We sat with our coffees and watched the glorious sunrise and

then headed down Hidalgo for a fabulous breakfast at Lola Valentina’s (see the link for full description and lots of photos) of stuffed poblano chilies and tres leche French toast.

We spent the afternoon at the beach because we thought that it was likely Sister #3 and Dona’s last beach day.

That evening was Fredy’s 20^th anniversary and we had so much fun.

When we arrived at 5 as instructed, he told us to go away and come back at 6, so we went close by to Brother #3 and L’s room for a drink.

Brother #3 is on the left (we also call him the Mayor of Isla) and husband D is on the right.

Fredy’s was festively decorated and Two on a Hammock (Marla & Javi) were playing. Jan and Bruce joined us. Fredy was serving free appetizers:

bread stuffed with cheese,

tuna stuffed jalepeno’s,

grilled shrimp, grilled veggies,

guacamole and pico de gallo.

Everyone else at the table ordered entrees but we had reservations at Mayan beach Club (formerly the Sunset Grill).

We had a couple of glasses of wine

and shared a tuna tartar

and tequila flan. We had a beautiful table in the sand on the beach but it looked like we missed a lot of fun at Fredy’s.

Kath’s quote: “I hate missing everything. That’s why I want to marry well and be a grand lady. Then I can host all the parties, all the time, and see everything that is going on always. How can you stand not knowing?”  ― Gail Carriger

Love never fails.

Another beautiful rooftop sunrise. There was a big bank of cloud on the horizon which made it an unusual ½ sunrise. I have decided that sunrise is my favourite time on the island.

Another batch of seaglass.

I was content to just hang out but was able to contact Ruben (see full restaurant feature here) so went to his place for breakfast. He had not been well and it was his first day back at work. You would never tell he had been sick as he zoomed around the restaurant, stopping to chat at every table. We saw Sister #3 & Dona there who were splitting the shrimp omelette and eggs bennie. Ruben suggested the classic bennie and the special lobster bennie with poblano sauce. Both were sensational! Ruben’s also has good coffee and excellent oj.

After breakfast we cut across the street to our favourite market stall to buy fresh fixings for our dinner with Hortenzia’s family.

The Madonna and bird was spotted as we made our way across the square.

We finished our shopping at the Supermercado and then got ice and ice cream. D hit the kitchen right after and Sister #3 & Dona arrived in short order.

We spent the afternoon prepping for dinner and then Dona and I went out to order chickens and check out the Artist Fair. We much preferred when the fair was held in the square.

We returned to Villas San Miquel for nachos and cervesa. Hortenzia (the local dress-maker) invites us to their place on a regular basis for dinner with her family. We try to reciprocate on an annual basis. She and her family got lost trying to find us at Villas San Miguel, but Sister #3 & Dona found them out by the basketball court.

We had a fabulous dinner of chicken, pasta salad, cole slaw & D’s hot fudge sundaes for dessert.

D entertained the kids with tricks on his I-Pad.

When they left, we sat outside around the pool for a night cap.

Kath’s quote: “Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly”.- M F K Fisher

Love never fails.

We were blessed with a great first night’s sleep and so we were up before the sun. In fact, the moon was still out.

A beautiful shot of the villa that we would move to mid-week.

The gorgeous Villas looked even more lovely in the rising sun.

D had everything set up i.e. coffee and chairs for sunrise that first morning from the roof at Villas San Miguel.

We realized that we must have been sitting in someone else’s chairs and sure enough we met Milly and Kim from Minneapolis. We hit it off immediately. They emptied their surplus holiday supplies with us. We walked them to the ferry. There was an entourage of many people I know saying good-bye to Cousin Frank.

The view out of our kitchen window.

The gate that is locked and secure at night. I love seeing the shock of the blue Caribbean!

Every morning that I am on Isla I go beachcombing for treasures.

This was my haul the first day. Do you see the green marble in the middle of my stash? I sometimes find one over the course of a couple of weeks. I have never ever found one my first day!

 

The kitchen at Villas San Miguel was perfectly set up for light meals.

That morning D had a fancy for a homemade breakfast of Isla ham and eggs.

We had a lovely breakfast around the pool.

Then we walked to North Beach for a brief dip and to hook up with Bro #3 and all the gang. In addition, were Margaret & Andy and Margaret’s brother Wilf and Arlene as well as my second cousin Sandra, her husband Tim and their friends Carol & Gord.

A quick trip back to the Villas San Miguel for a shower.

That evening I had tried to arrange an Islaholic meetup. We walked down the west side of the island to Sergio’s (now closed).

 

We were familiar with the beautiful setting at Sergio’s.

Sunset was mysterious.

Our family made up a portion of a larger group. My husband D is besides me. In front is our family friend Dona in red. Sister #3 is in between D and I and Bro #3 is behind Dona. Our Sis-in-law is in the middle.

Coconut Shrimp

Whole fish

Fish tacos

There were 15 in our group that evening at Sergio’s for dinner. Which was great, except I already knew every single one of them. There were problems with the food coming out of the kitchen. Many people ordered the Parmesan fish that we all remembered from Sergio’s Playa Sol.

I had herb fish and

D had a tough time chewing his Octupus.

Bro #3 enjoyed his wings. Unfortunately Sergio wasn’t around to have a visit with. In the mean time long time friend Ziggy tried his best to make us feel welcomed.

Kath’s quote: “Octopuses have hundreds of suckers, each one equipped with its own ganglion with thousands of neurons. These ‘mini-brains’ are interconnected, making for a widely distributed nervous system. That is why a severed octopus arm may crawl on its own and even pick up food”. Frans de Waal

Love never fails.

When we stay in Centro our favourite spot for sunset is Playa Sol. I love the setting sun on the local’s boats on the shore.

The silhouette of the palms is one of my favourite Isla sites.

Playa Sol is a special spot where our family loves to congregate for sunset.

As we walked past the cemetery, the angels hushed us.

We chose Abuelo’s for our first dinner where I indulged in bacon-wrapped shrimp

and D chose lobster stuffed fish.

Friends and relations (my second cousin) were dining at Abuelo’s too. I couldn’t resist also taking a photo of one of their meals.

We have enjoyed dining at Abuelo’s since it was a three table spot and loved watching as the family succeeded and re-invested in their family business.

As would prove to be our Isla routine, we walked the beach and then Hidalgo. I was surprised that we were still awake at 9 pm when we had been awake since 4 that morning.

Kath’s quote: “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”-Rabindranath Tagore

Love never fails.

The flight was a piece of cake Then we flew through the airport and caught the 12 noon ferry. We were met by Sister #3 and Dona and they accompanied us to Villas San Miquel. (I wrote a more extensive post about the villas, right after we got home, in this link)

The view from our first room-the pool courtyard is quiet and gets both sun and shade throughout the day.

The arches and the architectural attention to detail certainly impressed.

The kitchen was so well equipped with everything you might need for a short or long stay.

The artistry of the building, furniture and decorative pieces was top notch and you knew that no expense had been spared  for your enjoyment and comfort.

Our first look at Villas San Miguel was fabulous!

Sister #3 & Dona joined us for fish tacos (mine was garlic broiled not deep fried) at Bally Hoo as is our Isla tradition. We met Jan and Michelle from PEI who we befriended the year prior at Luna D’Miel. They were on their way home. We had a lovely visit.

We headed back to Villas San Miguel so that D could have a nap and then we ventured out for groceries, beer and wine. Since the Villas are just across the zocolo from the Supermercado, shopping for supplies and running them home was as easy as pie.

We tried to hook up with the gang on the island but had no luck. So we had our own Happy Hour on the rooftop of Villas San Miguel.

The next weighty decision was trying to decide where to catch sunset and our first dinner of the trip. Sat-tuned!

Kath’s quote: “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”  ― Anita Desai

Love never fails.

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