liamsaunt

Saturday morning my husband and I walked down to Ceraldi to check out his breakfast cafe pop up. I chose a jam filled tart and husband had a croissant stuffed with spinach bechamel After that filling breakfast we once again did a long beach walk, though I forgot to take pictures. Next, we decided to try and go to one of the town ponds again, since it was later in the afternoon. We hoped the little kids might be back home doing nap time or dinner. Success. The pond was quiet, and my husband got a nice swim in My sister arrived that evening, and we did try to go to Mac's Shack for dinner, but they don't take reservations and there was a 2.5 hour wait for a table (!), so instead we snagged a last minute reservation for the Wicked Oyster. This restaurant was reopened recently with new management and all new front and back of the house staff. One of the new owners is Mac's brother, so we were willing to give it a try. Our last few meals at the old version of the Wicked Oyster were decidedly mediocre, so I am glad someone else has taken it over. The menu is quite small and generally focuses on local seafood. Unfortunately, the restaurant was incredibly dark, so no menu pictures. You can tell how dark from this cocktail picture. We shared some starters. Oysters house made focaccia Salt cod croquettes with golden raisin honey and almonds and clam strips (the one miss of the starters--we all thought they were bland and chewy, and I am opposed to clam strips on principle anyway) Husband's brother got the lobster gnocchi with walnuts Sister and I had the sole with Carolina rice and lemon caper beurre blanc and husband had pan roasted skate with pepper sauce All of the desserts sounded very strange, so we decided to share just one to say we tried it. This is sesame ice cream with blueberry jam and cornflake crunches. That's not lime zest on top, it is seaweed. I thought it was interesting, sister hated it, husband's brother was neutral, and husband really liked it. Overall, it's a vast improvement on the old Wicked Oyster, and I would go back again. Yesterday, the weather was rather bad, so we just stayed at the house reading books and relaxing. We headed back to Mac's Shack again for dinner attempt #2. We went right at 5PM and this time there was only a 40 minute wait, so we stuck around. Cocktails for all but me A rather mediocre tuna mango martini (the chips were overfried and there was mostly tomato in the dip--very little tuna) Halibut turadito Yellowtail jalapeño sashimi Fried clams for sister Green curry scallops for me (husband's brother got this too) Seared halibut with lobster mashed potatoes for husband Today's our last full day. The house owner offered to let us extend our rental a few days, and my husband has his equipment here to work remotely, but I think I am ready to go home tomorrow. We are heading up to Provincetown to spend the day walking on the beaches and then have dinner at my sister's choice of restaurant.

I do hope this is the case. There are only a few places I have been where I've found a really delicious, non-sweet mocktail. I think the market for it is definitely growing for lots of reasons. Yesterday we spent the entire day walking various beaches in town. It was a big step day on my fitbit for sure. When the tide goes out you can find some interesting things. Pretty shells, sea glass, occasionally a buoy that has washed up, or sometimes even a boat that floats without water We decided to go to the Pearl, since it is one of the restaurants that is easily walkable from the house we are renting. Menu Drinks for my husband and his brother Bang bang shrimp appetizer Wasabi crusted tuna sashimi appetizer I got seared cod Husband's brother had grilled swordfish and husband had fried scallops We barely made the sunset. View from the parking lot And from the top of the dune that I had to full out sprint to the top of to get there in time Sister returns this evening, so I am betting that we will end up back at Mac's Shack. It's her favorite.

Yesterday was my nephew's last day with us on this visit, so we let him pick the itinerary. He wanted to go to Provincetown. We visited both National Seashore beaches, Race Point and Herring Cove He opted for dinner at Ciro and Sal's. We passed the iconic Lobster Pot on the way. Nephew has a policy of never eating at any restaurant with the world "lobster" in the title, so we just admired the neon sign and then kept walking. No menu pictures from Ciro and Sal's as it was so dark inside. Here are the guys' drinks. Black manhattan for my nephew, a spicy tequila thing for my husband's brother, and a dirty martini for my husband Nephew wanted to try both the fried and the baked oysters. He actually ended up preferring the baked ones. Fried with lemon aioli Baked with pesto Glasses of wine for my nephew and husband and then we all ordered the same thing for dinner, calamari puttanesca. It was seriously spicy! We shared a tiramisu for dessert My nephew leaves this morning to go home and play in a golf tournament. If it were me, I would forget the golf and stay at the beach, but we all have different priorities 🙂 I am not sure what is on tap for dinner tonight. My sister rejoins us tomorrow.

We were curious about that too, so asked. It's a frozen grasshopper pie. I like mint desserts a lot, but was too full to order one. Yesterday was a pretty mellow day. Nephew just wanted to relax at the house. My husband, his brother and I went out to try and go swimming at one of the kettle ponds, but they were all just too crowded with little kids for our mood, so we decided to go for a walk at the beach instead. The crowd level at the beach was much more to our liking... The only crowds we experienced were these guys... Nephew wanted to stay home for dinner, and asked me to make linguini with clams. I took a few pictures of the fish market. This is the smallest market that Mac runs by far--he has others in Chatham, Provincetown, and Eastham that are at least twice as large, but this tiny one in Wellfleet is well stocked for its size. There's also a prepared food counter, which is mostly side dishes, and a small fridge with milk, butter, and eggs. 50 littleneck clams, a package of french butter, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of clam juice was $40. Much cheaper than going out to dinner!

Monday we decided to go to Van Rensselaer's. We have not been there yet this year, and enjoyed a dinner there last summer. Menu It turned out that my nephew could not have anything from the fryer, so he asked to get a plate of clams casino to share. They were OK-- the ones at the Bookstore were better. He ordered the short ribs for dinner, minus the fried onion strings. He said they were fine, but the ones I make are better (smart nephew!) Husband ordered the swordfish New England style with lobster stuffing. He said the stuffing was a bit bland, and his swordfish was overcooked. Husband's brother ordered the fish and chips, and he was very pleased with those I had the Cajun swordfish with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I would have liked more vegetable--they only gave me three spears of asparagus. We passed on dessert. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so beaching was in order. As you can see from the sign, the water is a "warm" 60 degrees. I will stay on the shore, thanks. Guards guarding. There's no cell phone service out this far, so it's best not to get in trouble while swimming as it can be difficult to get timely emergency services. The lovely beach. We saw many seals. Another reason to stay on the shore... We decided to stay in for dinner tonight. The guys all wanted tuna, and the seafood market had local bluefin, so we got that, and a piece of swordfish for me. My nephew grilled the fish up. Here's my husband's plate of tuna with deviled shallot butter, with the corn and tomatoes from my CSA that I brought out with me, and some grilled garlic bread. You can see that my husband poached a big bite of my swordfish before I took the picture too.

bolillo roll?

I do subscribe to Milk Street and Cook's Country (which I should cancel since I never make anything from it anymore). I would like to see that info if you have it. My problem with most mocktails is that they are just too sweet. I don't like sweet drinks. I save all my sugar for desserts! Some restaurants allow this, if they have the equipment to provide the required sealed bag (see weinoo's post below). However, he generally only bothers if there's a nice bottle of red he wants to have with dinner. He has equipment at home to reseal it so it lasts a while longer. The waitstaff usually treats it as a hassle if you want to bring wine home, so if he is going to do it, he informs them when he orders the bottle. Yes, there are decks on two levels of the house. The main deck has a huge hot tub (it's debatable whether we will use it) and a large fire pit. That upper deck you can see has high chairs with a good view of the water and the sunset. That sign is indeed funny, but my favorite part of the kitchen is a wall that has a massive built in ice maker, a large wine fridge, and multiple refrigerator drawers. I wish I had thought of something like that when I remodeled my kitchen! Yep... This is SO true! There are at least four dispensaries in Wellfleet, maybe more! I don't understand how a town of 4,000 people can support that many dispensaries. There are more dispensaries than liquor stores! Choose your pleasure I guess 🙂 Last night was my niece's last night for this visit, so we let her pick the restaurant. She wanted to go to Winslow's Tavern, even though my husband and I had just eaten there. We aim to please so off we went. Oysters to share Nephew wanted the meatball appetizer with harissa tomato sauce. and niece selected the fried polenta with prosciutto and whipped ricotta My sister, husband, and husband's brother shared the lobster croquetas For entrees, nephew chose pasta with prosciutto, figs, corn, and arugula niece had an arugula salad with grilled zucchini, grilled peaches, parmesan foam, and cashews I had a cod dish. It had two types of tomato sauce pickled fennel and basil mashed potatoes. The portion was small (which was fine with me) and the flavors were delicious. Much better than the tempura shrimp pasta I had last time! My sister and husband both got seared striped bass with pommes anna, grilled peppers, and sweet corn bisque And my husband's brother ordered a swordfish schnitzel with grilled artichokes and au poivre sauce. It was huge! We ordered a bunch of desserts to share. Housemade tiramisu gelato. Very creamy, but my favorite is still at the little gelato shop in town, Gelato Joy Lemon panna cotta Salted caramel tart with peanut butter ice cream Everyone was really happy with their dinners! That's how it can be at Winslow's Tavern. Sometimes it is mediocre, and other times it is a wonderful meal. My sister and niece drove home early this morning. My sister will be back on Saturday, so until then it is me, my husband, my nephew and my husband's brother. Not sure what the day will bring--right now it is pouring rain and thundering, so it could be a good day to just stay home and make some chowder...

Yes, they usually have specials of nice bottles for reasonable prices. Unfortunately for my husband their by the glass list is nothing special. I had to give up alcohol completely about four years ago for medical reasons, and though I adjusted quickly, I do occasionally miss sharing a nice bottle of wine with dinner. Yesterday my niece requested that we go to the Beachcomber, but their parking was full (not surprisingly on a warm summer Saturday), so we ended up walking down to the water and having dinner at the Bookstore. Menu Niece of course wanted the tuna nachos. Nephew could not have then since the chips were fried in house so he chose an order of clams casino. I did not try one but he said they were good. He had the special of linguini with clams and nduja sausage for his main sister ordered the regular linguini with clams husband had a swordfish sandwich niece had a steak sandwich and I had a bowl of mussels Only nephew wanted dessert. He got a tiramisu My niece wasn't too impressed with her sandwich, but everyone else really enjoyed their food. We missed the sunset again, but should get there tonight.

We are back in Wellfleet for the next week and a half. My husband booked this visit as a surprise for me, because what has always been my favorite house in town (from the outside, anyway) came on the rental market for the first time. He snatched it as soon as he saw it. We are literally the first people to rent it. It's an old sea captain's house that, according to the sign on the door, was built in 1820 and renovated in 2000. Here it is from the outside And here's the kitchen, where I will be making some meals later this week. That's my weekly tomato share from my CSA piled in the far corner. I guess the crop was abundant this year! My sister and niece are with us for a few days before my sister has to bring her back to NYC for college. My nephew is also here for the whole time, and my husband's brother is joining us later today. The first night it was just me and my husband. We walked into town to try Winslow's Tavern, since we have not been there yet this year. Menu, with some new things for this season We were seated at an outdoor table We ordered the striped bass belly roulade to share. The flavors were nice, but the fried oyster on top was odd and didn't go with the rest of the dish Since this was our only meal where we'd be able to order shrimp due to my nephew's allergy, we also ordered the grilled shrimp appetizer. It was pretty but nothing special, flavor wise. Husband ordered the mixed sea pasta. It was kind of flavorless And, continuing the shrimp theme, I ordered the shrimp pasta even though it sounded really weird. Tempura shrimp on pasta? And it was, indeed, weird. The pasta was good, and the flavors of the tempura were nice, but they did not work together at all. Plus the sauce made the tempura coating soggy. I ended up picking the shrimp out of the tempura batter. We shared a lemon tart for dessert. Again a mixed bag. The curd and meringue were delicious, but the crust was terrible. It was raw tasting. And the compote was incredibly bitter. We just scraped the curd off it and ate that with the meringue, leaving everything else on the plate. Winslow's is always hit or miss, and that meal was no different. The beautiful setting makes up for a lot. My sister, niece, and nephew joined us yesterday, and we headed back to Mac's Shack. Oysters Calamari stew for my nephew Razor clams (nephew requested I cook these at home later this week. He could not eat these at the restaurant as the broth had lobster stock) Spicy tuna mango martini for my niece More niece food: salmon poke bowl and gon jah mon roll Falafel burger for my nephew Tuna with soba noodles and wasabi cream sauce for me Special of lobster pesto gnocchi for my husband Lobster fettuccine for my sister Mac's doesn't really do dessert and we were all stuffed anyway.

Broiled salmon with green coconut curry spinach sauce, and lemongrass rice

Corn risotto with roasted pepper and asiago cheese chicken sausage and tomatoes

Somali spiced chicken and pepper saute over spiced rice, with flatbread. The rice and chicken recipes were from NY Times cooking.

I have not been cooking anything special the past couple of weeks, because covid has been ripping through my house. We all succumbed one day after the other one until we were all infected. Argh. Everyone's ok now though. Here's a couple of things I made on the nights I actually cooked. A NY Times recipe for chicken spiedie with buttered broccoli My nephew grilled steaks that night too, for the red meat eaters Mutter paneer and a vegetable korma I made with a huge zucchini my CSA gave me. That turned out to be a decent use for it. I did discard the seedy center Ramen noodle bowl with mushrooms, spinach and jammy eggs, a comfort meal on the day I was feeling particularly ill. Chicken shawarma

Zucchini and summer squash noodles with spiced chicken, minty yogurt, cashews, and a pineapple chutney Paneer masala with peas and spinach

Jumping back in with some recent dinners after a few weeks of vacation and too much restaurant food. Yogurt marinated grilled chicken with zucchini, an Israeli couscous salad, and a tomato-olive-cucumber salad Everything but the bagel coated tuna with rice and soy roasted mushrooms and peppers Tomato tart with lemony green beans and pistachios Charlie Bird's farro salad (minus the radishes because I didn't have any) with grilled chicken on top

The donkeys are wild. They were used as workers on the plantations before slavery was abolished, and freed after. They do well on their own, as there's lots of vegetation for them to eat. Unfortunately, tourists who do not know better sometimes feed them, which has led to issues with them congregating around the roads hoping for a handout. A few have been hit by cars in recent years. Some of them have also started to develop a disease called Equine Cushings Disease from eating junk food given to them from tourists. The disease gives them big lumpy deposits all over their bodies. It's sad to see. There's a wildlife and donkey rescue organization on the island that provides them with medical care when it's needed, but in general they are best just left alone.

Lunch on JetBlue Mint STT-BOS. Way too much food. Chilled pea soup in the back, roll and butter. Vanilla gelato with blackberry sauce for dessert in the middle. Chicken with ratatouille and cavatelli with tomato sauce in the front. I ate the ratatouille off the chicken plate (but not the chicken), the pea soup, the roll, and the gelato.

Friday was our last full day on the island for this visit. We spent the morning at the villa, packing and swimming in the pool. We went for a late lunch, returning to Miss Lucy's. It was pretty quiet. Just us and some donkeys Drinks: a virgin pina colada for my niece, and a margarita for my sister We shared a couple of appetizers. A special of coconut shrimp and an order of fried plantains Sister and husband got the crunchy fish sandwich again Niece had the West Indian fish fry plate again and I ordered the grouper reuben After lunch we went for a swim at Trunk Bay, and stayed until dusk That's it for this visit. We'll be back...

It was a power catamaran. We have done sailboats in the past too, but I prefer the power boats because they can get you to more snorkeling spots. The sailboat charters are more about sailing all day with a snorkel or maybe two if you are lucky thrown in. Wednesday was my nephew's last day with us. He was flying out early to attend a reunion. He opted for sleeping in and then spending the afternoon swimming at Cinnamon, which was fine with us since we were all pretty tired from the boat day. Dinner was at his favorite, La Tapa. Menu Drinks View from our table Charcuterie plate for my niece and nephew to share I had a salad with goat cheese--the same one I ordered last time we also ordered a mozzarella salad to share My sister ordered the mahi mahi and everyone else opted for the tuna, which was delicious as always We split a few desserts. Niece wanted the bread pudding. I dislike the saffron ice cream that comes with this, but everyone else thinks it's great. More for them, I say. Nephew wanted the chèvre cheesecake. I don't like this one either! And then we got the flan, which is my favorite (and everyone else's too, we were competing for bites) Thursday my husband and I dropped my nephew at the ferry, and then headed back to get my sister and niece to go to the beach. Sister wanted Maho Husband and I did a quick snorkel. Sister and niece passed in favor of floating. Those are their heads sticking up from the noodles in this picture 🙂 Tang Red lipped blenny turtle For dinner we went to 18/64. Menu My sister's cocktail Niece wanted the homemade ricotta with roasted beets. She let me have a bite and it was tasty The rest of us shared the conch fritters. The sauce was really good, but unfortunately the fritters were devoid of conch. Husband got the crab stuffed shrimp for his dinner. He said they were a little bland My sister and I both got the catch of the day, which was swordfish. It was really great, and the salad that came with it was outstanding. I shared with my husband since he didn't love his dish Niece opted for the fried chicken and mac and cheese. She said the mac and cheese was great. She also really liked the sauce on the chicken. Dessert menu We were not very hungry so decided to just order one. We tried the coconut cream custard. My husband and I really disliked this. However my sister and nice enjoyed it, so it got eaten.

Tuesday was our boat charter day. There's a bunch of different types of boats to pick from. I wanted to use the charter company that we did because it was owned by someone who grew up on the island, and is known for taking interested guests to out of the way snorkel locations. The captain was a great fit for our group vibe and we had a wonderful day. I'll show some scenic and under water photos from the day, along, of course, with food. We tooled up the North Shore of the island to our first snorkel spot. This is Turtle Bay, which was one of the private beaches owned by Caneel Bay before the hurricanes. There used to be excellent snorkeling along the point in this photo. The current runs really strong to the left, and we would get in at the beach on the other side, let the current pull us around the point to Turtle Bay, and then walk back. It's still prohibited to walk on the grounds of Caneel Bay, so we could only look from the boat this time. You can see some of the ruins of the resort poking up above the trees. This is Denis Bay. It's more of a locals beach because there's no signage at the trailhead. I actually haven't walked down to it for probably 20 years. Fun fact: when Melanie Griffith was a kid, she lived on this beach in an old plantation house. The home was destroyed in the hurricanes and not rebuilt. When the current owner dies, the land is being turned over to the National Park. Our first snorkel was in deep water off Congo Cay. The highlight was seeing large schools of huge tarpon. Our second stop was a place to explore large cliff walls and coral encrustations. Then we headed over to our lunch stop, Pizza Pi. This is a sailboat anchored in one of the coves. They actually cook the pizza on the boat, I have no idea how. Here's the boat The menu We jumped in and snorkeled while waiting for our food. There were lots of turtles around Pizza! Our next stop was a mangrove snorkel. I was really excited for this one because I had not done one since the storms. Its a different experience. You are in really shallow water and have to be careful not to disturb anything with your fins. It's darker on the mangrove snorkels The mangrove roots provide shelter for juvenile fish Sea cucumber Everyone was hungry, but not starving, at dinner time. We went in to town and hit up Longboard. Menu Drinks Hummus with veggies only since nephew cannot have the chips Tuna crudo. This was everyone's favorite Mahi mahi seveche Barbacoa tacos for my nephew Aloha poke bowl Sushi wrap of some kind. I did not try it.

To me it tastes similar to creole seasoning. The salsa that comes with it is fruity and spicy. Sunday we drove to the far side of the island to hit one of our favorite snorkel spots. Unfortunately, conditions were not good, so we could not get in the water. We just ended up swimming at a nearby beach. I forgot to take pictures. We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Johnny Lime. Their menu is barbecue so we thought my nephew would enjoy it. Setting Menu Drinks, a danger for my husband and a mezcalita for my nephew My sister and I got mani sandwiches on arepas. The fish was very good but the arepa was almost impossible to eat. I ended up leaving most of it behind. Those are yucca fries on the plates, which my sister, husband and I all shared. We could not finish them between the three of us! They are very filling. Husband got his mani sandwich on a brioche bun, which was a better choice and easier to eat. Nephew ordered brisket with yucca fries and mac and cheese NIece had pulled pork with mac and cheese and cornbread We ordered both desserts. The bread pudding was more like french toast than a pudding, but my niece liked it and the cinnamon roll would have been good for breakfast. I suggested that we bring it back for the next morning, but my niece just ate it. Monday we spent the day at Cinnamon Bay. I did some snorkeling but have not processed my underwater pictures yet. Nephew really wanted tacos for dinner, so we went into town and visited the Lime Inn. Setting Menu They have all of the tacos you can get on the taco boat, plus some others that are too messy to make on the boat. Drinks Seveche to share My niece had a rum rib, a corner chair pork, and the fried fish Sister had the fried fish and the tuna matata Nephew got another of the vegan tacos he had on the boat plus the fried fish and the Mr. Worldwide tuna I had one of each tuna taco on offer and husband had the fried fish and tuna

Thanks for posting that article. I often forget to read the New Yorker and might have missed it. Siobhan has always been like that. When my husband and I were first married and living in Boston, she owned a really small Italian place in the North End called Pomodoro. Many of the menu items at Sal's Place are carryovers from that menu. We used to eat there twice a month. There was always a wait, and she was always temperamental. Her food is so delicious though that it dd not matter.

Yesterday was a bit of a lazy day for us. We went to Maho Bay and just floated around. The Sahara dust is getting thicker every day. In this picture you can just barely see the outline of St. Thomas behind the boaters. It's normally clear as a bell. The islands are only a few miles apart. We did not snorkel, but the water was clear enough that we could see stuff swimming below us as we floated on our noodles (we use noodles to keep our feet elevated so we don't disturb the turtle grass). I had my camera with me to take family pictures, and at one point stuck it underwater to snap these guys floating under us For dinner we went back to Morgan's Mango for Caribbean lobster night. My husband is the only one who orders it, but he really likes to get one. We shared a couple of appetizers. Fried calamari with romanesco sauce (not the greatest we've had--it was a bit greasy and overcooked) Tuna tostones and nephew wanted the tamarind lamb lollipops since he could not have the calamari Husband had the lobster of course Sister and I got the swordfish voodoo style Nephew had the wahoo prepared voodoo style and niece got the pork tenderloin with boniato mash For dessert, we ordered tres leches cake for my nephew since he could not have the dessert that my niece wanted which was the pineapple-coconut bread pudding. In addition to his crustacean allergy, nephew cannot eat pineapple. And of course we ordered a slice of the famous key lime pie for everyone to share. We arrived home in time to watch the moonrise over the bay

Yesterday we planned to spend the day swimming and snorkeling at Cinnamon Bay. This is the widest and longest beach on St. John. The homes on the hill in the distance are Peter Bay, the most exclusive and expensive neighborhood on the island. I have never been in as it's gated and there's no access unless you are staying there. The beach is public from the water though, if you have a boat. I've never bothered stopping on our boat days, but there's supposed to be some decent snorkeling at the point. Unfortunately thunderstorms rolled in and we had to leave after only a short while. We ended up spending the afternoon at the villa, swimming in the pool (after the storms had passed through) and reading. I went down to explore the shoreline in front of the house. Dinner was at a new restaurant in town, the Hideaway. They only opened a short while ago. The restaurant space consists of two shipping containers. One has been converted to a kitchen, and the other to a bar. The tables are in an open space between the two. Here's looking inside between the two containers, bar to the left and kitchen to the right. We were the first party to arrive, but the whole restaurant was filled within 15 minutes, mostly with locals checking the new space out. Menu Drinks. Mine is the lookout mocktail in the third position. It was refreshing and not too sweet. We shared a bunch of the appetizers. Nephew is a bean hound and demanded that we choose the black bean dip It was shockingly good. NIece's choice was the avocado toast My sister, husband and I all wanted to try the fish starters. Tuna rose Seveche of the day (mahi mahi) Everything was outstanding. Nephew wanted the lamb ragu for his main course and the other four of us ordered two of the catch of the day from the large plates/sharing section. It was grouper, and it was delicious, but I could have eaten the whole thing by myself. The portions were a little small to be considered a "sharing with friends" plate We were all still a little hungry after dinner, so decided to order dessert. They had four, and we ordered one of each to try between us. Unfortunately, it was really dark by this point so the photos came out grainy. There was a local banana bread, a roasted pineapple with nutmeg ice cream, a watermelon and roasted strawberry sorbet, and a chocolate mousse with hazelnuts. They were all delicious, but the pineapple was my favorite. The restaurant has a view down to the customs and border patrol building and ferry dock. We really liked our meal here, and I would not be surprised if we make our way back before leaving.

I always like to include a few food shopping photos to show the island prices. Lemons for my ice tea in the morning 8 rolls of toilet paper After errands we headed to the beach. Today we visited Francis, my favorite Snorkeling was in order. We saw a huge turtle, but it was in quite deep water so the photos were not great. Maybe I will have a better one to share later in the trip. We did spot a moray eel The moon jellies are back! French angelfish Porgy We have a couple of fancier dinners planned the next couple of nights, so decided to go casual and just grab some stuff at the Beach Bar. Menu Sister's margarita Tuna bites for my nephew, since he cannot have most of the appetizers here Tuna down now The first conch fritters of the trip (lots of conch but a little gummy for my taste) Niece wanted the tuna poke nachos. And the chicken fingers. She always gets them here. When we ate here when she was a little kid, she was upset that they were out of chicken fingers, and the cook went across the street and got some for the restaurant over there and cooked them for her. I guess it's a fond memory. I had the mahi mahi sandwich Sister and husband had mahi mahi tacos and nephew had the beef tacos minus the chips because of his allergy The Sahara dust is very thick here right now. It made the picture I took of the view look almost like a painting. The dust is bad for asthma, and makes it hotter. However, it also cuts down on the ability of tropical storms to form. There's no dessert at Beach Bar, so we walked over to St. John Scoops for some soft serve ice cream Power went out in town just after we got our ice creams. The islands announced that we are on rotating outages for the next few days. For whatever reason, the feeder that goes to the part of the island that my house is on is not included in the rotation schedule. I know we will be paying the piper eventually, but for now, the power is on. In addition to the usual inconveniences of the power being out, here you cannot run the water at all either. So, no showers, no toilet flushing, dish washing etc. It gets pretty frustrating after a while. The residents are understandably incredibly angry because this has been going on for months.