There was a celebration happening later in the day on the 10th in Soufrière. We had learned that the day before from our friendly waiter. What we didn’t know is that it would impact our ability to eat breakfast in the town. After trying about five places, a super helpful and smiley woman recommended Seashell Beach Restaurant on the other side of town. It is a resort restaurant, so of course it would be open.
On our way to try to find food (before we were told about Seashell):
They had just finished serving breakfast when we arrived, but she told us that we could still order an omelet or scrambled eggs. Michael had the former and I had the latter. The view from the restaurant was great, and we ended up being really glad that the others were closed.
We had two items on the agenda today. We originally had three. I’d wanted to hike Gros Piton, but it was something like 86 degrees and mostly sunny. Oh, and it is a strenuous and uber steep four-hour round trip climb. I don’t tolerate the heat like I used to and I was pretty sure I would be miserable. So, I skipped that.
We both walked the easy Tet Paul Nature Trail, which remained on the agenda. Tet Paul Nature Trail is a 0.6-mile loop trail near the town of Soufrière. It is generally considered a moderately challenging route. It is a popular trail for hiking, running, and walking. It also provides spectacular views of the Pitons.
There were no guides available when we arrived but we told the gentleman that we were fine walking it by ourselves. We strolled, took a lot of pictures, oohed and aahed a lot, and even stopped for about 30 minutes to chat with another couple while we drank a cold beer. In other words, we took our time and enjoyed ourselves and the views.
There were three structures. The first was The Antique House. This traditional house was built after the abolition of slavery in 1833. The house demonstrates how farmers lived after slavery was abolished.
We saw some Red-Hot Cat Tails! It was fun to know what they were called now. 🙂
The next structure was the wedding gazebo. Um, yeah, a nice place for a wedding! What a view!
That is one of the Pitons in the distance.
This is the other Piton:
Tell Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones (who are all still alive as I write this) that we found the Stairway to Heaven.
And why is it called the stairway to heaven? Because this is what you see when you get to the top!
We enjoyed watching these adorable kittens play. Be still my heart!
We bought our beer here, at the third structure (which is also where the previous pictures were taken):
And we were on our way back!
The third thing on our agenda turned out to be a bust. Unfortunately, we’d already purchased tickets to the “Drive in Volcano and Sulphur Baths.” They turned out to be small and crowded. We looked at them, turned around, and went back to the car. And then we drove home.
We enjoyed our three days visiting the interior. It is a beautiful island indeed, covered in a lush rainforest.
We were happy to be back at Rodney Bay Marina as well. This is a nice area with several good places to eat. Here are a few pictures from some of the walks I’ve taken.
I stopped to quench my thirst at this outdoor bar one time. I was surprised to see a TV and even more surprised to see that they were airing a US college football game. Texas was beating Arizona, in case you care. 😉
It is always fun to look at the boats around you. This one was right behind us in the marina for several days:
This is a very active marina, with boats coming and going every day. The World ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) left from here on January 13th to embark on their 14-month journey around the world. There were 32 boats in the World ARC. We thought there would be open berths in the marina for some time but they all filled up the next day, I think!
One more thing: we met a lovely couple (and two of their children who were visiting them at the time) on Dec. 26 or 27, when we were moored outside of Soufrière. Here’s how: On my way to pick up Michael in the dinghy, I noticed a catamaran flying a US flag. I passed a little closer and saw that its home port was Utah and its name was Wingo.
I told Michael about Wingo and he suggested we stop and visit. So we did! They (Cathie and Greg – I don’t remember the names of their children) graciously invited us on board and we had a lovely chat.
Fast forward to Rodney Bay: Cathie and Greg are here and their boat is on the hard in the boatyard. They invited us to dinner one night but we already had plans. Happily, we ended up going out to dinner with them last night (the 16th) at Chef Robby’s and had a fantastic time. . . and spectacular food!
We started with a “10 seafood sampler.” There were, in fact, 10 different types of seafood to sample. We cut each one into four quite small pieces. Personally, I would say that it is some of the most interesting fish I’ve ever eaten. And I mean “interesting” in a really good way! New and different flavors. And it was the first time I’ve eaten flying fish (actually that was a first for all four of us, as I recall). We all kept the seafood theme going with our entrees. Boy was it fun!
Our waitress was a delight and had a 1000 watt smile.
After all of this talk about how great it was, I am sad to report that I forgot to take pictures. I think we will need to go back. Actually, I am certain of it!
I will end this post with a picture of the pretty flowers I see every time I go to the grocery store or on a run or to KFC . . . (yes, we have purchased chicken there):
