 7 raffle tickets. We have an early day tomorrow so stayed close for dinner. Went to the GreenHouse on Front Street. RM had jerk chicken wrap; I had Bang Bang Shrimp and a salad. A little too much Bang Bang for me (think it was red pepper flakes). Green House does not add a service charge and included a slip with the bill telling customers they should be able to make their own decisions regarding rewarding for service. Service was, BTW, absolutely excellent!
Tuesday: Needed to be at Bobby’s Marina by 8 a.m. for the Swaliga2 trip to Anguilla. I’ve never done it before in my life, but I locked the keys in the car the previous night. It would have taken too long to get that resolved, so I asked the front desk if they would call Tropicana for me to get the keys out and off we went in a cab. We paid our balance to Capt. Bob and then boarded the boat. Met MatteoMontreal and his girlfriend Sonja. There were only 8 passengers, which I thought was a fine number. Bob said they need six to go out and likes to have about 20. Unlike the crew on the Golden Eagle last week, who generally spoke to us only to offer food or beverage, Bob was very engaged with us throughout the day, telling us of the history of the islands and points we were passing. Our first stop was Crocus Bay on Anguilla. The attraction at this stop was all the coral, but I did see a good number of fish. We then headed to Prickly Pear Cave for about 2 and a half hours for more snorkeling, beach time, and lunch. We finished the day at Sandy Island, where the snorkeling was fabulous. The weather was perfect all day long, captain and crew were gracious, and fellow passengers were fun folks. A simply marvelous day.
Upon returning to Divi, my car key was waiting at the front desk. Shortly after that, Luiz delivered (talk about personal service!) the pieces he wanted to rework along with the additional tops I had ordered. I am very, very pleased with my purchases.
We were bushed after a day in the water so were going to have a quick bite at the Divi Beach Bar. The latest activities director was there with microphone giving game instructions to about 8 folks (seeing how many tissues you could remove from a box in 60 seconds without dropping any – sheesh!). Why a mic was necessary to talk to 8 folks I don’t know, but it obviously was going to be a noisy dinner. So we walked over to Belair where RM had a lovely salad that included mandarin oranges and melons, and conch fritters. I had a seafood pasta. Service and prices were good, but we didn’t enjoy the smokers at the next table while we were eating.
Wednesday: We are so lucky to have two fun and interesting days in a row. Today we went to Luci Frye’s home in the Dawn Beach area for an introduction to assembling tropical menu items. Luci has a simply lovely home and is a delightful woman. Luci’s assistant Pam handed us a Jamaican rum drink with banana, mango, guava, passion fruit, with a bit of lemon juice and cinnamon. It was wonderfully smooth and oh, so tasty. I cannot top CaribbeanScout’s report and refer you to that thread.
CaribbeanScout's report I will comment only on the differences. We did have the tamarind shrimp but without avocado (Luci couldn’t find good ones at the market) or arugula from her garden (which had dried up; Luci is hoping for rain). We also had one different item on our entrée plate, but we did not participate in its preparation and I honestly can’t remember what it was. Our dessert was a mango bread pudding with passion fruit sauce.
After lunch Luci kindly showed us her extensive, multi-tiered garden, which is a thing of beauty. This was such a fun and satisfying day; I highly recommend it as a unique SXM experience.
Returned to Divi for a dip in the Infinity Pool, but it started raining. Weather has been windy all day, and currently a tropical wave is predicted.
Thursday: Time for another day of sand gravity at Divi. Snorkeled and lounged in the sun all day until time for the Divi farewell party, at which the raffle prize is a “free” week (free after paying maintenance fee). Didn’t win, but I’m having difficulty using up the bonus weeks I already have anyway. Went to dinner at Fusion in Maho with fellow Divi TS owners Linda and Tony. We all agreed it was a most excellent dinner. RM and I both had a wonderful warm goat cheese salad $15 followed by crab cake appetizers $15. A 15% SC and 3% tax were added to the bill. Dinner finished just in tine for us to see the dancers from the casino across the street do their thing in the street; an energetic performance I hadn’t seen before. The other Linda said when she saw it last year it was a Las Vegas-like performance with sequined costumes. This year it was street-type garb with jeans and orange shirts.
Friday: The intent was for this to be a beach day at Karakter, but the weather had other ideas. It was windy and rained fairly heavily throughout the day so we stayed at Divi. I had a pedicure at Indulgence by the Sea, read a book, did my fingernails, etc. Pretty much an “indoor” day. I had the Caribbean Card so we went to Pineapple Pete’s for dinner. This will be an unpopular statement on this board, but I simply do not get the buzz about this place. The service is very good, yes. The food was mediocre at best. Without discussing our choices, RM and I both chose the same thing: spinach and parmesan encrusted grouper. Mine was barely warm, there was no crust, and the sauce overtook any flavor the fish might have had. This was my second disappointing experience at PP; the other one was two years ago.
To end the evening with a better taste in our mouths, we went to Carousel for dessert. What a terrific place this is! Delicious ice cream, made on site, and a great carousel (we called it a merry-go-round when I was a kid). We talked with the owner for a bit, but I neglected to get her name. She’s from Italy and said that Izi and Granduca are good for Italian food; they have been on my list for next week so it was nice to get affirmation. I also crossed a place off my list, at least for a meal, based on her comments. Carousel was very, very clean and bright, and I hope she makes a go of her business.
I’m hoping the storm passes quickly because I need to get tanner before going back home!
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