The next day we went to Coki beach. Some ships must have been in because it was a little crowded, but not too bad. Pauline and her daughter were meeting us there and were already there when we arrived. Pauline had arranged 2 beach chairs and an umbrella for us moms. We bought dog biscuits from the scuba lady so the girls could feed the fish, which kept them busy for a couple of hours. Coki is the best beach for shallow-water fish observation (for kid who can’t yet snorkel or are just learning). Literally, hundreds of fish will come around you in the shallow water if you have food. Dex joined us at Coki for a lunchtime swim (he was working this day).

Man, there is more entrepreneurship on Coki than on any other beache – guys hustling like waiters, going back and forth to bring you food and drinks from the food stalls/trucks. They work for tips and it seems that they get a “local price” on the food and drink. Pauline ordered her food directly from the stall and I ordered mine from the beach “waiter” and mine was cheaper for the same thing. However, some of the waiters were sooooo slow.

At one point, I found my waiter sitting under a tree, so I went to get my own food, which was ready and waiting at the stall. No problem, my beach chair was 10 steps from the stall anyway. The Rasta waiter with the really long dreads and the earring in his beard is the fastest and friendliest – so use him if you see him. I’m sorry I didn’t get his name. I ate saltfish pate’ (VERY good saltfish pate’ here!!) and my D had her favorite local food, Johnny Cake. All kids love Johnny cake (I did when I was a kid).

Anyway, there are also hair braiders on the beach, which my D decided to get done. She went to Sasha. Sasha has good prices for braids ($1 each)…I know they are normally $2 each. And Sasha will let you get just a few, if you want. She sits under the tree in front of the scuba rental stand.

There were also girls giving massages on the beach, people renting floats, Calypso music playing, John Thomas mixing his island smoothies in the first stand near Coral World (GO TO JOHN THOMAS!!! Soooo good and he is such a sweet guy). And, of course, if you want something a little more potent than John Thomas’ smoothies or the Heinekens from the Rasta with the ring in his beard, you can head to the other end of the beach and sample the smell of what grows in the hills. All of the tourists on this end of the beach seem extra content and relaxed 🙂 Coki is such a cool beach. IMO, the water here is the prettiest on the island – no matter which end of the beach you’re on 🙂

We left Coki at the end of the day and took a ride down to look for shells at John Brewers Bay. The sun was just starting to set. I don’t recall visiting this beach since I was a child living on the island, and I was surprised at how pretty it was. There were only a couple of locals on the beach. Parking and beach access is super-easy. We found lots of pretty shells and sea glass at the far right end where the coral is piled up. The access to the water is gradual and the water is calm and pretty. There isn’t much shade, unless you sit far back off of the water. It would be good to bring an umbrella here is you like shade. It was fun to watch a couple of planes land at the airport landing strip, which is very close to this beach. Small children would easily be entertained with the landing of all the planes in early afternoon.

As the sun set, we headed back to the villa to change for dinner. We made plans to meet Dex at Caribbean Saloon for dinner (in Red Hook, atop the American Yacht Harbor). We like this place for a change for the normal island style dining. It is more like a cross between a TGI Fridays and a trendy sports bar…and the food is always good. More good calamari…steak….fish. Reasonable prices.

The next day was Saturday and Dex was playing in a big golf tournament on the island (he is a total golf fanatic and plays at least 4 days a week), so Pauline, the kids and another friend of Pauline’s (who lives on the island) met at Megan’s Bay in the morning. We secured a good spot and hung out all day. At one point around 11am, a rain cloud passed over and lots of cruise ship people left the beach – applause. Megan’s was still very crowded that day (holiday weekend), but it was ok. The kids played together sooo well and gave Pauline and I time to read and lay around. Any parents know this is the PRIME goal for kids on the beach – friends to keep them busy.

I managed to read almost half of “A Trip to the Beach” – the true story about the Blanchard’s opening their restaurant on Anguilla. This is the second time I’ve read this book…it’s that good! I had a cooler full of Heineken and we found that the beach café at Megan’s makes the best Gyros. Megan’s was a total success. That was SUCH a great day.

At one point, I was horrified on Megan’s. I looked over toward Platform beach (small sand pocket between Little Megan’s and Sand Dollar Villa’s beach) and saw that someone or something had chopped a huge path of vegetation away from the hillside. What is going on? Someone told me that a villa is being built to the right of Platform beach and the builders did that chopping down the hillside. Wow. I love Platform beach and didn’t have the heart to go see what had been done to the hillside, so we skipped that beach on this trip. I was eyeing Villa Stargate from my vantage on Megan’s and hope I can check out that villa one day soon. There is also a HUGE new villa being built to the left of Little Megan’s. I wonder if they know what kind of show they’ll get to see on Little Megan’s (haa haa).

After a full day at Megan’s, we left and stopped at Sopchoppy’s for Pizza. Dex and I had plans to go to Havana Blue for dinner and my D was going to stay at home with Nanny Caroline from Nannie’s in Paradise (www.nanniesinparadise.com). My D had never stayed with a stranger before, so I wasn’t sure about how she would react to Caroline. But, Caroline was warm and immediately engaged my D in some games and they were busy playing when I left. Nannies in Paradise originally told me that the nanny was $15 per hour, but Caroline charged me $20/hr at the end of the night, so I don’t know which rate is accurate. My D was asleep in bed when I got back 5 hrs later, and seemed to have had a good experience with Caroline.

Back to the topic of Havana Blue……oh….oh…..you have GOT to try this place. The food is absolutely to die for. Unfortunately, my longstanding, perfectly-timed, sunset reservation for the beachfront rail went up in smoke because Dex was on island-time and was 45 mins late (golfing!). The restaurant made a big deal about us being late, was snotty about it, and sat us in the back of the restaurant with no view. Whatever, Havana Blue. I will forever hold you, too, to the highest standard of perfection. Anyway, the Mango Mojitos were excellent and the Miso Sea Bass was perfect. We also had some kind of crabmeat and avocado appetizer and the most delicious mango spring rolls for dessert. I cannot find one single complaint about the food. We would have lingered longer, but being seated at the back near the entrance wasn’t enticing in an open-air restaurant that faces the beach, so we decided to take the Shuttle up to the main Reef deck to sit out and watch the lights in the Charlotte Amalie Harbour and have Godiva Chocolatinis. Yeah, we were late, but was it bad enough to punish me by moving me from a first-class eat to the cargo hold? We were the only patrons in the “cargo hold” all evening, which we made note of….empty tables all around us, everyone else in the main dining area, where there were a couple of empty tables….and no “local” looking patrons in the place- anywhere – except Dex…until one other local couple showed up…and they were seated next to us. Hmmmmm….no accusations, just observations HB. Anyway, the food was good enough for me to return despite the cargo seating...and I'll show up early and get a table for one - on the rail - so there 🙂 (actually, Dex felt horrible, so he'll never be late again, I'm sure)