I was up again before 6:30 and out on the balcony, coffee in hand, again this morning. I really enjoy my morning quiet time, and do the same thing at home when I get the chance. What makes a vacation for me is having my time accompanied by a gorgeous view, and not having to follow it with a trip to work. Ahhhhh....

One difference between my mornings on the balcony at Concordia and this one on the villa balcony is the type of sounds I listened to. At Concordia I heard the surf from Drunk bay along with a variety of different bird sounds - VERY peaceful. At the Westin villa I heard a few birds, though not as many as at Concordia, along with the sound of an occasional car driving along the South Shore road. In addition to the sounds, you cannot beat Concordia's view. The Westin villa's view & sounds were not bad at all, just a bit different, and still very nice.

Hubby was still sleeping, so I decided to attend 9:30 mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church in Cruz Bay. I arrived in town a few minutes early in case parking was an issue (it wasn't), so I was about 15 minutes early for mass (somehow that never happens at home). The church building is referred to as the "new church", as construction was completed late last year. It is a small, but very pretty church located where the old church once stood (adjacent to Raintree Court). One of my first observations upon entering was the a lovely mural on the wall behind the altar which is made to appear as though you're gazing through archways from a balcony overlooking the water. Very nice! My next observation was that many of the congregation were quite formally dressed - much more so than I usually see at home; I would compare it to Easter Sunday dress. I hadn't brought anything quite that formal with me (I wore capris and a blouse), but there were others in the same boat as I was, so I didn't feel out of place either. Another observation - 9:30 mass is videotaped and televised. Wouldn't you know I had chosen to sit on the center aisle where I would be within at close range of the camera (which was already taping by the time I noticed - too late to change seats without being caught on tape!).

As Mass began, Fr. Crespo announced that this was the patronal feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel and that they had a special celebration planned; we should get comfortable because we wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile. They began with the Rosary (okay, I admit, it had been awhile for me), then hymns (the choir, complete with steel drums, bongos, and a tambourine, is small but excellent!), and finally Mass at about 10:00. Music is very much a part of Sunday celebration in this parish. The choir, and well as many of the parishoners, are very spiritual - they sang their hearts out, clapped, and moved to the music - I found it to be very inspirational and joined in as best I could considering I didn't know all the hymns. After Mass (~11:30) a reception luncheon, to which we all were invited, was planned. The parishoners appear to be a very close-knit group - I think Sunday at church is an all day affair for many. It was heart-warming to see. I left OLMC church very glad that I had attended.

When I returned to the villa (where hubby was wondering where on earth I had been for over two hours), I changed, then we left to meet Rod and Amy at Maho. We found a car-sized hidey-hole along the road to park in, and found them on the beach. Amy had made about a dozen sandwiches, and packed drinks and snacks for the four of us, so we were set for the afternoon.

After liming a bit, we decided to snorkel. The snorkeling was better than Salt Pond bay had been the day before. Visibility was quite good (although still not as crystal clear as I've seen in the past). One noticeable difference this time were the thermoclines we passed through as swam along the rights side of the beach toward the point - it was almost chilly in some spots, and very warm in others. Perhaps a result of recent rain showers?

We packed up around 3:00 and headed back to town to pick up something to make for dinner. The mahi mahi looked super-fresh and at $12.99/lb was by far the least expensive fish available at Starfish. We also bought summer squash, yellow rice, a lime, shallots, fresh ginger, and a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz (can't for the life of me remember how much this set us back).

We prepared the mahi for grilling with the lime (both juice and zest), minced shallots, and minced ginger; sauteed the squash (also with shallots), and cooked the rice. Rod and Amy came over with another bottle of red wine (you can never have too much, can you?) which the girls sipped while the guys grilled (way to go, eh? :)). Dinner was as good as any we could have had out, and clean up was minimal (in addition to having a well equipped kitchen, villa had a dishwasher!). After dinner, we took a quick dip in the pool before retiring at ~10:30. Even cooking dinner is fun in paradise.