04-24-2013, 04:23 PM
<P>Friday, April 12<P>I woke up at 4:30am! How in the world can I sleep in all day at home but on vacation, I am up with the roosters? And without any type of hangover? I made myself go back to bed but didn't really accomplish much sleep. We got up at 8am.<P>We made some coffee and lounged by the pool. I read Johnny Got His Gun (great book by the way) and Matt read 1984.<P>We have no plans today until 5:30 to watch the sunset at Bunkums with the pilot.<P>The bunny made her morning appearance for a snack. The iguanas were congregated below the deck, waiting for their morning bananas.<P>I haven't seen any tarantulas and only a few gecko type lizards like in Jamaica.<P>The woman staying next door in the big house stopped over. We offered her coffee. She is in Antigua for 6 months on an 80' sailboat named Melinka.<BR>She was very nice. She shared lots of tips and places to go to eat/drink and see in Antigua. We sat around for hours with her. Her travel stories are fascinating. She has sailed all over! Both coasts of the US, Mexico and darn near all the Caribbean islands. I think we are going to the Exclusion Zone with her on Monday.<P>She told us that she hired a cab driver last night to take her to dinner. She went to Tina's and said the food was excellent. Tina used to work for a resort as a chef then came to Montserrat after the volcano blew to open her own restaurant. Anyway, the cab ride was $100ec. Her meal was $30ec. She told the cab driver he was charging her way too much but he wouldn't budge on the price. It was his private rate for night time and if you want cheap, get on the bus.<P>There are lots of humming birds, bananaquits and bull finches around the house. They are so pretty to watch.<P>Last night at People's Place, the owner John told me "ladies shouldn't smoke". I told him that yes, I know.... he then told me a story about a woman he knew that smoked all her life, a pack a day. Then she was murdered by her lover. I guess the moral to his story was that something is going to kill you anyway. The other guests at his place told him to stop telling horror stories.<P>John also kept razzing us about not having children. He could not believe that we are 30 and 32 with no kids. He said we need to have kids. I told him if we had kids, we wouldn't be able to afford to come back and visit him. He said he would watch them for us. We told him we'd send them COD to Montserrat until they turned 18. We went back and forth razzing each other. He made sure to let me know before we left that he was just having fun with us and to do what makes us happy.<P>Last night before we left his place, he gave me the English cheek kiss. I am not used to that so I just froze and went to the wrong side and we ended up pecking on the lips. He took the next few minutes to teach me the proper English cheek kiss. "Do it once, do it right" was his motto. I was kind of embarrassed. Everyone was English and kissing each other correctly, then I am the weird American who ends up kissing people smack dab on the lips. HA!<P>Another note about last night. People were jokingly commenting on the fancy dress code that People's Place must have implemented. I had on a skirt and the Scuba people were dressed up too. They had just came from the Governor's house for lunch. They had won an island trivia contest and the prize was either a bottle of vodka or lunch with the Governor. They chose lunch.<P>They told us to walk to the Governor's house and introduce ourselves. They said it was most likely that we'd be invited in and shown around. We didn't do it but it woulda been neat. I guess that's just how this island rolls.<P>We swam in the pool and had some sardines and crackers for lunch. Terry (the woman next door) hung out with us all day. We invited her to go to Bunkum Beach Bar with us to watch the sunset and dinner.<P>About 5:15 we started walking. We showed Terry the shortcut to the place.<BR>The pilot (I'm gonna call him Mike) showed up about 6pm. Mike apologized and said he had talked to the woman that owns the place but today was her husbands birthday and she was taking him out. Mike took us up to the lookout point and we watched the sunset. I saw my first ever green flash!<P>After the sunset, Mike invited us to his apartment for Gin and Tonics. He said he felt bad for not taking us to dinner. We didn't care, we just go with the flow. His house is still being built, he says it's been the same for 2 years. His apartment is finished though and it is NICE! Dark wood cabinets and granite counter tops. The pool at his place is in the shape of Montserrat. It too is not finished.<P>Mike said he worked in the morning but would stop by our house about 10am to take us on a hike. There is a trail called Oriole Trail. It's about 2 hours long and you can see the critically endangered Montserrat Oriole.<P>Matt, Terry and I walked up to the main road to catch a bus to get some dinner. We had the driver stop at People's Place. Terry and I had the chicken Curry Roti. Matt had jerk pork. It was delicious. I think it was about $40ec for all 3 of us and drinks.<P>After dinner, John drove us home. Matt and I stayed up and finished our books.<P>PICTURES! Now, here is where they kinda get crappy. Since we were out real cameras, everything from this point on is taken with my iphone and Matt's iPod.<P>Our lunch.<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0027_zpsba300783.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0027_zpsba300783.jpg" border="0" alt="Lunch photo IMG_0027_zpsba300783.jpg"/></a><P>The walk/shortcut to Bunkum's Beach Bar<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0031_zpse90a1272.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0031_zpse90a1272.jpg" border="0" alt="Shortcut at Bunkum photo IMG_0031_zpse90a1272.jpg"/></a><P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0030_zpse93261cb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0030_zpse93261cb.jpg" border="0" alt="Bridge at Bunkum Beach photo IMG_0030_zpse93261cb.jpg"/></a><P>The view from the lookout.<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2300_zpsd71c561b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2300_zpsd71c561b.jpg" border="0" alt="View from Bunkum Beach Bar with Redonda in the distance photo IMG_2300_zpsd71c561b.jpg"/></a><P>Bunkum Beach Bar<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2303_zps07d5acb6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2303_zps07d5acb6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2303_zps07d5acb6.jpg"/></a><P>The sunset<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0032_zps5b5b276e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0032_zps5b5b276e.jpg" border="0" alt="Bunkum Sunset photo IMG_0032_zps5b5b276e.jpg"/></a><P>Lizard in a pole<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2305_zps7e9a5706.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2305_zps7e9a5706.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2305_zps7e9a5706.jpg"/></a><P>The other view from Bunkum Beach Bar<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2307_zps7978eb64.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2307_zps7978eb64.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2307_zps7978eb64.jpg"/></a><P>Matt's Jerk Pork. It was seriously the best. The fat melted with goodness.<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0037_zps634dd56d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0037_zps634dd56d.jpg" border="0" alt="Stew Pork photo IMG_0037_zps634dd56d.jpg"/></a><P>Roti<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0038_zpsd88d3ff2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0038_zpsd88d3ff2.jpg" border="0" alt="Roti photo IMG_0038_zpsd88d3ff2.jpg"/></a><P>