Monday 12/2/13 - Secret Harbour, Schnitzel Haus

On Monday, Marty had to go to work early. We could hear his Harley as he left Secret Harbour at 5:20 a.m. We went back to sleep for a couple more hours and got up at 8:45. We ate some Food Center muffins for breakfast, while listening to our blues collection on random mode on the iPod.

We put on our bathing suits, and went out to the beach by 10:45. It was a beautiful sunny day and we immediately went into the water. Craig, Steve, and I swam down to the Aqua Action Dive Center and back.

At around noon we flagged down a beach waitress and ordered some lunch from the Cruzan Beach Club while still in the water. We each got frosty refreshing bushwhackers and shared an appetizer of calamari. We had dried off and were lounging in our beach chairs when the food came to us. Craig had gfelt guilty about ordering steak last night rather than local seafood. He was happy to see a mahi sandwich on the lunch menu, so he had ordered that. It was served with fries. I had a mango pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. It was delicious.

Iguanas lumbered across the sand and climbed trees to sit amongst the palms and leaves in the sun. As we were sitting in the shade of those trees, we would often look up to make sure that an iguana was not about to fall out of the tree onto our heads.

After lunch, we enjoyed the beach some more. We swam the length of the beach down to the Aqua Action Dive Center again. The weather was absolutely beautiful - sunny with no rain to be seen. I sat in my beach chair reading for a while. As the sun got low in the sky, a white cattle egret was looking for food near the jetty. He was very photogenic with his tall and skinny stork-like legs and long orange bill. We had never seen this kind of bird here at Secret Harbour. He must have been taking the day off from his day job of riding on the backs of cows.

At 5 o'clock, we headed back into the room to clean up for dinner. We watched the puffy clouds turn pink as the sun set. Marty had made a 6:30 reservation for us at the Schnitzel Haus, a small restaurant run by a German expat named Petra.

Marty was having bike trouble after work, so he would have to meet us at the restaurant. We arrived before he did. An orange cat was seated on Craig's chair, and was not happy to be dethroned so that Craig could sit down. We ordered some drinks. Craig had a Heineken and I had vodka and cranberry juice. We had been looking forward to the garlic escargot appetizer (we even passed on ordering escargot at Latitude 18, saving ourselves for the Schnitzel Haus). Unfortunately, Petra no longer offers escargot, since the market price has gotten too high.

We ordered sausage and sauerkraut as an appetizer instead, while we waited for Marty. All of a sudden, while enjoying our appetizer and drinks, Craig felt something stab into the back of his legs. The cat's teeth had punctured his skin. The cat had apparently been sitting under his chair seething, and had chosen that moment to take out its aggression on poor unsuspecting Craig. As we are cat lovers, Craig was fairly forgiving. The waitress said that it was her cat and she apologized, but we don't think she realized just how much it had injured him. Anyone who is not used to cats would probably have been traumatized by the unprovoked attack.

Marty couldn't get his bike to work, so he needed to borrow his work truck to meet us. He texted us when he was on the way. We got his order via text and ordered it for him. With perfect timing, he showed up at 7:30, just 5 minutes before the food arrived. Craig and I had each ordered the pepper schnitzel with bratkartoeffeln potatoes and red cabbage. As always, it was delicious. Petra's home cooking is amazing. Petra was apologetic that she didn't have any strudel to offer for dessert. She sold out before Thanksgiving and hadn't had a chance to make more. We will need to remember to call and reserve a strudel next time!

After a delicious meal, we headed back to the room and watched some Monday Night Football. The Seahawks absolutely steamrolled the Saints. Marty had to leave at 3 a.m. for work, and we would be flying out in the afternoon, so we said our goodbyes before we went to bed. It is always difficult to say goodbye for another year. After savoring our last night of vacation, we went to bed at around 1 a.m.
Craig swimming at Secret Harbour

Craig swimming at Secret Harbour

Secret Harbour reflected in Craig's sunglasses

Secret Harbour reflected in Craig's sunglasses

Egret at Secret Harbour

Egret at Secret Harbour

Schnitzel Haus: Marty, Steve, Steph, Craig, Mom

Schnitzel Haus: Marty, Steve, Steph, Craig, Mom

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