Finally - sun!

We woke up to a clear tropical dawn with few clouds. I immediately dragged Kenny out of bed to go golfing. Since the island is experiencing unusual amount of rain, I wasn't going to waste any sunny mornings in bed - plenty of time to hibernate when we go back to freezing Ottawa for another 3 months of winter. Shervy was waiting for us and we teed off right away. The course was wet from the previous day's rain but we didn't mind. We followed in Shervy's steps to avoid the puddles on the fairway. It was a great 9-hole game except this time Kenny lost. Usually Kenny refuses to walk the course. He always preferred the cart. However, the interesting and beautiful landscape on this golf course had a subtle effect on him. He didn't mind walking, even though some of the slopes are very steep and I began to see stars after climbing one of them. It was a fun game.

We knew Toscanini's closed at 10 am so if we took the 10 am shuttle we would miss breakfast at the Grande. We inquired at the pro shop and found out there was an Italian restaurant called Armando's that serves breakfast a la carte until 11 am. So after the game we took the mini-shuttle to Armando's. And what a find! Armando's sits high on a bluff, with an open view of the Atlantic ocean below. At this height, the sea looked waveless and vast. To the left there is a cliff jutting out and we watched the sea crashing into a million pieces on the sharp edges of the black rock. The breath-taking view was complemented by great food. I had the Toscanini Grill with a nice thick slice of ham, bacon, sausages, eggs and baked beans. Kenny enjoyed his Toscan sunrise which is a form of eggs Benedict. We gazed out to sailboats gliding on the horizon in the azure sea as we enjoyed our breakfast leisurely.

Armando's - best seats

We finished just in time to catch the 12 pm shuttle back to the Grande. We headed straight to the sea to wash off the mud splatter on our legs. The warm salty water felt amazing on our slightly sun burnt skin. We swam to our heart's content and relaxed in the round float for a long time. Afterwards Kenny was so tired he swore that if he didn't lie down he would just die. But when I told him I was going to take a lesson from the black pro at the resort (since Kenny was too tired to play tennis with me), he sprung out of bed and said he would go play. There are two tennis courts at the Grande, close to the entrance of the property. The courts are clay and in excellent condition. They re also well lit at night for 24 hour access. The pro was playing with a good player in one of the courts and we snickered to ourselves when we thought about their disgust at our horrible skills. In fact it only took us about 20 minutes to warm up, after which we ere able to keep up a decent rally. We played a set and Kenny beat me 5 to 1. I didn't mind losing. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and towards the end, our match was actually getting quite intense. We were both drenched in perspiration - nothing a good steam bath wouldn't fix. We took a long shower and freshened up for the night. By now both of us were so fatigued we could hardly walk down the stairs!

We took the shuttle to the Halcyon to dine at the Pier restaurant. It is one of the highly acclaimed restaurants on the island of St Lucia. It is so named because the restaurant is located at the end of a pier extending into the sea. From the inside, it is a spacious hall with high ceilings and windows all around. Tables for two are romantically placed beside the windows with a view of the sea or the beach. The center of the restaurant is a raised platform with many tables and large armchairs. We asked to be seated on the platform and immediately sank our tired bodies into the softness of the cozy chairs with a sigh of content . The Pier serves Caribbean food. We had something called "seafood chwayze" for appetizer. It is a delicious mix of cooked or limed seafood: shrimps, scallops, calamari and mussels, served over a crunchy seaweed salad with a delightful citrus dressing in a martini glass. Kenny was not adventurous enough to try anything else but ordered exactly what I had. For the first time we tasted conch, in the form of chowder. The conch has the texture of calamari but with a stronger flavor and darker color. Kenny used to joke when I order calamari that I would be eating eraser. I guess you can call conch tastier erasers. I read that conch has the same nutritional value as abalone but only cost a fraction of the price. It is not a commonly found item in Ottawa but I have seen them in the new Chinese supermarket T&T. For our main course, we both had red snapper in Creole sauce. Desserts are served buffet style - not as fancy as a la carte desserts but not bad. One of the unique attractions of the Pier is the experience of the ocean. Since it was built on top of a pier, one can hear clearly the strong waves crashing into shore underneath the building. It makes a huge muffled thump, which at its loudest is accompanied by a distinct sensation of vibration in the building. Another romantic evening.

Seafood Chwayze