I've been so busy catching up with two of my favorite people (Kate and Deb) and working my way through the mountain of gossip magazines that they brought us that I haven't had time to write anything. I was dreading reaching the end of their short visit with us and having to recreate the whole experience from memory, knowing that I was going to lose lots of details in the process. Then Deb showed me the daily emails that she was writing to friends and family back home about their visit. Well, since Mama didn't raise no fools, I begged her to become our guest blogger for the duration and returned to catching up on all the gossip.----- Original Message -----
Our first day of vacation was awesome. Danika and Sten were at the airport to pick us up and, after a small snafu at immigration, we headed to the lagoon, where Danika and Sten had left their dingy, via bus. We piled in the dingy and took a short ride to Mata'irea, which was anchored in Simpson Bay Lagoon.
We caught up over a cocktail (a Moscow Mule -- ginger beer, fresh lime and vodka) before heading back to town. Danika and Kate went to the immigration office, where Kate and I were signed onto Mata'irea as temporary crew and we were cleared out of the country (Netherlands Antilles) for departure tomorrow morning. While they did the heavy lifting, Sten and I did a little swimming and we all met up for happy hour at a bar on the beach.
From there, it was a quick trip back to Mata'irea (Sten is our personal dingy/taxi driver!) for a shower and wardrobe change before heading to Marina Royal on the French side of the island for dinner and a little shopping. As promised by D and S, we were wooed by a host/hostess at every restaurant we passed, with promises of free drinks and fresh food abounding. After hearing everyone out -- and even checking out two kitchens for comparison -- we settled on a lovely Italian restaurant that didn't disappoint.
Is it any wonder that every restaurant host asked Sten how he got so lucky? Sure, it's a line. But it's a good one!
We started with mussels (after our complimentary champagne!) and then had seafood risotto (me), lasagna (sten), osso bucco (danika) and linguine with clams (kate). The meal ended with a shot of limoncello (another promotional giveaway), but they were out of profiterolles. Everything was great and we came back to Mata'irea for a few quick stories and then off to bed. I slept in the cockpit (above deck) and loved having fresh air swirl around me all night. Amazing start to our vacation!
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