Island Moosie ... Snorkeling, Eating, and Drinking her way through the islands

September 27, 2018

An early head start this fine day. No dilly-dallying. We had things on our list to accomplish today and by hook or by crook we were going to find that holy grail Forbes Hill beach.

Who said we can’t change things up a bit? No toast with butter, and black coffee at home today. No sireee. We are heading to town to get some coffee with real cream. Maybe even an espresso or cappuccino! So looking forward to that.

We arrived in town and couldn’t find parking along the street. Off we go to circle back around. That’s the beauty of downtown Exuma. A mere 3 minutes and you’ve driven through downtown and back. Voila!

We decide to park at the public lot where the jerk stand is and walk up to Driftwood Cafe. We get there and… Oh no! They are closed! 😢 Bummer.

I wanted to pick up some baskets from the Exuma craft market so we head there next. I walk around but it is slim pickings. Not a lot of selection for what I am lookin for. A nice lady has a couple of the type of baskets I want, the kind that has some Andros batik cloths woven in. I wish it had more of the cloths woven in but there were no other choices. I pick out the two best looking ones, ask her the price ($40 and $30 respectively) and pay up.

By this time it was 10:30ish so we decide to head back to the villa. I need coffee. NOW!

Back at the villa, Hook exclaimed “Guess what? Power is out.” Noooooo. That means no coffee. Think… think… Aha! We can boil water and do it the fancy pour over style. I happily dance around as I fill the kettle with water. I turned on the knob in the stove and hear the click click sound of the igniter and the smell of gas. Nothing. I turn it off. Then turn it on again. Again, click click and nothing. What the heck?? Hook surmises that the igniter functions off of electricity. Argh. That really means NO coffee!! 😖

I head outside to calm my cranky coffee-deprived self. I spot Sophie, the resident puppy owned by Charlie (villa owner) and his family. I find a brown coconut and I toss it and we play for a while.

She is such a cutie

Time to hit the beach! Armed with screenshots of the various directions provided by Trip Advisor forum participants as well as directions from various websites, we set off to find this elusive beach. At Hartswell just before the former Turquoise Cay hotel (now a private residence), we pull off to the side of the road to check out our “dream villa” – Sueno Del Mar.

We have been admiring this villa ever since we stumbled on their website. The architecture is just perfect. Simple, clean lines. Nothing ornate or ostentatious. It’s what we picture a dream beach villa to be. The inside decor and furnishings just scream a relaxed, barefoot kind of beach house. We take a peek from the road but we can only see the front entrance. We walk a little ways further as I spotted a path to the water when we’ve previously driven by. We thought we could catch a glimpse of its backside fronting the water, but alas, we couldn’t see a thing as it was hidden by the shrubs in the empty lot next to it.

The villa next to it is also pretty. Classic white exterior with the same simple, clean lines.

Oh what a dilemma! Which villa do we like better? Tough decision when you don’t actually have the funds to acquire either. 😆

We again play a game of, If we win the lottery we are buying this villa and hosting this friend and that friend… We decide that since the villa does not have beach access, we instead will hire the same architect and builder for our dream beach villa. Dream away Hook! Dreams are free. 😁

Onwards to Forbes. We follow the instructions and see the Forbes Hill Cemetery marker. Hook slows down. Bingo!! We spot the beach access sign, slightly obscured by the tree leaves, and we see the garbage pails. Perfect directions and markers to look for.

We turn and drive down the dirt road. By the parking area is a covered cabana of sorts. Yup, we have found the holy grail. Welcome to Forbes Hill Beach.

Another beautiful Exuma beach. Gee, how many times can one use the word beautiful for an island?

The sun gods was shining and the natural fan was on. It was a very wavy and choppy water kind of day. I can just imagine how gorgeous it must be on a flat, calm day.

I set forth on my obligatory beach walk. Hook joins me. I stumble onto a young coconut that had fallen from the tree. I grab it and have visions of opening the coconut like a local, using nothing but a rock, and drinking fresh coconut juice straight from its source.

Whack! Thump! Whack! Ummm… this is not as easy as our friend told us. I make a teeny, tiny bit of progress. Hook takes it from me and continues to whack that thing every once in a while as we make our way on the beach. We give up and I hurl that thing down the beach out of frustration.

We stay a while and dip in the warm sea. The water is like bath water. Just perfect.

Another couple made their way to this beach. Darn it! Time to move on.

Next up, Tropic Breeze for some drinks and munchies. I check their Facebook page to confirm that they are open. Yippee! They are open according to their post earlier that day. We get there and yes, it looks like they are open. The windows are not shuttered.

We get out of the car and just as we start walking from the car, the chef waves and greets us and tells us that unfortunately the boat was late and their supplies were still frozen. We were welcome to hang out, but no food available at that time. Bummer. We were hungry.

Open… but maybe not today. 🤣

Hook suggested we go to Santanna’s. I countered and suggested we head back to the villa, grab a light snack and drinks, and we would do February Point for dinner. Seeing as how he has not stopped talking about how he so wanted to try their conch chowder, how his grilled grouper the other night was so good, and how the fettuccine looked really yum, I knew it would be a sure fire hook, line, and sinker.

As we walk up to the resto we can hear the upbeat sounds of music playing. A mix of soca, the kind of music that energizes you and instinctively gets your hip swaying to the tunes. We sing along to the sounds of Machel Montano. Moosie and Hook approve!

A few minutes after being seated, the music stops and there is a shift in the beat. Ummm who turned the station to the snoozy sounds of the 70s? What the what?? Do they think we are so un-cool that we don’t enjoy the sounds of soca? We ain’t that old! 🤨

Our server was Lakeisha from the other night. She remembered our name. Well, my last name. I’m impressed as I did not make a rezzy this time. Dinner lived up to expectations. Everything was very good. Hook declares it a winner again.

I am coffee-deprived today so I must have coffee tonight. I asked Lakeisha if they had coffee available. I thought I heard her say that she would check. I am giddy and I couldn’t quite hear. I was expecting her to come back and let me know whether they had coffee or not. She came back with dessert…and no coffee. Again I asked about the coffee. Ahhhh, she was going to fix it. Oops. I apologize and tell her I haven’t had my coffee so I’m a bit off today.

Hook laughs hysterically and reminds me the story that LaTroy told us the other night. Apparently I left quite the first impression of being a “challenging” guest when we stayed at EBR. I remember being a pest about the WiFi as it stopped working while we were staying at that time. I was insistent that they reboot the router as that typically solves the problem most of the time. I wanted to know the location of the WiFi router, and which room had the best reception as I was determined to book that room next trip in case the router needed to be rebooted. LOL. That was back when international data roaming was not cheap. We had a good laugh about this story when LaTroy recounted it at dinner. Hook takes pleasure in reminding me that I can be a real pain in the ass at times, though I do it in sweet manner. 😂 When I want something, I want it and I want it now damnit.

On our way out Hook said, “Uh oh… I guess you are driving. I only have my prescription sunglasses with me. Unless you want me to drive with sunglasses on… in the dark.”

Well played Hook, well played.

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February Point: $164 with extra gratuity