liamsaunt

Monday we had a pretty relaxing day. The weather was raining off and on, so we decided not to snorkel. We visited Hawksnest Bay This mongoose wanted to know if we had any snacks it could steal. They are clever little dudes and will get into your zipped beach bags looking for food. We did not have any, so it left disappointed Panorama of the beach We skipped eating out in favor of pool time at the villa. Nephew made watermelon margaritas for those who wanted one And then grilled sausages, peppers, onions, chicken thighs and garlic bread for dinner. We brought the meats from home. Yesterday we went back to Caneel Bay to do some snorkeling. This lobster was hiding French angelfish, adult phase French angelfish, intermediate phase grouper Stoplight parrotfish We went to town for dinner at Morgan’s Mango. Drinks We shared a couple of appetizers. Tuna tartare and snapper seveche Three of us had the catch of the day, which was corvina Niece opted for coconut crusted grouper Amd husband had a lobster. He had them take it out of the shell in the kitchen because of my nephew’s allergy. I think he missed gnawing on the shell a bit but didn’t say anything. We shared a massive piece of key lime pie for dessert It’s extremely hot today, so we are relaxing at the villa this morning before boating over to a floating taco bar for an early dinner later on.

Saturday was a pretty mellow day. We just spent the day swimming at Francis beach, and then went back to the villa to grill burgers and veggie burgers that I brought from home. I remembered to take a picture of the beach this time. Sunday was another fairly lazy day. My husband lost his snorkel mask on our boat day (the strap snapped when he jumped off the boat. The water was 60’ deep so there was no swimming after it) and we have not gone in to town to replace it yet, so we have just been swimming. Sundays in the summer are the worst day to get parking at the beach because that’s the day many locals have off from work, and the water is actually warm enough that they will swim in it. We ended up driving all the way to the east end to a rocky but calm beach called Haulover. Even here, at the farthest point of the island, there were about 15 other people on the beach. This is one of those spots you would typically have to yourself. After swimming my nephew lobbied very hard for an early dinner at Johnny Lime, which is barbecue. The setting The menu Drinks. Husband’s lita mezcalita, a special passionfruit gin fizz that my sister chose, and my nephew’s danger. Niece and I just had water. Husband got brisket with mac and cheese and a salad with local greens I had a blackened catfish sandwich with slaw and yucca fries. I am not sure when they switched from mahi to catfish on the menu, or why, but it ended up being very tasty. nephew had brisket with rice and beans and yuca fries Niece had a pulled pork sandwich that I did not get a picture of, and sister was sulky because she didn’t want anything on the menu. She didn’t end up ordering anything but a side of the chickpea fritters. After linner we went to Trunk Bay for a late swim And then back to the villa to shower. I had a visitor in my outdoor shower though, so my husband and I ended up going for a pool swim instead and called it getting cleaned up 😂

Yesterday we were all wiped from the boat day, so we spent the day at the villa relaxing. I processed my underwater photos so thought I would share a few. There were a lot of jellies in the water. We all wear long sleeved rash guards and long swim pants when snorkeling in case of stuff like this. I would rather deal with lots of big jellies like the ones we saw than the invisible and incredibly painful sea lice stings. I am fairly certain that all of these jellyfish were moon jellies, which only have a mild sting, but others in my party are adamant that there were multiple types around. Anyway, here are some jellyfish. Their bodies ranged in size from just a few inches to over dinner plate. The tentacles stretched for a few feet. blue tang Black durgeon. We only see these in the BVIs Spanish hogfish One of many caves that you could swim inside at Norman Island. It was creepy and dark in there, though we saw some fish that were not present elsewhere. I think you would have needed a dive light to fully explore it. We did not come prepared for that. We went to La Tapa for dinner Drinks i got a cauliflower bisque to start. After I tasted it I realized I ordered this last time I was here too 😂 Everyone else shared a few orders of tuna tartare, but the photo came out blurry. Husband and I had tuna with polenta cake and mango sauce, the usual sister had hers with wild rice and coconut sauce Niece and nephew had ribeyes with a Greek salad on top and a three potato mash We shared a flan for dessert Except for my niece, who got a bread pudding with saffron ice cream and raspberry sauce No dinner reservations for the next few nights.

Wednesday was pretty relaxing. We went to Francis beach for swimming. We did not snorkel and I did not take any pictures. We were feeling lazy so headed back to the house to swim in the pool while nephew made dinner. We saw a little rainbow (by the time I grabbed my phone it had mostly faded) Nephew grilled some flatbreads. Tomato, bacon (cooked and brought from home, because cooking in the oven indoors here is generally not a good idea), and one with the leftover steak from the other night. We found a big package of basil from the farm on island so covered the flatbreads with it and called it our salad. They looked funky but tasted good. Yesterday was our boat day. I did not take too many above water pictures, and haven’t processed the underwater ones yet, so not many photos to share. My niece and nephew really wanted to visit the British Virgin Islands, and my husband and I have not gone over since 2008, I think. We rented a larger power boat to get us over there quickly. I don’t prefer this kind of trip because you lose time clearing customs. Our boat is the second one in this picture. It was a very smooth ride, and the crew was great. Morning fruit tray on the boat We went to a couple of snorkel spots and then to Norman Island for lunch. There is literally nothing on this island but the beach restaurant. Here it is from the boat dock. A summer camp from a neighboring island was there for swimming lessons and lunch. That’s the big group of little kids you can see in the water with their instructors. Menu We were done snorkeling so the imbibers ordered margaritas We had to get the conch fritters Nephew ordered the mahi seveche. He let me taste and it was really good Niece wanted mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders. She never eats like this at home haha sister and I had fish tacos made with mahi husband got the mahi sandwich and nephew got the chicken roti. He said it was delicious. I should have taken a picture once he cut into it. After lunch nephew really wanted to go to Jost Van Dyke, which is where many of the famous beach bars in the BVI are located. Niece grumbled a bit but perked up when I pointed out they would have smoothies. The captain warned my husband and I that it looked really different since the last time we had been over, as all of the structures here were completely leveled in the hurricanes. There were more bars, and more people, but it was not too different, really. Nephew got his painkiller drink from Soggy Dollar, and niece and I went for a beach walk and found her a smoothie. There are little bars up and down the entire beach. One of them had a huge sign advertising that they sold “magic mushrooms.” I did not know that was legal in the BVI haha. We got home and the power was out on St John, so dinner was cancelled. We just scrounged some bread out of the dark refrigerator and called it a night. Luckily power came back around 9pm, just in time for going to sleep with the AC on.

Yes it is definitely sad. The hurricanes destroyed most of it, and some is growing back, but as I am sure you know, it is a long, slow process, and some places have seen more growth than others. The overly warm ocean water is not helping matters. Yesterday we finally had a chance to revisit Caneel Bay beach for the first time since the hurricanes in 2017. The National Park has fenced off the ruins and created a path to the beach using the old paved walkways of the resort. The destruction was still shocking to see up close after all these years. This was one of the restaurants, housed in the sugar mill on the old plantation grounds The boiling tower chimney cracked in the storms but is still standing And here are the remnants of some of the resort rooms The entrance to the one reopened public beach (five of the seven beaches on the resort property are still inaccessible due to dangerous conditions) The beach is still beautiful, peaceful and calm. We once stayed in a room on that point you can see. All traces of it are gone now. The last time we were on this beach, that big sea grape you can see was about four feet tall Here are a couple of snorkeling photos. Lobster hiding Feather duster worm and coral Mid phase French angelfish Stoplight parrotfish Grouper eating an octopus Beautiful flamboyant tree that we saw on our walk out Dinner was at STJ Speakeasy. Menu Drinks. I think we have two margaritas and a cucumber wasabi cocktail of some sort. There were no mocktails which was a little disappointing. I remember having something nice here last year. We shared three starters. A wahoo seveche with plantain A special of hogfish crudo and the tuna rose from the menu All were fantastic. We could not decide which we liked best.The sun set as we finished our appetizers This is really boring, but all five of us got the same thing for dinner, the catch of the day (grouper). It had a fantastic green curry sauce, which is hidden behind the fish in this photo. We shared two desserts, a chocolate cremeux with nougat and a flambéed pineapple with ice cream This was a fantastic meal, and will be hard to beat.

We spent the day at Cinnamon Bay. I did not take any pictures of the beach for some reason, but here’s one from a prior visit. I did take some snorkeling photos. Almost all of the coral is still dead, but there were some fish around. Jacks blue tang squirrelfish Nurse shark and one of my favorites to see, a big permit Dinner was at Longboard. Menu Drinks. The two on the left are mocktails Chips and dips because we were starving wahoo seveche Mahi mahi sliders Pork sliders Fish tacos made with wahoo Carnita tacos A Tidal Rose cocktail for my husband. I think it was tequila, rose, and pampelmousse. It looked cool but was disliked we were too full for any dessert. We caught the tail end of the sunset And then headed back to the villa. The house you can see lit up on the beach was hosting a somewhat raucous wedding, so we listened to their DJ until his mixes got so bad we fled inside. It was the mashup of Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer with the Black Eyes Peas I Got a Feeling that was the final straw 😂

We are back on St. John. We arrived Saturday evening. Everyone was tired, so we just went into town for some light snacks at the island brew pub, mostly so my nephew and husband could pick up some crowlers of beer for the house. I thought I took a picture of the beer menu, but I guess not. Here’s the food options. Niece chose chicken wings The rest of us shared a hummus plate and a salad with some mahi mahi on it We stopped by St. John Scoops so niece could get her favorite chai tea latte ice cream We got in an evening dip in the pool before crashing We had the house provisioned by a grocery delivery company before arriving. That’s because when you try and go shopping on the weekends, everything is sold out. We stopped by yesterday to pick up some water and ice, and attempt to get some salad stuff (no luck on that front until the second store). Empty grocery! The only vegetables were onions, potatoes, red cabbage, and winter squash. I did snag the last loaf of raisin bread, and they had ice, so it was ok. We just spent the day reading at the villa. Too tired to beach it. Nephew made the drinkers watermelon margaritas (we brought a cooler from home with some stuff, including fresh squeezed and pre measured juices for cocktails and mocktails) He grilled some bread (got a bit charred) that I topped with garlic scape butter I made at home, and a couple of ribeyes (also brought from home), supplemented with pasta and a “salad” made from the only vegetables I could find at the second market we stopped at-a cucumber and some peppers. evening views Breakfast under the palapa with our trusty scavenger companions We were blocked in this morning by the pool and landscaping maintenance guys, but it’s finally time to go to the beach!

More clean out the fridge. Stir fry with zucchini, summer squash, chicken and shiitake mushrooms. My CSA dropped 8 pounds of zucchini on my doorstep yesterday. I put as much as I could fit into this dish and then blanched and froze the rest. Hopefully I will be able to cook it down into some kind of flavorful puree when we come back.

I'm in clean out the fridge mode before vacation. Last night we had a NY Times recipe for Berbere brown sugar chicken. Berbere brown sugar chicken I added all of the remaining CSA carrots I had languishing in my fridge to the dish. All the carrots except one were a deep purple, which ended up changing the color of the dish. It looks more like a beef stew than a chicken dish. My nephew thought the brown sugar (which I halved) and the orange juice made it too sweet. My niece thought the Berbere spice blend (Penzey's) was too spicy! I cannot win haha. The rest of us liked it. Served with spiced rice and some flatbread I made to use up the last of an open container of yogurt.

My sister brought some halibut home from the farmer's market next to her office yesterday, so we had mustard coated and roasted halibut with lemon caper butter, mashed potatoes, roasted broccolini and some peas from the freezer to bulk out the broccolini.

It's striped bass season, and the tomatoes are starting to come in so.. Pasta with uncooked tomato sauce and basil Roasted striped bass with Mario Batali's Sicilian lifeguard sauce (made with fresh tomatoes). The recipe is originally meant to be served with calamari, but it's basically impossible to find calamari here, even in the fish markets.

We are not going to the Cape for the 4th this year in the first time in forever. I miss it already. I bet the business will be really slammed this weekend. The weather is great after so many rainy weekends. I was talking to the guy who cleans my house on Wednesday and he said that Provincetown is completely sold out for lodging--the only thing he could get was a bare site for camping! Luckily he enjoys camping. That would be my husband's nightmare.

Grilled satay chicken with peanut sauce. Jasmine rice and cucumber-mint-peanut salad to go with it. I think coconut rice would have been even better but I got lazy.

Friday, roasted striped bass with amtriciana sauce over kalamata orzo Saturday, miso salmon bowls with bok choy

I've been cooking and taking pictures, but have not been posting. So, apologies for the dinner photo dump! A clean out the fridge dinner of stir fried chicken, peppers, garlic scapes, and bok choy with lots of scallions and cilantro There was an old bag of pretty stale potato chips in the pantry, so I crushed them up, coated chicken with them, and served it over a big salad. My CSA gave me about three pounds of spinach, so I made it into a pasta sauce to use a bunch of it up in one meal. Another clean out the fridge dinner of roasted peppers, broccolini and cherry tomatoes with feta over garlicky orzo We had fajitas another night. No pictures of those, but I used the leftovers to make big salads on the day it was 101 degrees here. Steak salad for husband, niece and nephew and chicken salad for my sister and me. Last night I tried a NY Times Cooking recipe for grilled honey-lemon-tahini chicken thighs, served with rice pilaf, flatbread, and yet another salad. I thought I had finally made a good dent in the salad greens from my CSA, but they dropped off a box this morning with seven more heads of lettuce in it...