Sunscreen and Shadows
Two girls, one cup brings to mind other images better left on the other side of the internet (Note to readers, incognito doesn’t necessarily mean you’re hidden, there are ways…), but there we were, two girls, one cup and a bright yellow car cruising down the south-western side of our little sunny island paradise on a breezy Friday morning.
We figured we’d start the weekend early with a good soak at the beach, considering our last memorable beach experience was during the long Easter weekend, where we shared a mostly secluded beach with a dead dog, sand-flies, and an old pervert with bug spray. (I kind of feel like he camps out there- waiting- with his bugspray, ready to offer). I suppose that was the trade-off for avoiding the more crowded beaches. I will say, I’m definitely now immune to dead dog smells, but I’ll leave all that backstory for another blog post.
We made a pit stop at the Epicurean (Jolly Harbour) where we picked up pizza, some fruits, water and juice, then for some inexplicable reason, ended up in the home store where we bought a pair of 8 dollar sunshades – you know, for the days when you’re kind of not cool enough for your amazingly awesome pair of aviators, but chill enough to rock a colourful pair of wayfarers, because, well, options!
Speaking of options, maybe 365 beaches are a bit much (who am I kidding???), because by this time, we already couldn’t decide on the 5 we had already passed, stuck around on the fourth one, and had our pizzas, decided the surf was a bit much, then finally decided on Turner’s beach. Meh, what’s a weekend without a little beach hopping right?
The same time we pulled up, two safari jeeps of tourists pulled in and dispersed, we made it down to the waterfront first when I realised shit! I forgot to buy sunscreen. Trust me when I say, I’ve been burnt so badly I don’t want to feel that type of pain again. Yet I keep going back…why???? Our sun is no joke!
We made our way to one of those little coconut hatch roof hut-thingies, and there it was, one hut over… a seemingly abandoned sunscreen, and a scarf. We must’ve had the same thought, because I saw the plan forming in my friend’s eyes. We were going to walk over, and just act like we owned the place, you know?! Then the moral compass kicked in and we hesitated just in time for two women to walk over and claim their stake on the place.
Plan averted.
We stuck around eating local fruits, while having a good laugh at how well the plan would’ve worked. There was a local shop, that sold sunscreen, but at the time, I probably would’ve had to chop off my right arm to purchase one. I did enjoy the little gem, [Starfish], and really loved how they had local art and artists on display. One of my favourites, “Guava de Artist” had a few things there. T-shirts, mugs, little square canvas creations etc…
We headed back towards the beach, where we mingled with some tourists in the water, and spoke a little about island life and our favourite beaches. I did feel quite proud to enlighten them a little bit about our history and think that every Antiguan and Barbudan should be able to talk about this amazing country at ease.
All in all, it was a good clear day, Monserrat’s green mountains, rose sharply on the horizon, the sea, a lovely, tranquil shade of blue, perfect for photographs and taking in the sun. The little thatch-hut thingies, created these interesting shapes on the sand, casting interesting and cool (literally!) geometric shadows and we simply couldn’t resist capturing the moment.
