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We woke up at 4:45 a.m., eager for our 9th year of spending Thankgiving in the islands with our dear friend Marty. We showered, finished getting ready, printed our own boarding passes, and left the house at 6:30. We got to Logan Airport and went straight through a well-staffed security check. Once through, we had plenty of time to relax. We went to McDonald's to get a breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and orange juice. I recognized a friend from work standing in front of Cosi, and I chatted with her a bit. She was headed to Santa Fe. It was the first time I've ever run into someone I know at Logan. Actually, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often, given the amount of time we spend there. We went to the gate to wait for boarding. I picked up chocolate honeydipped donuts from Dunkin Donuts as a snack.
When boarding the flight, the flight crew asked me to put my duffel bag into the carry-on size checker. It fit, but got stuck when trying to take it out. I was afraid they were going to make me check it, but they were quite accommodating because I didn't have any other checked bags. As we boarded they found some extra room in first class and stowed my bag in an overhead there. Our flight took off at its scheduled time of 9:10. Craig and I got to sit in an empty row in coach. The flight crew was based in Boston and they were quite friendly, a switch from what we usually get on American Airlines. I had brought my new netbook with me and was able to use it in-flight for 2 hours, typing in notes from our India trip. This was a direct flight, which was wonderful (a rare treat!). We landed at Cyril E. King airport just before 2 o'clock. As we walked through the airport, we wer eon the lookout for the woman who gives out complimentary welcome drinks. This time it was a shot of guava rum. Delicious! We headed to the Budget desk to get our rental car, which turned out to be a brand new (7 miles on the odometer) Toyota Yaris. We couldn't figure out how to open the trunk so we had to load all of the bags from the back seat. It wasn't the last time we would curse this silly little car. We drove towards Red Hook, stopping at Food Center to get our groceries. After years of negotiating K-Mart for our grocery needs, last year we had ytried Food Center. Although it probably cost more, it was a much more pleasant experience (it was air-conditioned, it wasn't crowded, and the cashiers didn't move at a snail's pace). I texted Marty to let him know we had arrived. You could tell he was excited to see us, since he texted me back such an onslaught of messages that I couldn't respond to one before the next one came in! My phone quickly ran out of memory as it filled up with his messages. We bought all of the necessary items - snacks, food for a home-made breakfast, booze, bottled water, etc. We loaded up the Yaris and headed to Secret Harbour. Craig checked in and got the key to room 113, right on the beach in the building next to the restaurant and bar. He also picked up the snorkeling equipment they had put aside for us. We parked in our designated parkling spot and brought our groceries and luggage into our suite. The kitchen was newly renovated with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and pendant lights. It was a very nice 1-bedroom unit. Craig and I would sleep in the bedroom and Steve would sleep on the couch. Marty arrived at around 4 o'clock with his souped up "Limin' Cooler" in tow. This was a cooler on wheels with speakers and a subwoofer inside. The whole thing runs off a car battery. He would generously leave it with us for the duration of the trip. It was much better than plugging the iPod into the TV. We had a couple of drinks and hung out on the patio watching the sunset. Our cares started to melt away as it sunk in that we had officially arrived in the islands. Marty had made reservations for the second year in a row at the Toad and Tart, a British pub with a fantastic roast turkey dinner on the Thanksgiving menu. Marty drove us in his car (there's no way we would have all fit comfortably in the Yaris). We were a bit early for our reservation, so we relaxed at the bar and shot the breeze with the proprietor, Anna. Craig and Steve had a Newcastle on tap and I had a hard cider. The place is a little hole in the wall house decorated with toad-themed knick-knacks. Anna is quite a character, and we laughed when we read on the chalkboard that the bar hosts a Misery Hour rather than a Happy Hour. When our table was ready we headed into the dining room (really more of a living room) and took our seat next to a bust of Danish king Frederick. We skipped the salad course but enjoyed everything else: roast turkey with sage stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato and marshmallow casserole, buttered zucchini and yellow squash, green beans almondine, cranberry dressing and fresh bread. It was absolutely delicious comfort food. The perfect Thanksgiving dinner. We ate until we were ready to burst. But of course we couldn't pass up dessert: apple pie with homemade cinnamon ice cream. It was unbelievable. Marty dropped us off at Secret Harbour at 9 o'clock. There was a blues band playing at the bar and we could hear them from the room. Then at 10 we watched some college football. We went to bed at around 11; it had been a long, satisfying day, and we would have to get up early for our 8th (had to cancel one year due to weather) Cap'n Marty's Island Hop - always THE high point of our visit. |
 Marty watching sunset  Sunset from our patio  Toad & Tart  Steph, Craig, and Danish King Frederick  |
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