A Day on the East Coast

There's no better way to start our first official day on the island than scrambled eggs fresh from the chicken, toast made from freshly baked bread, and straight-from-the-cow milk in my coffee. I needed all the brain food available to get psyched up for driving.

The day began with a leisurely tour of the farm. The citrus and banana trees are on the side of the house, then we came around to the side, where the large garden offered papaya, beans, squash, herbs, and the most gigantic eggplant "trees." We crossed the property to the pasture, where the retired horse and sheep hang out all day with the chickens. There are more citrus trees to the side of the pool, and Judy introduced us to her bay tree. The only bay leaves I've ever seen are those dried up, crumbly ones my mom used to put in a stew recipe. These leaves, however, were incredibly odorlicious! I'll be stuffing a few in my bag for cooking when I get home.

Our tour ended at Judy and Ralph's apartment wing of the house. We changed into swimsuits and jumped in the pool for a bit before taking our drive up the coast. It was nice to get a little sun, as most of the day turned out to be cloudy, with some rains.

We set out in a northerly direction, headed toward Bathsheba. A town that hosts international surfing competitions. Unfortunately, we missed the turn (which is incredibly easy to do), so we agreed to stop on the way back. Instead we continued north, through the rain, maneuvering tight turns and steep inclines. We stopped at St John's church, which was originally built in 1650 or so. It stands sentinel on the top of a hill, protecting parishioners from all directions. I guess you just never know from where a sin might come. The old church had an amazing pipe organ, but most endearing were the doves in the belfry, whose cooing echoed throughout the silent hall.

From the church we headed toward St Nicholas Abbey, which isn't an abbey at all but an old sugar plantation and rum distillery. While transiting one small neighborhood, we were distracted by the playing of cricket on a local pitch. We abruptly pulled into the parking lot and took in a bit of the game. It wasn't until dinner that Judy provided us all the in's and out's of the game. At the time, it was fun to try and figure out what the heck the players were doing. But I won't bore you with a description of a game that can take several days to play. Not here at least.

The tour of the Abbey was nice. It includes the old plantation home, with an original Thomas Crapper brand flush toilet. That's right, we have the picture to prove it. I got to use an official Crapper. After that excitement, we visited the outbuildings, the distillery, and watched an 18 minute film shot by the owner's in the 1930's.

I was ecstatic to return to the farm with all the mirrors and hubcaps that I started with in the morning. The roads are terribly narrow, so I hope tomorrow's adventures result in equally positive outcomes. We were treated to a fantastic dinner of farm fresh goodies: roasted chicken, green beans, squash, stuffing (amazing herbal combination), and basmati rice. Although the farm is amazing, I'm pretty sure the rice wasn't grown here.Baca selengkapnya