DAY TWO: Saturday, 9
May 2010
Answering
the call of nature at 6.15 (this is Eastern time zone, by the way), Dave
decided to get up. Topping off the rum
punch with ice from the freezer (to keep it cold now), Dave was at the beach by
about 6.25. Dave plopped himself down on
the beach as close as he could get to the water, but still sitting on dry sand. Dave sat facing east, so he was looking back
towards RWI, and the water was at his back.
The sky was light, but Dave could see the actual sun hadn’t come up
yet. The chairs for the resort hadn’t
even been put out yet because it was so early.
Less than a handful of beach
combers were out, and one inquired if Dave’s rum punch was a continuation of
the previous night. While technically it
was, Dave pointed out this was the beginning of his new age, and felt this was
an appropriate celebration. The beach
comber wished him a happy birthday, and continued her trek up the island.
Once the sun was visible, Dave
stood to bask in its glory and made a wish for a good coming year. The rum punch was half-gone by then. The sun felt warm on his face, and the only
sound Dave could hear was the crash of the waves behind him.
With the sun fully visible, Dave
turned to sit facing the ocean. He laid
on the beach at one point, but stayed sitting mostly. Since Dave had come down so early, he had not
brought his sandals with him. The soft
white sand was squeezed between his toes.
By the time the rum punch was empty
(as Dave nursed it through the sun rise), the chairs and umbrellas of the resort
were being set up. Dave was sure the
resort staff thought nothing of him sitting on the beach, as it was just
another crazy tourist.
Soon, there were a few other early
risers who came down for a morning swim.
Dave considered a swim, but had not worn his swimsuit down, so he
abandoned that idea. The beach comber
who Dave had spoken to earlier had come back down with her husband, and they
wished Dave a happy birthday. They went
for a swim, but didn’t stay on the beach long, thanks to a wardrobe
malfunction.
Dave then got up, and started
wandering the beach for shells or coral pieces.
Lee came down not long afterwards, and started soaking up rays. After a quick nibble of blueberry muffins on
the beach with a Royalty Ginger Beer, Dave swam, relaxed, walked the beach
again, and swam again. Lee relaxed on
the beach catching rays, reading, and listening to Bill Maher on her Ipod. This was the beach-bum schedule Dave &
Lee had been looking forward to. The
first beach walk Dave took was down past Club Med and back. The second was only to be to “mystery pier”
in the other direction Dave & Lee had walked to the night before. (The “mystery pier” was between the Regent
Grand and the Villa Renaissance, and was probably just a public beach
access.) Dave ended up further to the
point (by Point Grace), and then even further along past Hemingway’s, and then
he came back to RWI.
The first walk was a mile
round-trip, and the second was just under two miles. Dave was determined to get as many
steps/miles in as possible. When Dave
was in the water, he spent most of the time walking along with occasional swimming. Obviously, Dave couldn’t wear the pedometer
then (as it wasn’t waterproof), so Dave could only count the miles actually
recorded on the device. Dave
guesstimates there was probably another mile gained from the “water walking.”
Dave & Lee left the beach
around noon. Dave realized (or recalled,
however you want to term it) that while the sand stayed cool all day, the
wooden walkway to the beach, and the brick path that lead back to RWI did
not. Lee was amused watching walk very
fast on the path to get back to the room, as not to burn the bottoms of his
feet. Dave would then remember to bring
his sandals with him on later visits.
Once they were cleaned up, Dave
& Lee headed out for a late & light lunch. We ended up at Danny Buoy’s, TCI’s Irish
pub. Dave & Lee had eaten there the
previous time, so it was nice to revisit it again. Like any sports bar, there were a couple
flat screen TVs, but what was more interesting was the banners for various
football (ie, “soccer”) teams scattered all over the place. Arsenal had the favored spot over the bar, so
Dave knew who the “home team” was. There
were also flags of various European and South American countries with major
soccer teams (Brazil , Wales ,
et al). What was interesting was the Texas flag over the
door. One of those things we laughed
about, but didn’t take a picture of.
The bartender, Mark, let us know
they could still do breakfast, so Lee had pancakes, and Dave a breakfast
burrito. Dave also had a Turk’s Head
Amber beer with it (the local brew of the island). Dave figured it would be nice to have a beer
with lunch on his birthday. It was like
a Killian’s Red, just a little more bitter.
Mark had mentioned a place called
the Veranda that had Indian food Sunday nights, but he hadn’t tried it yet to
see how good it was. Dave & Lee’s
plan was to go there for dinner, and then let Mark know how good it was. Mark made a suggestion about a nice place to
visit that he’d been taken to, and scrawled a map on the back of a piece of
paper. It sounded like a good place to
visit, which Dave & Lee would attempt later.
After lunch, Dave & Lee
wandered around the Saltmills a bit, but being it was Sunday and all the shops
were closed, we just came back to the room to hang out. Later when it would be closer to the time we
would want dinner, we weren’t that hungry because of the big lunch, so we
passed on the Veranda.
Back down at the beach with rum
punches in hand, we watched another beautiful sun set. This time we remembered to bring the camera
with us to capture it. When the sun was
gone, and twilight upon us, we departed the beach (to allow the employees to
pick up the last of the chairs).
Although we went to bed at a
reasonable time, Dave had difficulty sleeping.
After sitting on the outdoor patio for a short time listening to breeze,
then trying to read a few pages, Dave then found CBC was showing the 1989
Stanley Cup game. Dave watched the first
two periods, and visiting Calgary was leading Montreal 2-1 towards the
end of the second. Finally, at 3am Dave
was able to sleep.
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