Anguilla, or There and Back Again Part III

Another beautiful Meads morning

Waking up on Monday morning was essentially a repeat of the day before.  Up with the sun, early morning coffee and reading in bed with the windows and sliding doors wide open on the balcony.  Listening to the light rain, followed by a walk on the beach while the shadows were still long. It’s a pretty terrible way to start the day, let me tell you.

My second book of vacation: Super Host by Kate Russo.  This debut novel will be published in June 2020. It’s the story of a London artist past his heyday who rents his home on a website similar to AirBnB to make ends meet. Lots of wonderful bits of London color, art, and human insight to boot.  She’s the daughter of famed author Richard Russo, and I’m happy to say that literary talent definitely runs in the family!

Public access path to Rendezvous

I had originally planned to spend Monday on Shoal Bay East but couldn’t find confirmation online anywhere that Elodia’s (my favorite place to park myself for the day on SBE) was open, so I switched gears and decided that Rendezvous would be my destination for the day.  I called The Place to see if they were open, but the reply was “only for breakfast.” Undeterred, I packed a beach bag and headed for Rendezvous anyway and decided to spend a nice chunk of my day at Anguilla Great House instead.

Chairs for rent, or complimentary with lunch

The palm trees that didn’t survive Hurricane Irma were a great loss for this beach

I’ve had many well-loved beaches over the years, and for my last several trips to Anguilla, Rendezvous has reigned as my favorite. Shoal Bay East used to be my top pick, but it’s starting to get a little built up now for my taste.  Rendezvous pleases me with its stunning length, views to St Maarten, casual beach bars and above all, the low density of hotels and resorts.

Click for full view

I set myself up on the far westerly chaise longue for privacy and immediately went for a swim.  Despite this beach having more small rocks & pebbles closer to shore, I appreciated that there was less undertow here than what I’d been experiencing on Meads, where merely getting out of the water without being sucked back in required both sure footing and good timing. After my swim I took a short walk towards The Place in order to dry off a bit, but since the sun was higher in the sky, I was careful about  my exposure.  After all, the one thing that I wasn’t able to do sufficiently on my own for this trip was to apply sunscreen on my back!

Heading east, toward The Place

I’d started a new book earlier that morning and was eager to get back to the narrative, so for the next two hours I stayed under my umbrella until I started getting hungry.  While I’d dined at Anguilla Great House before I’d never before eaten at Coconuts, the restaurant that sits on the beach. I picked out a table in the shade, ordered the BBQ chicken and a Ting, and got lost counting the many shades of blue in front of me.

 It was altogether pleasant, especially with the constant breeze. I completely inhaled my chicken, which was delicious and even managed to eat some of the cole slaw and the Sysco-esque French fries.

I still wanted that little something, so I ordered a frozen rum drink with banana, strawberry, and mango.  It wasn’t, strictly speaking, my favorite adult beverage ever, but it was cold and refreshing and managed to finish it all.  I was pleased with myself that I’d remembered to bring my own reusable straws when dining out!

Moving my chair so that it could stay in the shade of my umbrella, I settled in for a nice long read after lunch. The breeze was perfect - strong enough to keep me feeling quite comfortable but not vigorous enough to be kicking up the sand. Basically it was the Goldilocks of breezes in that it was jusssssst right. Eventually I was feeling too sedentary and so put on my beach coverup and went for another walk - this time in the direction of Cuisinart.

After a decent amble, I walked back, went for another swim, and then settled my tab.  I’m not sure how much the chairs and umbrella are to rent if you’re not buying lunch at Coconuts, but they were complimentary with my meal.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I decided to go for a swim in the pool at Turtles Nest.  The water was actually cold!  Like, teen-chattering cold, at least for the first minute.  It was an utterly new sensation for me. Feeling far too chilled to sit outside in a wet bathing suit after that dip, I hiked back up to my room and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon reading and catching up on work a little bit back home.

The sunset, while pleasant, wasn’t spectacular enough to tempt me down from my balcony. Afterward I spent a little time actually blow drying my hair and and a minimal amount of gussying for my dinner at Veya, which is arguably my favorite restaurant on the island.

It’d been three years almost to the day since my last meal there and I was excited to see a few new things on the menu, and I had a difficult time deciding whether to try something new or go for an old favorite, so I did both. Favorite cocktail (Sandy Hill) for an aperitif, new appetizer (green salad), favorite entrée (jerk spiced tuna), and new dessert (pineapple upside down cake). Their delicious johnny cakes & pumpkin bread, an amuse-bouche of pumpkin soup, and a glass of wine rounded out the meal.

Veya’s signature votives

It was a beautiful evening and before long, Omari’s voice drifted up from the courtyard below to serenade us all. The salad was perfectly fine but nothing out of the ordinary, but the rest of the meal was culinary perfection.  That tuna dish, with its many layers and flavors and textures, is unlike anything I’ve ever eaten anywhere else. 

Despite not finishing the salad or the tuna, I still felt like I needed to roll myself down the stairs to my car after dinner.  I’m definitely not used to eating that much for my evening meal!  The staff were kind enough to wrap up my uneaten banana bread and even tossed in a couple of extra johnny cakes and pieces of pumpkin bread for me to take home for my breakfast the next morning. All in all, it was a pretty damned perfect day. 

Ahhhhh, Anguilla! October 2013, Part Two

Sunrise on our first morning

Usually I don't sleep well on my first night on the island--it's part of that bizarre combination of exhilaration and exhaustion that brings on a fitful night's sleep--but not this time.  The mattress in our room was excellent, so when the streaming sun woke me at 6:00, I dutifully snapped a photo with my phone and then grasped at my sleep mask to doze for another hour.

We cooked breakfast and ate in the villa that morning, having ascertained via Facebook that Geraud's was, in fact, still closed for the season.  We'd gotten our hopes up the day before when Stacian told us that Geraud's was open, as she had driven by that day and seen the doors open, but alas, they were closed for renovations. The doors were open to accommodate the workers.  Le sigh.

Rendezvous Bay

But it's hard to be down for long when you have a day at the beach in front of you. We packed up a bag full o' stuff and selected two beach chairs from the villa shed (they provide chairs, umbrellas, snorkel gear, noodles, water shoes, you name it) and off we went to Rendezvous Bay. We had hoped that The Place was open, but when we found the gate barred, we settled for some palm shade in front of Anguilla Great House instead. 

I say "settled," but it's not like it was a hardship or anything. More than anything else we were disappointed not to visit with Moe and Dave.  Well, that, and we didn't want to have to eat lunch at Anguilla Great House.  I trust I take nothing away from that fine establishment when I say that their sandwich fare leaves a little to be desired. Not long after we've adjusted our chair positions to keep in the shade, we notice a couple of guys and a wheelbarrow walk by in an easterly direction.  Though I kept the thought to myself, I was hoping that it was Garvey of the Sunshine Shack fame.  

Looking east from Anguilla Great House

It was. So around 12:30 I poke DH, who had nodded off, and informed him that I was feeling a mite peckish, and was he up for a short walk up the beach in search of nourishment? He turned around to head to AGH but I said, no, I had a hunch that Garvey's was open and would he take a chance. He was game, and as we walked up, an extremely handsome man with an outstandingly gorgeous smile greeted us: Garvey at last. 

Garvey's Sunshine Shack

Nobody else was there, as it was only the third day he'd opened for the season.  We grabbed a table in the shade (where else?) and Garvey recited the lunch menu: whole red snapper, grilled chicken, or grilled ribs.  All served with cole slaw, green salad with avocado, and rice & peas.  Sounded great to us, but that was our big misstep of the day: not being able to see menu prices. You'll see what I mean in a minute, but I have more photos and more gushing before I get to that point.

DH ordered a grilled combo platter and I selected the whole red snapper. While we waited, he mixed us a rum punch, but only after I interrogated him about how sweet it was.  He said not very, and I asked him to make it not sweet at all, and hold the cinnamon, please.  He laughed at that and soon presented us with some rum punches before rushing off to tend the grill. 

This is a great book, y'all

Turns out that it was still a little too sweet for my taste, but not so unpalatable as to actually prompt me to get up and ask for more lime juice.  WAY to much effort.  Besides which, I was mesmerized both by my book and by the scenery whenever I happened to look up.  I ask you now, what's a little too-sweet rum punch in a setting like that? Not a thing. Merely a trifle. In fact, DH and I shared a third one by the time our food was ready. 

Haven't you always wanted a monkey?

I was already congratulating myself on trying Garvey's for the first time--and in a rather sublime mood--so I was enjoying the thought of the food before it ever came. Feet in the sand, the surround-sound of the surf, excellent book and even better company. So when the food came and it was actually really fresh, really tasty, I almost couldn't stand the perfection of the moment...little did I know.  Dunh, dunh, dunh!

My snapper platter

DH's grilled combo platter

The snapper was very flaky and I picked the skeleton as clean as I could without actually sucking on the fish head.  The bbq combo platter was better than any others we'd sampled on the island, including B&D's. Maybe it's because it was our first day and we were so glad to be back in Anguilla, or maybe it was the setting, but at the time it was one of our most memorable lunches on the island.  Alas, in retrospect, what makes it most memorable is the price.  Two lunches, three rum punches, two small bottles of water, and one non-alcoholic frozen fruit drink brought our lunch to a sizable $92, including a clearly marked service charge.  Mind you, we were lucky to have that much cash between us. That was definitely more expensive than our lunches at Cap Juluca (which admittedly was sans alcohol) and Trattoria Tramonto, which until that point were the most expensive lunches we'd eaten on Anguilla.

My unsuccessful attempt to make DH look
like he's wearing the Santa hat

I'm not saying don't go to Garvey's Sunshine Shack.  Not at all.  We loved our time there--and if I break it down, it technically only cost us about $20/hour.  I'm just suggesting that if you're not the owner of your own private jet and/or yacht, you may want to ask about prices before ordering if no menu is provided.  Then bring a wheelbarrow full of cash with you. That's all I'm sayin'. 

Around 5:00 we packed our beach bag and walked back to the car and on the way home we debated about dinner.  We had been thinking about going to B&D's bbq, but now that we'd essentially already eaten that for lunch, we wanted to try something else. Once we were back at the villa, I called around to several places, trying to determine whether they were open for the season or not.  After Veya and Dolce Vita were operating under different dates from the official Open-Closed list, I was taking no chances.  I'm frankly astonished that more restaurants didn't have appropriate outgoing messages on their answering machines or voicemail (I'm looking at you, DaVida and Big Spring!).  

Our pool at sunset

I started thumbing through the Yellow Pages in the phone book and called places I wasn't even that interested in, like Barrel Stay and Sand Bar and Ripples. I really didn't want to go back to Ferryboat Inn after our bad prior experience and we were on the verge of calling the Corner Bar for a pizza when I remembered Ocean Echo!  The phone book we were using was too old for them to be listed, so I looked them up online and called to make a reservation. In the meantime, we had a quick dip in the pool before our cocktails. 

Beachfront dining at OceanEcho

Excited at the possibility of seeing Andrea, who works at OceanEcho for lunch, we pulled into an almost-empty parking lot.  Again, we were the only diners with a 7:30 reservation. Andrea was not only not working that night, she was on vacation and not on the island at all, but we enjoyed chatting with Tina, our server. The menu was slightly different from what we saw in June and it was labeled Lunch and Dinner Menu. 

I ordered a mango and strawberry cocktail called a Tequila Sunset, which turned out to be disappointingly pedestrian--I should've just had a gin & tonic or a glass of wine. Anyway, I ordered the Rasta Pasta with sautéed shrimp and DH had the Caesar salad with grilled shrimp. Both were good--fairly standard, but quite solid and fresh-tasting. No wow factor, per se, but then again, we weren't looking for that, nor were we spending wow-factor prices. I ate all of my shrimp and about half of my pasta, bringing the rest of it home with me. We ended up picking the remaining veggies out of it to put in an omelet the next morning for breakfast!

Rasta Pasta with veggies & shrimp

Caesar salad with shrimp added

I didn't think we wanted to order dessert, but I'm always interested in cataloging what's on offer for future reference.  DH's ears perked up when Tina said they have a banana & chocolate spring roll--my sweet husband can't pass up a dessert with bananas, so we ordered one to share.  It was good, served with vanilla ice cream and the perfect size for us to split. More than that and we would have been WAY too full. 

Banana spring roll

We also ordered a bourbon to sip with dessert, and by that time there were a few more tables filled in the restaurant, which made us feel good.  While I always love my beaches empty, I start feeling pretty bad when the restaurants are. 

The road to the villa at night

The drive home was short & sweet.  I'm a little surprised that I didn't miss the turnoff to the villa in the dark, but having the Cuisinart entrance as a landmark sure helps! We tumbled into bed with our books, eager to see what the next day would bring. 

Coming up next: Storms from the east, a mis-adventure at Meads Bay, and a new place for dinner...

Too much of a good thing really can be wonderful

Saturday dawn.  I awake to our first full day on the island, alive with possibility.  First rule of order is to put water on for coffee, and after that I try to open our door as quietly as possible to step outside.  (Fortunately I was able to liberate myself without anybody else having to come to my aid!)

Stepping out onto the quiet, untouched sands of Shoal Bay East at that time of day is like a prayer.  The only footprints I see are the bird and lizard tracks in the sand from the night before.  Looking left, looking right, there’s not a soul on sight.  You’ll have to pardon me here, but it was a moment of pure joy and grace, and as a deeply seated agnostic, those are not words I bandy about frivolously.  But there is something magical, spiritual if you will, about those quiet moments where earth meets water and the sun glances off the waves with a certain slant of light; the beauty of it all is so much to take in that you nearly burst trying to contain it, so you can return to these moments in the future, when everything around you is cold and dark. 

The avenue of palms at Anguilla Great House

After making breakfast, we pack up a beach bag and head out to explore.  Our first stop is the Coral Reef bookstore, where we drop off a big bag of children’s books to donate to the Anguilla Book Fund.  Once again, the young woman working the counter looks at me blankly when I tell her what the books are for.  I fill her in on the details, after which she knocks on a hidden door that presumably leads into the home where the bookstore is housed.  When a man emerges from the hidden door, I explain again and this time he simply nods and takes the bag from me in silence.  I’m not sure what I was expecting—perhaps some sort of verbal communication, or at least a confirmation that I’m not randomly bringing coals to Newcastle, but toting coals there with a specific purpose.  Ahh, well. 

Our next stop is the Anguilla Great House to drop off a small thank you gift for Junior.  We apparently just miss him, but we got to chat with his brother Will and walk out to the beach to make some photos.  I’ve always loved the look of Anguilla Great House; if they had larger units with kitchen facilities, I’d stay there in a heartbeat.  Until then, I guess we’ll just visit.  Rendezvous Bay is gorgeous and a little wild looking that day. 

Rendezvous Bay, looking east

Rendezvous Bay, looking toward Cuisinart

DH and DG at Rendezvous Bay

Smokey’s is our destination for the rest of the day.  On our way from Blowing Point, we stop to pick up the first of three different groups of hitchhikers on the island, explaining to DG that while we’d never do that at home, we like to do it when in Anguilla.  This group of boys were heading towards South Hill for some soccer practice, and it was so hot we could hardly bear the thought of their walking in those temperatures, much less play ball! 

We’re the first to arrive at Smokey’s for lunch, but by the time we leave in the late afternoon, the joint will be jumpin’ with tourists and locals enjoying the live performance of the Musical Brothers.  Despite our breakfast back at Ku, we definitely feel a rumbly in our tumblies, as Pooh might say.  Two orders of ribs and a BBQ bacon cheeseburger and some Presidentes make a valiant effort to quiet the rumblies, but it takes a round of pina coladas to drive them away for good!  The ribs were marvelous, though I would have preferred them with less sauce.  DG enjoyed her burger but also thought there was a surfeit of sauce.

Una (not to be confused with Oona!) nee Gumbs

Looking out toward Cove Bay from Smokey's

Una, nee Gumbs, came out to chat with us between rounds, telling us her story of arriving in Anguilla and the many changes she’s seen to her island in the decades since her arrival.  After lunch, we headed out to the chairs & umbrellas that Mo had set up for us right as the music was gearing up.  We dozed and swam and dozed some more, pausing in our busy rotation to amble up to the bar to get more libations.  Mo mixes a mean rum punch, let me tell ya!  And he ain’t stingy with the float of rum he pours on top, either!

Just to shake things up a little bit, I took a walk up the beach towards the pier, and by the time I returned, DG had made a friend.  There was a little boy on the beach about the age of her younger brother, and they spend the better part of an hour playing together in the water.  His mama gave me permission to make photographs of them.  Apparently he was using the big stick to try to keep the big waves at bay, jousting them like a knight would.  It was very cute to watch them together. 

DG and me at West End Bay. Photo credit: B Moser

Sandpipers near a salt pond at West End Bay

When we left Smokey’s, instead of heading straight back to Ku, we headed west instead, all the way to West End Beach.  We got out at Indigo Reef and walked to the water’s edge and made some more photos so DG could see another side of Anguilla.  When the camera batteries died out, we headed back “home” to Ku clean up and do a  quick turnaround and head for Sandy Ground to watch sunset from Elvis’ Beach Bar.

Sunset at Sandy Ground

I’m still not used to the driving time coming from the east end, thus we pull into Elvis’ just in time to see the sun sink into the sea.  Conditions are fairly hazy on the horizon but we manage to snap a few shots while Elvis prepares our drinks: strawberry colada, mango colada, and beer & a bump.  Unfortunately, the mosquitos and sand fleas are so awful that DG heads to the car to wait for us while we finish our drinks. 

Various fruit-flavored coladas make for shiny, happy people!

Instead of heading straight to the SandBar for dinner, we make a brief detour to pick up some bug repellant, but we make it back to the restaurant in plenty of time to get a table before the place filled up (they don’t take reservations!).  While we’re deliberating over the menu, Carrie and Jerry from Veya show up, thus buoying up our choice for dinner – you know that when your favorite chef on the island chooses the same spot as you do for dinner, you’re in for something good!  They greeted us briefly, which gave us the chance to thank Carrie in person for such an amazing meal the night before. 

DH and DG at the SandBar

We were again famished, so we decide to order six tapas to share—in the spirit of trying as many items as possible, of course.  Here’s the roster: Cayenne carrots with honey and pinenuts—excellent.  Olive stuffed meatballs encrusted in parmesan—very good.  Spicy French fries—excellent. Beer battered fish – excellent. Red duck with savory pancakes and mango chutney—good, but a little dry.  Crispy fried chicken livers – these were actually quite soggy and thus quite disappointing.  In retrospect, we should have only ordered five dishes instead of six because we left quite a bit uneaten, and clearly that night the chicken livers were a dud.  Overall, though, we really enjoyed our time at SandBar and thought the food was quite good, and beyond that, an excellent value.  All of that food came to just US $62, not including tip.  In addition to the food, we wanted to make sure we sampled some of the items on offer at Whiskey’s Rum Bar, Whiskey being the eponymous pothound who has guarded Sandy Ground for several years and has gone to his great reward recently.  DH opted for a shot but I eagerly tried the Sea Cooler, which is as delightful a concoction as I’ve ever tasted: rum, mint, lime, and fresh cucumber juice.  With a nod to Jane Austen, I daresay it is even more refreshing than a turn about the room!

Setting crescent/new moon seen from Sandy Ground

Despite getting up from the table with uncomfortably full bellies, we felt like we were missing a certain something…dessert perhaps?  SandBar doesn’t serve desserts (more fools, they!), but our server suggested that we head up the road to the ice cream place in North Hill.  After all, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that even a person stuffed to the gills on tapas must be in want of some ice cream.  In the dark we drove right past Kel’s ice cream and candy shop and ended up down a dark and lonely road.  Since our gas gauge was running perilously low, it didn’t seem prudent to keep searching for ice cream in the dark, so we turned around, admitting defeat.  Wouldn’t you know it, but on the way back to the main road we passed Kel’s again, this time just barely registering it as we passed.  “Was that it?” I called from the driver’s seat.  “No, I think it said it was a dress shop,” was DG’s reply.  Like a good coonhound, though, my nose was a-twitch with the possibility of ice cream and I turned the car around yet again.  Bingo!  Turns out, we were both right.  You can gorge yourself on ice cream below stairs and try on wedding dresses and other formal gowns above stairs.  ‘Cause who wouldn’t want to do both in the same stop, right?  Disappointed that the dress shop part was closed for the day, we consoled ourselves with double-decker scoops in waffle cones.   Six scoops, three cones, came to US $10.  We were just putting the final licks to our fingers to erase all of the sticky evidence when we hear a familiar voice in the darkness.  Would you believe that it’s Junior and his wife, Caroline, going out for ice cream on their “date night?”  I’m not sure whose grins were larger, ours or theirs, but we passed several minutes there, chatting about our good fortune in running into him again.   It just got me thinking about the randomness of the universe – if we hadn’t gotten lost trying to find the ice cream, if we hadn’t stopped a second time to turn around and go back, if we hadn’t let several other customers ahead of us while we decided what we wanted, if we hadn’t decided to eat our ice cream outside on the porch instead of in the car on our way home, we wouldn’t have run into Junior and Caroline.

So yes, another day of hard living on Anguilla.  Another day of making friends.  Another day of unexpected joys.  I could definitely get used to this!

All three of us at Rendezvous Bay