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We hadn't set the alarm clock, and woke up naturally at around 8 a.m.. We enjoyed liesurely orange juice and coffee. I set up my "office" on the granite peninsula and typed up some notes from our India trip on my netbook. Craig prepared "Craig McMuffins", a perennial favorite breakfast while camping or vacationing. He cooked eggs, bacon, and English muffins with cheese. We enjoyed our breakfast in the room, and then cleaned up. Our room even had a dishwasher this year!
At noon we headed right outside to the beach and gave housekeeping a chance to clean the room. We staked out some beach chairs and then walked into the water. We stepped around rocks and coral to find a sandy spot to stand with the water up to our shoulders. We just floated around in the gorgeous warm but still refreshing water. Secret Harbour seemed a lot busier this year than in the past few. There were lots of families on the beach, and a lot of the rooms were occupied, so there were good people-watching opportunities. All of our wordly cares were far from us as we watched little fish swim around our feet, eager for any debris that our toes might dislodge from the sand. As we started to tire of the sun, Steve took a walk down the beach to the on-site Blue Moon Cafe, and returned bearing chicken sandwiches and fries. We ate on the porch of our room and then went inside for a little while to cool off in the AC. When we were ready for another swim, we headed back out to the beach at around 3 o'clock. Steve and Craig each brought a beer to enjoy while floating around in the water. When we got back to the room we sat on our porch and watched a golden, purple,and orange sunset. Marty had sent us a text saying that his stomach was bothering him today, so he wouldn't be joining us for dinner. Steve called Agave Terrace and set up a 7:30 reservation. We took showers and then left for the restaurant at 7:15. We were seated on the bay view side of the restaurant. We had frozen bushwhackers to drink and enjoyed the fresh rolls with balsamic dipping oil. Craig and Steve ordered pan-seared grouper served with crab souffle and asparagas. I got the Caribbean vegetable curry made with local pumpkins, sweet potato, and vegetables over jasmine aroma rice. It was really good but I think I would have preferred it to be spicier. The service left a little bit to be desired this year...they weren't prompt clearing dirty dishes, etc. That was surprising for this place, which is usually spectacular. Tony Bourdain made a comment on his show recently that after an especially enjoyable food "awakening", you always chase that first high, but you can never recreate it. That's sort of how I feel about the Agave Terrace...the very first time we ate here was amazing. Their crab cakes were unbelievably good, their house salad was an interesting mix of greens and grapefruit, and conch fritters had an amazing sauce. All of the details were perfect. I keep trying to have that amazing experience again, but it doesn't happen... the menu changes or the service suffers...they accidentally throw away my cherished leftovers (an entire crab cake - about a third of my pricey meal)...it's always something. The food is still very good, but it doesn't seem like the world class restaurant it used to be. We ordered "Agave snowballs" for dessert - vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut, drenched with chocolate fudge, and topped with whipped cream. It was decadent. We had another round of bushwhackers and then headed back to the hotel. We drove down the mountain and back to Secret Harbour. When we got there, we listened to some Creedence Clearwater Revival on the Limin' Cooler, watched some college football, and then went to bed. |
 Craig and Steph in the water at Secret Harbour  Sunset at Secret Harbour  Bushwhackers at the Agave Terrace  |
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