A Quickie Vacation

Terry and Patrice, the owners of the lodge, left this weekend after a 2-month stay. Seeing the end was near, we took advantage of the opportunity to get the hell out of Dodge and head down island with Matt, Corrine, and Archer (our neighbors and longtime friends) for a night of debauchery.

We started the adventure in West End, which is the nightlife hotspot of the island. Unfortunately, it was a Wednesday and quite dead, but it was a treat to us “East Enders” anyway. We don’t have any bars or restaurants to speak of in our part of the island, so just getting to order from a menu and see other gringos was fun.

Here’s a photo of the Royal Playa fam at Sundowners, a beach bar that’s popular with all the expats.

After happy-hour drinks, we headed down the sand road to Pura Vida for some Italian. We shared some fried mozzarella, calamari, and pizza, and Archer got his own plate of butter noodles.

Actually, that’s not quite true. Archer shared his dinner, too, albeit with some uninvited guests.

Afterward, we drove to West Bay and checked in to Infinity Bay. The hotel was quite luxurious and a splurge for us all, but it had air conditioning and cable TV. We spent the evening watching a goofy Christmas movie.

The next morning, we awoke to a nasty storm. The winds were howling, the rain was falling, and the waves were huge! Here’s a short video of the giganto waves crashing against the West Bay cliffs.

We curled up to indulge in some more TV (which none of us has back in Port Royal) and surfed between sports, CNN, a gruesome historical flick, and the Disney Channel. After another meal out and numerous stops to take care of miscellaneous errands, we headed back home, happy and relaxed.