remember those iguanas...yeah, they're still everywhere...
thursday started with an 'owners tour'...aka sales presentation...no, moms and dads, we did not buy another week ;) as tempting as it always is!and then we decided to plop ourselves down on a beach...and this time we chose Morningstar Beach...one of the island's best beaches (just for hanging out and water sports, but not snorkeling...) and it's located on the adjacent Marriott property....
we found ourselves some chairs and umbrella and only had to vacate them for a short time for a quicky rain...
we ran into our friendly east-coast couple (the poor woman with the broken nose) as they were headed from the beach to one of the hotel pools...she was looking a bit better, but is stuck wearing her prescription sunglasses everywhere because they are the only ones she can tolerate to have on the bridge of her nose...we hang at the beach reading....not even a swim in the ocean today...it's very rough out and even the water sports station is closed.
as we head up the steep drive on our way back to our hotel, we notice that the construction crew we passed on the way in is now directing traffic on the 'one lane' road (the other lane being obstructed with construction equipment). one of the construction containers (like a freighter shipping container, or semi-truck trailer) has TIPPED onto just two of its supports...leaving it now precariously perched on the edge of the road/cliff, looking like it was about to tumble down....yikes.
we continue to our hotel and get cleaned up for one of our two 'fancy' dinners...the ones we knew would be a splurge when we got here.
we take the 'scenic' and sometimes scary drive to the restaurant (a wrong turn here and there got us on some streets we probably shouldn't have been driving down...crime in town at night is notorious....) but we eventually make it (with 5 minutes to spare) to our restaurant - mafolie - overlooking all of town.
being the 'off season' here on the island, most restaurants are not busy, and some of the more 'famous' ones are closed for a few weeks for renovations and what not, as they prepare for their busy season here. there were only a few other couples dining at mafolie's with us....one of them was our east-coast friends (we booked our reservations at the same time...)we chatted with them for a bit - and discovered that they felt the same as we did about the sales presentation (and new points system for our timeshares) and were, unfortunately, forced to evacuate from the pool earlier today because of the tipping container! there was fear that it was going to fall down the hill....and apparently the pool they were enjoying was at the bottom...needless to say, they are feeling like they can't catch a break and are more than ready to be flying off this island!
but back to our romantic dinner *splurge*....we each ordered an appetizer...nutty brie and prosciutto-wrapped sea scallops...
both were amazing....and then came our dinners....i went for the totally outrageous surf and turf...chef's choice angus beef and stuffed caribbean lobster....
jason ordered the peppered filet mignon....
and no dinner splurge would be complete without dessert....jason ordered an excellent key lime pie....
and mine was a flaming creme brulee...i blew it out almost immediately...but it turns out i should have let it burn for a bit more, as the alcohol on top was so strong i actually poured it out onto the plate!
friday was another beach lounging day...we opted to hunt down one of the beaches we heard was excellent for snorkeling - sapphire beach - which is part of another resort complex on the other side of the island.it's gorgeous when we arrive and we're greeted by a waiter ready to serve us up some rum drinks (it was just past noon...) but we actually choose to find a place to set up camp and pull out the kindles (we were 2 of 4 kindles spotted on the beach this time!)
the water is pretty rough, so we spend a couple hours reading, waiting for the wind to die down...we can see lots of reef...and other snorkelers attempt to check out what the ocean has to offer...the beach is really quite empty (ah, the joys of being here in the off-season) it sprinkles a bit and finally we decide it's now or never for the snorkeling....
jason's snorkel ends up being defective and damaged somehow, so he buys a cheapo one from the water sports rental station at the beach and we're ready to hit the water when it starts pouring rain (and consequently, the water sports rental station closes up shop and the other people on the beach also pack up and leave!) combine the rain with the winds and for the first time during this vacation i was actually cold. we decide that there's no reason not to snorkel given the rain... so we decide to give it whirl...unfortunately as with a couple other things with this vacation, it doesn't quite go as we would like...the coral is hard to see and we get whipped around in the waves...and every time we head back towards shore we are swarmed by a school of white fish that seem to think we belong with them. it was actually quite amusing. and we remind ourselves that i don't have a broken nose, and things could be worse!
we packed up in the rain and headed back (to the other end of the island...again) to clean up for dinner, and then headed almost all the way back to go to a restaurant that jason picked...based on one menu item....
molly molone's irish yacht pub was serving bangers and mash...who could resist?! so we toasted to irish pub fare while drinking some blackbeard's ale....
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