Monday, August 29, 2011

A Brilliant Island Adventure

Today Ed and I decided to explore another part of Providenciales; we headed out to the western side of the island because we heard about a beach over there that was secluded and had good snorkeling. In this area, the paved roads eventually end and you wind up on secondary roads, most carved right through the limestone. Hard-packed, with tons of rocks and potholes, they're pretty unsettling to drive. We got about four miles in on this road when we hit water - it was completely flooded from the storm. We were going to have to find another way to the beach. The second road we took was through a national park, all sand, one lane. As we got closer to the beach, the sand was getting deeper and I was getting more nervous. We were in the middle of nowhere, not a soul in sight, miles from the main road. I didn't really want to go much further because I remembered the night we got the truck stuck in the sand on South Padre Island in Texas. Along the way, as we got further in, we saw the signs below. These guys are brilliant. And probably get a mint to haul adventurers out of the sand. At one point, I asked Ed not to continue, but in true guy fashion, he said, "It's fine."

Not a minute later, we were stuck in the sand.

I started to cry.

I was so frustrated that he didn't listen to me, that we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, and that we'd likely have to pay a hefty amount to get towed out. Not to mention the fact that we were at least half a mile from that sign, so someone (Ed) would have to go back and get the phone number to call and get us out.


Ed was annoyed that I was so upset. He thought it was an "adventure" and said I was overreacting. He said that "anyone else" would have thought it was fun. I told him that I didn't know ANYONE who would think being stuck in the sand, in the middle of nowhere, on a blazing fucking hot day was
fun. There is not one woman I know who wouldn't be annoyed at her husband/boyfriend/significant for continuing on when good sense said to stop.

Ed's lucky that he's not dating some 115-pound delicate flower because I was the one who pushed the car out of the sand while he worked the gas pedal. He knows more about how to get a vehicle out of sand and mud (and 
snow), but I knew I could put my brute force against the front bumper and do my best to push us out. I was not happy at all to be heaving and hoeing in the blistering heat, but I wanted to get the hell out of there and back to civilization (if you can call it that) as soon as possible.

The idea of continuing on had lost all its appeal. Once we were out, I strongly suggested we go somewhere else. We ended up at another snorkeling spot we knew about; Sopadilla Bay.
It's a beautiful spot and the water is actually turquoise, but unfortunately, the water was super cloudy and we couldn't see a thing. So we scrapped that spot and headed back over to Smith's Cove, where we found the conch the other day. It turned out to be great - the water was incredibly clear and we stayed for several hours.

I found a few more shells and Ed found a starfish! It's totally awesome and yes, we are taking it home. Right now, as it's dying on the patio, it smells like a dead body. I'm not really sure what we're going to do about that, but we'll leave it there to dry out, and then when we leave, I'll wrap it in plastic bags.
We also found this little snail but threw him back into the water. The shell wasn't beautiful enough to take, and he was trying to get out, so we let him go. You can see him in action here:
After our snorkel, we hit the Greenbean Cafe for an iced latte and a muffin. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. The muffins were good, but the coffee was not. I loved the shop though - it was decorated in a very island style and had a beautiful outdoor patio. We eventually made it back to our room to peel our bathing suits off, check our underwater creature haul, and take showers. Ed took a quick dip in the hot tub while I went straight into the shower.

Just as I got out of the shower, there was a knock on the door. I thought it was Ed, but it turned out to be Chris, one-half of the British couple we met in the pool last week.
When I opened the door he asked us if we wanted to join them for dinner, they were leaving tomorrow and wanted to spend the last night with us. I was beyond thrilled because in addition to our shared love of Karl Pilkington, they were an interesting, intelligent couple and I loved the idea that they were from England.

Sarah was originally from
Reading, and Chris came from a town nearby (I forgot to ask). Actually, maybe they still live in Reading now...I can't remember...but whatever, doesn't matter. They were awesome. They told us a lot about their life, friends, and family. Chris is a die-hard soccer fan (over there they call it football) and they're both teachers. I had wanted to do dinner with them earlier in the week but Ed kept saying, "They don't want to talk to us - they're here on their honeymoon." I disagreed, but I didn't pursue them, figuring they'd want to enjoy their vacation. We had dinner at the Tiki Hut, which was fantastic. Ed had a porkchop that was amazing and I had ribs that were so fall-off-the-bone, I thought I was somewhere in the South. I think they might even beat out my favorite place for ribs; the Alien Grill in Fargo, North Dakota.

We kept them up as late even though they had an early flight out to Miami, and exchanged email and Facebook information to keep in touch. They started their trip in Las Vegas, then came here to relax a bit and next were planning to spend time in New York. Because of the hurricane, they couldn't leave the island, which sort of screwed up their plans to spend time in New York. Now they will just be flying out, connecting in Miami, and heading back to London straight away.
They were disappointed about losing their time in New York but said that it gives them a good reason to come back.

We'd love for them to get in touch and we told them we could be anywhere in the country, just let us know in advance and we'd meet them for dinner. They said they'd definitely do just that.
And now I know who to contact when I get to England.  I'll need a tour guide and possibly a translator for all the British slang; quid, slag someone off, bollocks, brassed off, knob, and whinge to name just a few. Although, I have already learned a lot from Ricky, Stephen, and Karl.

Great adventure. Great snorkeling. Great food. Great people.
I couldn't ask for more.

Cheers!



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 YEAR AGO: It’s Getting So Much Easier These Days To Spot The Idiots
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3 YEARS AGO: Eddie Mad Hatter Friday
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1 comment:

Marlaina said...

Tears were running down my face as I read this, from knowing laughter. The classic male/ female divide. My husband did this to me somewhere in Connecticut, up a mountain road, because it was there, a tow truck was involved. Not only is it never an adventure while it is happening. It is often not an adventure after it happened. Ed is darn lucky!