A Feast for the Senses

I am officially in paradise. This is the island of Mustique, a little mountainous plop of land where people go to disappear. It is made up of private villas, tucked away into the hillsides, and two boutique hotels, a beachfront bar (we're going tonight, details to follow), a few shops, and one of the world's top rated beaches (to which we have private access from a very long, steep stairway path).

I am here with 6 of my best college friends: Colleen, Crissy, Suzanne, Monica, Shari, and Lisa. Colleen's husband won this week in an auction and presented it to her as a gift for all of us to celebrate turning 50. We all flew into Barbados, met up and took a teeny, tiny prop plane on a 50 minute ride to Mustique. We were met at the airport by our driver, who took us up to the villa, White Cedars. Here's the entrance.

 

The house manager's name is Junior. He is also the chef. Junior was born and raised on the island of Bequia which is the next island over. He came to Mustique and worked in a few of the restaurants before he landed the job at White Cedars. He prepares 3 meals a day for us. When we arrived, we were presented with a beautiful dinner: Pumpkin soup with ginger and tamarind, Grilled Mahi with Lime, Rice Pilaf, Ratatouille, and Key Lime Pie for dessert. So simple. So wonderful...

I ate the pie before I could take a picture...sorry.

We went to bed early. It had a been a long day, and we all crashed. Poor Colleen came from London and was still on Europe time. No air conditioning, just island breezes...

 

Woke up Sunday morning and figured I'd take a run. Monica and Lisa decided to join me, even though they weren't really planning on running so far. We set out down the hill, no problem. Then the uphills began. Oh my. Long story short, we ended up walking, gasping up hills, stopping only to take pictures of turtles on the road, and beautiful houses. We made it back in time for a lovely breakfast of eggs, bacon, and local fruit. I discovered that I really do like papaya. All of the fruit we are eating comes from St. Vincent. It is wonderful. We then made our way down to Macaroni Beach and spent some time in the crystal blue water.

 

Junior took us on a field trip to the market to get provisions. The fish market was closed for Sunday, but we did some grocery shopping. I will take pictures later in the week when it is open.

 

Lunch. Oh my. How often do you get soufflé presented to you midday? Cheese and spinach soufflé and a wonderful tossed salad with cabbage, greens, tomatoes and avocado, with a grainy mustard vinaigrette. Junior is famous for these soufflés, and I will join the cheers for his culinary prowess.

A storm has blown in. We are relaxing and having some rum punch and chatting. We are having dinner this evening at Firefly, which is a Conde Nast 5 star rated restaurant and boutique hotel. I will take pictures. We'll get together again tomorrow.

 

Time to refresh my drink. Hope you all can share a bit in this vacation of a lifetime with me. Talk to you all later, folks.