As promised, we were up before dawn this morning, to go watch the sunrise at Long Bay Beach. (I had scouted out another potential location, last night, but it turned out to be unsuitable.)
We left the house at 5:45 AM, drove about 10 minutes southeast, and walked a short trail to the beach. Lauren declined to join us. It was already twilight when we got there.
There were some lounge chairs, reserved for guests of the resort near where we parked, but we figured nobody would mind at 6 AM.
The water was strangely calm, at that hour.
Last time we were here, the wind was ridiculous, and the beach was full of kiteboarders.
As the sun rose, around 6:25 AM, a lone pelican flew by. Also, a few people were out jogging on the beach already.
After about 40 minutes at the beach, we followed the path back to the small parking lot (which is paved, unlike last time we were here), and drove home via the scenic route, along the coast for a bit.
Back at the house, we cooked up a large breakfast and ate on the veranda, as was now a habit.
I think we were done eating by 9 AM, which meant we had ample time for a nap before we had to go out again, to get COVID tests.
Our testing appointments were at 10:30, and we didn't have to wait very long, despite the clinic being rather busy. They were on a modified (shortened) schedule for the holiday weekend, which certainly didn't help.
While we waited for our rapid test results, we wandered up the street and browsed around a souvenir shop. I briefly considered getting a new, wide-brimmed hat, but I couldn't find one that was anywhere near the quality of my lost Tilley.
After getting all of our (negative) test results back, we celebrated by going to the beach.
Similar to yesterday, we found a public parking area near a beach bar/restaurant, by the Flamingo Cafe AKA Ricky's On The Beach.
It was just after 11:30 AM when we arrived, and the beach in this area was mostly empty.
Happily, there was a woman offering chairs and umbrellas for rent, so I negotiated a sweet deal (by which I mean I pointed at two chairs next to an umbrella, inquired about the price, and paid what she was asking).
We spent a solid 4.5 hours there today, watching tour boats come and go (some discharging/loading passengers directly on the beach), swimming, sunning, reading, napping, etc.
Ricky's/Flamingo was out of piña colada mix, but they had guava daiquiris and coladas, which I hadn't seen elsewhere.
By far, the most appealing tour boat was the floating tiki bar. Its seaworthiness, however, was an open question. If you zoom in, you might be able to see the nylon ratchet straps holding the extra pontoons onto the sides.
Some time after 4, as the sun began to set once again, we packed up and returned to the house for more wildberry/pomegranate daiquiris.
We hadn't really eaten lunch, which was fine because we had a 6:30 dinner reservation at
Baci. (After dinner on Christmas Eve, when we were walking along the boardwalk around Turtle Cove marina, we sort of stumbled upon this restaurant. A drunk man from New Jersey assured us it was excellent, and persuaded us to make the reservation for tonight. It's sort of a long story.)
The food was excellent. There were a few cats wandering around the restaurant, which was essentially outside, but under a roof.
Tomorrow, we'll pack up and check out of the Airbnb, then wander around the island for most of the day before heading to the airport in the afternoon.
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