After loving our dinner the evening before with friends Jan and Bruce, I was right back at Bahama Mama’s to introduce it to V and D. The guys joined us once they had finished their tennis match as the courts were in the vicinity. We are all food lovers but even more so when every breakfast offering has a five buck cost. D and I each selected potato omelets. We love fluffy egg cakes filled with potatoes at one particular restaurant back home and we sometimes try to find a place that replicates the taste  when we travel.

V selected the Mushroom omelet and was well pleased.

Don chose the pancakes and fruit.

We all loved the cheery ambience of the family owned restaurant.

The husband and wife team are passionate about their food, including the fresh ingredients, the preparation techniques and the final picture on the plate.

So much time has past since they shared their story with us but I think that at least one of them is originally from Isla, the other from Cuba and one or both have spent time in the Bahamas, hence the name. We had a hunch that it was not our last visit and that proved to be true.

Kath’s quote: “Hand go, hand come.” interpreted as: As you give, so shall you receive. -Bahamian saying

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

I was wrong, I thought I hadn’t missed another sunrise but there was nothing on my camera from this particular morning, so I must have.  Today was golf cart day! D researched and negotiated and got the best price for the version that has both seats facing forward and a big box on the back for our extra gear.  Here we are at Punta Sur.  This was where I would watch the sunrise on my first trip to Isla in 2005.

2005

The most beautiful sea colour that I have seen anywhere (in the world!)

2005

Daughter #2 and the Newbie enjoying the vista with us.

Rear view mirror shot.

As we zoomed along Sac Bajo, we had to stop and show the Newbie the floating island.  Before heading back to the casa we nipped into Centro because it was Rib Man day!

After lunch we were off to Chuuk Kay to see a set by Javier and his band with no name.  D had to make two trips and take us in batches.

Our niece “Legs” who was just laxin in the sun.

Our beautiful Daughter #1.  We ordered buckets of Sol to while away the afternoon.

Daughter #2 and the Newbie were engaged just before Christmas.  Don’t they make a gorgeous couple?

It is not hard to see where the Wee One gets her beauty.  Here are J1 and J2.

D and the Wee One (we think she’s going to be a dentist).

And Sister #3 and the Wee One.  Dona was joined by best friends and extended family too.  There were so many of us that we had to stretch over a couple of long tables.  Everyone joined together on the dance floor though, especially to dance the twist with the Wee One -“Shake it up baby, twist and shout!”

D and I wanted to share one of our fav little Colonia spots with the family and since we had the golf cart, decided to head over to Bastos for dinner.  We were surprised that we were the only table there and hope that they are staying busy enough to support their family.

D and I love the bright spin that Basto’s puts on everything.

At our end of the table, Legs and I were waffling between a couple of items so we decided to share the Burger and yummy fries and Garlic Shrimp.  Both dishes were as exceptional as I had remembered from the previous year.

The golf cart sputtered to death on the way home and so traipsing around the island was done for the evening.  The gang was departing the next day, so we assembled on the oceanside patio of the casa where we reflected over cocktails on the highlights of the week.

Kath’s quote: (From National Lampoon’s Family Vacation)

“Clark Griswold: Could I do your back, honey?

Ellen Griswold: I’ve already done my back.

Clark Griswold: Could I do your front?

Ellen Griswold: Go do your own front.”

Love-that is all.

2014 was significantly different for the three sisters on Isla Mujeres: Sister #2 had already been and gone, visiting the island just after Christmas so that her daughter (who became an Islaholic on her own steam) could make the trip with them before the latter returned to her new home in Australia.  With them was a new family member; we call him “The Aussie” and the brave man demonstrated his deep love for our niece and us all, by visiting Canada for the first time in the winter, which to our dismay has turned out to be the coldest recorded in over 35 years.   He is now appropriately initiated to Island life. 

Sister #3’s dates were only slightly different than my own but her Isla network has widened to such an extent that I call her “Islapedia” and she is the perfect resource to chum with if you are new to the island.  So too, she is friends with so many of the locals and such a loyal one at that, she fills her time on Isla with repeat visits to their businesses.  I, on the other hand, am still trying to visit every restaurant on my “must visit” list at least once and I still have not spent enough time on the island, even though the days would tally almost 100.  So too, we had our own “newbie” in our entourage as “The Frenchman” spent his first week on Isla.  All this preamble is to say that Sister #3 visited many restaurants that I did not have the pleasure of and even though she is at this moment watching her last Isla sunrise, she has already written and emailed me this guest blog post.  

I give you, Sister #3: “Walk down Hildalgo, the main restaurant thoroughfare of Isla Mujeres, any night of the week and you are sure to meet Annalise, an endearing woman doling out samples of yummy sticky ribs. Annalise and her husband, Chef Peter, are the proprietors of Asia Caribe which opened in a smaller location in 2008. 

The year they opened was the first time our gang visited their establishment which specializes in Thai and Chinese cuisine as well as sushi.  Mexico may seems an odd location to open an Asian restaurant but the reality is that people from across Asia have been in Mexico for many generations; helping to settle coffee plantations and build the railway.  They brought with them ingredients like limes, coconut and rice that are now staples in what we know as Mexican food. 

Over the 6 years since our first visit to Asia Caribe, our gang has grown and the kids are now young adults and they have discovered this restaurant themselves. They find it a great place to satisfy their sushi craving and their desire for healthier options, as Asia Caribe offers lots of items suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

We didn’t get to Asia Caribe on our visit last year so were determined to make a stop this year and were very glad we did.  Everything was beautifully presented.  The service was attentive and most importantly, the food was delicious.  We started with cocktails of strawberry margaritas and mango daiquiris.  You could actually taste the tequila in my margarita and the fruit in both drinks was obviously fresh and not a bar mix.   

The waiter started by bringing us a plate of marinated cabbage with little dollops of sriracha chilli sauce. The cabbage is a perfect balance of sour, sweet and spicy and is a great amuse bouche to awaken your palate.  

My dinner mate and I decided to share two entrees; Garlic-Ginger Shrimp and Pecan Encrusted Grouper.  Both were served with fluffy rice garnished with daikon radish and slivered carrot, a medley of carrots, chayote, water chestnuts and snow peas and a bit of slaw of jicama and carrot. 

The grouper melted in your mouth and the tamarind sauce was a nice balance of sweet and sour which still managed to not over take the fish.  The ginger in the garlic shrimp was a nice addition adding another taste and a bit of heat. 

Our only regret of the night was not having room for a delicious dessert.  We have sampled both the coconut cheesecake and the chocolate Kahlua mousse in the past and would have enjoyed that to finish but instead made due with our fortune cookie and a stroll around town to try and work off some of the fullness in our tummies. “

Kath’s quote: “I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very large shrimp. That way, you could ride him, then, after your camped at night, you could eat him. How about it science?”-Jack Handey

Love-that is all.

P.S. To Annalise from Kathryne.  I mistakenly called you Lori the last time I saw on Hidalgo.  I love your name and will forever remember it.

“And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?”  John Lennon’s words resonate with me at this time of year.  I try my darndest to complete the circle of tasks that I have started in the year before the holiday season comes around, so I can look back with contentment and look forward with excitement at the new journeys ahead.  So with just a couple of days left from our Isla tale, I am back at remembering (not always with clarity) our time on Isla in 2013.

Day 13-We got so attached to our golf cart that we once again decided to keep it for another day.  This meant that we could scoot around the island to start to say our good-byes and finish up some shopping.  First stop was Hortenzia’s where D had a play with her granddaughters.

Next stop was at the shop of our old friend Gladys’s.  I did some shopping as I love everything in her shop, in fact, I loved the shop itself from the floor to the shutters, both pictured above.

While in Centro we ran into my new friend Jackie who was on Isla because she had discovered my posts about the island on my blog.  She and her travel companion joined us for lunch at La Lomita’s.  The familiar little place (we often stay across the street) was getting a hand-painted spruce up.

It was our friend’s first visit and she was blown away!

I started with the chicken tortilla soup.

Jackie ordered this amazing soup but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the dish but, isn’t it exquisite?

Her friend sampled the enchiladas.

D and I split the chiles relleno, our all time favourite La Lomita dish!

Except for their papas fritas of course.

This lovely face belonged to our helpful server.

We spent the afternoon shelling the beach right in front of our apartment and then it was time to get ready for our date night that evening!

We started off  with happy hour at Villa Bella with beer so cold, it makes your teeth hurt.  The place was quaint enough in what Doug described as a kind of Rotarian club get together from the past.

But, the beer did indeed make my teeth hurt… assisted by the insulated cozy that it was served in.

D had a lime margarita shaken, on the rocks and served in a coconut shell.

We noitced that the sun had almost set and since it was near the end of our time on the island,we wanted to take in the last rays,

so we stopped at Iguana’s before we headed back to Minioes to share a fish Veracruz style and a couple more very cold beer with our feet in the sand.

It was too dark to get a really good shot of my fish but you would get an idea of the ingredients from this photo: tomatoes, Serrano chilies, green olives, capers, cilantro and fresh lime wedges. Omgosh, it was delicious.

Next stop was Bastos where we shared garlic shrimp.  They split the abundant meal onto two piping hot plates.  The perfectly cooked shrimp was served alongside a buttery fettuccine and steamed broccoli, carrots and zucchini sticks.  With a glass of vinto blanco and tinto, I think that it came to $25.

On the way home in the golf cart, we stopped to visit our gang (minus one bro and sis-in-law who had gone to Rolandi’s on their own) at Mangoes.  They were dining with Isleno Ricardo and his new wife Patty.  Sister #2 and her husband first met Ricardo when they stayed at Chac Chi.  He was such a helpful staff member.  I even remember that he accompanied our gang including our daughter on her scooter through colonias to baseball tacos so that we wouldn’t encounter any of those surprising sidewalk gaps.  Both were born and raised on Isla and Patty worked hard to get her education by traveling back and forth on a daily basis to go to university in Cancun.

Last stop was at an authentic gelato shop in centro (authentic because we inquired with the owner and he shared that his family was from Bologna).  So I enjoyed a satisfying coconut gelato on a sugared cone and D a pistachio one.  We had also met another Italian couple on the island: Mariuccia and Carlo holiday every year on Isla, all the way from Rome.  We first became acquainted when she was speaking to another traveler about my beach skirt.  She had admired it, but put forth her opinion that it must have not been purchased in North America but somewhere in Europe, guessing Italy.  AND she was correct, as I had bought it in Positano when D and I had traveled there years earlier.  The funny thing is that the bathing suit that is an exact match was picked up at a little second hand store along Osborne in Winnipeg; about as far away as you can get from either Isla or the Amalfi coast.

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-that is all.