~ the Equinox Adventures ~
3/4/2010
Okay, first thing's first!
Happy Birthday Joe!Yes, it is, in the words of the man who married Carol and I, Commencement Day - the day people are told to March Fourth (get it?). And it is Joseph Paul's birthday. And yes, we have already sung to him (amazing what you can do from a cruise ship - kind of like keeping a cruise blog!).
Okay, today we are on the island of St Kitts. Its 78F, under mostly sunny skies. I think I saw someplace that the high was going to be around 90F, but I could be wrong about that. The seas are quite calm as we pull into port. Here is the morning view.
And this is from the blacony looking forward. Land Ho! I have to say, I did get some sun yesterday! I am now one of those people we laugh at on the ship with a bright burn on their back! And I spent very little time in the sun without a shirt on yesterday, so most of this happened while I was in the water, or with a nice tee shirt on. Either way, I can feel it today! Well, Mrs Bennett said she wanted to see me with some color on me when I got home, and I would hate to disappoint her! Of course, I think she meant a tan... I know you guys all want to hear about dinner last night, but that is going to have to wait. We are headed up to eat some breakfast, and head off to our Snorkel St Kitts excursion. When I get back, I promise to fill you in on all the details!
1615 - St Kitts Welcome back! Okay, I know, I am the one coming back. Well, we've returned from our snorkeling trip, showered, changed, went up and had a snack (dinner is at 6:15pm after all), ran into Joe & the Milster and heard about their day (yeah, we told them about ours, too). We are slated to pull out at 5pm, so no more trips off the boat for us. So, let me tell you about our dinner last night! We got to the restaurant, and everything was great. What I soon discovered after we got in there was that the restaurant was not a steak house, as I had originally though. It was really a northern italian joint - with some very fine cooking. Technically, it outshone the Tuscan Grill, where we went the other night. The problem arises when the level of food that this group enjoys is really more at the Tuscan Grill level, as opposed to Murano. Luckily for me, working for Banfi let me eat in a few places, very much like this, so I had an idea what the score was. Banfi wines were even on the wine list. As we look over the menu, it becomes quickly apparent that there are some dishes here that we have no idea what the heck they are talking about. My mother thought that since there were 6 of us, and six appetizer choices that we should each get one, and then all try them out. I kind of squashed that idea - partly because this is not a restaurant where you really want to do things family style, and partly because I was not going to give up a perfectly good appetizer to swap for foie gras - I have no idea how people crave that stuff! I had the head waiter (there were 4 or 5 waiters for the table - yes, that sort of place!) explain a couple of the dishes I knew people were curious about that I didn't know. So, we got ordering, and things were starting to move forward. The next challenge was that my mother wanted to order a bottle of wine - champagne or something sparkling, actually - so that she could toast Deb's birthday. The problem was that she didn't really understand the wine menu, and that the champagnes where she was looking ran at about $320 a bottle. I ended up taking over the wine menu, and told the guy what we were looking for, and ended up with the wine list from the main dining room (it might have been more pedestrian, but it was stilla good list, and the prices were more reasonable). We ended up getting an Asti Spumonte which actually worked as a really good palette cleanser after the appetizers. There were some other issues that came up, but we managed to not have a big incident. And then the food started to come out. They started with a tomato soup palette cleanser that was amazing - we're talking the serving was like an ounce, with a fried little basil leaf, but it was great - very thick and succulent. Then the appetizers came. Now, I had a plan of what I was interested in, and when it came time to order, the head waiter came and gave some recommendations. He also answered the questions I had about a couple of the dishes. In the process of telling us about the food, he completely changed my order! So I laughingly mentioned the fact to him, and he asked me what my first impression choices had been, and why did I change my mind? I ended up with a couple of extra courses - both what I had ordered, and what I had thought I would order. I had a good time! The appetizer that most of us had was the Goat Cheese Souffle. It came with a bread cage dome over it, and I am sorry I didn't take a picture of it. It was to die for, literally. I also got this crostini which sounded good, but really didn't compare. The soup/salad course was a mushroom soup - hot. It was called a mushroom cappucino, because there was a froth to it, and it looked physically like a cappucino. It was accompanied by a porccini sorbet, which I would never in a million years have thought made any sense at all. It was fabulous. The soup was earthy and yummy, and that sorbet was slightly sweet, with this deep after-taste of the mushrooms. It blew your mind.
Of course, my first choice had been a stylized motz and tomato salad. They take the tomatoes, and layer them with this slices of apple and melon - again, not a match I would think would work, but it was really good with a chucnk of the cheese. And while it was really good, the head waiter was right - the mushroom soup was far superior. And it was about this time I thought to start taking some pictures.
Now it is time for the main course. Three of us had ordered filets, which means a tableside cooking is in order. Here is our guy making the dish - and flambaying the sauce.
And the resulting plate.
I naturally had the recommended Surf and Turf. I should have gone with the filet - their filet sauce crushed my filet sauce, and we have better lobster back home than what they get here! It was still a great dish. The desserts were really good, as well. Carol and I ordered a set of mini desserts to split, as well as a choclate souffle.
The souffle was alright - I have had better, but there were some really good shot glass concoctions in that rack. They had a really spicy mulled sort of strawberries that was really interesting (reminded me of winter), a cheesecake one, apples and nuts one, and one that was like a dinner mint. It was a neat dessert. Overall, I would have to say that if I were to go to another specialty dinner deal, it would be back to the Tuscan Grill, but if I were to want to take dishes to be rated at a competition, it would probably come from this place. We all walked out pretty happy. Then it was on to the show for the evening - a woman who was a vocal impersonator. In other words, she sings like other people. Both male and female, as it turned out. She even did a couple of duets - as in by herself - she did both parts. It was a really good show. Then we went to the late night comedy show (11:45pm). A good show, totally unlike the other comedian. It was a good show, but I was wiped. Not sure which comedian I liked better, although Carol definitely liked the first guy better. I think I liked his personality better - not sure about his material. I guess we will find out tonite, since he is on the big stage doing the evening show. So that brings us to today!
Well, we went down to the end of the pier, where you meet your tour guides, hear the steel drums played, etc. Then walked the block to the marina next door to catch our boat. It was a wooden (as in plywood with twin outboard motors) dive catamaran. Talk about no frills! We are back to basics here, folks, but it was a nice little boat.
We were headed for 2 snorkeling sites, where there were coral reefs and plenty of fish. The hope was to see some turtles or rays, but who knows. As we were headed out, you could see the cruise ships out the back of the boat - the Norwegian Dawn was also in with us today.
When we got to the first site, we were going thru the usual notes about the site, what to look for, etc. Someone asked if there were monkeys in the area, and was that one? Well, it was a monkey on an outcropping, half way up the cliff near where we were. So I shot it, as best I could. You should be able to see it in this picture.
There were quite a few fish in the snorkeling sites we visited. Nothing too unusual. But I love being in the water with them!
At the second site, we found some lobsters! I thought cool, dinner! But they are spiny lobsters, and these guys were pretty small. But it was neat to see them huddling down there.
On the trip back, I noticed a road that in St Lucia would have zigged zagged all the way up the mountainside. Not in St Kitts!
And I thought the view from these houses must have been spectacular! So that was pretty much our day! Now Carol is taking a nap while I type up the account of our adventures. We are just now pulling out of St Kitts, headed for St Thomas, the port call we have on the cruise. It is amazing how fast it all goes. But there are 2 sea days before they throw us off the ship! Dinner is in an hour, so I think I will sign off now, upload this to the website, and see you all tomorrow! Keep Smiling!!!
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All Images and Accounts of this Adventure are strictly the doings of the Author, and have Nothing to do with the Official Positions or Opinions of Timethief Photography, its affiliated divisions, or anyone associated with the company. If you have any issues with the accounts, how people or places are portrayed, or with any statements of fact, take it up with him! Of course, he'll probably be off on another adventure!
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