car rental- island sightseeing

We rented a car and are getting a chance to see more this week.  The car that Budget delivered-a Hyundai Tucson in beige.

It may sound crazy, but it made me feel strangely happy to have the same car we drive at home, it was like seeing an old friend.  

The island loop is about 40 miles. The speed limit is 40 or less, (though locals drive it faster) so it takes a couple hours to go the full route.The road was built and paid for by the U.S. and is well made, except for 2 places where there are detours due to cave in. Rainfall is channeled off the road down culverts. I guess the road has only been here for less than 10 years. Gas is over $5 a gallon here.

The scenery is lushly green throughout. There are miles &  miles where giant Boston ferns spill from the sides of the road where the road has been carved through. Some areas appear to be wild, and some are cultivated. Colorful and floral plants have been planted along many spots. There are also some swampy mandrake areas. In more than a couple places, if your vehicle left the road, the car would be buried in a ravine of dense foliage, and they'd never find you.  The island's shoreline is visible in places, but for the most part you see foliage.

At nearly the halfway point of the drive, we took a 7 mile turn off to the North Beach cottages. E tells me this is where the survivor people stayed for a week after getting booted off the island.  It was a beautiful area. The grounds are nicely landscaped. There is an open air covered restaurant where you can get a meal. We had tempura veggies and I had a salad with grilled fish. There were 3 little one pounder kitties lying about on the cool tiles, grooming themselves.  There was a nice breeze wafting in, and I could smell the ocean.

  After lunch we went down to the shoreline and sat on benches under a canopy of foliage, drinking in the view of the waves breaking where the deep water spills out onto a large shallow area of shoreline, the tide was out and the wind was steady. It was wonderful just to sit and look out over the sea and the clouds. Two of the kitties came down to the shaded area to join me on the bench.  We'll definitely go back there again this week, next time with a book.

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Kramers. It is dockside in an area where large shipping vessels come and go and the dive boats pass through. We sat on their second floor patio, overlooking the sea. I had grilled fish on a foccacia roll. I guess locals hang out at the bar there, we were there early in the evening, and had the place to ourselves for most of the time.

we had been going online from an internet cafe last week, although there is wi fi at the motel, it isn't free. At first it was offered at $10 a day, but E worked out a "deal" to get wi fi for $100 for the rest of our stay, so he took it. I had a hard time with connectivity last night, hopefully my messages post today. E is much happier to have the connectivity from our room, and our own laptop.

I will miss the chocolate ice cream cones at the internet cafe. They were a splendid evening treat.

maybe some pictures in upcoming posts