First Day On the Island

Stormy morning on Barnes Bay

When I woke up on Friday morning after the big thunderstorm in the night, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but rain or shine, I knew it would be a good day.  I went outside to snap a few photos while Michael was still sleeping, but since we had decided the night before to drive to Geraud’s together (rather than my driving there to bring breakfast back to the villa), I couldn’t let him linger too long in bed!

Chairs, umbrella, and hammock for our private use

Geraud’s had moved to their new location since my last visit to the island and I was curious to see how it looked.  The new location provides more seating and shows off their pastries to greater effect, but there was something about the old location that I missed that I can’t quite put my finger on.  Oh, right -- it was the use of real plates & silverware, not styrofoam and plastic. The environment notwithstanding, the quality of the pastries and the coffee has not diminished, and it’s a little bit easier to pull back out onto the main road now, too, in the new location.

We selected a coconut & a lemon danish, an almond croissant, and a cheese turnover for our repast and tucked into them with considerable gusto. The iced coffees were excellent, and we talked over our plan for the day at a leisurely pace, and then drove back to Villa Ella to pack a beach bag and head out for the day.

The Place on Rendezvous Bay became my favorite beach bar around the same time that Rendezvous Bay became my favorite beach. I fell in love with it for its gorgeous location, ample shade, good food at decent-for-Anguilla prices, and its wonderful staff, particularly Mo and Dave.  Unfortunately, those two no longer work there, but the current staff was genial and bid us choose whatever location we desired for the day.  They had been so recently re-opened that they didn’t have their beach umbrellas yet, so we selected a shady spot under the palm fronds, started a tab, and settled in to read, always keeping an eye to the sky, where the clouds were constantly in motion and threatening to rain.

Terribly crowded, these Anguilla beaches

We read, we walked the beach, we swam in that glorious, glorious water, and did a repeat of that throughout the morning.  While Michael had been on a Caribbean cruise before, this was his first time staying on a tropical island and the first time he’d stepped foot on a tropical beach. As a Yankee whose ocean swimming was in latitudes of Rhode Island and farther north, swimming on Anguilla was a revelation. If it weren’t for our sunburn-prone skin and a ridiculous tendency to prune, we could have stayed in that water for simply hours.

Our server came out around 12:30 to let us know that a large group would be arriving for lunch at 1:00 and to recommend that we put our food order in before that.  Happy to oblige, we shifted from our beach chairs to our lunch chairs and ordered the jerk chicken sandwich, a hamburger, and a couple of Tings to quench our thirst after such a hard morning. They brought out the wrong hamburger, but by that time we were so hungry that we decided to just keep it. My jerk sandwich wasn’t spicy at all, and the French fries were pretty pedestrian, but both sandwiches were good and filling, and at the right price. Meanwhile Michael continued his quest to try every rum punch on the island (verdict: a bit too sweet for me, just right for him).

It started sprinkling, and then raining in earnest, so we hastily moved our chaises longues under the shelter of the roof on the western side of the building and there we were content to continue reading for a while. One of the families who had been traveling with us on the public ferry drove up for a late lunch and we had fun chatting with them about their trip.

After a while, the sky cleared enough for us to take a walk, followed by one last swim and one last rum punch before packing everything up around 3:00. Once back at the villa, we went for our first swim on Barnes Bay.  Because of the rocks, getting in and out of the water here can be tricky, depending on the surf, but we managed to avoid getting banged up. Napping and getting ready for dinner took up the rest of our afternoon until sunset, when we had a good bit of color in the sky -- moreso the light reflecting on the clouds than from the sun itself.  If we had known then that it would be our last good sunset of the trip, we might have made even more photos.

We had been looking forward to trying a new-to-both-of-us spot for dinner that night -- Criss Conch Shack on Sandy Ground. Since their menu says that they’re open Friday-Saturday-Sunday at 6:30, and since I have some experience with island time, we showed up at 7:00, eager to sample some conch and other local delicacies. We parked across the street from the Pumphouse and carefully made our way in the dark towards the Conch Shack -- that part of Sandy Ground is not well lit AT ALL -- but they were still closed and nobody was around to ask about it.

Undeterred, we walked towards the lights at Elvis's to have a drink before giving it another go. Michael did the rum punch while I opted for the less-sweet planters punch, both of which we enjoyed. By 7:30, there was still no light on down by Criss Conch Shack and we were decidedly peckish, so we went with the item on the menu that featured something Michael wanted to eat while on the island -- the “goatchos” are a nachos platter for two, featuring slow-roasted goat. I’m not sure if it was a matter of how good the food was or a matter of how hungry we were, but we practically inhaled them.  We did, however, have just enough to share with a couple who walked up while we were eating to offer them a bit -- they had never had goat before and were very, very curious.

By that time, Michael had walked up the beach again to see if the other place had opened.  They were nearly ready, but by that time we were feeling more than sassified from our meal and not inclined to order more food, despite how much we were looking forward to it.  We had one more round of drinks at Elvis’s, and by the time we left, the Conch Shack was open for business...two and a half hours after their advertised open time. Were we disappointed not to try a new place? Sure. But we agreed that our time at Elvis’s was a great night -- we talked to everybody at the bar and still had plenty of quiet time for the two of us to chat. There were expats and locals and tourists all there, and of course Elvis is great for telling a story or two.

We hit the sack almost as soon as we got home, knowing that we’d have another full and wonderful day ahead of us tomorrow.

Once More Unto the Beach, Dear Friends

Morning rainbow (double!) on Barnes Bay  

As usual, I woke up early on our first morning on Anguilla.  DH was still slumbering peacefully and The Kid looked dead to the world.

Therefore, my mission was to head out to Geraud's to pick up breakfast and bring it back to Caribella. Anybody who has visited Geraud's, only to discover that her favorite pastries have sold out, knows how important it is to arrive early!   I got there around 6:30 am and had my pick of pastries, but I took a moment to check out the new items that they're carrying, such as cookies and pies and brownies. 

Coconut cream pie AND rum baba in one case?
My personal idea of heaven.

Back at Caribella, DH was awake and reading on the porch, so we sipped our coffees and enjoyed the beauty of the day while waiting for Ava to join us.  The light was really gorgeous, so I made a quick video, too.  

I just love this photo.  For multiple reasons.

Before long, Ava wanted to go down to the beach.  The loves to skip rocks, and she entertained herself for hours over the course of our vacation doing just that.  Sorry, all you folks visiting Barnes Bay in the upcoming weeks.  We located and promptly skipped every possible piece of flattened rock or coral in the vicinity, even some roof tiles that must have blown loose in the last storm. We walked up and down the length of Barnes, from our swimming cove to Viceroy and back to our place, astonished over the changed landscape. We were rewarded for our efforts with some beautiful rainbows.

If you look carefully, you can see one of our skipping stones in action 

Large swathes of the beach were perfect for shelling

Even better than a pot o' gold

Eventually we went back inside to pack our beach bags. Our destination for the day: Rendezvous Bay, with a short stop first at Limin' Boutique to lighten our purses. Ken and Renée very warmly welcomed us back and were great involving Ava in the conversation, too.  I made some photos and we all made a purchase or two, and then Renée charmed and surprised us by inviting Ava to choose one of their goat milk soaps as a birthday present.  Those are some mighty fine folks at Limin', I must say.

These tea towels are new and I was sorely tempted
 to buy one. But I went with a necklace instead.

And so onward to Rendezvous, once more unto the breach beach.  We optimistically tried accessing The Place via the regular entrance, which was still flooded (about which, more anon), so we went the long way 'round and entered via the Rendezvous Road near Blowing Point. I had never seen this place before, but I bet it was a great place to stay, back in the day.  

Dave and Mo welcomed us back enthusiastically, thus demonstrating to Ava even more reasons why we love Anguilla.  We were only the second group of people to arrive, so the three of us settled in on one of the couches and read for a while until it was time for lunch.  (Well, Ava read for a while and then set up shop as the resident Stone Skipper for an hour.)

Before we went up for lunch, we had a lovely surprise: Daffy and Mr Daffy from one of the Anguilla travel forums stopped by and introduced themselves.  I was hoping that our paths would cross, and we passed the time discussing, naturally, our mutual love for Anguilla.  Since Daffy was one of the first handful of people who helped me decide to visit Anguilla in the first place, it was a true honor. They couldn't stay long, as it was their last full day on the island and had plans to be at Shoal Bay, but it was great to see them for a little while.  

The totally shabby view from our lunch table

After that, we walked up to the restaurant portion for lunch, where we shared the coconut shrimp as an appetizer and ordered the calamari, the spring rolls, and the mahi mahi sandwich for our meals.  Some Tings and a bottled water rounded everything off nicely, but I have no photos of food to share. Mostly because we hoovered all of it into our mouths almost immediately.

During lunch, I got up to make a phone call to Anguilla Watersports to rent a couple of stand-up paddleboards, as Carrie from Veya had recommended them to me. They will deliver the paddleboards anywhere on the island for you, and you can find their advertised rates on their website.  We arranged for them to meet us at The Place at 1:30, but that time came and went.  Around 2:00, a very handsome young man named Miguel walked up to us and explained that he had been down by the Anguilla Great House waiting for us since he couldn't get past the flooded salt pond. Mishap #1.

Miscommunication, it turns out.  Miguel has only been on the island for one month, and he didn't know that there was a different way to access The Place. No problem, we said, and we walked down the beach with him to get the paddleboards and our brief introduction in how to use them. Then comes Mishap #2: there's only one working paddle.  Miguel is terribly apologetic, but again, no worries on our part.  He says he can leave and return with another paddle in 20 minutes, and he's as good as his word.  What's more, to compensate for the hassle, he offers to give us an extra hour with our boards.  It's obviously great when everything goes perfectly from the start, but I've always said that a true measure of any business is how they handle a situation when things go wrong, so I was very pleased with the outcome despite the hiccups. 

Ava, triumphant

Ava is quite an athlete, so I figured she'd have no problem learning how to do this whole stand-up paddle boarding (SUP) thing.  I was less sure of how I would take to it, but I gave it the ol' college try.  To my surprise, it took Ava quite a few tries to find her balance, but in the end she was handling her board well. Me, on the other hand?  Well, I was able to get the SU part okay, but not the P.  Every time I tried to paddle from a standing position, I lost my balance and dropped to my knees.  Because do you know how hard it is to get back ON the paddleboard from the water?  Pretty darn hard.  But going from kneeling to standing and back again was easy enough. So I'm pretty much the queen of kneel-down paddleboarding (KDP.  It's a new sport. Look it up.)

We wanted to take our boards down closer to The Place, where the water was calmer and not having to paddle into the wind so much, so we swam our boards down there instead.  Once we were there, it was much easier to stay upright.  I still couldn't paddle from a standing position, but that's okay.  I converted my board to a kayak and became the reigning queen of Sit Down Paddleboarding (SDP), which is even easier than KDP.

At 4:30, it was time for us to settle up and pay the bill because The Place was hosting a private party that night.  That was fine, as Ava was exhausted from her time in the sun and I didn't mind heading home to shower off and enjoy a sunset cocktail. Ava promptly fell asleep after her shower, so we woke her up about 5 minutes before heading off to what would be her favorite dinner of the trip: Dolce Vita.

Après sunset at Caribella

Until our first trip to Dolce Vita in 2013, DH and I never would have thought we'd love eating Italian food in the Caribbean.  Don't get me wrong -- I love Italian food, but it always has seemed a tad heavy for eating in the tropics. Ava, on the other hand, practically worships pasta, so we knew from the start that we'd take her there for dinner.  Little did we know that it would be a life changing experience for her...

Because I was too tired on my *actual* birthday to do much celebrating drinking, I declared Saturday night to be my birthday instead.  I love the mojitos at Dolce Vita -- so much fresh mint, so much lime juice, so much perfection -- and began briskly consuming them.  That explains why I only have pictures of our food and not of the restaurant or of us. The bread (which they get from Le Bon Pain in Island Harbour) is excellent, as is the accompanying olive oil & balsamico. 

We started off with salads.  DH and I split the arugula & pear salad with bleu cheese, as usual, while Ava enjoyed her full size Caesar:

Ava already loves lasagna, so she needed no encouragement to order it once she heard it was a Dolce Vita specialty.  DH did the same, while I opted for the shrimp fra diavolo.  We all loved our selections, and Ava made us look good by polishing off not only her entire entrée, but finishing the last third of DH's lasagna and my pasta.  SUP (or KDP, or SDP) can make for a mighty appetite.  

The famous lasagna

My shrimp fra diavolo

The best thing, hands, down, was listening to Ava's continuous rhapsodies over her lasagna. "This must be what doing drugs feels like" and "This is my heaven," and my favorite, "If I were to die after eating this, I'd be okay with that." 

Yeah, it was a pretty excellent evening. For once, we were too stuffed for dessert, and to be honest, none of them really appealed to me anyway. (It was all very chocolate-heavy.)  Abbi stopped by to wish us a happy birthday and to extend a special welcome to Ava.  He's always been so very gracious, every time we're there.  

After dinner, we popped into the little gift shop next door, since I'd never been in there before.  Bijoux, I think the name is?  It always looks so glamorous from the outside, but neither Ava nor I was drawn to their offerings.  But still, it's pretty on the outside and I'm a sucker for colored light. 

Stay tuned for another terrible day at the beach, with no fun and no good food...

Last Day on Anguilla: Le Sigh

Thursday is our last full day on the island, so we decide to splurge. Go big or go home!  (Or more like, Go big, then go home.)  For us, this means eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner away from Caribella.  We got off to an early start, arriving at Geraud's around 7:00 for another pastry breakfast, then back home to enjoy Barnes Bay and have a chat with Vandra.

I don't know this flowering plant at Caribella is, but it's lovely

The ixora was in bloom at Caribella

At 11:30 we went inside to pack a beach bag (just in case) before heading out to Jacala. We have eaten quite a few expensive lunches on the island, but among them, Jacala has consistently offered the best food.  I've occasionally found the service to be a bit haughty for dinner (if not always directed at us, then directed at neighboring tables), but I absolutely love it for lunch.  We missed out on Jacala on our last visit, so I made sure we got there this time, saving the best for last.

The beautiful setting at Jacala

I love the crisp, cool interior

Once more, we were the first guests to arrive for lunch. This gave us the luxury of time to consider and debate our various selections without worrying about whether we were holding things up, or monopolizing any staff, and to ask questions about certain ingredients (such as undisclosed cilantro). I eventually settled on the grilled watermelon salad.  I don't know who I was trying to kid, as I've never gone there for lunch and not ordered it, but I guess I wanted to give other dishes a chance. Reckon I'll have to save that for next time.

Grilled watermelon and goat cheese salad

DH, in the meantime, chose the chilled cucumber soup with spicy tomato sorbet, which is the dish I usually pair with my watermelon salad, but this time, we asked if we could each have one grilled crayfish in addition.  It's a regular part of the menu, and the lunch portion is four crayfish per serving, which is just a ridiculous amount of food to eat during the hot part of the day, in my opinion.

This is one of my favorite soups, ever

Simple, grilled crayfish with garlic lemon butter. 

Every bite of our food was excellent from start to finish, and the slightly-out-of-character wine that I sipped with lunch put me in a very mellow frame of mind, indeed.  We sat for awhile, enjoying the breeze, the setting, the company, and naturally, our books.  I walked outside to the beach to make a few photos before returning to the table to order dessert. Looking left up the beach, Meads Bay stretched all the way to Viceroy without many people to interrupt the view, but looking right from Jacala was a very different story.  Between the chairs & umbrellas at Blanchards Beach Shack and the same at Carimar just beyond, it looked quite crowded indeed.  Makes me wonder what it might look like in high season...

Looking left from Jacala 

These chairs are complimentary with lunch at Jacala

Looking right towards Malliouhana

Our server brought a dessert board over for us to make our considered decision.  Once again, I found myself sinking into a rut, but oh, what a delicious rut it was.  I'm fairly certain that for dessert I've never ordered anything else but the mint panna cotta with a papaya mint marmalade, and it was fabulous, and DH opted for the crème brulée, which was good (it's not my favorite dessert). The accompanying meringues were also excellent. In retrospect, I now wish we would have tried the rum baba, after reading about it on the Savannah Gallery blog, but for whatever reason, it didn't jump out at me that day.

After that thoroughly leisurely meal that was satisfactory in every way, we were surprised and delighted that Jacques came by to offer us a taste of one of their special house-made infused rums.  I tried the vanilla rum, but DH's choice of the spicy vanilla rum was the better choice.  Both were good, but the spicy one was of a higher order altogether.  We vowed to ourselves after this superlative experience that we'd never let Jacala slip from our vacation roster again.

Our infused rums

One last panoramic shot before leaving

So, quite sated and beyond sassified, we made our way back to Caribella to read, nap, pack, and swim.  In that order. I don't usually nap on vacation, but the combination of the mellowing effects of wine and the melancholy notion that it was our last day on the island overtook me. Upon waking, I did the majority of my packing so that I could enjoy the last few hours on Anguilla to their fullest. After one last dip in our private swimming cove, it was time to head back home and get ready for the sunset and dinner.

Another lovely sunset

We usually do Veya on our last night on the island, but we had just visited them a second time (and had our first meal there that wasn't wonderful and perfect) with our new friends, Lori and Frank, earlier in the week, so we switched things around and decided to go back to Straw Hat instead. It was an excellent choice, and besides which, it gave us the chance to drop off our bag of books like we do every year for the Island Books program (Straw Hat is one of a few drop off points around the island). We tend to wait until late in our visit so that some books that we read while on Anguilla can be dropped off, too.

We had another great table that night, this time on the eastern end of the patio.  Because we didn't want to rush ourselves, we enjoyed a cocktail before placing an order.  Despite my track record from Jacala earlier in the day, I decided to try something new, Straw Hat's take on a Long Island Iced Tea. Like it's eponym, it's good but strong.

It was a beautiful evening.  Peter and Doris came by to chat, and we so enjoy talking with them.  Peter's always great for sharing island news and tidbits, which we appreciate. Eventually it was time to order, and to my surprise, my carnivore-leaning DH ordered their special eggplant dish.  It stood out on the menu as one of the very few vegetarian entrées available on Anguilla that's not a pasta dish, and afterwards, Peter, DH, and I talked about how surprising that is.  We all three agreed that it was an excellent dish and think that the many fine restaurants on the island should take note and provide at least one vegetarian option on their menus.

Doesn't that look yummy?

I had the crispy grilled snapper with my choice of sides: creamed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes, with various sauces on the sides.  It was also excellent, and DH and I traded several bites back and forth.

Foregoing our usual caramelized banana dessert, we decided to try the warm coconut tart instead, thus rendering all future dessert decisions at Straw Hat to be impossible, for it was divine.  This may well become one of those restaurants where I force strongly encourage DH to order a separate dessert, because choosing between my old favorite and my new favorite will undoubtedly prove to be too Herculean a task.

We enjoyed the breeze and the warm night and lingered there until we could no longer stave off our yawns.  We don't usually stay out late, but we were the last table remaining, but one. It's hard to say goodbye on the last night, isn't it?  So thus it was that we went home heavy hearted to pack the last few remaining items.

Since we transported a kitty from AARF on the way back to the States, I'll do a concluding post soon that features our travel day and any kind of trip wrap-up that comes to mind.  But in the meantime, thanks for traveling along with me and for sending me your encouragements, both here as comments and on the various travel forums where these trip reports are also posted.  I so appreciate it!