Day 2: Electric Boogaloo

Saturday morning dawned gray & rainy. There had been another thunderstorm overnight and another power outage. After an early morning coffee followed by a walk on the beach, we went inside to make breakfast. Unfortunately, due to all of the recent wetness, the mosquitos were so terrible outside that our al fresco meal quickly had to move indoors. While it would have been more pleasant to eat outside on the porch, our breakfast was still delicious. 

We decided to go for a swim at home that morning before packing our bags up, but the water was pretty difficult to enter and it was so choppy that we didn’t stay in long -- the current kept us drifting towards the rock and we had to keep swimming back to the sandy area. Looking to the east, the sky seemed more clear, so we packed a beach bag and headed across the island. 

The bar at Tropical Sunset

Usually I’m an Elodia’s kind of girl, but we were trying to make the most of our Anguilla Card, so we landed at Tropical Sunset instead. We were the first to arrive for the day, and heading to Shoal Bay was a good decision, as we saw sun off and on all day. The sand in front of Tropical Sunset is as powder-soft as I’ve ever walked on, and the water was beautiful and calm. If Michael thought Rendezvous Bay was a pretty beach, his jaw dropped at the sight of Shoal Bay East in its glory. Because we’re so photosensitive, we asked for, and were granted, two chairs and two umbrellas. 

After a lovely morning of swimming and reading, we headed up to the restaurant for lunch. We ordered a lobster salad sandwich and grilled ribs for lunch and they were mediocre. After being spoiled by New England lobster salad sandwiches, Michael was disappointed at the tiny (really, basically minuscule) pieces of lobster and the small amount of lobster salad relative to the size of the roll. My ribs were decent but nothing out of the ordinary, but the portion was ample. At least my passionfruit daiquiri was delicious!

After lunch we lathered up with sunscreen and headed up the beach to walk off some of the food.  I had expected Shoal Bay to be busier on a Saturday in November, but Madeariman had recently burned down and Elodia’s turned out to be closed altogether. A few chairs were occupied at Hank’s and Shoal Bay Villas. 

We walked all the way down to the point past Elodia’s and I was astonished at the disappearance of the beach. It had been eroding away for years on Upper Shoal Bay, but there was no beach in that direction any longer. By the time we walked back to Tropical Sunset, we were hot and tired, so we packed up and headed back to the villa. 

Knowing that nothing feels quite as refreshing as one of Pam’s smoothies after a hot day on the beach, we stopped in at Sea Spray to say hello and to cool down. It was fun to catch up with her -- talking about dogs, AARF, politics, Saba, and the goings-on on the island. Alas, I have no photographs from that particular visit, but I made some pictures on a later visit, so more anon...

Not my image -- found on restaurant’s website

Dinner that night at Dolce Vita was special and I’d been looking forward to it for months -- ever since I bought my ticket. Abbi was as gracious and welcoming as ever, saving my “usual table” in the corner for us. I considered the menu a long time, debated trying several new dishes, and in the end, I went with my old favorites: arugula salad with pears & walnuts, followed by the smaller portion of gorgonzola gnocchi. Michael opted for the seafood pasta with crayfish, lobster, and other fruits de mer.

I knew exactly what to expect from my gnocchi, and yet I was still blown away. Michael declared his dish to be the best pasta he’d ever eaten and one of the best dishes he’d ever had in his life. So we polished off our food, along with our wine and cocktails, and enjoyed watching the small dogs running up and down the beach. We were both pretty full, but the evening was gorgeous and we didn’t want it to end, so we ordered up a Nutella cheesecake to share. 

It’s a beautiful dish, and the shaved coconut and coconut cream on the plate were delicious. It’s more like a light mousse than a cheesecake, and we could barely detect any Nutella, but that notwithstanding, it was sweet and not too heavy and a nice note to end on.  Well, that and the complimentary limoncello that they pour for guests at the end of the night. 

Finishing up at Dolce Vita was the perfect end to a nearly perfect day. We drove back to the west end and barely managed to read a chapter before succumbing to sleep.