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Published: April 28th 2013
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It was an early morning for me as the beaconing sun tore away my sleepiness. I decided to walk the complete breadth of the beach while Terri slept. A few other early morning beachcombers shared the view of gentle waves creeping and falling over the sloping sands. A young man holding his baby girl stood mesmerized by it all while a runner stopped to google at her. A few hotel workers were combing the beach directly in front of their property, while a few others were preparing beach lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent to potential cruise tourists that will come later in the morning from nearby Castries. The very end of the beach was undeveloped by hoteliers and appeared to be the local home for the homeless as I saw some gathered under a tree and another being kept company by his faithful dog. A path led to some unknown place which I suspected was merely a way to the nearest side street in the township of Rodney Bay. I tried to verify this with the dog owner, but he mumbled some indiscernible words in their local Creole dialect which I've been told is slightly distinct from the Creole in
other places like Trinidad or Barbados. Only wanting a coffee I decided to follow the path and within minutes I was standing in front of my desired destination, the "Rituals Coffee", which is what one might describe as a Starbucks knockoff. That might be slightly unfair since this is a franchise in its own right with not nearly as many locations, but we all start with meager beginnings, or at least we want to think so. The setting for this coffee place is on the main street into town with familiar brands like ScotiaBank and further down the Royal Bank. I pondered the reach of these businesses as I sat sipping my Rituals....
My dahling wife was still sleeping after my return, so I wrote yesterday's blog then went to our circular pool and swan a half mile. Feels good to start the day with exercise. Terri finally appeared and joined me for the next few hours while we ate a buffet breakfast and read and swam and talked. In the past week there has been a international standards conference here and several participants stayed at our resort. With their spouses, they soaked in the local beauty while making
it a work holiday. I met a few of them; one was from Geneva, another from near Sacramento, while yet another was from the Panamanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Good networking and I've been collecting business cards. Not a bad life if one can get paid to attend these conferences all over the world. Ya never know!
We decided to hit a near by restaurant for lunch called Jacques, and the ambiance and cuisine was excellent. Terri started with dessert devouring a "Crepes Suzette" while I admired her delight and ate bread soaked in oil. My mixed seafood salad full of tiny squid, shrimp, and other unidentified sea creatures was equally satisfying. We finished off with smoked salmon and another bread covered in cheese and tomato topping. All the while sitting bayside in the Gros Islet harbour, we watched the big and small craft floating by. A 60 m yacht flying a British flag and named St. David was moored up against the farthest dock and sat there looking completely ignored. I later googled it and discovered it can be rented by the week and a measly $200,000 US. Sleeps 7 though, so give it some thought would
you?
We went shopping to replete our dwindling supplies, made it back to the hotel with plans to go out to another restaurant, but the day's activities tired us out so we took a nap until 5. With some will power we made it to the beach again to stroll and plan our next move, but didn't get too far as we anchored at the resort's beach bar and partook of some "slings" form the happy hour bartender. There was a rather expensive buffet set up on the beach right in front of us but wasn't yet open...I think they were waiting for happy hour to end and then escort their patrons to the nearest table for another drink. At $47 US each, we passed. We knew the fine dining next door would offer greater value but ended up just retiring to our rooms, not really being hungry for anything.
The Caribbean sunset is beautiful and it ends about 6:45, so early to be, early to rise...
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Chrissy
non-member comment
Hi from home
Sounds like its so relaxing and fun (I love the part where mom ate a crepe Suzette before dinner hehehe....so mom!). Dad I think u must have a writer inside u...it\\\\\\\'s a great blog! Xoxo