Francis Bay

This morning I work up tired. During the night, it seemed like little insects were attacking me. There was so much irritation with itching and scratching that I had a hard time sleeping through the night.

We had some significant rain here the last several days. After rain, noseeums come out and start making us miserable with their never-ending bites. Tom was not affected, as usual. Bugs love me. 

All my ammunition to battle insects is back in Goshen. A note to myself: pack the following two items as soon as we get home so next time I will be prepared: (1) lavender and other essential oils for insect repellant; (2) beta-glucan for any ailments we may encounter, including bug bites, colds, etc.

Well, tired or not, the beautiful island was still out there for another day of discovery! But because I was so tired, we had a later start than normal.

Tom decided that he would edit yesterday's blog post while we were on the beach today. I usually write in the evening, then he edits for me. He also places photos where they belong. This is one activity that we do together on vacations. I'm really bad at remembering our good times together. Blogging our daily activities during vacations, when we're away from our daily grind, has been a good way to preserve our sweet memories.

So, we set out for Francis Bay. As always, the ride there made me nervous, but Tom reminded me to leave the driving to him and just enjoy the spectacular views. And spectacular they were, as you can see.

Once we got to the beach at Francis Bay, Tom began editing while I sat close to the water so that I could enjoy the rhythm of the waves over my feet. I watched the birds, children at play, and snorkelers.




This is the largest and nicest beach we've been to here. We walked the length of the beach and back.

Then we walked along the boardwalk through the adjacent wetlands filled with mangrove trees. Tom pointed out the little crabs that live in holes along the boardwalk. They all scramble into their holes as we approach.

Whenever I am in nature with Tom, he reminds me of a young boy because he notices small creatures and plants of all sizes. Many of them bring back childhood memories for him.


It was past lunch time. We wanted to see Cinnamon Bay. There must be a restaurant near there, or so we thought. After lunch, we hoped to stroll along the beach for a long time. We passed Cinnamon Bay, then Trunk Bay. We drove through Cruz Bay, the main town on this island. While we were driving through this busy town, we realized that we really did not want to stop here. There were too many tourists, and too many businesses to capture their attention. Instead, we drove back to quiet Coral Bay near our home for the week and went to Skinny Legs, the restaurant we intended to eat at yesterday. A good choice!