More Antigua

I started telling you a little about our holiday to Antigua in my last post so I'll continue here.

As I mentioned before, our suite was very close to the main pool which was handy. There was plenty of loungers and an abundance of shade too, no reserving sunbeds here, there was more than enough to go round. The resort actually has four swimming pools but we only ever used the main one. There was aqua aerobics here each morning, though I didn't partake, and low-key entertainment throughout the day.

I have to say that the food was exceptional, we've never eaten so well on holiday before. The Seabreeze is a buffet restaurant with a whole array of Caribbean and international dishes, some cooked in front of you, to suit even the most fussy eater. Portofino is the à la carte Italian restaurant, and Sails & Tales Bar and Grill is an à la carte seafood restaurant and cocktail bar overlooking Lovers Beach. Then there was Papa Ricco's Pizzeria for made to order pizzas, and Café 1761 for coffees, snacks, cakes etc. The Wavy Wicket Pub is a sports bar so it was showing the World Cup games while we were there. Pub Grub could be ordered there too. This Lemon, Thyme & Garlic Chicken - succulent roasted chicken infused with citrus and aromatics, served with roasted vegetables and a savory pan au jus, was just one of the dishes we enjoyed in Sails and Tales. There wasn't anything we ordered during the whole fortnight which was less than perfect, we enjoyed every morsel of food.

The Beach Grill is open for lunch. Situated right on Rasta Beach, it's more informal with the most amazing view. The food here was more casual - chicken wings, ribs, burritos, salads etc.

Then there's Nicole's. This is a fine dining restaurant with a surcharge of $50 USD per person per meal to dine there. It just so happened that whilst we were there, the Seabreeze buffet restaurant closed for a week for refurbishment so we were able to eat at Nicole's without paying the surcharge. We made the most of it and ate here three times. I wouldn't say the food here was any better than the other restaurants, it was just an additional menu so it gave you more choice. The service was better though, the waiting staff were very attentive. When the hostess discovered we were celebrating our thirty-sixth wedding anniversary she had the table decorated with rose petals and confetti, put some complimentary prosecco on ice for us, and when we'd chosen our dessert - Chocolate Lava Cake served with Vanilla Ice Cream, the hostess and waiting staff brought it to our table singing their congratulations. It was nice to be made a fuss of.

We had planned to go on some excursions while we were there but that didn't happen for one reason or another. We did take a taxi to St John's, Antigua's capital. It's the largest city and main port of the country. I would have liked to explore the city more but it was far too hot. We managed to visit Heritage Quay though, the duty free shopping complex where Mick picked up several bottles of Antiguan rum to add to his ever growing collection.

I will never make a wildlife photographer, we saw so many things but failed to get a photo. There were hummingbirds a plenty, more than we've seen on the other Caribbean islands we've visited but they're just too quick for me. We saw lots of pelicans but as we'd left the cameras at home, the zoom on our phones weren't sufficient to get a decent photo. We saw mongooses on our walk to Devil's Bridge but again, they were gone before I'd even got my phone out of my pocket. The lizards were happy to pose for me though, this is a tiddler from our resort but there were some absolute whoppers that we saw in St John's.

We made some friends in the resort, there were quite a few cats around, as I think there are in most holiday places, they know where the food is. We'd taken some cat treats with us, we were very popular in the colony.

I was expecting Antigua to be more lush than we saw, though I believe there's microclimates on the island so the northern and eastern sides, where we were staying, are drier and therefore, more barren. We saw lots of cacti as well as bougainvillea and hibiscus, amongst other flowers, blooming profusely though.

Our resort had areas where they grow food for the restaurants and gardeners could always be seen tending to the plants around the property. Bananas were growing in abundance.

We had such a wonderful time, we'd gone with the expectation of having a relaxing holiday and that's exactly what it was. It was a fairly quiet resort with low-key entertainment, though there was something on every night. There was also an eighteen-hole mini golf course, tennis and pickleball courts, table tennis, shuffleboard and pool if you found yourself getting a little bored, we didn't! We did have a couple of rounds of golf though, and we always enjoy a game of table tennis. The food surpassed our expectations, the water sports were an added bonus for Mick, the suites were better than we thought they'd be, it was wall to wall sunshine. What's not to love. It's definitely somewhere we'd go again.

Daniel and Jasmine are, right now as I post this, at Gatwick Airport waiting for their flight to St Lucia for their honeymoon. It's where we went on our honeymoon too back in 1990 and we returned there two years later. I wonder how much it's changed in all those years. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time.