Hey Mango--Mango Italiano

Rainy Days and Mondays

Stormy Weather

Woke up to a dark gray sky and a semi-indistinguishable horizon.  We love it when it rains on vacation (for ourselves, but also because the island always so desperately needs it), so we settled in with a book and a pot of coffee and enjoyed the early mornin' rain.

So much for our plans for spending the last day down at the beach, but at least that doesn't mean we cannot eat well! Around 9:00 we headed over to Straw Hat for one last meal there.  Geraud's wasn't open and we didn't want to cook at home that morning, so it turned into a splurge-y day for us, with all three meals eaten out. By the time we got to Straw Hat, the sky was clearing a bit but we still opted to sit under the canopy rather than all the way out on the patio.  We spent a pleasant hour there over our continental breakfasts, juice, and coffee, gazing out to sea and putting our noses back into our books.

Courtney Devonish, proprietor and sculptor

After breakfast it was sprinkling, so we turned the car toward the Devonish Gallery, where we had stopped by previously without making any purchases.  I had wanted some time to mull over  a purchase that would be sizeable, at least to my little pocketbook.  Last year I'd bought a small, original painting and I was hoping to find another one that was both good and in my price range this year.  There was one that was approaching my price range, an oil painting by an artist whose watercolors I greatly admire and whose giclee prints are found all over the island.  After a couple of days of deliberation, though, I decided that it simply lacked the movement I was attracted to in his other works.

Two of these came home with us

Antoine Chapon, whose watercolors I admire

We didn't leave the gallery empty-handed, though.  DH bought two of Mr. Devonish's signature carved mahogany hearts with some beautiful graining, and I bought a mahogany sculpture of a pelican that is so sly it's almost abstract.

I love this--it sits in our hallway under the skylight

It continued to rain off and on for the rest of the day, so we spent it mostly at Caribella, with a brief hop up the road for takeout from the Blanchards Beach Shack.  Will you forgive me if I confess that I don't remember what we ordered?  It remember that it was good, with vague regret that the fro-yo would melt before I got it back so I didn't order it.

He kept taking my hand in his mouth

I went for one last walk on the beach at Barnes Bay with my dog buddy when the sun came out for a while and a last swim in my private cove.  Beyond that, there was more reading out on the balcony, and before too long, there was drinking out on the balcony, too.  I had half a bottle of a nice Pouilly-Fume left and it would have been wasteful not to drink it.  Right?

Hey Mango, Mango Italiano (not really, but I got that song in my head)

Now, despite anything my boss might have told you about bourbon consumption vis a vis me, I'm not actually a heavy drinker.  And with my husband's alcoholic intake severely restricted for this trip under doctor's orders, I was pretty moderate in my own consumption for this trip.  Right up until our last night, that is.  We went to Mango's for dinner because it's within a nice staggering distance of Caribella, and to quote a Friends epidsode, I think there was food; I know there was wine. I don't have a single photograph of our dinner experience at Mango's, nor do I have a shot of our food.  I remember they put us at a quiet corner table, and that I ordered the sesame snapper, cilantro be damned, and I think DH had a conch carpaccio special for an appetizer.  I do remember that the food was good, and I remember that Andrea was our server, and it's entirely possible that I was inappropriately maudlin to her.  DH won't tell me, and it's quite maddening!

I opted for a rum nightcap back at Caribella in lieu of dessert, at which point I basically fell on the bed and was promptly asleep.  Luckily I awakened early and with no trace of a hangover, so I packed as quietly as I could without waking DH.

Everybody's favorite chattel home in the West End

Just another random photo 

Those last hours on the island are always a bit strange for me.  I'm restless, stuck in between vacation and home, and I become more finicky (DH might say irritable) inversely proportional to the time I have left.  Alas.  We put off the inevitable by driving to Geraud's for breakfast, where two couples stopped to say hi and introduce themselves--they recognized us from the blog--and then immediately commiserate with us over our having to leave that day.  We ordered a ham & butter baguette to go so that we'd have a little of Anguilla to take with us to St. Maarten, and then went back home to finish packing.  Or in my case, to start pacing.

Another random photo for your viewing pleasure.

Eventually the time comes for us to head out for the airport, so we leave some gifts and a little somethin-somethin' for the ladies who took such great care of us during our stay.  For our last few trips we've opted for the Anguilla Air Services shuttle to SXM rather than one of the ferries--it's a little bit more money, but we love flying, especially in tiny planes, and it beats waiting at Blowing Point for the next ferry.

Sad to leave Anguilla

I love being on these tiny planes!

I shot a few photos out of the window during the uber-short flight to SXM, where we arrived in plenty of time for our flight to Miami.  MIA continues to be a disaster area and I continue to mourn the loss of the SJU-BDL nonstop flight that made travel to the Caribbean so much easier for us.  We used to be avid fans of American Airlines because they made it easy for us to fly almost anywhere in the Caribbean we wanted to visit, but now that they've severely reduced their service to that region, with no signs of improvement, it will soon be time for us to vote with our feet once we've redeemed the cache of miles.

It's always fascinated me how the propeller shows up in photos like this

Farewell, Anguilla

I usually do a "parting thoughts" section for each of my trips, but I pretty much feel like I'd just be saying the same thing I always say: the ache in our hearts when we depart remains constant, and if our eyes shine brightly through unshed tears, what of it? I don't know when my travels will take me back to Anguilla.  This October, my husband and I will be traveling with family members to celebrate our joint birthdays, one of which is a milestone, and Anguilla is *not* our destination.  A few factors contributed to this, among them my disgust at the re-opening of the dolphin prison next to Blowing Point. I'm not saying that I will forsake it forever, but I do forsake it for now. So it is with true bittersweetness that I conclude the final portion of my Anguilla 2012 trip report.  Here are some more photos from the trip.  Thanks for reading along with my travels, and if I've touched a nerve with you anywhere along the way, I'd love for you to leave a comment.

Contrast Anguilla with photo of St. Maarten below

So many highrises!

This pretty, abandoned church is still quite photo-worthy

I love the colors (and textures) here in this abandoned house near Caribella

Shooting into the sun at Long Bay 

Okay, not from this trip, but I love this sunrise photo on Shoal Bay East