What a great day!  Today was scheduled to be our down day, yet I think we're even more tired this evening than we were yesterday!

Kathie, Victoria, and I headed down to breakfast around nine and was joined by Kelley just as we hit the beach.  It was a perfectly glorious day - some light, fluffy clouds, a nice breeze off the Caribbean and minimal wave action.  This last was particularly important as Victoria and I were set to build a most impressive sandcastle.  It took about two hours, but when it was done, it was just what I, I mean WE, wanted - a keep in the middle, walls completely surrounding the keep with turrets on the corners, a full moat, and an exterior wall and moat.  Even if V hadn't been there, I would have still had a blast doing this!  I definitely got my fair share of teasing comments about my project from passers-by! 

We took a break after a while to stroll along the beach towards the Caribbean.  I think the highlight of the morning came during this walk when an octopus surfaced in the water right next to us, about three feet away.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the camera out fast enough before he had completely blended in to the rocks around him.  Still - was quite cool!

We played in the water a bit more and then headed in for lunch overlooking the Caribbean.  After lunch, it was time for more playing in the surf.  I went off on a sea kayak for a little while (although I spent more time lying out in the sun than actually paddling!) and then rejoined the three girls.  About this time, the staff started running the motor boat and water skiing and after a bit of cajoling, Kelley decided that THIS was going to be her first shot on skies.  She was VERY nervous about it (lots of giggling!), but as soon as the boat started up, she did a masterful job of raising up out of the water and staying up!  For about fifteen seconds!  But she bravely kept getting up each time she wiped out.  You could see her getting better with each attempt - she successfully made the turn back to the resort and was able to ride most of the way back in.  Needless to say she had a HUGE grin on her face for the next thirty minutes and is ready to give it another shot on Friday!

After Kelley's success on the water skis, we headed back up to the rooms to get ready for dinner.  The Rainforest Hideaway was one of the top two dining plans we had made and were really excited about it.  It turned out to be far more than we had dared hope for.  From the moment we crested the hill and started descending on Marigot Bay (about 20 minutes south of Castries), we knew it was going to be something special.  Marigot Bay is a small harbor with emerald water and is a prime port for catamarans and other sailing boats and small yachts.  We parked the car and then hopped a water ferry across the bay to the Hideaway.  This place was simply beautiful and absolutely "oozed" character!  The only way you could get to the restaurant was by boat (even the evening's jazz trio arrived on the water taxi!) and the restaurant was beautifully laid out around a series of piers and up into the rain forest (I had a little tree frog for a companion in the men's room!). 

And what was especially nice is that the service and food more than matched the ambience.  Victoria and Kathie loved their duck, while Kelley practically licked her beef tenderloin clean.  My risotto with jerked shrimp and scallops was really yummy and my Thai pumpkin and coconut soup was out of this world!  This was definitely a dining experience I would love to repeat and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone visiting the island.  Just make sure that you make reservations as I got the distinct impression that if you didn't have reservations, you weren't dining there!

Again, off to an early bed as we are getting up early for perhaps our busiest day of the trip tomorrow!

Tomorrow: A day in the Grenadines