The other day while visiting Emma Marlay got out a goodbye Emma. This was the first time I can remember her putting two seperate words together that weren't part of a single name (e.g. Big Bird). Seems like it should be some sort of developmental milestone.
We got to see Emma the other day as well while I helped Mo and Nick clear out some furniture in the soon to be baby's room. Emma very well may become a professional dancer at this point. her and Mar had a ball together. Now that they can both run around, it is more than just Marlay laughing hysterically as emma runs around the house.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Add another to the list
A seriously adult sounding 'cookie' came out of Marlay's mouth last night. Glad she has that one down, a very important word. 'Big Bird' is a regualr as well, although she doesn't quite have that one down so clearly yet.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Words that Marlay likes...
Up, down, bannana, Mom-mom-mom-mom, 'sigh' for outside (maybe her favorite), elmo, cup and a few others. she is making the transition to child who clearly wants to communicate better and learn words. She brought me over a book last week hopped on my lap and tried to repeat almost every word. She struggles with 'b' and is having fun making a 'ts' sound to try and get certain words out. It won't be long now.
I am now convinced she is the cutest baby in the world as we got a bunch of compliments from strangers while in front of other babies (and their parents). If it isn't cute that she has, it certainly is charisma.
I am now convinced she is the cutest baby in the world as we got a bunch of compliments from strangers while in front of other babies (and their parents). If it isn't cute that she has, it certainly is charisma.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Anguilla
My sunburn has yet to fade into a memory, I am hoping that comes at any moment. It stings mightily as I write this.
We returned home from a four day stint at Cap Juluca on Anguilla yesterday. All of the usual commentary about it not being long enough, daydreams about moving to the Caribbean etc. apply here as well. I won't re-write the tired thoughts of the masses and force you to skim past them to get to the meat.
We decided on Anguilla for a pretty simple reason, our travel dates were fixed and we had four choices of direct flight destinations from PHL on USAir. I settled on St Martin and then proceeded to make my way to the incredibly helpful Fodors forums which are indispensable for getting a good sense of a place (they steered me to Cannel on St John which was perfect for out last trip). From there my desire to fly into SXM was solidified, but I had grown intrigued by the idea of actually staying on Anguilla at Cap Juluca. Stories of exclusivity and celeb sighting preyed on my desire for a memorable and first class trip. Cap Juluca's website (http://www.capjuluca.com/) cemented the decision. We were going in search of LiLo.
The booking process for Cap was smooth, they had some specials and we opted for a package that upgraded us into a Luxury room and included breakfast every day (more on that later). We were sold, well I was, Jen just sort of shows up for these things. The prices were steep considering the state of the world these days, but with not a single trip not planned for us over the past several years (weddings, club, work, etc) and my inability to secure a 4ct. diamond as an appropriate gift to Jen for having Marlay, spending a few extra bones on a hotel room seemed appropriate.
We were able to upgrade into first class on our way down, the ancient 757 seats’ 12 way adjustable motion were a great way to start the trip. Food on the plane tasted like something Roy Rogers would be too embarrassed to offer. It was perfectly complemented by the sour puss on the attendant in first class. At least we were close to on-time.
After landing at SXM we choose wisely and made our way through customs quickly (pick the line next to the one that is for the residents of SXM, when they aren't queing up, the attendant will take people from your line making it the fastest mover). We were rushing to get the 2.45 boat to Cap. It was 2.20 when we cleared customs, getting our baggage would take another 25 minutes. We rushed out and met the rep from Cap who drive us the approx 200 yards over to the boat (it really is right across from the airport). The decision between public ferry and the Cap ferry was one that I never got great clarity on ahead of time, but a public ferry surely doesn't seem first class, so we went with the slightly more expensive Cap option - it was the right choice. The aforementioned sunburn actually began in its nascent stages on this very boat ride. It was 80 deg. and sunny with nice tradewinds our entire trip - amazing weather. We made the boat and made some small talk with some couples to try and figure out if they had any tips on where to go and what to do. They may have thought I was slight crazy as I had the smile of a man possessed plastered on my face while intermittently sipping on Red Stripe. No one could give me a straight answer as to why we had to go through customs again on SXM after getting on the boat (a 15-20 min delay). Oh well. Sunshine and warm breezes make bureaucracy tolerable.
From a distance Anguilla isn't much to look at it. Sort of a scrubby little bump of a place jutting out from the sea a few feet to SXM's north. It reminded me of a sandbar. As we got closer, amazing blues and white sand beaches revealed themselves. One last run through customs on Anguilla and were in a taxi and on our way to Cap (about 5 minutes and 22$ + tip away). With lush St. John as our most recent frame of reference, Anguilla was less than impressive at first glance. Lots of rubble and scrub brush. Small cinderblock houses with rebar sticking out the tops. Random dogs and goats. Not awe inspiring.
The entrance to Cap provided some welcome relief. Nice grounds were framed on one side by the sea and another by what I will call a stinky lagoon (largely hidden from sight via landscaping). The welcome at Cap was wonderful and the lobby was open air and gorgeous. We were led into a library like area to check in and offered the obligatory drink. If their State Farm agent is reading this, I think you should cancel the flood insurance – this place is about 100 feet wide and looks ready to be swept away if rained hard enough.
We were shuttled to our room on a solar powered golf cart, which is the preferred method of transport at Cap. The carts are everywhere and you can take one at any point but there is no guarantee it will be there when you get back. There were always more than enough around however. We made frequent use of them on our trips to meet with the concierge or check email (I know, vacation, but the library was VERY nice).
Back to the room. Each villa contained 4 rooms, ours was Villa 7 Room 1. Lower level on the left. Right next to Blue, the open air restaurant that is at the middle of the resort. Do not allow yourself to be booked into this room. While very nice we were awakened on our first morning to dishes being clanked together at 5.45 AM as the staff prepared the restaurant for breakfast. On a different night, we were treated to loud music until 11.30 and awakened again as the staff polished off some remaining bottles of booze from the earlier wedding party (at approx 1.30AM). It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We had the AC cranking and all windows closed, so the ruckus wasn't terrible, but not ideal. They offered us another room at the far end of the resort but after looking at it decided to stay in V7 R1. The other room was a standard room and was a bit on the dark side and much smaller.
The layout of the room was wonderful. A small courtyard outside led us to a wooden door behind which lay a mirror lined hallway with the entrance to the main room ahead and the bathroom to the left. The bathroom had a soaking tub and shower which were both exposed to a small sitting area outside by a pane of glass. The door to the shower actually opened to the outside seating area, there was no door on the bathroom side of the stall. There were dual sinks and a sitting area inside with mirror which Jen made use of while endlessly playing with her new short haircut. Typical Carib white tile dominated and a fan spun lazily overhead.
In the main sleeping area, there was a bed, mini bar, seating area and flat screen which all opened up to a patio hidden behind dark wood doors. The view from the patio was of crystal blue waters and white sand beaches just steps from our bedroom door. Truly impressive. A great mix of privacy while still bringing the outdoors into the room. The patio would prove to be the highlight of the trip in many ways. The breakfast that was included was a throw-in in my mind but turned out to be a wondrous start to every day. We ate ourselves full of the croissants, pan au choclat and fruit that was set on our patio every morning and washed it all down with Illy coffee and fresh grapefruit juice while gazing out at the boats docked in the water and the mountains of SXM in the distance. I think my outlook on life would be unyieldingly positive if this was how all of my Mondays began.
The beach that lay just behind our room was a gem. Freshly combed white sand and crystal clear waters. There were attendants ready at your beck and call to provide cold water, beer, food, you name it. We spent the first day getting a nice deep pink burn while baking for less than an hour (with sunscreen) in the Caribbean sun. My ancestors clearly never had the need to develop the kind of skin that would survive in Anguilla (it barely is passable for Philly). If you are looking for a beach to be pampered on while enjoying a stunning view (sometimes provided by those walking past) look no further than Cap.
Food is a big part of a trip for us and was a driving factor to choosing Anguilla as well (admittedly more so than a LiLo sighting). We started with dinner at Pimms, the highly acclaimed restaurant on site at Cap. The setting was amazing, right on the water looking out across the resort. The menu and wine list were top notch. After reading the resume of Chef Bajeux we were fully primed for the meal of the trip...and were promptly let down. Nothing truly terrible, this is a top notch destination, but the expectation exceeded the execution. We ordered two apps, the bisque and a salad. The bisque was a tad heavy on the cognac and light on the creme for my taste. Our entrees consisted of Sea Bass and a miso-brushed Grouper. My grouper was overcooked, which is inexcusable in a restaurant of this caliber, especially considering the price tag. We went for dessert, this was vacation and had a chocolate and salty peanut butter terrine and a roasted pineapple with rum ice cream delivered stat. The terrine did not disappoint and the pineapple was solid as well. All in all a decent dinner that we hope was a one-time mis-step from the kitchen. We heard reviews from other diners later in the week that either shared our disappointment or raved about the execution at Pimms. Make of it what you wish. (As a side note, most of our dinners ran in the low $200 range with two glasses of wine, apps and dessert. Pricing across the higher end restaurants seemed fairly consistent and included the obligatory 15% service charge)
The next day we tried Blue for lunch - the loud casual spot right next to our villa. Nothing memorable, we went for a burger and a jerk chicken sandwich (I noticed bisque on the menu here as well at a significantly lower price point, so try it here - I would guess it is one in the same). Pretty views, decent service, food met the expectation but did not exceed.
For our next dinner we asked the concierge for a recommendation and after much discussion settled on Oliver's. I wish we hadn't. While the atmosphere was more low key than , the views were still stunning. Execution on the dinner was lacking and the price point was comparable to Pimm's, which cast Pimm's in a much better light in retrospect. There was a matronly proprietor who greeted every table at least twice. Clearly they had many repeat customers. Our food was solid if unspectacular, unfortunately we ended on a down note when ordering dessert. The molten lava cake was simply a chocolate cake with nothing inside it other than an empty hole. It was taken off our bill without hesitation. All in all, not one I would recommend or discourage, but we probably will not be back.
At this point the breakfast was literally the shining star of our trip. We decided on our final day to head out to Smokey's BBQ for lunch. Located a short cab ride from our hotel, we ran into a couple in the hotel lobby headed to the same place for lunch (Courtney and Chad). They had actually sat across from us on the plane and spit the fare with them - best luck of the trip so far. While they were very nice, the luck was that they were absolutely raving about a restaurant we had to try for dinner before leaving the island. At this point we were thinking Spice, the other restaurant in the hotel, but clearly this couple was either onto something or on something, I was willing to gamble based on their southern charm it was the former and not the later.
Back to Smokey's, more on their recommendation next. Smokey's was located on a stunning stretch of beach that looked out at St. Martin as well. A wedding was in progress on the beach to our right while we ate. Smokey's was worth the trip. While the food was nothing exceptional, it was solid and the views were stunning. I had the ribs while Jen had a chicken salad. Service progressed at the typical island time pace and we needed to track down our server when we finally wanted to leave as we hadn't seen her in over 30 minutes. I could have cared less, the day was breezy and the ambiance perfect island casual.
We spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the beach under our umbrella enjoying the view and the breeze and occasionally reading a page or two out of our books or slathering ourselves with aloe (did I mention the wicked burn we inflicted on our pale white bodies?). Most importantly, we prepared ourselves for our final dinner in Anguilla at the highly recommended, and apparently very famous, Blanchard's. Winner or Best of Caribbean awards and multiple Today show appearances (apparently, I work, I have no idea what goes on during the Today show). Time came to put to the test the zealotry of our new found southern friends.
For us, Blanchard's was a godsend. Impeccable service from when we walked in the door to when we left. An interior that was well appointed and full of vibrant color portraying an almost country club like feel (in a good way). Gorgeous landscaping and lighting out back cemented the impression at the beginning of the meal that we were in very good hands. We had a table front and center looking out over the back garden out to the sea. Perfection. Our meal started with a samosa/empanada of wine stewed beef that was tremendous. Apparently you can make great dough in this climate. The dinner was highlighted by an incredible lamb shank that was one of the best I have ever had. A must order for any meat lover. We finished with stunning desserts and enormous smiles on our faces. While there, we actually ran into Courtney and Chad again as they had elected to ditch their previous choice of one of the restaurants at Cuissinart upon seeing the menu. They made an impression on the staff, because it took very little description of them for everyone to know exactly who had sent us there. If they ever end up reading this somehow - thank you, it was great meeting you both!
Our final meal in the books, we called our cab driver and made our way back to Cap. I should take a minute to recommend our driver, Glenn. He is a gentleman and keeps an incredibly clean taxi. Great guy, highly recommended. We didn't pay him for our last three trips until the final day. Truly unique to the Caribbean. Our initial concern after we lost his card (and still owed him money) was quickly met with typical island calm. Simply remembering his first name was more than enough to get a hold of him. I got the feeling everyone knew everyone else, in a good way.
On our final morning we took the shuttle back early so we could spend some time at the famed airport beach bar in SXM. I can not truly get across in words how bizarre this place is, just go. They don't take credit cards, we learned at the end of our meal, but have great fries and solid bar food. The attraction is the fact that it is set on a beach at the end of the runway leading to amazing scenes of planes landing at proximity that would be unthinkable in the US. Brave souls would walk over to the chain link fence at the end of the runway and hang on as planes departed, for those that didn't hang on they were blown backwards by the strength of the jet engines. I witnessed three men standing on the beach get blown a solid ten feet back while their cameras were propelled into the water. Very funny sight and a great way to end the trip.
We landed to rain and 60 degree weather and to learn that while away our 13 month old was a gem for her aunt, uncle, and grammy but had developed a fever and had a virus. Back to reality I guess.
While we may never be back in Anguilla (we don't get to travel enough to hit the same place twice), we would recommend the island and Cap as a great place for a short trip. I don't know that I could take two weeks there (and it doesn't matter because I know I can't afford it), but it offered us a perfect blend of luxury and white sand beaches that are on par with any I have ever seen.
We returned home from a four day stint at Cap Juluca on Anguilla yesterday. All of the usual commentary about it not being long enough, daydreams about moving to the Caribbean etc. apply here as well. I won't re-write the tired thoughts of the masses and force you to skim past them to get to the meat.
We decided on Anguilla for a pretty simple reason, our travel dates were fixed and we had four choices of direct flight destinations from PHL on USAir. I settled on St Martin and then proceeded to make my way to the incredibly helpful Fodors forums which are indispensable for getting a good sense of a place (they steered me to Cannel on St John which was perfect for out last trip). From there my desire to fly into SXM was solidified, but I had grown intrigued by the idea of actually staying on Anguilla at Cap Juluca. Stories of exclusivity and celeb sighting preyed on my desire for a memorable and first class trip. Cap Juluca's website (http://www.capjuluca.com/) cemented the decision. We were going in search of LiLo.
The booking process for Cap was smooth, they had some specials and we opted for a package that upgraded us into a Luxury room and included breakfast every day (more on that later). We were sold, well I was, Jen just sort of shows up for these things. The prices were steep considering the state of the world these days, but with not a single trip not planned for us over the past several years (weddings, club, work, etc) and my inability to secure a 4ct. diamond as an appropriate gift to Jen for having Marlay, spending a few extra bones on a hotel room seemed appropriate.
We were able to upgrade into first class on our way down, the ancient 757 seats’ 12 way adjustable motion were a great way to start the trip. Food on the plane tasted like something Roy Rogers would be too embarrassed to offer. It was perfectly complemented by the sour puss on the attendant in first class. At least we were close to on-time.
After landing at SXM we choose wisely and made our way through customs quickly (pick the line next to the one that is for the residents of SXM, when they aren't queing up, the attendant will take people from your line making it the fastest mover). We were rushing to get the 2.45 boat to Cap. It was 2.20 when we cleared customs, getting our baggage would take another 25 minutes. We rushed out and met the rep from Cap who drive us the approx 200 yards over to the boat (it really is right across from the airport). The decision between public ferry and the Cap ferry was one that I never got great clarity on ahead of time, but a public ferry surely doesn't seem first class, so we went with the slightly more expensive Cap option - it was the right choice. The aforementioned sunburn actually began in its nascent stages on this very boat ride. It was 80 deg. and sunny with nice tradewinds our entire trip - amazing weather. We made the boat and made some small talk with some couples to try and figure out if they had any tips on where to go and what to do. They may have thought I was slight crazy as I had the smile of a man possessed plastered on my face while intermittently sipping on Red Stripe. No one could give me a straight answer as to why we had to go through customs again on SXM after getting on the boat (a 15-20 min delay). Oh well. Sunshine and warm breezes make bureaucracy tolerable.
From a distance Anguilla isn't much to look at it. Sort of a scrubby little bump of a place jutting out from the sea a few feet to SXM's north. It reminded me of a sandbar. As we got closer, amazing blues and white sand beaches revealed themselves. One last run through customs on Anguilla and were in a taxi and on our way to Cap (about 5 minutes and 22$ + tip away). With lush St. John as our most recent frame of reference, Anguilla was less than impressive at first glance. Lots of rubble and scrub brush. Small cinderblock houses with rebar sticking out the tops. Random dogs and goats. Not awe inspiring.
The entrance to Cap provided some welcome relief. Nice grounds were framed on one side by the sea and another by what I will call a stinky lagoon (largely hidden from sight via landscaping). The welcome at Cap was wonderful and the lobby was open air and gorgeous. We were led into a library like area to check in and offered the obligatory drink. If their State Farm agent is reading this, I think you should cancel the flood insurance – this place is about 100 feet wide and looks ready to be swept away if rained hard enough.
We were shuttled to our room on a solar powered golf cart, which is the preferred method of transport at Cap. The carts are everywhere and you can take one at any point but there is no guarantee it will be there when you get back. There were always more than enough around however. We made frequent use of them on our trips to meet with the concierge or check email (I know, vacation, but the library was VERY nice).
Back to the room. Each villa contained 4 rooms, ours was Villa 7 Room 1. Lower level on the left. Right next to Blue, the open air restaurant that is at the middle of the resort. Do not allow yourself to be booked into this room. While very nice we were awakened on our first morning to dishes being clanked together at 5.45 AM as the staff prepared the restaurant for breakfast. On a different night, we were treated to loud music until 11.30 and awakened again as the staff polished off some remaining bottles of booze from the earlier wedding party (at approx 1.30AM). It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We had the AC cranking and all windows closed, so the ruckus wasn't terrible, but not ideal. They offered us another room at the far end of the resort but after looking at it decided to stay in V7 R1. The other room was a standard room and was a bit on the dark side and much smaller.
The layout of the room was wonderful. A small courtyard outside led us to a wooden door behind which lay a mirror lined hallway with the entrance to the main room ahead and the bathroom to the left. The bathroom had a soaking tub and shower which were both exposed to a small sitting area outside by a pane of glass. The door to the shower actually opened to the outside seating area, there was no door on the bathroom side of the stall. There were dual sinks and a sitting area inside with mirror which Jen made use of while endlessly playing with her new short haircut. Typical Carib white tile dominated and a fan spun lazily overhead.
In the main sleeping area, there was a bed, mini bar, seating area and flat screen which all opened up to a patio hidden behind dark wood doors. The view from the patio was of crystal blue waters and white sand beaches just steps from our bedroom door. Truly impressive. A great mix of privacy while still bringing the outdoors into the room. The patio would prove to be the highlight of the trip in many ways. The breakfast that was included was a throw-in in my mind but turned out to be a wondrous start to every day. We ate ourselves full of the croissants, pan au choclat and fruit that was set on our patio every morning and washed it all down with Illy coffee and fresh grapefruit juice while gazing out at the boats docked in the water and the mountains of SXM in the distance. I think my outlook on life would be unyieldingly positive if this was how all of my Mondays began.
The beach that lay just behind our room was a gem. Freshly combed white sand and crystal clear waters. There were attendants ready at your beck and call to provide cold water, beer, food, you name it. We spent the first day getting a nice deep pink burn while baking for less than an hour (with sunscreen) in the Caribbean sun. My ancestors clearly never had the need to develop the kind of skin that would survive in Anguilla (it barely is passable for Philly). If you are looking for a beach to be pampered on while enjoying a stunning view (sometimes provided by those walking past) look no further than Cap.
Food is a big part of a trip for us and was a driving factor to choosing Anguilla as well (admittedly more so than a LiLo sighting). We started with dinner at Pimms, the highly acclaimed restaurant on site at Cap. The setting was amazing, right on the water looking out across the resort. The menu and wine list were top notch. After reading the resume of Chef Bajeux we were fully primed for the meal of the trip...and were promptly let down. Nothing truly terrible, this is a top notch destination, but the expectation exceeded the execution. We ordered two apps, the bisque and a salad. The bisque was a tad heavy on the cognac and light on the creme for my taste. Our entrees consisted of Sea Bass and a miso-brushed Grouper. My grouper was overcooked, which is inexcusable in a restaurant of this caliber, especially considering the price tag. We went for dessert, this was vacation and had a chocolate and salty peanut butter terrine and a roasted pineapple with rum ice cream delivered stat. The terrine did not disappoint and the pineapple was solid as well. All in all a decent dinner that we hope was a one-time mis-step from the kitchen. We heard reviews from other diners later in the week that either shared our disappointment or raved about the execution at Pimms. Make of it what you wish. (As a side note, most of our dinners ran in the low $200 range with two glasses of wine, apps and dessert. Pricing across the higher end restaurants seemed fairly consistent and included the obligatory 15% service charge)
The next day we tried Blue for lunch - the loud casual spot right next to our villa. Nothing memorable, we went for a burger and a jerk chicken sandwich (I noticed bisque on the menu here as well at a significantly lower price point, so try it here - I would guess it is one in the same). Pretty views, decent service, food met the expectation but did not exceed.
For our next dinner we asked the concierge for a recommendation and after much discussion settled on Oliver's. I wish we hadn't. While the atmosphere was more low key than , the views were still stunning. Execution on the dinner was lacking and the price point was comparable to Pimm's, which cast Pimm's in a much better light in retrospect. There was a matronly proprietor who greeted every table at least twice. Clearly they had many repeat customers. Our food was solid if unspectacular, unfortunately we ended on a down note when ordering dessert. The molten lava cake was simply a chocolate cake with nothing inside it other than an empty hole. It was taken off our bill without hesitation. All in all, not one I would recommend or discourage, but we probably will not be back.
At this point the breakfast was literally the shining star of our trip. We decided on our final day to head out to Smokey's BBQ for lunch. Located a short cab ride from our hotel, we ran into a couple in the hotel lobby headed to the same place for lunch (Courtney and Chad). They had actually sat across from us on the plane and spit the fare with them - best luck of the trip so far. While they were very nice, the luck was that they were absolutely raving about a restaurant we had to try for dinner before leaving the island. At this point we were thinking Spice, the other restaurant in the hotel, but clearly this couple was either onto something or on something, I was willing to gamble based on their southern charm it was the former and not the later.
Back to Smokey's, more on their recommendation next. Smokey's was located on a stunning stretch of beach that looked out at St. Martin as well. A wedding was in progress on the beach to our right while we ate. Smokey's was worth the trip. While the food was nothing exceptional, it was solid and the views were stunning. I had the ribs while Jen had a chicken salad. Service progressed at the typical island time pace and we needed to track down our server when we finally wanted to leave as we hadn't seen her in over 30 minutes. I could have cared less, the day was breezy and the ambiance perfect island casual.
We spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the beach under our umbrella enjoying the view and the breeze and occasionally reading a page or two out of our books or slathering ourselves with aloe (did I mention the wicked burn we inflicted on our pale white bodies?). Most importantly, we prepared ourselves for our final dinner in Anguilla at the highly recommended, and apparently very famous, Blanchard's. Winner or Best of Caribbean awards and multiple Today show appearances (apparently, I work, I have no idea what goes on during the Today show). Time came to put to the test the zealotry of our new found southern friends.
For us, Blanchard's was a godsend. Impeccable service from when we walked in the door to when we left. An interior that was well appointed and full of vibrant color portraying an almost country club like feel (in a good way). Gorgeous landscaping and lighting out back cemented the impression at the beginning of the meal that we were in very good hands. We had a table front and center looking out over the back garden out to the sea. Perfection. Our meal started with a samosa/empanada of wine stewed beef that was tremendous. Apparently you can make great dough in this climate. The dinner was highlighted by an incredible lamb shank that was one of the best I have ever had. A must order for any meat lover. We finished with stunning desserts and enormous smiles on our faces. While there, we actually ran into Courtney and Chad again as they had elected to ditch their previous choice of one of the restaurants at Cuissinart upon seeing the menu. They made an impression on the staff, because it took very little description of them for everyone to know exactly who had sent us there. If they ever end up reading this somehow - thank you, it was great meeting you both!
Our final meal in the books, we called our cab driver and made our way back to Cap. I should take a minute to recommend our driver, Glenn. He is a gentleman and keeps an incredibly clean taxi. Great guy, highly recommended. We didn't pay him for our last three trips until the final day. Truly unique to the Caribbean. Our initial concern after we lost his card (and still owed him money) was quickly met with typical island calm. Simply remembering his first name was more than enough to get a hold of him. I got the feeling everyone knew everyone else, in a good way.
On our final morning we took the shuttle back early so we could spend some time at the famed airport beach bar in SXM. I can not truly get across in words how bizarre this place is, just go. They don't take credit cards, we learned at the end of our meal, but have great fries and solid bar food. The attraction is the fact that it is set on a beach at the end of the runway leading to amazing scenes of planes landing at proximity that would be unthinkable in the US. Brave souls would walk over to the chain link fence at the end of the runway and hang on as planes departed, for those that didn't hang on they were blown backwards by the strength of the jet engines. I witnessed three men standing on the beach get blown a solid ten feet back while their cameras were propelled into the water. Very funny sight and a great way to end the trip.
We landed to rain and 60 degree weather and to learn that while away our 13 month old was a gem for her aunt, uncle, and grammy but had developed a fever and had a virus. Back to reality I guess.
While we may never be back in Anguilla (we don't get to travel enough to hit the same place twice), we would recommend the island and Cap as a great place for a short trip. I don't know that I could take two weeks there (and it doesn't matter because I know I can't afford it), but it offered us a perfect blend of luxury and white sand beaches that are on par with any I have ever seen.
Pics to be uploaded here: http://picasaweb.google.com/matthew.a.nolan/Anguilla#
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A lot happens in a few months
Apparently I either am not as narcissistic as I thought, or I really am busy being a parent and in my new life at BMC; It's been a long time since I updated and a lot has happened.
Crawling wasn't too bad. Marlay never really turned into a terror there. She still loves to this day to play chase up and down the hallways before getting her nightly bath. She had a great XMas, tons of cute pics of her and Emma. Got to see her Florida grandparents, probably need some more pics of them with her.
January and February were great months in many ways. This is when Marlay made the move from crawling baby to toddler. She had her first official stand up over XMas, but then took weeks to repeat the task. OInce she did, she bacame a regular staring at her daddy and mommy from the other side of the coffee table. Since mid-Feb she seems to have taken more interest in learning how to actually walk. She has some toys she pushes around and like to have mom and dad walk her around by the hands.
She also likes to dance. She will definitely break into little dance moves while seated if a song she likes comes on. Marlay has also taken to rocking out while clutching Mom's new phone. She actually fell asleep in the car while clutching the phone (which was playing tunes) on her way to see Emma yesterday.
Her favorite toy is kind of a pain in the butt, it's her car. Now that the weather has started getting better, at least we can take it outside and push her around there. doing laps around the house gets old quick though.
Marlay also had tubes put in her ears to try and relieve the contstant ear infections (6 so far). It seems like it has worked, she hasn't had one since, except for one literally a few days after which is normal. We were very impressed with DuPont as a hospital, the staff there was amazing. It was also heartbreaking to see so many kids suffering so badly. Truly put into perspective Marlay's minor operation.
Marlay starts a new school on Monday, The Malvern School. We circumvented the one year waiting list and got lucky and only had to wait a week. This was one of the two original day cares we looked at, and now we are back after a less than stellar start to her school career at Goddard (the staff in the afternoon was well intentioned but over their head).
Spring should be fun. Marlay is ready to make some friends on the street, get outside and play. A pool membership may even be in the cards, we'll see.
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