I wake up early anyway, but since our villa captures both sunrise and sunsets, I don't want to miss any of them. The rooster begins to crow just before sunrise, fortunately he's on Maria Bluff which is some distance away , but he does get the other birds going. After the sun rises I start the coffee, and turn on the TV to check on the progress of tropical storm Emily which has now turned into a full fledged hurricane. Locals in the islands, when a hurricane is brewing take it obviously very seriously. But the weather people go absolutely NUTS.

Our villa had 4 "garden showers". I basically understood the concept of a garden shower, but the experience was way better. Two of our showers were on either side of the villa, nicely surrounded by beautiful plantings, but two were on the decks on the west side of the house. There was a privacy screen on either side, one to hide you from your neighbors, and the other to hide you from others sitting on the decks. But the front was exposed to the entire Pillsbury Sound and the Caribbean Sea!

We later learned from reading the guest book that "yes...they can see you from passing boats!" There is a fair amount of boat traffic in front of our villa, so I warned family to keep the door to the second bedroom unlocked just in case. Me, I'm not a nudist or flasher but I frankly have bigger things to worry about. If someone wants to gawk at a slightly out of shape 49 yr. old guy...knock yerself out. During the entire trip I never saw anyone even look in our direction. While taking my shower this particular morning, after rinsing off what hair I have left, I reached up and turned off the shower...and it didn't seem to turn off. When I opened my eyes, the shower had turned off, but it had started to rain and it had the exact same sound as the shower. Words don't convey how cool this was, but it was a really neat sensation!

I went and got my coffee, and started flipping through the villa rental company binder, that had all sorts of information on restaurants, activities etc.. Hippolotta came out and joined me. The TV was still on, and they were still talking about Hurricane Emily. This got Hippolotta's attention, just as I turned the page in the binder that was titled "Hurricanes Happen". A very important tip to all you husbands out there....If you are married to a slightly over-protective mother (like I am!), DO NOT LET HER READ THIS!!!! It had quite a bit of useful information but in the intrest of time I will paraphrase.(At least this is what Hippolotta read) "In the event of an evacuation of the island due to a hurricane we will assist our guests to the extent we can. You will be leaving your villa, as we will be busy boarding up our villas. The weather will be apocolyptically awful, and since we will be very busy your a*% is on your own!!" This was Monday...Hippolotta would not unpack until Friday!

Hippolita and I go to Surf da Web, so she can IM (AOL's instant messaging) her friends. I try to get my key fob thing to work on this try. We had to download a software program and a few other things, no problems after that. Grabbed some bagels at Baked in the Sun upstairs at the Market Place, and headed back to the villa. While we were eating on the deck our feathered friends start showing up. First the bananaquits,

for the sugar water, then the pearly eyed thrushs (locally refered to as flying rats)!

then the antillian bullfinchs,

then the gulls. Particularly this one, who for obvious reasons we named Stubby!

Everytime he landed on the railing it was an adventure for him, as in his mind his missing leg was still there, and it was like teeter this way, totter that way, and finally he'd balance himself on his one good leg.

We started to go to Gibney/Oppenhiemer, but there was a big local party going on with lots of kids, so we opted for Hawksnest. It was a little more crowded than I was used to but nothing like Trunk w/ one ship in. The neat sheet is such a simple useful thing! There is a huge coral formation very close to shore, mostly dead, but with a surprisingly large amount of fish. Hippolittle, who has a very adventurous spirit swims over to Gibney, and imediately makes friends with several of the local boys, and I ultimately have to retrieve him in the car. By the time I get there he is swimming back. We return to our villa and lounge about in the pool.

Hippolotta lounging!

Dinner tonight is steaks on the grill, salad, and french fries (All from Starfish).

Note the Grill Seat!

Not the greatest cut of beef, but Cruz Bay Grill Rub from St. John Spice can make cardboard taste good. (more on this later) Here is a villa hint. When you first get to your villa open and check all the cabinets. Previous guests leave some food and liquor for following guests. I didn't find mine until the fourth day. I had a collection of liquor that the Beach Bar couldn't match! So tonight it was chambord with the cigar on the deck, with the duet of the I Pod and stereo playing in the background!

More to come!