Perfection is Highly Underrated!

One of the original plantation buildings

I'm not sure how many more perfect days I can stand, but if some enterprising folks would like to underwrite such a project to find out, do let me know. 

Interior of Koal Keel "big house"

Today we called up Koal Keel to see if their bakery was open for breakfast, because some of our favorite memories from previous trips involved a breeze, a balcony, and their 18th century location.  There also might have been a book or two involved...So we selected a couple of pastries apiece, requested two cups of decaf coffee (alas, it turned out to be instant), and settled ourselves onto said balcony to watch the world go by for a while.

I can personally attest to the flaky, buttery perfection of the chocolate-almond croissant and the pineapple tart.  After about an hour, we asked if we could make dinner reservations for sometime that week, but we had already missed the opportunity: no longer open for dinner this summer.  I had emailed Koal Keel about two months ago asking if they had determined their closing date.  As of that time, they hadn't but they assured me that they would update their website to indicate it when it was decided.  As of yesterday, the website said nothing about it, so we were disappointed. Instead, we asked if we could walk around and make a few photos, and they agreed.  

The secluded balcony we had just to ourselves

Koal Keel's brick oven

After Koal Keel, we stopped at various places on the island until we found what I think must be the last box of a certain kind of feminine product on the island.  Perhaps it's due to the particular brand of conservatism on the island that they're not widely used locally, but it's hard to imagine not stocking them for the tourist & expat populations.  But enough of that detour onto the too-much-information superhighway--I'll just add that ladies of a certain age should plan ahead when visiting Anguilla. It's not that I love sharing such personal information, but if it helps somebody in the future, it's worth the mild embarrassment here.

We went back to Caribella and spend the bulk of the day at Barnes Bay.   The same dog from the day before was there and he was whining at us on our balcony, so I took down some fresh water for him to drink.  Uninterested in water, he immediately dropped into a play-bow and barked.  I think he was just feeling lonely and wanted somebody to frisk about with him, so I complied.  We chased each other at the surf line, but he didn't really want to go in the water much.  He also had the habit of taking my hand in my mouth -- a trait I'm used to with my own mastiffs at home who take our hand to lead us into the house-- but I reckon that might scare non-dog people off, thinking he was trying to bite them.  He really seemed quite gentle-mouthed, but it's the sort of thing that could turn ugly with an unfamiliar dog, so I tried to avoid putting my hands near his mouth. 

The east end of Long Bay

Around 5:00 we rousted ourselves from a reading reverie and made our way into the world.  And by that, I mean, we wanted to find Long Bay to see what it was all about. We drove up the road to Oliver's, but there was nobody around to ask if it was okay to park there and use the stairs.  So we walked down anyway, prepared to make apologies if we ran into anybody.  It was lovely and wild  and heavily eroded.

This looks like such a nice place to eat.

We then stopped at Blanchards Beach Shack to pick up a takeaway order for dinner that night. Well, I just have to say it: I think the Blanchards have struck gold with their newest enterprise. I'm not a fan of their fine dining restaurant--of all of the meals we've eaten in Anguilla, it was the most outrageously priced for merely mediocre food (I also wasn't impressed with the fact that the same rum at Veya was half the cost it was at Blanchards. Literally half the cost.)--but I am a big fan of the beach shack.  Bright colors, interesting menu, plenty of shade, friendly staff, good food, good prices, you name it. We ordered a couple of frozen yogurts to eat right there and took a Caesar salad with shrimp, some chicken fingers & a hotdog to go, which we at out on the balcony to watch the sunset.

The entrance from the parking lot

Part of the menu

Waiting for the fro-yo

DH's shirt fits right into the color scheme

Coconut fro-yo with chunks of mango & banana

Serene Meads Bay