July 11th, 2006
Broken livers don’t taste as good with fava beans unless you marinate them in the chianti first.
Woke up early again today. For a vacation, I have been up before 7 AM every day.. Must be that I am up at 5:30 every day at home. Or maybe the copious amounts of Rum, Beer, etc. nahhhh.
Went to Prickley Pear, and island off the western coast of Anguilla today. Chartered a trip on Lambata, with Aqua Mania Adventures. Everything went well, and Aqua Mania Adventures had previously taken us to Saba, on Edge II. They had convinced me to pay for the second Charter, plus the departure taxes, back on July 5th. Good idea.. EXCEPT… They could not find my ticket. I had my receipt, and they put me on the manifest (Good sign that I was actually going to get on the boat), but they kept saying they could not find my ticket.
Sounds like their problem, I kept whispering… Their problem. Finally they got bored of looking, and sent me to get on the boat. The sail was awesome, and much smoother across the open seas, the trip to Tintamarre of previous. I got my hands dirty hoisting sails, since I am a master sailor (meaning my dad was in the navy, and I have watched “Land of the Lost”). The reward was the first rum drink of the day, shared by a crewmate, who oddly enough, refused to drink, since it was 8 AM.
The sail was less than an hour, and we arrived at what had been promised as the best snorkeling around. I’d add the beach rocked too! We snorkeled and saw much more than on St Martin (on either side). After swimming several times with about 6 sting rays, I went in and had lunch. Prickley Pear Breach restaurant (they need a marketing department!). Lunch was baby-back ribs, Mahi, and chicken, all of which were notable, and recommended. This is the only restaurant on the island, and they actually had a drink cabana out on the beach, complete with MY blender. (For those who don’t know, me I own a $600 blender. For those who know me, this is a perfectly normal thing).
At lunch, I met a couple of nice girls, and then their parents. We played a nice game of “Thank God Jon is married because he sucks at guessing ages!” The girls I assumed were late college age turned out to be 19… and 14….. I assured her dad I was just chatting, and my wife got a kick out of it. (I’ll be in the dog house, level three if anyone needs me, haha).
Later, I returned to the water for several more hours of snorkeling, both with and without the kids. They are fish, and had a lot of fun, and Ryan even dove time and time again to swim with the Sting Rays. I saw small barracuda, Tons of species of fish, and even a sea turtle. He was elusive..
The sail home took us back past Le Samana, on Bay Longue, the $1500 a night resort (funny to hear how the locals describe how much this place costs. It got more and more expensive as the weeks went by…. We stopped off the cost there, and dove in the water a bunch, off the side of the 15’ deck. Ryan and Remy both loved it, and we were in about 14’ of water. The crew popped Champagne, and we floated around on noodles, and drank champagne. Looks like the 22 gallon container of rum punch was getting low, haha.
Finished at Bay Longue, and sailed back to Kim Sha Beach, or more accurately, the Pelican Resort Marina.
A couple of notes for those who care.
1). The marina building will be done in November 2007. (Island time).
2). The Sample UNIT is not done, except for the outside, and will be within the month. We sat next to this about 4 times, and never noticed it. I’m not sure which views the sample unit blocks, but I didn’t see any. The marina building itself is another story, but I’m staying out of that argument.
3). The units will be 1/12 ownership for $74,000 each. (I am not sure if 1/12 is 30.4166 days, or 4 weeks?) Time-share owners may be able to explain this one.
4). I think I’m the proud owner of three of these. I may be retired.
Walked back to the room, and decided to hang at the pool and the room for a while, since I was blowing .11 and Minda .139 from the Rum.. WOW. No driving for us for a couple of hours. The kids had some more homemade Mac and Cheese, French style. 4 kinds of cheeses, and a box of Kraft. It was excellent, and I highly recommend Kraft plus $10.00 or so of assorted French cheeses..
Later that evening (read when I was at .025), I went out and picked up some of the best Lebanese food we have even had (remembering of course I spent a year in a Lebanese prison camp). Aldywyn just before the bridge, across from Ric’s Place. We had heard this was good, but WOW. $17.00 later, I had double the food we could finish in one takeout meal. Had a grilled Chicken breast on a salad, Lebanese Beef Shaved from the rotis, and an order of Garlic Hummus, complete with grilled pita bread. All of it was cheap, excellent, and the Lebanese “hottie” (her word not mine) made the takeout the best!
Sidebar: more on the Lebanese “hottie.” She kept asking me to go to the club later, the entire time I was ordering she said she’d “meet me there later”, and handed me a card that was to a topless bar nearby. Something deep inside me told me that she wasn’t going to show, even though she showed a particular liking to me, being that I’m double her age.
When I got back, my wife mentioned I was not allowed out anymore.
Rest, sleep slumber…
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