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Snoozed through our alarms this morning, Heather, "because it was too cold to get out of bed", me, "because Milan and I were up half the night while you slept babe". Arrived to breakfast at 9:45 to find them out of pancake/waffle mix at that station, and out of eggs at the omelet station. A quick talk to the manager had them grabbing eggs from the other kitchen onsite and making more mix, both stations up and running in 5 minutes. Yesterday I thought the 11am pickup for the free beach shuttle was pretty late in the morning, today I'm thinking its right on time!
The entrance to the beach is down a rather shabby-looking side street complete with over-full trash cans, pot-hounds, and stray cats. Heather looks at me doubtfully (most of the frontage is controlled by hotels and access is restricted), but all doubt is immediately erased as she steps out of the van and catches her first glimpse of the sugar white sand and turquoise water...a smile spreads from ear to ear... "Oh my God, this beach is amazing!"...mission accomplished!
Grand Anse Beach consistently ranks in the top 50 beaches in the world, but something unique to it that I haven't seen on any other, is a row of wild growing almond trees where you'd normally expect to see palm trees. They are the perfect beach tree; they have large leaves with a thick canopy and the first branches start about 6' off the ground, providing the perfect shady spot for a day at the beach. Come early to the claim your own, and even then, be prepared to share with other people unless you're in a large group; there's plenty of shade for about 8 people. Grenadians live up to their reputation of being friendly, they think nothing of posting up 2' from you under your shade tree and striking up a conversation.
The sand gets progressively hotter as the day goes on, it's about 12 steps before you're second guessing why you didn't put your sandals on; the water though...oh man! it's the perfect cool temperature to counteract the hot sand and even hotter sun! Better yet, the biggest wave on this beach during normal weather is about 4" tall...it's so smooth that they have wakeboarding a little further down. Maclaren of course finds some local kids (8,12, and 14) and quickly makes friends with them and entertains them for the next 2 hours with her "diving" antics. (by the end of the day, Heather and I thought about paying the 14 year for babysitting)
There's a famous beach bar called Umbrella's near our almond tree campsite, so it doesn't take me long to order up a Carib on draft and a strawberry daiquiri for Heather. The drinks are good, but the cheeseburger we split for lunch was AWESOME!
The rest of the day consisted of lazily floating in the refreshingly cool water, playing in the sand, and re-applying sunscreen to everyone...the sun is brutal!
The hotel shuttle picked us up at 3:30 and we headed back to the hotel to clean-up and nap. Both kids quickly passed out and I went to the front desk to find the onsite nanny to come watch the kids so Heather and I could slip out for a little alone time. She wasn't available, but the Conceirge Manager stepped in, and Heather and I slipped out the back gate for a little walk-about. Unfortunately, there aren't any hidden gems in the area, there are only a couple dozen beaches on the whole island, most of the coastline is volcanic rock right to the water. After catching a rum & coke at the bar, we head back to the room and thank the manager for the 1 hour hall-pass.
Fancy dinner tonight at La Luna Resort; taxi rides in this country are far too expensive, $20usd standard flat rate to go anywhere in the parish...so a 9 minute ride to dinner cost us the same as a 25 minute drive from the center of town to our hotel. As we walk up to the restaurant at La Luna, the receptionist gives us a sidewalks look and informs us that they only serve kids 12 and over..."well no one told us and we just paid $20 to get here, we'll take a table for 4." That must have been authoritative enough for her because we were quickly shown to our table and 2 place settings were added for the kids....we even got a free appetizer. The food was good, the service was lacking, the other guests were stuffy, but the atmosphere and grounds were phenomenal.
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