Future Fossils – Seashells by the Seashore
As we wade into Thanksgiving, the menu is set and our guests are schedule to arrive. Some grocery shopping still remains, but that can wait until an off-peak hour. Our guests will have to battle not one or two, but three winter storms to get here and once home, a rainy wet weekend will greet them. A triathlon of cooking awaits us and is sure to test both our culinary skills and physical endurance. Anne and I are both looking forward to this holiday with the kids.
We went out to dinner last night. Mayo Ketchup is a new restaurant, located off of Lafayette Square. It got a big write-up in the paper, which is what attracted us. It features Caribbean cuisine, in particular a mix from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. This fast-casual restaurant gets its name from the place’s go to condiment. Squeeze bottles of a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise adorn all the tables and comes in regular and spicy varieties. I got the reporter’s favorite, a roasted pork bowl. While, Anne had a chicken bowl. Anne was able to talk food with the hostess and recounted some of Harry’s Puerto Rican dishes, which seemed to impress her.
As they say, “winter is coming.” I don’t know what came first, the chicken or the egg or in this case Mayo Ketchup or our next snowbird getaway. I spent most of the day surfing for winter beach vacations and just barely avoided all of those dog surfing videos. We finally hit upon St. John in the American Virgin Islands. I booked flights and an Air B&B in Cruz Bay, the island’s main port. This will be the third year in a row that we have headed south. Unlike the past two trips, on this one we won’t be driving. In the first summer of my retirement, we tested international travel, by driving to Quebec City, the most European city in North America. Since that went well, the plan here is somewhat similar. Being a US territory, St. John is technically not international. No passport is required, but since they drive on the wrong side of the road, it should still have that vibe. It seemed like a good place to get our feet wet, sorta speak.
We’ll fly into the neighboring island of St. Thomas, taxi across it and then ferry to Cruz Bay. Most of St. John is a National Park, on land originally purchased by the Rockefellers. It is less crowded and less touristy than its bigger neighbor. There are plenty of fine beaches, coral reefs and tropical nature around to see. We’ll likely walk, taxi or take the bus to get around. There are still lingering effects from 2017’s Hurricane Irma and crime is an issue on the islands, but we’ll do our best, not to suffer Death in Paradise. Apparently there is more truth to that show’s murder rate than you might believe. We’re trying to see as much of the world as we can, before our final fossilization.