This morning we were up at 7am again. I took Cohen down to the Yacht Club to see about getting him out of Sailing School. I'm really bummed he didn't like it but at least he tried. If we were at home, we'd make him stick with it, but because we're on vacation we're cutting him some slack. He had gone there to sign up for Fun Camp which is beach time, snorkeling, games, etc but that wasn't until the end of the month so he decided to try Sailing School. We've transferred him to Fun Camp the last week of this month.
Yesterday I'd gone into Sun Seekers and noticed a large quantity of cute bikinis. Hayley and I decided that while we were down at the marina, we'd peek in there. We had 45 minutes to kill so we walked around to check things out. There was a restaurant, a gelato/espresso place, a liquor store and a book store open. I tried a mocha, but it was made with hot chocolate mix. Not like home.
Hayley and I each found a new bikini at Sun Seekers. After, we headed home to have lunch. It was about 2pm before we finally headed out today. It was cloudy and we'd had some rain off and on so we decided it was the perfect day to visit Betty's Hope Sugar Plantation. It was the pioneer sugar plantation on antiuga and was founded in 1650. They had upward of 300 slaves running it back in the day. They processed sugarcane into sugar and also had a rum distillary. Sadly, even after the slaves were emancipated, they stuck around because it was the only livelihood they knew. Their conditions, apparently, never improved.
The ruins are really neat to look at. One of the mills was open and had the machinery and windmill in place. The place was completely empty except for a crew from U of CA Chico who were excavating the Great House. It was pretty cool. They had just uncovered a red tile floor that would have been in the doorway of the great house. They talked to us a bit about what they'd found. It was really cool.
We decided our next stop would be a beach. Even on a cloudy day its hot. We headed back to Half Moon Bay, but with the wind and stormy-ish weather today, the surf was a bit much for the kids. Ok, fine, and me too. We decided we'd go check out Mamora Bay at St. James Club...which was our other option for housing during our stay. It was after lots and lots of deliberation we chose the Gorgonia. We knew that St. James Club was 90% Britts, 5% Americans and 5% other. We didn't really want our month long experience to be around white people and in a resort. That didn't feel like a real experience of living here. Boy were we totally vindicated! The beach was pretty...white sand, but it was filled with cigarrette butts. The view from the beach was scrubby hills across the way. The swimming area was small and the water had a lot of rocks and sea grass in it. The entire beach was right in front of some beachfront villas so it felt like you were in someones front yard. Liem kept referring to it as Zombie Beach. There was no music playing, no one in the water and the few people that were out were just lying on lounge chairs like the dead. We saw the villas we'd of been staying in. There would have been no privacy at all. We are so very happy with our choice up here on the hill! Its just our house and the one next door that is an exact replica. The neighbors live abroad and are not here this month. We didn't stay long at St. James Club.
Heading back home, we all took a swim and then I started dinner. Burgers, oven fries, and bananas. We tried to go to the Sea Breeze tonight (the gelato place) but it was closed. It's off season so things aren't open everyday or full hours in the harbor. We'll go tomorrow afternoon or something. TV time now and then bed. I sleep sooo well here. Guess its all the sun and swimming!
