Tourist for an Afternoon

Mark and I tried to leave Prickly Bay to go to Carriacou, a few days ago. On day 1 we encountered some problems with our depth sounder and the engine, preventing us to leave.  On day 2 the wind dropped and it was impossible to sail north. We decided to leave the busy south coast of Grenada anyway and had a very slow but pleasant sail “around the corner” to the island’s west side.  For a while, we were doing 5 knots over water, feeling the movement of the boat and the rush of the waves, but our actual progress was a little over 1 knot! More than 3 knots of current against us, but we didn’t care. We were not in a hurry, we enjoyed being back on the water again (it had been almost two months since we last sailed “for real”) and we had just decided to stop at Morne Rouge, one of our favorites.

On the way to Morne Rouge Bay, we passed a pretty stretch of yellow sand called Magazine Beach. This is the location of one of Grenada’s fanciest restaurants and we actually hoped to spoil ourselves here one night, before heading west. It’s just hard to get here without your own car. Seeing the groove of palm trees, the deserted strand bordering clear water and realizing that our destination was not too far away, a plan formed for the next day… Wouldn’t it be nice to take the dinghy for a little ride and spend the afternoon in this pretty looking area?

The following morning, we caught up on some work, had lunch on Irie and … headed for the beach after packing our bag and snorkel gear. I had anticipated a half day trip; quite the expedition. I was excited at the prospect of spending an afternoon at the beach and having dinner at a renowned restaurant, two things (especially the last one) we rarely do. Yes, we do live on a boat and are often anchored in front of a nice beach, but we find the cockpit a more comfortable place to hang out. We memorized the route in our heads for the nocturnal return trip and pulled our dinghy ashore in front of the Rex Resort. The afternoon was spent in the shade of some palm trees in the company of countless (biting) insects. We read our books and snorkeled around a beautiful area of massive boulders.

Around 5:30pm we moved into The Aquarium, our restaurant of choice for a decent and unprecedented treat. I ordered a pina colada (quite a tasty change from rum & coke), but Mark stuck to beer. When dinner time arrived we moved inside and scrutinized the menu for a long while. There were so many delicious choices… Since this was a very unique occasion, we let our fantasy and budget go wild. Glass of wine and a Stag, please! After a shared appetizer of bruschetta and fresh seafood soup with homemade bread and garlic butter, we went for the glazed pork wrapped in bacon (with goat cheese, mashed potatoes and gingered carrots) and the Aquarium seafood platter containing scallops, shrimp, mahi mahi and lobster (with sides of seasoned rice and steamed vegetables). The camera stayed hidden to not interrupt this scrumptious moment. Our eyes were bigger than our mouths and reluctantly we had to admit defeat and take leftovers home. Dessert? No, thanks! We were literally exploding and out of money. A leisurely beach walk under the stars got the digestive process started and brought us back to our personal water craft home. Ah, to be(have) like a tourist!

The Aquarium Restaurant

Magazine Beach

  
Snorkeling in "the aquarium"