Honeymoon Day 8: Not all Cats are Afraid of the Water

As we entered the home stretch of our stay at PSV we were eager to eek out whatever we could from the island. At dinner the night before one of the managers suggested we take out a Hobie Cat and give it a whirl. Well whirl we did! We LOVED the Hobie Cat! It’s easy to maneuver and very relaxing. We sailed back and forth from Petite Martinique to PSV for over an hour. Our only regret? We didn’t discover it sooner.



The rest of the day followed our standard protocol, except we did decide to have our afternoon tea served at our west end hammock while we played games. One thing to note was today marked a change in the weather…humidity season began to descend and with it brought bugs.

My entire life I have been like a walking neon purple light flycatcher. Bugs….what can I say?…. they love me. This love affair was none to sweet and left my legs covered in welts.

That night we got before dinner drinks once again and enjoyed tuna, avocado and artichoke beignets along with sautéed Kingfish filet and slow braised Veal Osso Bucco


Now I leave you with more photos from the Jürg:
The yoga studio. We never actually took a class but it would have been an ideal place if you wanted to get up at 6am.


More unique shrubbery.
A portrait of the artist.

Honeymoon Day 7: It's a small world...

Today was back to the daily grind....no no we didn't head back to reality, just no major adventures planned for the day.

We attempted to wind surf after breakfast, which proved to be a smashing failure. Jürgen managed to get up for a bit, I however fell twice and promptly threw in the towel. I do not like to be bad at things, which prevents me from learning new skills. I must improve this flaw within myself. Today was not the day.

We received an invitation in our room from the mangers inviting us to their cottage for cocktails that evening. What a nice surprise. We gussied ourselves up and walked down the hill to their beautiful place with an open air kitchen and yummy hors d'oeuvres. It was at this cocktail party where we met Sue and Tex, a lovely couple who also reside in Chicago! As luck would have it they had even seen Jürgen in Rabbit Hole at the Goodman Theatre. Amazing how you travel to a remote island only to meet your fellow neighbors. I promised them we would email....which I have yet to do, but I will as soon as I finish this entry! Shame on me.

That evening proved to be the least eventful dinner of our stay in PSV. We started with golden crusted chicken fingers and a green salad, Jürg had a baked stuffed lobster with lump crab meet and scallion butter sauce, and I had the St. Vincent curried conch stew which I ate three bites of.

Since today wasn't a super eventful day I wanted to take this time to share some of the beautiful photos Jürgen took throughout our stay at PSV. Sit back, relax, enjoy.

The hill near our cottage

The spot on the West end beach where you could order food...or.....
Have a Banana!


All kinds of interesting shrubbery


More photos to come!

Honeymoon Day 6: Climb Every Mountain...

PSV is meant to be an escape from the perils of daily life, a chance to recharge and reconnect. However there was a fitness trail on the island you could indulge yourself in if the grueling task of being in the prone position all day was too much for you. Did we ever do the fitness trail? Hell no.

However we had decided to partake in some activity today and decided that after lunch we would hike to the very top of the "mountain" on PSV. It's really just a big hill, but it sounds far more impressive to call it a mountain. I have no recollection of how it high actually was, a fact which would either have served to impress you more or perhaps less. oh well.

Lunch today was done differently as it was one of the two outdoor Barbeque's thrown each week. Set near the island's solar stills it's a lovely setup for a very classy (and of course yummy) BBQ.



We feasted on shrimp, polenta, lots of fruits and veggies, cookies and rum punch. It was a great way to shake up lunch for sure.

Not a bad view while you dine...

After we stuffed ourselves we figured now would be the perfect time for our hike! What better chance than when you are at the height of fullness and the height of the sun's power? We shunned any disparaging words and took off.

In truth it wasn't bad. It took about twenty minutes to make it to the top and another twenty to get down. Here are some photos from the journey.

That's our cottage!

That's our cottage again...only smaller.
All smiles at the top

A spot to rest your tired feet....but there is no rest for the weary here!

Too bad the ocean isn't blue....

After our expedition I retired to my West End hammock for some reading in the shade while Jürgen undertook the Herculean task of kayaking around the island. I was deep into book when I heard a faint yell, I turned and this is what beheld my eyes....
Look Ma! No Hands!

He made it all the way around! Not without much burning from the SPF but it was a noble feat. I never attempted this, nor do I feel bad about it.

After our afternoon tea and games we decided to allow ourselves the opportunity to grab a pre dinner cocktail in the pavilion.

That night we feasted on Escargot, Veal Chop, Barracuda with an orange butter sauce, and a dessert which I cannot recall anymore, however I am sure it was lovely.
mmmmm....snails and butter.....

Honeymoon Day 5: We Have To Move The Island

(anyone know what I am referencing?)

Instead of the usual lounge routine, this morning started off with an ambitious attempt to Kayak around PSV. We were doing pretty well for a bit but, but when we hit the Northern tip of the island we began fighting with the current and realized pretty quickly we were going to lose. Plus, our attempts to shield the sun's harmful rays left us with sunblock filled eyes, which was less than pleasant. I am happy to report that we made it back safe and sound.

(Photo taken before our expedition)

We were super excited about our adventure for the day, which would be a trip out to an even smaller island for a picnic lunch and some well suited waters for snorkeling. We took a small speedboat out about 2 miles to a small sandbar with a lone tiki umbrella and there we were left to our own devices for two hours.



The first setback: The wind. The PSV winds are nothing like the biting, knock you down, make you want to cry, winds of Chicago. No, they are warm and comforting. However when you find yourself on an island made entirely of sand, that causes a bit of a problem. We sat with out back to the wind as we quickly inhaled our picnic lunch , and kept our eyes down. Snorkeling provided a much needed escape from the sandy stingers flying at your face.

As these were uncharted waters for us, we saw many lovely fish of all sizes and colors, which kept us busy for quite sometime. Snorkeling is very calming and voyeuristic in a way. You get to spy into a window of a world different from your own. I loved the feeling of the water running over my back, and the waves pushing me back and forth. We snorkeled, a lot.

After an hour or so we decided it was time to simply swim, we we had seen all we needed to see. As we waded in the water we noticed, in the distance, a large yacht circling our island. It was full of people and we assumed they were on some kind of tour. However the massive creature soon came to a halt and began unloading passengers onto a small, inflatable dingy. This dingy was headed right towards us, and we quickly realized our tiny spec of an island had been invaded by "the others."

Within twenty minutes the island went from looking like this:



To this:

(let's play "Where's Waldo?"...just with me instead of waldo.)

Sadly there was no way to "radio" the homeland, so we were stuck for another hour just waiting surrounded by Ukrainians and Frenchmen in tiny Speedo's. Good times.

Upon our return home we cleaned up and decided to try our hand at tennis. Which lasted for all of fifteen minutes, because....well....we suck.



That evening we had dinner in our cottage and feasted on Pork Shortribs, Callaloo Soup (full of local fish and ingredients), Lobster Tail, Mahi Mahi, Banana's Foster (not so great) and Mint Chocolate Mousse. Not a bad way to end the day.