September 28, 2018

Up and at ’em. We have plans today. Major plans. A quick breakfast of coffee and rum cake (it’s noon somewhere… no?) and we are off.

First order of the day was to go to town and gas up the car. Zoom on over to Mom’s Bakery to pick up the rum cakes that we ordered, and then a takeout lunch from Santanna’s. After lunch we were going to Moriah Cay.

I have always pined to make it to Moriah Cay, but too chicken to kayak over from the villa, though it’s a short distance away. We are not kayakers, and Hook and I are not strong swimmers. I vowed to get there this trip and was thrilled when Charlie said he would drop us off in his boat, and then pick us up a few hours later. Finally! I was going to check this off my list! Hooray! 😃

True to form, Hook made a comment earlier as we were getting ready that my wish is finally going to come true. I had hushed him and said, “Don’t jinx it!” He has a habit of making these remarks like “No traffic today” and then we come to a complete halt as the traffic backs up. He manages to jinx our good luck.

I was walking towards the door when Hook came in and said, “We can’t go. The tire is flat.” I step outside to look and sure enough, the front left tire was flat as a pancake. Charlie was out at a dentist appointment so we were SOL. I take a closer look at the tire, what for, I don’t know. Curiosity I guess, as I was the one who had driven home the night before.

OMG. There was a big tear on the tire!! Good grief, visions of $$$ flashed before me. How much was this going to cost?! 😵 Gulp. Hook tried to look at the bright side. At least the tire did not blow out on our way home in the dark road.

Not only did this mishap throw our plans out of wack, but I felt terrible about the tire. Likely not my fault as I was careful with not hitting potholes, although some were just unavoidable in the dark, winding road. Just bad timing that it happened after the only time I drove the car. Hook has been driving the whole week.

When life gives you lemons what do you do? Some people make lemonade. I prefer to shake the lemons with vodka and ice. 😎

With nowhere to go, Hook fixes us some rum punch and we park ourselves at the gazebo. The tide is high. The sand bars are in hiding. Later we see dark clouds looming in the distance.

We walk up to Charlie when he got back and we all point to the dark clouds over the cay. We decide to bag the Moriah Cay boat trip due to what looks to be rain clouds over by the cay. Sigh. Hook has done it again. Jinx!

Moriah Cay remains an elusive dream… 😕

We tell him about the tire. Charlie said he had a spare tire and he would swap it while he got the flat one repaired. We tell him it is not repairable, he needs a new tire, and that of course we would pay for the tire. He was appreciative that we offered. Hey, that is just how we roll. We don’t try to pass the buck. We believe in taking ownership of the consequences of our actions.

Charlie gives us the keys to the other car so we can finish our errands. We dash over to Little Exuma. Carefully. Very carefully… avoiding the potholes. 😑

We place our lunch takeout order. Our last Santanna’s meal of this trip. Lobster for me, grouper for Hook, and grouper for Charlie.

We go next door to say goodbye to Mom and pick up our rum cakes. She has them ready off to the side in the gladware containers that I brought with me. We chat for a while as she puts the pièce de résistance (aka rum sauce) on the cakes.

She tells us to grab the large cake without the rum sauce that she has baked for us to carry back home. She had given us the rum sauce recipe the other day and reminds us how to make it again so we can rum this cake at home. She also makes me take a coconut tart for a snack during the flight. She wouldn’t take no for an answer and she wouldn’t take payment for it. We do give her extra money when we pay for our lot of 6 small rum cakes and tell her to use the extra in her donation box. We love this woman. She has the heart of gold. She is loved dearly by everyone she meets.

Our food is soon ready as they call us over next door. We give Mom hugs as we bid her until next time. We never say goodbye, always until next time. ❤️

Back at the villa, we head to back to the gazebo. Charlie is nowhere to be found, still busy getting the new car tire sorted out in town. We save his lunch and devour ours. We soak in the fabulous views the rest of the afternoon, occasionally getting up from the lounge chairs.

As we look in awe of the magnificent views, Hook excitedly exclaims, “Shark! Hurry get your camera!”

Holy smokes! We could clearly see sharkie this afternoon as he swam right by the rocks below us. This was either a different shark or we totally underestimated the size of the shark that we saw the other days. This shark was at least 3 to 3 1/2 feet long. He was big! Very very cool!

After the excitement died down, we continued to perfect the art of liming. Until… Hook yells, “Turtle! A turtle is coming!” We both ran to grab the cameras. This turtle is also big. We watch as it swims against the current, occasionally popping its head to take a breath of air.

We are beyond stoked. What are the chances that we would see both of them in the same afternoon? We kept our eyes peeled hoping that the dolphin would also make its appearance today. We stayed out at the gazebo pretty late. The dolphin never made an appearance. Oh well. Two out of the big three, with multiple sightings. Not too shabby.

We worked on the leftover fettuccine for dinner, and some of the leftover grouper from lunch. We try to work our way through the leftover snacks in the fridge. 😛. Then off to pack our luggages for tomorrow’s trip back home.

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Santanna’s : $97 (gave $100)

• Lobster
• 2 Grouper
• Coke
• 2 bottles of water

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Mom’s : $48 (gave $60)

• 6 rum cakes

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Tire : $60

• Tire – $50
• Installation – $10
• Terrible feeling – $ beyond measure

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

September 26, 2018

Toast with the French butter, and coffee for breakfast. This is like that 50 First Dates movie, it’s the same exact thing everyday to start our day. Every. Single. Day.

Our plan for the day was to snorkel with the turtles at Hooper’s Bay, and a return to Jolly Hall beach, one of Hook’s favorite beach. I noted that low tide was around 4-ish in the afternoon so I said that we should hit Jolly Hall first, and then head to Hooper’s later so that the tide is lower and the snorkeling by the dock where the turtles hang out is not terribly deep.

We get to Jolly Hall and I noticed that Hook is really limping along as we walk through the beach access. He had strained his knee the other day trying to show off on how I should have properly stepped-off the low wall at the villa instead of miscalculating the drop like I did and falling. Well wouldn’t you know it, he also miscalculated the step-off and ended up hurting his knee. He had been icing it since and I noticed that it was swollen. Today he was struggling to keep up.

We were the only ones at Jolly Hall when we got there. It was a bit wavy, but boy was it beautiful. Hook quickly declares it to be his second favorite beach. 😎

We pick our spot and set up our stuff. The sand calls to me and I set off to do my obligatory walk to the far end. I relish the bright sun, soft, powdery sand, and the warm waters lapping at my feet. Ahhh. Pure heaven.

I make it to the far end. I spy a small shadow swimming just offshore and see a head pop out. A turtle! There was a turtle swimming by! I get excited but he is too far offshore to take a photo with my phone.

I step over to the other side to take a peek at the waters of Elizabeth Harbour and the beach towards the hotel zone. What a contrast. Hands down Jolly Hall is the real deal when we talk of beaches in Exuma.

When I return I see Hook is again icing his knee with our ice from our cooler. Not good. I tell him that we should dump Hooper’s and instead grab some lunch from town then head back to the villa to give his leg a rest. I’m thinking no way he can limp through the beach access and walk the beach down to the dock where the turtles are. What I don’t tell him is that I forgot my underwater camera back at the villa and I wouldn’t want to swim with the turtles and not be able to take photos! Ha! 😬

We shoot the breeze for a while, commenting on the villas in the distance.

By this time there was another couple who has joined us at the beach. Time to move on. Bye Jolly Hall, it’s been a jolly good time.

I’m in the mood for some chicken wings so we head to town to get a takeout from Island Boy Cafe. The restaurant is located next to Exuma Market.

Town was busy and parking was at a premium. Hook drops me off while he circles back around to find a spot to park while he waits for me. The inside eating area of Island Boy was closed and a sign indicated to place orders at the outdoor bar in front of the cafe. I place my order of chicken wings and choose the honey garlic sauce, then wait… And wait… And wait some more. I start writing one of the blog entries and I am engrossed in writing. Every once in a while I look up, afraid to miss them calling my name to pick up my order. Nope, no sign of those order of wings being ready. I wait some more… And wait… It’s 2pm, shouldn’t the lunch rush be over by now?

Finally it was ready and I happily pick up my takeout box. Hook comments that it took almost an hour and he was able to watch all the goings on in town while waiting for me.

The wings smell good as we zoom on back to the villa. It’s around a 20 minute drive from town to the villa. As soon as we turned on the driveway, Hook suddenly blurts “Let me see the chicken”. Out of nowhere! While we were still moving! I’m like, “What?? Just one more minute and we’ll be at the villla. You can look then!!” What the fuuudge?! 🙄

Hook fixes us some rum punch and we head to the gazebo by the water to have lunch. The wings come with fries. The fries were good. The wings were ok, not bad.

It’s lazy time afterwards and we hit the lounge chairs. After some time, we get up and admire the views once again. We wonder if sharkie will make an appearance today. As I was scanning the waters, I spot a shadow swimming against the tide. And I see the telltale head pop out of the water. A turtle! I see a turtle! Two in one day, the honu gods are smiling on us! (Honu is the Hawaiian word for turtle)

So far we’ve seen the shark, and the turtle in the waters in front of the villa. Now we need the dolphin to make an appearance. The last time we stayed here there were two dolphins that would swim by in the early morning and evenings. We saw them a couple of times then. This year our neighbor saw a dolphin last week. Fingers and toes crossed we see one too!

Dinner tonight was my leftover steak and veggie medley from last night. Everything was still just as good. We declare February Point as one of our favorite this year.

And we declare today a good day, despite my not being able to snorkel.

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I never tire of staring at these waters and the sand bars at low tide… 😎

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Island Boy Cafe: $12

September 25, 2018

Hook said today’s beach is his pick since yesterday was my choice. First brekky for sustenance in the morning. Guess what we had for breakfast? Ding ding ding! Toast with butter, and coffee. Yeah we are creatures of habit. To be honest we rarely eat breakfast back home. Mostly on weekends as we just don’t have time on weekdays.

If I can’t have my white stuff (half and half) I might as well go for liquid gold 😎

We loaded up the car with our goal today being Tropic of Cancer beach, finding Forbes Hill beach, and Santanna’s for a late lunch. Hook noticed a sign in Hartswell for Moriah Harbour View Bahama Sound. We had no particular schedule to follow so decided to drive on down and poke around. Wow! Just wow! What magnificent views the villas in this enclave had.

There were a few villas under construction and we indulge in our game of “If I win the lottery we are buying this villa”. There was one particular villa at the end of the road that captivated me. I just loved the colors of this villa. My eyes kept coming back to admire it despite the beautiful views of Moriah Harbour across. I foresee an uptick in the lottery ticket buying when we get home. 😂

With our printed portion of a Google map from the very helpful posters on Trip Advisor, we set out to find Forbes Hill beach. First we turned on the road that says The Cut. We followed the road towards the villas. Big villas. A bit much for our simple taste. We didn’t see a beach. Or a road to a beach for that matter. Hmmmm. Are we in the wrong spot? But the map has Greystone villa right there and we see Greystone. We double back and give up for the time being. Perhaps this is not the way to get there. Must study up later. Enough exploring for the day. Let’s get on with planting ourselves on the sand.

It was a busy day at Tropic of Cancer beach. Several cars were parked when we got there. People were checking off their must do list.

We walk to the left and park ourselves away from the crowd. Yep, ToC is “crowded” today. We counted a good 10 other people on the beach. LOL.

We lounged for a while, roasting in the hot sun. The water was very wavy today. Hook turns to me and remarks, “You know, now I’m with you on Cocoplum. It is a much prettier beach.” He declares Cocoplum as his new favorite beach and adds, “This is like an old high school sweetheart. When you see them at the class reunion their beauty is no longer the same.” 🤪

Hook takes a dip in the water. I grab a carton of frozen Vita Coco and I walked the beach, almost making it to the far end by the rocks. I’m lazy when it comes to walking. Yet somehow when my toes hit the sand, I am inspired to walk. So I just walk, and keep on walking without a care in the world. With no one around I can sing the cheesiest 80s songs out loud and not one soul can hear me.

I’m hot and hungry by the tine I mosey on back to our towels. By this time most of the “crowds” are gone.

We get to Santanna’s and as predicted, we see the same group of people dining as the ones we saw at ToC. Check! Yep, another item on their must do checked off. ✅

I had the grouper this go around. Their grouper is so yum. Tastes just like our previous times. Hook spotted something new on the menu. New to us anyway as this was not on the offering the past times we’ve been. He orders the snapper. Keturah leans in and says, “Before I take your order, let me ask you. Do you know what a snapper is?” Hook nods affirmatively and says “Yes”. Keturah says, “It is not a fillet. It’s a whole snapper… with the head.” Hook says, “Exactly how I want it.” Keturah laughed and said, “I had to ask. Most tourists are surprised when they see the head.” 😝

I wish I had taken a photo of the aftermath. Hook cleaned that fish like it was his last meal. Keturah told Mom after that Hook eats fish better than her, clean as a whistle, head and all!

We spent some time chatting and catching up with Mom. Always wonderful spending time with her. We picked up some rum cakes and an apple nut cake to tide us through our stay. And, we placed our order of rum cakes to take back home for pickup at the end of the week.

Mom put me to work rumming my own rum cakes 😁

Zooming back to the villa, we quickly got cleaned up and ready for dinner. Tonight we were eating a proper dinner. We had meet-up plans with our friends at the Rusty Anchor at February Point. As usual we were running late and I didn’t get the chance to blow dry and iron my hair. Frizz-city here I come! Ugh.

The February Point community was pretty. For those that want to feel like they are back home, this is the place to be. Manicured gardens and a smooth, paved driveway.

It is slow season. There was only one other table with diners when we arrived. The staff were very welcoming. Our friends soon arrived and we had a grand time catching up. Eating, drinking, talking, and laughing with good friends. This, is what living is all about. All of our food was very good. The portions were huge. I ordered a starter salad and did not finish it. Same with the entree. I ordered steak and took more than half of it home. Lakeisha was our server for the night and service was on point. This place is definitely going on our resto list.

Cheers to the good life! 🍹

With our friends Garrett and LaTroy (They own the Wonderation Restaurant & Bar at the Fish Fry. They have the BEST Sky Juice and Shrimp Linguine! We had it the last time we were on island and we’ve continued to rave about it since then.)

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Santanna’s

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Mom’s Bakery: $24

• 2 rum cakes
• Apple nut cake

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Rusty Anchor at February Point