CANE GARDEN BAY

Today dawned sunny and clear and I am so happy to see that sunshine again.

After breakfast of scrambled eggs with a pastry basket (yummy biscuit, and a muffin & banana bread which I am too full to eat so save for tomorrow's breakfast) I pack my beach bag and hop in the Sidekick to head over the hill to Cane Garden Bay.

Now, when I was here two years ago, I drove this road at least 20 times. The house I rented was on Windy Hill - the hill between Sebastian's and CGB. Long Bay Resort - where Ashleigh was married, is just past Sebastian's. So there were many, many trips between the two points in the course of the week. But that was two years ago. And although I recall the road with pretty perfect clarity, my recall of the actual steepness of the hill and sharpness of the curves has softened with time.

Oh. My. Dear. Lord.

I didn't take a video of the road up the hill, that would be lunacy - trying to hold the camera and negotiate those hair pin curves - but here's a video someone else took.

And, as an aside, here is a video someone took of the hill I drive to get from from the north side of the island (Sebastian's) to the south (Road Town). And let me tell you, these video's do not do the incline or tight curves justice. At. All.

I did take a video of the road down from Windy Hill to CGB but my card filled up half way through so I didn't get all of it. I will on another trip and post it.

I arrive in CGB without incident, other than a racing heart, and parked behind Myette's. I walk down to the waters edge for a look. The beach here is really nice with soft sand which goes all the way into the water with no rocks or coral underfoot. The water is clear and warm, and there's lots of bars and restaurants. When a cruise ship or two is in town, this is the beach the excursions take everyone to so I am glad to see that there aren't any ships in town today because the beach is almost deserted.

Last time I was here I was with Shonah and Amy, and we went into the little gift store that Mayette owns but never went into the bar/restaurant. I have seen many pictures and videos of it online since, and can't wait to see it for myself so I head in there. I am no sooner up the few steps off the sand than a man welcomes me into the place and asks me to sit at a table with him. His name is Julian and he captains a small motor boat and takes visitors back and forth to other islands for day trips. He is very friendly, too friendly after a short period of time, and starts making unwelcome overtures to me. Soon a friend of his - a tall, super skinny Rasta with the requisite knit cap hiding his dreads - joins us and he is very 'friendly' also. I don't understand how most Caribbean men seem to think they are God's gift to women and there's nothing more a white woman would want to do than jump into bed with one of them. And, so far, the guys who have behaved like this aren't anything at all to look at. There's a gorgeous young fellow behind the bar named Stephen and he is polite and friendly, but not forward like these older and decidedly un-handsome, un-couth men. Now if he were to show interest.... but of course why would he - to an old broad like me? It's all rather backwards and sad, really!

View of the beach from Myette's.

Julian.

In the course of 4 or 5 hours at CGB, I meet two couples from the states who are really nice. And I meet another woman, Jo, who is there alone; her husband left yesterday and she is here until June visiting her daughter who lives here. I have made it clear to Julian, who also told me he's been married for two years to an American who lives in Philadelphia, that he has absolutely zero chance of getting lucky with me (as he put it) and so now he has moved onto Jo. She makes the same thing clear to him after a while, and then the Rasta starts in on her. He had tried earlier on the beach, and now he's trying again. She tells him that she is trying to be nice about it but he is being too forward and she doesn't appreciate it. He finally gives up and leaves her alone. She tells me that she really likes this beach but she doesn't want to come back if this keeps up. But her daughter drops her off on the way to work and so she's kind of stuck. I offer to have her dropped off at Sebastian's and we will go together to Long Bay Resort and hang out at their beach and pool as this unwelcome attention won't be an issue there. She is thrilled and gladly accepts. When her daughter arrives to pick her up it is all arranged for Friday. I can't do it tomorrow as I am supposed to be meeting Captain Fishy and his son and we are all going to Jost Van Dyke together.

While I am lounging on the beach, I can smell bar-b-que and it's an incredibly mouth-watering aroma. I wish I knew where it's coming from and what it is. A bit later I decide to order the appetizer size of ribs at Myette's and BINGO! that is the aroma that was wafting down the beach. That never happens to me; where you smell something great being prepared in a restaurant and then manage to order that very thing. They were absolutely delicious, and very tender - which is the most important thing when it comes to ribs.

I stop in the gift shop on my way out and find a great design on a t-shirt that is so appropriate for me and this trip. I don't wear the typical t-shirt as I can't stand the neckline but I buy one to cut out the design and sew it onto a t-shirt I will buy that I prefer.

I mean, how perfect is this???

I also buy a bag of caramel popcorn because I had been craving just that very thing a few days ago. Later in the evening, when I sit at an outdoor table at Sebastian's and peruse the net while carefully (the teeth aren't perfect yet) chewing on one piece at a time, the moist air turns all of the rest soggy in the bag. Lesson learned: don't buy popcorn in the Caribbean.

While I am sitting at that table, one of the staff come to tell me there's a phone call for me at the desk. It's Captain Fishy and he's sorry to tell me that the trip to Jost Van Dyke is off as he is embroiled in some tax issues in Road Town that will take a few days to sort out (he had delighted in telling me he hadn't paid any taxes here for seven years as he has friends in high places in the tax office. But it seems the staff have all changed and it's caught up with him).

I am disappointed as I was really looking forward to going there with him as he knows so many people and had arranged for Foxy's son to pick us up at the ferry terminal. Oh well, I will go by myself another day.