Monday, October 9 (Ron)

We had a very nice moonlight walk on the beach last night and a good night’s sleep. I got up a little after 7am, had some coffee and read out on the balcony. The sound of the waves invigorating me and relaxing me at the same time. It is another beautiful day – the sun warming you and the ocean breeze making sure you don’t get too warm. It is so cool to be sitting there with the sun telling you it’s going to be a beautiful day and the waves inviting you to come on in and cool off. A little after 9am we left the resort and walked into Phillipsburg to do some shopping. It’s not a long walk, maybe a mile into town and another half-mile along Front Street, but by now it was getting warm. That’s OK by me – I didn’t come here for cold weather – but Pat was starting to feel it. Being the savvy shoppers that we are, we stopped at the first shop we came to, ‘cause the air conditioning felt so good. We bought some T-shirts, a beach bag, and a beach towel. The clerk was very nice and helpful. We walked a little farther down Front Street, enjoying the walk. Front Street was just recently completely renovated and it is very nice. Stopped in at another shop and got some postcards, another T-shirt, and a turtle to add to our collection. Finally, near the far end of Front Street, we came to the Guavaberry Emporium. As soon as we walked in a lady asked us if we’d like to try a free sample. Before the sound waves even reached my ears, I replied ‘Sure!’ She gave us each a sample of Guavaberry Colada, then one small sample of the Guavaberry Liqueur straight, and a sample of the Guavaberry Rum straight. All were downed with many thanks and much appreciation. Since we were walking I just got one bottle of the liqueur and some hot sauce. They had a good selection of other flavored rums, which we will purchase when we have a rental car to haul it all in. Shortly after leaving the Guavaberry Emporium we reached the end of the business section so we walked one block over to the boardwalk and headed back, looking for a place to eat lunch. We decided on a nice looking place right on the beach. Actually, they all were, since we were on the boardwalk. Pat had Curry Chicken Salad with Mango dressing and a lemonade. I had a Plantain Canoe and two Carib’s. The Plantain Canoe was pretty good, a plantain cut lengthwise, filled with hamburger and sauce, sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Both meals were very good, very well presented. The total bill was just under $25, a real bargain. After lunch we walked a little farther, down on the beach with the wave keeping our feet wet and our bodies cooled. We reached the end of the beach, so we went up, crossed Front Street to Back Street. Front Street is one-way going away from our resort and Back Street is one way going toward our resort. We stood there on the corner, discussing whether we wanted to start walking until we could flag down a passing taxi, or if we wanted to wait there in the shade until one passed by. Of course we decided to wait in the shade. Within a minute a car stopped and an older gentleman asked if we needed a taxi. We said yes, to the Belair Beach Resort, and asked how much. He replied ‘Eight dollars’ and we said ‘Great’. So he and his wife took us back to the resort. We got back to the resort at 1pm and relaxed for a couple hours before going down to the beach to relax some more. Laying out we got a few sprinkles, but hardly enough to notice. It cleared up and was nice and sunny. Then about 5:00 it started sprinkling again. By 5:01 it was really pouring. I made a run for the covered area by the restaurant. Made it there before getting totally soaked. Sat there for a few minutes and the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it was beautiful again. Read for a little linger then went up to the suite to shower and get ready for the Wine-and-Cheese meet-and-greet. We got cleaned up and went down for the free wine and cheese get-together put on by the resort. Not much wine, not much cheese, but it was fine. Jody, the owner of the convenience store at the resort, took our picture and will give us a print and the negative to make more prints if we want to. I think she did it for us because Pat and I make such a lovely couple. I did notice that she did it for most of the other couples as well. Not sure why, ‘cause they weren’t that great. Oh, well. After the wine and cheese, the restaurant had a Bar-B-Q buffet for $15 per person. We had already gotten our names on that list. There was salad, coleslaw, potato salad, curry rice, chicken, and ribs. It was very good. I went back for seconds on the chicken and the ribs. Then I saw the desert. They had some kind of chocolate bar type of cake thing, a rum cake bar thing, and a fruity cake bar thing. Of course I had to try them all – come on, give me a break, they weren’t that big. The chocolate one was by far the best, it was delicious. We sat at the table for a while and listened to the band (‘cause we were so stuffed we couldn’t get our butts out of the chairs). Around 8pm we made it up to the suite and read for a while before going to bed. Big day tomorrow, a snorkeling excursion. Should be lots of fun.