Time to Say Goodbye

Today we spent the day soaking up as much sun as possible.  We spent the morning on the beach and in the ocean and the afternoon at the pool.  

We had our covid test this afternoon and tested negative......woohoo!!!!  We head out tomorrow.  It is bitter sweet.  I will be glad to get home and back to reality but I will definitely miss the warm weather and the beautiful ocean.   

Tonight we went to dinner where several of the locals go.  After we ordered, we noticed the locals were all ordering burgers.  We should have but no we thought being our last night we would order steak.  We really should have ordered burgers.  They did not cook steak well.  I am sure we will be referencing that meal for a long time.   We even laughed about how bad it was.  Lesson learned!!!  Don't order steak when everyone is ordering burgers.....they know something you don't.  

Off to bed......traveling tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from the week.  I tried to put captions on them to explain them but it wouldn't hold.  Sorry.  

Lazy Day

 Today was a pretty laid back day.  This morning we decided to try a restaurant a few blocks away for breakfast.  We had heard great things about and were excited to give it a try.  Since it is a fairly close  we decided to walk.  Glad we did as there wasn't a lot of spots to park and it was good to get some exercise.  Art rated his a solid 9 and I rated mine a solid 4.  I should have ordered the same as Art.  His even looked like a 10.  

We spent the morning at the beach.  I spent a lot of time in ocean.  Our original plan was to spend the afternoon at the pool but after we went back to the condo for a late lunch we just ended up laying around enjoying the coolness and before we knew it the afternoon was done.  It was nice to just relax.  

After dinner we went back to the casino.  Art was feeling it all day.  He thought we would do good.  He was right.  To my complete surprise they remembered me.  I thought it was so nice.  I even got picked to play the special deal or no deal.  I only won $20 but it was $20 more than I had before.  Overall I broke even but Art did really well.  He was on fire.   We were playing cards and a crazy drunk guy came and was pretty obnoxious  he sat down next by me.  He wanted me to increase my bet but I said I didn't think it was a good idea so he gave me a chip to increase it,  We lost that hand.  I told I didn't feel good about the hand ....he should have listened. He didn't offer anything else after that.  Anyway, we had a good time.  

We will see what tomorrow brings.  It is our last full day.  

It's a love Buggy

 Today we had a our last excursion. We rode love buggy's all over the island.  They are really cute looking.  They remind me of a miniature Volkswagen bug except these ones only have three wheels.  they are pretty small.  Art and I shared one and it was pretty cramped for us both but we endured. Out tour guides were a couple of locals that were very passionate about their business.  The leader of the group repeated himself so much that we were sick of hearing him by the end.  The tour lasted about 4 hours. 

I am so glad we did it as we got to see the most beautiful parts of the island that we would not have been able to see otherwise.  We saw a $16 million and $24 million home.  And wow the views were absolutely incredible.  We saw the house that the artist formerly known as Prince lived.  It had a purple drive way and it apparently inspired him to write the song Purple Rain.   Hmmmm who knew?!  

We also went to an old cotton plantation that is now in ruins.  It was an active plantation in the 1800s and was operated by slaves.  After the plantation we went to lunch.  

Lunch....... what can I say about lunch. We were served a platter for 2 that had fries, fish fingers, chicken wings,  some sort of corn pone and conch.  I decided I was going to try it all.  Yep...... I did it.  The fish fingers actually didn't taste too bad. They really didn't have a fish taste.  I really like the pone.  The wings were not my favorite and believe it or not I did like the conch.  That was the first time eating conch for both Art and I.  I took a bite and the flavor was fine and the texture was slightly rubbery.  It kinda reminded us of a cross between clams and calamari.   I was so proud of myself for trying it.  I am not one to try new foods. 

For some reason I have been absolutely fascinated by how the locals live and their culture.  So later this afternoon Art and I went for a drive and went to a hardware type store.  They had a ton of items.  And true to everything else the prices at this store were extremely high.  I found a hand mixer for $145 that costs less that $50 on Amazon.  I really was gobsmacked at all the prices. I found my favorite isle.........the cleaning isle and was shocked at the cost of basic supplies.  We stopped on the way home at the grocery store and picked up some food for dinner.    

Tonight was just like being home........ sleeping in the chair while watching TV til it's time for bed. 

For the record driving on the left still freaks me out..........always choosing the right is good for so many reasons........even driving......just saying. 

It's My Birthday

Today was the magic day!  61 today.......

It really was a great birthday! It started with a private dining breakfast.  We went to the restaurant at the resort and as it turned up out we were the only ones there.  Art laughed and said he planned it.  Then we hung out at the beach.

I found a place where I actually sweat from being so hot.  It is such a foreign concept for me.  But man was it ever hot.....and humid.  We got in the ocean to cool off but even at that it was just so hot that we decided to spend the afternoon at the condo where there was air-conditioning.  

We had a lovely dinner.  Then off to the local casino to celebrate.  It was a little scary at first.  It was like the movies.  Two big men guarding the door.  They looked through my purse they did the metal detector wand.  We passed and they let us in. Art gave me $61 to spend.  But I found out from one of the dealers that they celebrate birthday's.  I gave them money equal to my age and they doubled it in free chips.  I also got cake, champagne, tiara and sash.  They even played a drum and sang.  It was awesome.  I left the champagne but I kept the rest.  The man next to me gave me a 5 dollar chip for my birthday.  So fun!!!  I did terrible... Art did better but we had a great time.  Heard from loved ones and friends sending wonderful birthday wishes.   

Tomorrow we are exploring the island on the love buggy's.  Should be fun. 

This has been an awesome birthday!!!