Sunday, August 28, 2011

A Very Expensive Day Of Laze

Today was one of our laziest vacation days other than the day after the hurricane when we stayed inside most of the day. We went to bed late, so slept late and then got up and had a leisurely breakfast. After breakfast, we lounged around the room watching news about Irene and what's happening in her path, and taking in a lot of the Kardashians (Ed was loudly grumbling about that).

Much later in the day, Ed decided to venture out for a walk on the beach (I didn't want to go) but instructed me to meet him at the restaurant across the street at the Grace Bay Club, in an hour for dinner. Orignally planning on the Grill Rouge, we decided instead on their other restaurant, Anacaona. Both restaurants were situated just beyond the beach, with ocean views.

The sun began to set as we looked over the menu.
We started with salads. I had a Mixed Green Salad with Baby Tomatoes, Pear and Bacon in a Warm Bacon Dressing. It was good, but pricey at $13.00.

Ed had the Arugula with Mandarin Sections, Pine Nuts and Parmesan Croutons with an Orange Viniagrette Dressing. It was also a good salad, but very tiny and again, priced steeply at at $14.00.
I shouldn't even be mentioning the prices here because I know my mother is going to read this post to my eighty-nine year old step-father, and upon hearing what we spent, he's going to go into cardiac arrest. Although, I happen to agree with him here - it's fucking salad. I know it has to be flown in, or however they get it here. But really? $14.00 for arugula and a few pine nuts? They didn't even use a whole mandarin orange - there were maybe five sections of it.

There's really no sense complaining because everything on the island is super expensive. And you just know that when you come here, but I think in the back of my head I was thinking maybe I'd find a great little restaurant that wasn't outrageous. That hasn't and will not happen.

For dinner, I had the Garlic-Chili Jumbo Prawns with Grilled Asparagus Spears and Potatoes. Again, it was delicious. But for what I paid for five NOT very jumbo shrimp, I could have fed my entire family this very meal. I had two baby carrots, two spears of asparagus and three slices of potato. It's not the amount of food, because it was quite satisfactory, I felt full when done, but it's the idea that it is such a small amount of food for such a large price. This meal (Mom - don't read him this part) was $46.00. God help me. It was a little too spicy for me, but delicious.

Ed had the Atlantic Sole with Fresh Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes and Melted Leek. I don't know exactly how you melt a leek, but it was freakin' delicious. The sauce was creamy and the fish was excellent. I thought the portion was perfect for him and he too was full when finished. This dish came in at $44.00.

We decided not to have dessert. I was thinking about having a cappuccino since they served illy, but I couldn't imagine it being better than what I had in Italy and I would have been annoyed if they screwed it up and did it island style. The desserts were also expensive ($11-$14) and nothing really thrilled me, so we left and planned on having a little sweet with a cup of tea later when we got back to the room.

The dinner, with beverages (no alcohol this time) and tip, came to $168.23; the serene beach setting, with the jazz playing in the background did not soften the blow.

For that amount, if I were doing what I might normally be doing on a day where I barely venture out into the world, I could have about thirty-seven lazy Sunday Starbucks lattes in Barnes & Noble.

Which I think is going to be my first stop when I go home, because I'm totally jonesin' for a magazine. But I might pass up Starbucks and go for a Dunkin' Donuts iced latte instead.

How do these islanders live without either of those things??


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO: A Little River On A Big Lake In The Middle Of A Floating Stage
2 YEARS AGO: Eddie The Cicada Whisperer Friday
3 YEARS AGO: Maybe We Should Sell Our Truck And Buy An Airboat
4 YEARS AGO: Me And My Man
5 YEARS AGO: If You’re Going To Rescue Me, Bring Sandwiches
6 YEARS AGO: Hurricane Equality

3 comments:

dixie said...

I'm glad you are mentioning the prices for meals! We are always on the lookout for some place to go,if and when we do. Ed's Dad is back at work so that means there's no telling when we can take a trip for even three days! What a lovely choice you made.

Tracey said...

Loving your trip report. I think island vacations are nice for about a week, after that I'm dying for Starbucks and a cheap diner somewhere!

Glad you all stayed safe during the hurricane.

Ms. Crawford said...

These pictures don't even look real, so amazing! I bet it was a great experience!