Anguilla. Part 3. Let's Go Knicks!
Friday morning we woke up to sunny skies once again. We really lucked out with the weather here. Tzvi didn’t want to go to the gym again, so I did a quick ten minute core in the room and we were off to breakfast. Today we tried the waffles and they were thick yet crisp.
After breakfast we spent a couple of hours on the beach. Tzvi got a floating mat and just floated in the ocean until a wave came and knocked him off, and then he came running out saying he was almost eaten by a shark, except it didn’t actually touch him and when he showed me the “shark” it was about the length of my arm.
A little before noon we walked down to the spa for our massages. The spa is a Guerlain spa, it’s gorgeous and kind of Moroccan themed. We put our stuff in the locker room and headed to our massage. Both of us had great massages. When I said hard pressure she understood the assignment. I think I finally relaxed. We hit the sauna for a few minutes, and then went to gather our belongings. On the way out, I asked someone to show me some perfumes, and boy did she. They sell the whole line of Guerlain perfumes (because it’s also an LMVH brand) and I think we went though at least 15 scents. They had the eau de parfums that were $300+ and the eau de toilet that were under $200. I ended up choosing the toilet water because it smelled delicious and also I didn’t want to spend $350 on the real stuff.
After the massage we went back to the beach and ordered food at our seats. I had a pizza and Tzvi had a fish sandwich. We also had a jar with ice cream, cookie pieces, hazelnuts and coffee liquer. It was delicious. We laid out for a bit, then hit the pool once again in the late afternoon where we again got drinks and sat in the pool FaceTiming the girls before shabbos before going back to the room to get ready for dinner.
When we were in the room, Evan, our butler, called to check in because he said he hadn’t heard from us all day. I told him we were doing well. I also mentioned that after sundown I would no longer get his text messages. He said “of course, yes I know your sundown is around 6:30.” How did he know! I mean, I guess we are pretty obvious? Then I mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to sign any bills and he said of course no problem. And there was never a problem.
Dinner tonight was at Uchu, which is outside above the pool area. In the middle of the restaurant is this little pool, which they say is a wading pool but we’ve never actually seen anyone in it. The restaurant is Nikkei cuisine, which is Japanese-Peruvian fusion. Midway through our meal our friend LL Cool J showed up and sat at the table next to us. We were brought fried wontons with a tomato dipping sauce to start. We once again ordered too much food. We started with spicy edamame, which actually wasn’t that spicy – it was covered in a sticky chili sauce and was delicious. We also got veggie empanadas that were really good. For mains we got a vegetable fried rice, a side of vegetables, and mahi skewers. There was live music, which was a nice touch, but by 8:30 we were getting antsy because the Knicks game was about to start (LL had it on his phone). We ordered churros for dessert, then asked if we could have them inside at the bar where they were showing the game and they said no problem.
Tonight’s Shabbos activity was watching the Knicks game with fellow fans, who, like us, booked a vacation for the first week in June thinking that the Knicks being in the finals during vacation was about as likely as Anguilla being struck by a nuclear missile attack from Albania.
It was nice to watch with other fans and there was great energy in the bar. There was an older couple from the Upper West Side who stayed until the end of the first half and I swear they didn’t say one word to each other the whole time. There was Knicks Hat and his wife (we don’t know his name but we always saw him in his Knicks hat, so we just referred to him as Knicks Hat). There was a woman from the West Village who was wearing blue capri pants and an orange shirt. And then there were a number of other couples who came and went throughout the night. Oh, and of course LL Cool J and his wife came in to watch the last five minutes of the first half. So, if anyone asks, we watched Game 2 of the NBA finals with LL Cool J.
It was a long time to sit in this bar. We didn’t have the option of going back to our room since we couldn’t put the TV on there, so we just sat and sat. I ordered a Kahlua, Baileys and cream, and Tzvi followed Knicks Hat and ordered an Anguilita rum with Ting. Thing is a Caribbean grapefruit soda that’s basically a better version of Fresca.
The Knicks won by a hair. What a crazy game. When Wemby missed the shot at the buzzer everyone left in the bar erupted and high fived each other. It was great. Then we floated back to our room and went to bed.