Back To Reality

Well, not quite yet....one more set of pictures. I always enjoy seeing how the other half lives...

Our hosts were nice enough to drive us around to just a few of the five star resorts on the island. Above the infinity pool at The Four Seasons

The dome of the Cuisinart Golf Resort made me think I was on Santorini

The pretty blue was again used in their outdoor restaurant.

Of course if you didn't want the breeze blowing through your hair, you could always dine inside.

Next door was The Reef Hotel which also is owned by Cuisinart.

The pool at The Ocean Breeze Hotel was huge

although the pool at The Malliouhana was my favorite.

The Lobby of the opulent new Quintessince Hotel (a Relais and Chateaux property) was quite beautiful. 

while the  Zemi Beach House poolside looked quite relaxing

and I wanted to take this swing home with me.

These places(which hopefully I didn't confuse their names) were all beautiful, but so were our accommodations with our friends. Many people arrive at these resorts and just stay put. Our hosts put a lot of thought into our visit and made sure we saw and experienced the entire island.
Thank you Donna and Ed for a wonderful time.

Join me next time and I promise I will be back in Texas!

The Music

It seems a lot of the restaurants, especially those on the beach in Anguilla had some sort of entertainment at night. The second night on the island we went to dinner at the popular Italian restaurant Dolce Vita. It also happened to be Valentines, so I am pleased that our hosts had made reservations,

and did we ever have a good time. Sitting just inches from the beach where an assortment of luxury yachts were anchored, we dined on delicious lasagna, and sang along with this great entertainer!

The most famous entertainer of all on Anguilla is the Reggae singer Bankie Banx. Bankie rose to fame in the 70's and 80's and made several hit records. He toured Europe, spent a lot of time in NYC.and has his own restaurant and bar on the beach. His sound is described as a cross between Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. If you are interested in reading more about Bankie. Go HERE

 Why am I telling you about Bankie? Well, we did hear his son Omar and his talented band preform beach side on Sunday afternoon. Bankie has several children but Omar is the one following in his Dad's footsteps.

Just had to share this.While listening to Omar we had lunch at this beach side grill. I was studying the menu and about to order a chicken sandwich, when this guy walked through! Fun times!

Straw Hat

I thought this was an interesting shot. It appears that I have made a collage of two photos. ....but not so. We were having lunch at a beach side restaurant named appropriately Straw Hat, and I thought the light fixtures were cute. If I focused my camera on the fixture it blurred out the view of the water in the background....which was too pretty to lose!

Anguilla part four

It has been wet and cold since we have returned home, so I am going to continue posting from our vacation on sunny Anguilla last week!

The climate in Anguilla is a bit arid, but like any place it is amazing what happens when you add a bit of water.

I sure did enjoy the blooming flowers

I use to grow pretty Hibiscus when I lived in Houston, this one seems to be  happy on Anguilla.

This splash of red sure did stand out against this white wall,

as did the purple.

These were new to me. They are called sea grapes. Someone told me to eat one of the ripe ones. So I did! The seed inside is very large so there is not a lot of pulp. What was there was very tart!

Nothing flowering here, but this was one of my favorite scenes. This arch is at one far end of the island. 

Another favorite thing was watching the beautiful sunsets.....

Anguilla part three

One thing I noticed in Anguilla was how polite and friendly the locals were. I spotted this pretty lady down the beach where, come to find out, they were photographing an advertisement. I walked down hoping to get a picture, but by the time I got there, they were packing up. She smiled at me and said "hello". I told her I was hoping to get a picture. She said" no problem" and put the basket of fruit back on her head.

There were several gift and souvenir shops around the island. We visited this brightly colored one.

This restored little house is typical of the historic homes of the locals.

You will see folks everywhere playing dominoes, actually you hear the slamming of the tiles as you drive down the road.. There was a competition going on here. Notice they can see what has been played, but they can't see their opponents.

We visited an art gallery where there were several paintings of the the locals playing dominoes.

A tour of the local museum  explained a lot about the history of this self governing oversea territory of Great Britain.

The front of the catholic church

and inside

There is no shortage of gourmet restaurants with amazing chefs, but

one night we stopped on the strip. A street with food stands where  locals are selling their specialties.. Meet Ken.  We picked up some of his delicious ribs and barbecued chicken.

We not only enjoyed the abundant white sandy beaches, but we sure ate our share of the delicious food.

Hello From Texas

No, these are not pictures of Texas, but to let you know that we have returned from our wonderful island adventure.

As some of you know, we have been visiting friends of the eastern Caribbean island of Anguilla.

We met our friends in the small mountain town of Colorado, where we spend our summers. Donna and Ed who actually live in Tennessee, have been going to Anguilla for two months in the winter for over twenty years now. Above shows their two balconies overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

This rather hazy early morning view (that we never tired of) shows how close they are to the north shore of St. Martin.

 Anguilla does have a small airport, but we arrived by plane in St. Martin and took the public ferry for  a bit of a wild ride (depending on how large the waves are) arriving in less than 30 min. at a place called Blowing Point.

Four of our relaxing days there were spent on the beach. The shore out in front of their condo is all coral, so they took us to just a few of the thirty three amazing beaches on the island.

There is no charge for the comfortable lounge chairs with umbrellas, but you are ask to have lunch in their casual beach side restaurant

which we were more than happy to do.

Not only did we enjoy the blue water, white sands and gentle breezes, but gazing at the enormous yachts. Our friend Ed has an app on his phone where you can tell where the ship is registered, where is sailed from and it's specs. This one was flying a flag from Malta.

I will post more pictures of our trip and explain a little about this hidden gem of an island later in the week.

The Beach

Hello from Anguilla in the eastern Caribbean. I had every intention of blogging while here but my iPad is not cooperating and will only let me post two pictures.So this is just a sample of the place that has the prettiest beaches I have ever seen

I will save the best for when I return....

The Cookie Caper

A friend called this week to say she had a guest in town and would I go to a nearby museum with them? I have been to this museum so many times, that I have almost memorized the permanent collection, but I am always pleased to be included in a day out and of course I said yes.

Betty and her friend seemed to be really enjoying themselves, and I was able to tell them about the works of art without  them having to even read the plaques.

We also enjoyed a very nice lunch at the museum. On the way to take me home, we passed a little bakery where they make cookie bouquets. The idea is that instead of sending someone flowers, you send them an arrangement of fresh baked cookies.

Betty's friend Helen was eager to stop and have a look inside. They had several sample bouquets made up for all types of occasions.

I especially liked the one for a baby shower.

The shop was quite busy as we are nearing Valentines Day.

As you can see in this display lit by the glare of the sun. Hearts were bursting out all over!

But, these gals were really interested and wanted to know if we could stroll back into the kitchen. I was very surprised when you owner said yes! That is Sue who does all of the baking.

She has several mixers including this huge one,

and more than just a few cookie cutters!

The secret to delicious cookies and scrumptious icing is course the heavy use of butter!

The real magic however is preformed by Raul, who was hard at work doing all of the decorating.

It was a very nice day but I must say I may have enjoyed the cookie caper over the museum!

I hope you have a Sweet Valentines Day!

Next post...you may very likely find my toes in the sand!