A Positive Day

Here are some pics I took during this mornings dive at Navy Barges...

a very large French Angel Fish...

below is a Sand Diver...

hard to see, but there is a little Arrow Crab in this pic...

the most exciting part was when this Hawksbill Turtle came swimming by...

as you can see, the other divers were just as excited...

the dive master estimated it was three years old...

and off it went...buh bye!!!

the Mr. took this if me sitting on the bottom waiting for the rest of the divers...

tons of pics were taken (using an Olympus TG-4), but the majority didn't come out. Trust me when I say everything looked a lot brighter and more colorful than the above pics depict.

lunch was a Veggie Burrito at Greengo's...

Adorable baby pigs walking down the road this afternoon. Bye for now.

Foul Food But Fine Fauna

I read that the Mangrove Cafe at Sugar Bay Resort had a Salad Bar, so yesterday the usual lunch at De Coal Pot was sacrificed for a new experience. The Salad Bar is $10 for AYCE, but I only ate this much. It was okay...

however, I also opted for the Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce $12. I figured, 'How bad could Tomato Sauce be? It must be somewhat decent'. Prison food is probably better. I am just posting it here to get it out of my photo album so I dont have to look at it again. And, yes, I ate it all. Gnarly.

what saved the day was the little wildlife oasis next to the restaurant...

Amongst the assembled beauties were a Small Blue Heron...

several Common Moorhens...

a Laughing Gull...

White Cheek Pintail Ducks...

and quite a few Iguanas...

the resort has an impressive pool set up. People were playing a very serious game of volleyball...

and sitting at the swim-up bar. Reminded me I need to have more fun in my life...

sort of a waterfall...

a grotto area for romantic trysting...

spying on the bar from the grotto...

Cardinal Flowers...

So there was some bad, but mostly good. Bye for now.

Cafe Amici

This is a fantastic open air restaurant in Charlotte Amalie...

the Pasta is fresh, so that is off limits, but I love their Vegetable Soup $9...

Hot Bread with EVOO $5....

and feta-less Greek Salad $15. Okay, so maybe the Salad is a bit of a rip off, but the service and atmosphere make up for it...

below is another delightful fountain a couple passageways from Cafe Amici....

these flowers were blooming outside of town, I thought would add a little brightness here...

Much more to come. Bye for now.

Randomness Redux

Not enough stuff to build a themed post so here is some randomness...

the Blackened Tofu Sandwich carried out from Virgilio's. Phenomenal.

these Malibu Gardenburgers were new to me. I didnt buy them because they were $18.99 (but mostly because I prefer Soy-based Burgers). There is an article in today's St. Thomas Source that mentions 'dumping' 'inferior' or 'outdated' products from the mainland down here. I was a Big Lots fan so this is not a negative for me...

another example of this situation are some Abe's Mini-Muffins I found recently....

they are excellent, but will I ever see them again? My hopes arent high on that one...

an open container of alcohol is legal here, but this is a cute idea for another beach trip...

Thumper trying to get some shut eye while the sun is still out...

Bougainvillea. Bye for now.

Not So Busy Weekend

I was hoping to do a big Mother's Day Weekend post, but things sort of fizzled out halfway through. Started out strong with my favorite breakfast at Gladys'...

the requisite Grits...

Usually on Saturday's I stock up on my kitty litter for the week. The Island supply seems to be dwindling, I think most cat owners use sand from the beach. The first place I go to look for it is Peublo...

They had this Mother's Day display which I thought was lots of good ideas, plus I was able to score four 10 pound bags of Tidy Cat...

lunch was my favorite 'Veggie Delight' at De Coal Pot...

made a Salad at The Fruit Bowl for dinner. I finally sprung for the FYH Ranch Dressing and it is just as great as VP says...

one thing I've noticed at The Fruit Bowl Salad Bar is that every time I am behind a 'local', they always sprinkle lots of Cayenne Pepper on top of their Salad once it is assembled and dressed. I have never seen that before...

Dessert was part of this Jamaican Style Country Fruit Bun...

Cant tell from lookin, but heated up in the toaster oven with some veggie cream cheese, it was quite tasty. Very Gingery....

Today was not a good food day, so here are some other stands alongside the highway selling Mother's Day gifts...

I hope the recipients of these were pleased.

Lots more to come. Bye for now.

More Salads

Who knew I would find so many great Salads down here? Including, the 'House Salad' $11.95 at Caribbean Saloon. Surprisngly fresh for a very non-vegan place...

The 'Kale Salad' $13.95 at Cruzan Beach Club. Kale, Mango, Grape Tomatoes, Curried Pepitas and Toasted Coconut with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette. This one was okay, a lot of work to eat, but I eventually accomplished it. Doubt I would order it again though...

The 'Island Mixed Greens' $12 at The Twisted Cork. Tropical Fruit, Hearts of Palm, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Sprouts, Rum Chipotle Candied Cashews and Passion Fruit Vinaigrette. The Candied Cashews were made with just Brown Sugar and Rum, no butter. A delightful Salad, I look forward to having again. Probably with a side order of bread, cuz it was very light and practically floated off the plate...

and finally, the best of all, the feta-less 'Greek Salad' $9.95 carried out from Virgilio's. The non-traditonal appearance surprised me, but one mouthful and I was in Chopped Salad heaven. Will be ordering this at least weekly...

it came with Garlic Bread which I dont know is vegan or not, so the Chickens were in Garlic Bread heaven...

As usual, I did nothing to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, but I believe that Ingrid explained last year, that it really isnt the Mexican Independence Day or something, so I dont feel so bad. Bye for now.