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We woke up at 9 am and had a leisurely breakfast of coffee and cereal. Other than meeting up with Marty tonight, there was nothing on the agenda for today. It would be another low-key day of enjoying the hotel and the beach. At around 11:30 we headed outside. We staked out some chairs and went swimming, Craig and Steve with cans of Heineken in hand. The water was once again beautiful and warm, and we enjoyed floating around. After a while I got out and sat on my beach chair reading my book by Anthony Bourdain. An iguana slithered across the beach. It stopped near a vacant beach chair, and I headed over to take come close-up pictures of it.
When Craig and Steve got out of the water, we decided that it was lunch time. Craig and I walked down to the beach to the Blue Moon Cafe and got us each pineapple johnnycake pulled pork sandwiches to go. We brought them back to our beach chairs and ate them there. They were basically the same meal I had had several nights before, but the johnnycake was sliced in half, with pineapple and pulled pork inside. It really hit the spot. Craig had cajun fries with his and I had pasta salad. We went back into the water. We lounged around, and I swam out to the dock and back. There was one girl in a Corona bikini and Corona sarong, carrying a Corona towel and (shock!) a sixpack of Corona. We joked that she was a plant, that her job was like that of DuffMan on the Simpsons. When we got out of the water we found that they were sitting near our chairs. They had a radio and were playing ELO and Bon Jovi while one of the guys smoked a big cigar. Kill me now. They kept turning the volume up, and we retreated to our room, praying that we couldn't hear them from there. We sat on the balcony, but we could still hear their music, so we closed the doors and went inside, listening to our own blues in the privacy of the hotel room. Later on we took a walk down the beach to return our snorkel equipment. It was the first time we had rented equipment for the duration of our stay (rather than on an ad hoc basis) and we hadn't used it once. Oh well, that's the cost of doing business. We had it if we had needed it. There was a small plot of land next to the dive shop which had a For Sale sign on it. We joked that we would buy the land and put up a tent and live on Secret Harbour Beach. We walked back to the room and watched the sunset; the cloud formations were really interesting this evening. They were very tall, like thunderheads. The sky was lavender, gold, and orange. We waited for Marty to show up after work. He arrived at 6:20. He wanted to take us to one of his favorite restaurants: the Schnitzel Haus. For the past 6 years we have been passing the building but we never knew if it was still an active restaurant, or what. It is very unassuming from the front. Every time we drove somewhere on the trip, Marty always called shotgun for the right to sit in the front seat, and I ended up sitting in the back. I beat him to it this time, and though he was disappointed, he was rather impressed. While driving to the Schnitzel Haus, we remarked that (as usual) for some reason cars in St Thomas seem to have unusually bright headlights. Marty told us that it's because headlights on American cars are skewed to the right. We drive on the right, so headlights are aimed slightly right so they will not blind oncoming cars. People in St Thomas drive American cars, but they drive on the left. Very few get their headlights adjusted, so they end up blinding oncoming traffic. Very interesting! We arrived at the restaurant, which was right on the water. And I mean right on the water. We sat at a corner table on the deck, which was decorated with Christmas lights. Craig was in the corner near the railing, in a rather vulnerable position. If he dropped anything, it was bound to go straight into the water below. He was rather paranoid all night, always checking his pocket for his wallet and keys lest they go overboard. Marty introduced us to Petra, the German owner and cook. She and one waitress were working tonight. For drinks, Craig had a Pilsner Urquell and I had a painkiller. Marty said that we should get snails as an appetizer. We weren't so sure, having never tried them before. Marty insisted and didn't want us to order any other appetizer. He guaranteed that we would like them. When they arrived we each tasted one. They were very small and cooked in butter and garlic. They were delicious and weren't at all rubbery like I expected them to be. Marty was so right about them; we wished we had gotten more than a single order! Then it was time to order dinner. I ordered the wiener schnitzel (breaded veal), and Craig ordered the rahmschnitzel (veal sauteed in cream sauce with onions and mushrooms). We also ordered bratkartoffeln (seasoned potatoes with onions). The waitress asked if I wanted peas and carrots or red cabbage. My instinct told me to order the peas and carrots, but as soon as I opened my mouth Marty said "Have the red cabbage." He guaranteed that we would like it. He had been right about the snails, so we had to trust him on this one too. Neither Craig nor I are fans of cabbage, but we ordered it against our better judgment. He was right, yet again! It was delicious. The veal was very light and tasty, the potatoes were full of oniony goodness, and the cabbage reminded me of turnip, which I like but rarely get to eat. Marty raved about Petra's strudel, and we were eager to try it. But this is the real deal, a one-woman operation, and by the time we were ready for dessert there was but one piece of strudel left. A large party at another table had cleared out the supply. The waitress brought the one remaining piece to us along with 4 forks and a couple of scoops of ice cream. What a great meal! Had we really been to St Thomas 6 times before ever coming to this place? What was wrong with us? We made it a point to definitely come back next time. The food was just unbelievable. We went back to the hotel and watched Monday Night Football (Seattle vs Green Bay). It was actually snowing in Seattle! (Oops! I forgot I'm not allowed to give any descriptions or accounts of the game without the express written permission of the National Football League. Please don't sue me! I could have gotten that information from the weather man!) We were glad to be in the Caribbean, but it made us think of what kind of weather we might be going home to tomorrow. We ate some Milano cookies and chatted. Marty had to leave around 10:30. We said our goodbyes, knowing that we probably wouldn't get to see him before we left tomorrow. It had been another great visit, and we would soon start the countdown to next Thanksgiving. This was our last night, so we finished up as much food and drink as we could, and then went to bed at 12:30. |
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