Honeymoon - Day 9

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

We woke up and went out to breakfast at the Sail Away Cafe. Ironically, with a name like "Sail Away", it was one of the only places we ate that was NOT on the beach. This place was very cute though. There are two guys running the show. One who was taking the orders and cleaning the plates and glasses, right at the bar, and the other who was making every order...one at a time. It sounds tedious, but it was really sweet and not at all inconvenient since there were about four people in the place. Andy got a huge canadian bacon and jalapeno omelet, and I got a rather large tomato and mozzarella panini, which I washed down with an iced almond coffee. YUM. Noticing how delicious my coffee drink was, Andy decided to order one also. I think the man behind the bar had his eye on Andy, cause he made him a special one.... in a long stemmed, large wine glass, and coated with swirling layers of chocolate and caramel sauce. It was fancy. Andy had a few sips and then we swapped glasses. Cause Andy's a man. And it was my birthday, so I get all the fancy stuff. That's a rule.

After breakfast, we walked around and wandered into a few stores that were clearly geared toward tourists like us to check out the "You Better Belize It" t-shirts, shot glasses and magnets. Nothing really caught our eye, so we headed back to the Phoenix to spend some time by the pool. As we were lounging around, reading and listening to iPods, a staff member from the resort came up and said they wanted to update their photo of the day on facebook, so they snapped a photo of Andy getting another delicious frozen mojito. Man, those things were tasty. And just like that, we were internet super stars! (Ok, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but we are on the Phoenix's facebook page!). Andy chivalrously gave the frozen mojito to me - cause it was my birthday. And that's the rule.

We did some more swimming and lounging, and in the afternoon, we were approach by a member of the staff again while stretched along our in-pool lounge chairs. Our friend Efrain walked up and wished me a 'happy birthday' on behalf of some of the staff members, and handed me a 6-pack of Belikin Beer. Just what I wanted!

For dinner, we went back to the fabulous Red Ginger to sample all the goods on their tasting menu. Five courses of culinary delight, perfectly accented by a really nice bottle of Argentinian Sauvignon Blanc. Mmmmmm....

Course One: We both had the crispy shrimp with a lime habenero sauce served atop a green plantain with guacamole. Wonderful.

Course two: We both had the black bean soup with mexican cheeses and herbed croutons. Heavenly.

Course Three: Andy had the pulled pork empanadas with chipotle pepper salsa. I had the grilled chicken salbute with spicy cabbage on a fried corn turnover. Yum.

Course Four: Andy got the grilled lobster tail with garlic lime sauce, mashed potatoes, and gingered broccoli. I got the honey-chiptle glazed braised beef short ribs with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed green beans. WOW.

Course Five: Andy enjoyed the milk chocolate mousse with roasted walnuts and raspberry sauce. I devoured my coconut creme brulee. I almost had to be rolled out of the restaurant.

The amazing food led to an amazing food coma, and after another glass of wine back in the condo, we were out.

Honeymoon - Day 8

Rough morning. Andy jumped out of bed at about 8am and went down to the pool. I stayed in bed. Wasn't ready to move. Around 10 am, I finally felt like I could handle getting out of bed, and slowly got myself into a bathing suit to go down to the pool to meet Andy. In the two hours I was missing, Andy had no one to put sunscreen on his back, and managed to fall asleep in the sun. Hello, sunburn. The two of us sat in the pool for a while, just taking it easy in the water since it was so hot outside.

For lunch, we took a walk down the beach to visit the Phoenix's sister restaurant, Blue Ginger. Nothing fancy - burgers and chicken fingers and fries, with coke light. While we were eating, the cutest little kids came by and started playing the bongo drums. We gave them money. We walked back to the Phoenix, stopping to get homemade banana and coconut ice cream from Manelli's on the way. It was a pretty laid back afternoon from there.

We went to the front desk for dinner suggestions, since we had been exploring all sorts of places around San Pedro and had yet to have a bad meal. Our dear friend Efrain told us about a place called the Hidden Treasure, which was an open air resturant that this family started in their back yard, but the food was amazing. What the hell, we're good sports! He called a taxi for us, who drove us to The Hidden Treasure. We went there half expecting to sit under a tarp and eat on mismached flatware. What we got was a beautiful wooden restaurant with lanterns on every table and a palm roof that was lovely and elegant. And once again, wonderful food. Andy got the coconut shrimp for an appetizer and then a large T-bone steak for dinner, with rice and beans. I started with a caesar salad, and then put on my brave face and ordered a fish entree! (This is a big deal for me). The almond crusted grouper was absolutely delicious, and the garlic russet potatoes were the perfect match for the sweet fish. Wonderful.

After dinner, we took a cab back to toward the Phoenix, and decided to get out and have a drink at Fido's before turning in for the night. I ordered a dirty banana, and Andy had a pina colada as we watched some of the world's most tone-deaf individuals sing karaoke. (Literally, not a single half-way decent person. None of them could sing... or hit notes that didn't make my ears bleed). When it got to be more than we could take, we headed back to the hotel and watched Hot Tub Time Machine until we were ready for bed. We like to keep things classy.

Honeymoon - Day 7

We got up around 8:30am, and took it easy with coffee and cereal before heading down to the pool, where we hung out all day long. Literally all day. We even ordered our lunch poolside from Red Ginger so that we wouldn't have to leave the glorious water and sunshine. We got coconut shrimp and panko chicken fingers with a few orders of fries, and experimented with a new kind of Belikin - the Stout! Every bit as delicious as we dreamed it would be. Then, more pool time with books and iPods.

We went inside in the late afternoon and took showers and got ready to go out with the director of the resort Mark and his fiance Brooke for the evening. The original reason for going out was to talk about wedding planning and things like that, we since obviously just got married and I am an event planner, and Mark and Brooke are in the middle of the planning process. We quickly discovered that we had a lot in common, and were like old friends half way through the night. They took us to a restaurant that was outside the main part of town called El Divino, Mark and Brooke's favorite ceviche place on San Pedro. We started the meal with an order of shrimp ceviche, which was excellent. We also started with a few fun martini's, since it turns out it was 2-for-1 night. Okay, El Divino, if you insist. I had the lemon herb chicken with mashed potatoes and a salad. Andy had an enormous jalepeno and blue cheese cheeseburger. After dinner was over, we hopped back into Mark's golf cart (everyone drives golf carts down there) and headed to a few of their favorite night spots. Crazy Canucks was the first stop, a beach bar that plays loud music and is famous for people punta dancing in the late ours of the night. The dark rum was tasty, but the music was too loud for us to keep talking, so we moved. Next stop, BC's. Another beach bar that was a little quieter and had room for us to sit down. That dark rum went down easy, and we had our latest night of the entire vacation --staying out until about 12:30am! WHOOOOOAAAA! We're party animals. We went home, stumbled into the condo, and made some macaroni and cheese to eat before we went to bed... just in case.

Awesome. Night.

Honeymoon - Day 6

We woke up to find that the storm had passed, and immediately went outside to check out the damage. From the balcony outside our bedroom, we could see the Phoenix grounds crew already hard at work, raking the broken branches and leaves from the grass. Even the director of the resort was in the pool, cleaning it out himself to make sure that everything was ready for the guests as quickly as possible again, and the Phoenix was back to its gorgeous self again. We decided it would be a good day to go out to breakfast, so we took a walk on the beach to check out other damage. Not as bad as we thought. Branches down, leaves everywhere, a few signs for snorkeling were knocked down along the beach. There was one section of town where all of the lamp posts were knocked over and the wires where exposed, but that seemed to be the worst of it.

We decided to have breakfast at a little beach place called Lily's, where Andy ordered a meat lovers omelet with hot fig jam, and I enjoyed two amazing breakfast burritos. (The order came with two, I am not just a fatty who wanted two breakfasts). We finished up our coffee while watching some World Cup action and then headed back to the resort.

Since our first snorkeling trip was such a blast, we decided we would sign up to go again, knowing that it would be a whole different experience the day after a big storm. We met up with Alfonse once again with a few other snorkelers and went back out to the reef. This time, the waters were rough, and the current was very strong, making it a little more tiring, just to swim around. It was a totally different scene. The big fish like grouper were all over the place, but the little tropical guys were a bit more scarce. Since we were being tossed around by the sea, we didn't spend as much time by the sharp coral this time around. Before long, we headed over to Shark Ray Alley to see what was going on over there. When we showed up, our boat was the only one there...along with about 35 nurse sharks and 15 sting rays. Unbelievable. I couldn't wait. I was the first one to jump in the water, noticing right away that there were not only many more sharks than last time, but some of the sharks were much larger than last time too! Andy jumped in...right on top of one of the 7' sharks. Luckily, he was heading over to the food that we'd dropped off the boat, so he didn't stop to maul Andy for jumping right on him off the boat. Phew. I would have been the quickest widow in history. We had lots of time to swim around and play with the sharks and rays, both having the opportunity to hold them again. Before we left, another giant sea turtle came to visit. These animals are truly amazing. We got back in the boat, and headed back along the very choppy seas to return to the resort.

We were totally drained from fighting the currents all afternoon, so we spent the late afternoon napping, lounging in the pool, and sitting inside watching TV (so we didn't fall asleep outside and get sunburned). For dinner, we decided to check out the other side of the island and walked to a place called the Sunset Grill. This was a lovely restaurant over the water that is famous for the tarpon that hang out in the water and are fed by guests to the restaurant. Tarpon are giant fish (about 3' long each) that jump clear out of the water when there is food on the line, which is a pretty amazing sight to see. The food was pretty amazing as well. We decided to be brave and try the lobster fritters (neither of us eat lobster), and were very pleased with how delicious they were! We enjoyed a few Belikins to help us wash down our dinners - Shrimp scampi with veggies and pasta for Andy, and shrimp with linguine in a garlic cream sauce and garlic bread for me. After our long day of snorkeling, we treated ourselves to dessert as well, and split a piece of the richest coconut cream pie ever made. As we finished the meal, and the sun went down, we noticed a very large crocodile (or alligator?) in the water next to us, where the tarpon had been swimming. Whoa.

We took the long route home (to help us digest) and walked along the beach. Eventually, we made it back to the condo and passed out together on the couch. What a day.

Honeymoon - Day 5

We've been married for a full week! And I gotta tell you, married life is awesome! When you're married, you get to hang out in Belize!

We did our little curtain trick again so that we could sleep until after 9am. Which is great since we were up so late the night before (ha). We woke up to rain once again, and we knew that Tropical Storm Alex was officially coming to meet us, but we didn't care. We decided to go out to breakfast, and found a Cuban Cafe that was serving a great breakfast, playing the world cup broadcast, and catering to the 9am beer crowd (there were several). We met a stray dog along the way, and he followed us and waited while we ate. This breakfast was delectable - fresh fruit, amazing coffee (seriously delicious), toast, omelets, breakfast sandwiches, fry jacks (like little pancakes), and the best orange juice I have ever had in my life. You could tell they probably squeezed the juice 5 minutes earlier back in the kitchen. The rain was steady most of the day, but falling relatively lightly. (Maybe moderately). But when it is 99 degrees outside, the rain just makes things more refreshing, so Andy and I decided to go for a walk in the rain and check out what the island looked like when it wasn't bright and sunny. Our walk ended up being just under four miles long, all in the rain. The dog followed us for a good part of it. We left the main streets that we'd been exploring and walked all the way to the airport. (Sounds impressive, but it is less than a mile from the resort). Then we kept going, and walked in the less populated area until we found the San Pedro schools - three little buildings that looked like tiny houses right next to each other, in bright blue, yellow, and green. Kept going - we found a store that actually sold xD cards so I could replace the one in my digital camera and start taking more pictures! Awesome! Kept going - we found a nice little wine store! Kept going - we started to find private homes, so we decided we'd gone far enough. We cut through someone's pathway to the beach, and then walked home, in the rain, along the beach. The rain was making the little fishies that live along the shore scramble, and we took our time getting back to the condo.

We dried ourselves off and decided to contact our parents to let them know that the storm didn't seem to be too bad, in case they were worried. I mean, we just spend hours walking around in the rain! Yes, it was going to get worse, but it would be fine. We met up with members of the staff who told us about their hurricane plan. These folks at the Phoenix are so well prepared! They took in all the outdoor furniture of all the units that had glass tables. For folks that had big wooden outdoor sets like we did, they helped us move everything to the corners of the balcony where it was less likely to be picked up by any wind. Then people came to every unit to deliver emergency lights in case we lost power, buckets of water in case we lost water, and a list of emergency phone numbers in case we needed them, after making sure that the cell phones they provided for us were well charged. We were all prepared. I even had a dumb moment in my own preparations, but it is not one that I wish to post on my blog. It was dumb, though. When we were all set for the storm, and the wind and rain started to pick up, we went outside again to check it out first hand.

Water was starting to crash over the retaining walls between the ocean and the resort. The sky turned black. The wind really started whipping. And there I was, trying to take pictures of it. We met a few folks who told us they had come to the Phoenix because they were staying at another hotel on the island (a much smaller establishment) that basically told them "storm's coming. You can't get off the island. Good luck. You're on your own." So they felt comforted by the readiness of the Phoenix. And more comforted by the insane amount of booze they had clearly already imbibed. They took off for a walk/stumble down the beach. We are pretty sure they all made it back eventually.

We borrowed a couple of movies from the resort, knowing that it would be a 'stay-in' night, and then headed to dinner at the Red Ginger restaurant on site, since we learned that the island was given an 8pm curfew and everything on the island would have to close early. And no alcohol could be served. We both ordered the largest french onion soup imaginable as an appetizer. It was great, but large. While Andy enjoyed his honey chipotle glazed ribs and I dove into my breaded chicken with capers and white wine sauce, the lights in the restaurant began to flicker. Because it looked like we were about to lose power, we wrapped it up and the restaurant shut down.

Thinking that we were about to have a power outage, we stayed in the condo and just watched the storm for a while. When the wind and rain got so bad that we could no longer see out the window, and we still had power, we popped in a few movies. Shutter Island. Without giving much away, it takes place on an island that no one can get off of due to a terrible storm. Hmmm.... it was decent. Then we watched Nine. It was just plain awful. I hate to say that about musicals, but it was. We tried to open the doors to the balcony at one point to check out the storm again, and after using our body weight against the door just to open it against the wind, the rain came flying in and we were instantly soaked. The door was shut and we decided it was a good time to call it a night.

Our first tropical storm! How exciting!