Awe and Splendor: a Trip Report

[nicole.edith]

After much deliberation over the menu, we placed our orders and enjoyed just being. Being there, being warm, being loose and free. There was a table near ours with some women and rasta who were having a mixed conversation of Patois, French (I believe) and English and I let the language, the words, the enjoyment wash over me. I love language and communication and even though I wasn't paying much attention to what was actually being said, the mix of sounds, words, and accents sealed the deal for me of this international adventure.

Our soups arrived and all I can say is wow. Xtabi’s pumpkin soup is most definitely a must try if it’s available. Within a few minutes of our soup being finished our meals arrived. Here I’ll say what fantastic service we received at Xtabi – it was slow due to low season, but we were still treated very well and not in a clingy, annoying manner; we were always pleased with, in particular, the timing of our orders being placed and the food being presented. We have both been servers in our past lives, and timing is often the problem in service, but they had it down. We were never left for want of more water, fresh drinks, etc. I ordered the grilled veggie platter. Our meals were exceptional – well cooked, flavorful, and relatively reasonably priced for the setting, the service, and the quality of the food.

We did not realize that this trip would eventually become so much about the food – finding it, eating it, raving about the flavors, the healthful aspects, and so on and so forth. Our beach vacation quickly turned into a cliff-dwelling foodie getaway. And I was in no way disappointed!

We finished our leisurely meal, and had a few more drinks before heading back to our room where we had more drinks and prepared for the next day. We got all of our St. Anthony’s donations together, packed our beach bags, and finally hit the hay around 11:30, after basking in our self-congratulatory glow on our porch for a while more.

The next morning we awoke early, but an hour earlier than we thought due to the stewardess telling us the wrong time after we landed and our phones somehow not adjusting to the appropriate time – this ended up being a blessing since our feet hit the sand on the beach nice and early, so early that few were out and we could truly walk without much action from the beach boys (still some, of course!), and we could watch the beach awaken to the day.

Next up: our first route taxi experience, St. Anthony’s (short and sweet visit!) and how we managed to make it through the craft market to the beach without buying anything – amazing!