It was a lovely second morning at DaVilla. J and I woke up early and leisurely sipped our coffee while enjoying yet another spectacular sunrise. We knew it was our last week so we were doing our best to slow time and savor each and every moment.
After a pretty relaxing morning J and D headed out with the kayak to the other reef for a little spearfishing while S and I each chose opposite directions went on our own little private beach walk. The nice thing about the location of DaVilla is you can walk unimpeded for miles in either direction. It was really just a nice mellow, relaxing morning on Eleuthera. Even the human hummingbird (J) had soaked in so much of that Eleuthera feeling that he was relaxed enough to take a mid day nap in the hammock. Look I have evidence...
After his nap J was fully recharged, so we decided to head out for a little adventure before our evening dinner reservations at the Front Porch. D and S had chosen to have an at home date that evening while J and I decided to go out on the town.
Our first stop was Ronnie's to check J's numbers. He lost, but we still had a fun trying to learn the game. We ran into Shauna Knowles, who had catered our wedding 3 years prior. We caught up with her for a little while, learning how busy her catering business has become. If you get a chance stop by her restaurant for lunch, The Harbour Inn on Cupids Cay. Great spot to get some take-a-way. She has daily specials and lots of choices. You pick your meats and sides then pay by the scoop. It is really good and super affordable.
Well anyway Ronnie's was hopping with people dropping in grabbing a few beers to go, for the Easter Monday beach celebrations scattered along the island. Shauna, along with many other Ronnie's patrons told us to head down to Alabaster beach and check it out, so we did.
The entire beach from one end to the other was full of families celebrating the Easter holiday. There were multiple BBQ areas set up offering food to all the families, I am assuming they were set up by the local churches. J and I went for a walk up and down the beach checking out the festivities and exchanging friendly greeting with many of the families. It was obviously still family hour while we were there, but I heard that it turns into a big party in the evening after all the children go home.
Our first stop was Ronnie's to check J's numbers. He lost, but we still had a fun trying to learn the game. We ran into Shauna Knowles, who had catered our wedding 3 years prior. We caught up with her for a little while, learning how busy her catering business has become. If you get a chance stop by her restaurant for lunch, The Harbour Inn on Cupids Cay. Great spot to get some take-a-way. She has daily specials and lots of choices. You pick your meats and sides then pay by the scoop. It is really good and super affordable.
Well anyway Ronnie's was hopping with people dropping in grabbing a few beers to go, for the Easter Monday beach celebrations scattered along the island. Shauna, along with many other Ronnie's patrons told us to head down to Alabaster beach and check it out, so we did.
The entire beach from one end to the other was full of families celebrating the Easter holiday. There were multiple BBQ areas set up offering food to all the families, I am assuming they were set up by the local churches. J and I went for a walk up and down the beach checking out the festivities and exchanging friendly greeting with many of the families. It was obviously still family hour while we were there, but I heard that it turns into a big party in the evening after all the children go home.
As we were walking back to the car we ran into another group of visitors who had spotted the Kalik bottles in our hands. They had arrived on Easter Sunday and were having trouble finding food and drink since almost everywhere was closed on Sunday and Monday for the Easter holiday. We gave them a few pointers on places that might still be open, then headed on our way.
We thought that we would spend more time at Alabaster than we actually did so we arrived in Hatchet Bay about an hour or so before our dinner reservation. We had not spent much time in Hatchet Bay before so we decided to explore a little. We slowly cruised through town and wound up at the Hatchet Bay Easter Monday celebration. The people of Hatchet Bay were even more welcoming than the ones at Alabaster. Despite the smaller community and smaller beach it seemed to be a much livelier celebration. They had the music bumping and everyone was super friendly and waved and said hello as we passed by.
We thought that we would spend more time at Alabaster than we actually did so we arrived in Hatchet Bay about an hour or so before our dinner reservation. We had not spent much time in Hatchet Bay before so we decided to explore a little. We slowly cruised through town and wound up at the Hatchet Bay Easter Monday celebration. The people of Hatchet Bay were even more welcoming than the ones at Alabaster. Despite the smaller community and smaller beach it seemed to be a much livelier celebration. They had the music bumping and everyone was super friendly and waved and said hello as we passed by.
After a quick stop at the beach we headed to Da Spott, a great little local bar in Hatchet Bay. We sat around chatting with the bartender and patrons hearing all sorts of fascinating stories about the portraits above the bar and all the Spots that have come and gone. Spot is the the resident potcake and we met Spot #3, or maybe Spot #4. The latest Spot was just a few months old and absolutely adorable. After a couple of cocktails and lots of puppy love from Spot we were famished and definitely ready for our highly anticipated dinner at The Front Porch.
It was the waitress's first night ever, so I cannot say the service was that great but she was a sweetheart and the food was AMAZING!! We sat out on the deck and watched the sunset, then the distant lightning after the sun had gone down, while Francis serenaded us with Bob Marley songs from the kitchen.
We had an appetizer of conch and grouper and then crab legs for our entree. It was hands down the best meal we have ever had on Eleuthera, if not the best meal we have ever had. The conch was cooked like I had never seen before, it was sauteed in a mild almost citrucy tasting sauce. It was so tender and delicious, I don't think I have ever eaten anything so divine.
As we were getting ready to leave our new friends from the beach came in for dinner. They had managed to squeeze in at the last minute and we were very pleased to see that they had not only found someplace open for dinner, but that they had made such a fabulous choice. We highly recommended the conch and crab legs, of course. I really hope they enjoyed their meal as much as we did.
After we paid J popped his head into the kitchen to commend Francis on the excellent meal and his superb singing skills. He is a genuinely friendly guy and we chatted for a while till he had to get back to the kitchen and cook for the large group that just arrived (our friends from the beach).
As we drove home a huge thunderstorm passed over the top of us. There is something about the storms on Eleuthera. There is no light pollution and it gets so dark that the lightning is just amazing to see. It's like there is nothing else out there but these giant streaks of light over the ocean. I was really glad I was not driving so I could enjoy the show.
J and I returned to DaVilla with an absolutely blissful feeling. It was such an amazing day, we really had a little taste of everything that makes Eleuthera so special. The warm, welcoming, amazing people along with mother nature in all it's glory. We could not have asked for anything more.
We had an appetizer of conch and grouper and then crab legs for our entree. It was hands down the best meal we have ever had on Eleuthera, if not the best meal we have ever had. The conch was cooked like I had never seen before, it was sauteed in a mild almost citrucy tasting sauce. It was so tender and delicious, I don't think I have ever eaten anything so divine.
As we were getting ready to leave our new friends from the beach came in for dinner. They had managed to squeeze in at the last minute and we were very pleased to see that they had not only found someplace open for dinner, but that they had made such a fabulous choice. We highly recommended the conch and crab legs, of course. I really hope they enjoyed their meal as much as we did.
After we paid J popped his head into the kitchen to commend Francis on the excellent meal and his superb singing skills. He is a genuinely friendly guy and we chatted for a while till he had to get back to the kitchen and cook for the large group that just arrived (our friends from the beach).
As we drove home a huge thunderstorm passed over the top of us. There is something about the storms on Eleuthera. There is no light pollution and it gets so dark that the lightning is just amazing to see. It's like there is nothing else out there but these giant streaks of light over the ocean. I was really glad I was not driving so I could enjoy the show.
J and I returned to DaVilla with an absolutely blissful feeling. It was such an amazing day, we really had a little taste of everything that makes Eleuthera so special. The warm, welcoming, amazing people along with mother nature in all it's glory. We could not have asked for anything more.
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