We woke up bright and early, and as we drank our first cup of coffee, we decided to head out and try out Donkey Diner for breakfast, after all, it’s Wednesday, and we know they’re open! Matthew ordered blueberry pancakes, which he wouldn’t eat, and Jeff and I split an order of stuffed French toast with a pineapple and mango chutney. YUM. Maddie had plain French toast, which she enjoyed. Luckily Matthew had had a bowl of cereal before we left the house.
From Donkey Diner, we drove up North Shore Road to the start of Lind Point Trail. We’ve read that this a great hike, and it lived up to our expectations. The trail winds through the tropical forest and drops into two beaches, Saloman Beach and Honeymoon Beach. We had thought we might cool off at those spots, but we decided against getting our feet sandy and having to put our tennis shoes back on. We hiked into Caneel Bay (a VERY nice resort, founded by a Rockefeller in the 50’s I think) and walked around a bit. The grounds were beautiful, and they even have their own ruins from an old sugar factory and plantation. They built a restaurant on top of one part – it looked amazing and had incredible views. Jeff read the menu and saw “coconut crème brulee”… his mouth started watering immediately.
One of the highlights of the day was the HUGE iguana we saw sunning himself on the roof of a villa in Caneel Bay. The one we had seen earlier in the week was green and small (Matthew said they are green when they are young), but this one was grayish and much bigger. Quite intimidating!
After we hiked out of Lind Point Trail, we drove to an unmarked beach someone at Wesleyan told Jeff about. You have to hike down an old driveway, and Jeff nearly wiped out on a slippery spot on the way down. I still don’t know how he managed to stay standing. He was carrying snorkeling gear and beach chairs – the chairs went flying and his feet went out from under him, but he recovered! So typical… I would’ve been flat for sure. We got down to the beach, and it was wonderful! We snorkeled and played and had our fill. Jeff even shimmied up a palm tree and picked a few coconuts! For most of the time we were there, it was just us and a few other families. Then suddenly we were invaded by a group of kids that seemed to be from a local day camp. They were literally climbing down around us and jumping off the trees beside us; SO, we packed up and called it a day.
From there we headed into town (Cruz Bay) for an early dinner at Margarita Phil’s. They have these INCREDIBLE crab and shrimp enchiladas that Jeff and I like to share. Matthew likes their wings, and Maddie likes their cheese quesadilla. They have really good food! From there, we did a tiny bit of shopping, and Matthew got some dessert (a bag of locally made candy), and then Maddie and I picked out some ice cream at Lily’s Market on the way home (this has become an almost nightly habit for all of us. Jeff turned us on to crème brulee icecream – YUM!)
Since we got home earlier today, we swam in the pool for a while. Then we showered, played UNO and then watched a movie. We’ve been taking turns choosing, so tonight Jeff and I chose ‘National Treasure 2’. They both really liked it. Matthew commented later: “It’s strange that Abby and Ben were living in the same house but they weren’t married.” We explained briefly that he’s right, that that isn’t God’s best for us OR His plan. Perceptive little thing! Then they asked, “So why do they put it in the movie?” Hmmmm……
After the ice cream and the movie we were all full and sleepy… time to get some sleep before our LAST full day on St. John.
