Yes, St. Lucia is a paradise that has no address, it’s just a name.
I have some friends who won a weeklong stay at a villa in St. Lucia at a charity auction. Our breeder friends Dave and Anita ended up splitting a trip with their friends Gina and Ken and agreed to bring their kids, but quickly come to their senses and invite the Canters! My wife is very excited. I remind her that she hates St. Lucia; that is when our cruise ship had a stop their last year, and she refused to get off the boat. She remembers a time back to her youth getting harassed by locals, too; but this is a villa, so she is all in!
After a little planning and some thought, we all miraculously meet in the customs line at the St. Lucia airport, get our rental minivan and drive 90 minutes to our villa, which is just above the fishing village Anse La Ray. We made one wrong turn on the way, driving in a circle for 15 minutes, but are quickly back on the track. Amazingly enough, we find Les Chaudieres – yes, it has no address, just a name – and are in paradise! This place has an open-air entertainment area and dining room with amazing views, three beautiful ensuites with bathrooms, and an extra outside shower – not to mention, down the steps is a big pool on a cliff overlooking an even bigger pool for a wonderful, 180 degree vista of the Caribbean! We have a welcome lobster dinner grilled on open flame, along with fantastic fresh mango daiquiris made with local Chairman’s Reserve rum. Did I buy the food or cook it? Did I do dishes? Did I mention we had staff? Amazing chef and house manager Christie, driver/property manager Paul, and breakfast/maid Martina were absolutely awesome!
On Sunday morning, we woke up to a full breakfast spread, which they serve daily: eggs, pancakes, French toast, breakfast meats, fresh fruit, etc. Afterwards, some of us take the 250 steps down to our private beach for a nice snorkel and just hang poolside the rest of the day. Hanging poolside becomes a common theme for many of us during our stay, if we’re not out adventuring, and for others it’s a full time gig!
We invite friends of friends over for a fresher than fresh Mahi-mahi dinner. Nicholas Odlum is from here – he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when he was younger – then met Lenka, and moved back here a few years ago. Nicholas is retired mostly, but is involved with some sailing charters and acupuncture sessions, and Lenka teaches yoga classes. The Odlum name is everywhere – e.g. schools, buildings, and towns – since he is the son and nephew of famous politicians and social workers on the island. The Mahi-mahi dinner was amazing, topped off with a ridiculous homemade key lime pie.
On Monday, Lenka comes back to the house to teach yoga class for the girls, and the boys go to meet Nicholas at Rodney Bay to take his Ranger 29 for a day sail. We find out his nickname is Redd Foxx, because, well, he looks like Red Foxx! Anyway, we buy some beers and snacks and enjoy a great sail. By the time we get back, there is a big party on the beach from where we just departed. Locals are grilling, drinking, swimming, and generally having a great time. Apparently it is a holiday and everybody is celebrating, but nobody knows what the holiday actually is about!
On the way back we stop at the store to pick up more rum, watermelon and habaneros because our friends want some heat in their drinks. Christie cooks a fantastic jerk chicken dinner; no Jerk sauce jars in the trash, if you know what I mean. As for drinks, I start with a whole habanero, minus the seeds, of course, in the blender. I know some people like the taste, but it is way too hot. I drop the next batch down to a quarter habanero (too light!) then add in half for the rest of the batches. Add some mango, watermelon, pineapple, banana, and then start again! These are so on point that we start making plans to open a daiquiri shop back home! The recipe, just so you know, is three shots light rum, two shots dark rum, one shot Countreau, one shot lime juice, two cups of extremely fresh/ripe/sweet fruit of your choice, habanero or jalapeno for added taste, fill blender to brim with ice, and voila! The real key is to add half of the liquid after it is fully blended to maximize ice and blending. No sugar is needed and it’s absolutely delicious!
On Tuesday we hit Marigot Bay for a full day of sailing with Bateau Mygo aboard the 42-foot Beneteau, with Captain Kevin and first mate McQueen. McQueen? Oh yeah, we learn many people have adopted Hollywood-based tourist names. We stop for some fabulous snorkeling at Anse Piton near Sugar beach and again at Ti Kaye. On the way, we have a delicious lunch of Mahi-mahi, various snacks, and, of course, all you can drink rum punch and Piton, the national beer of St. Lucia, which isn’t bad! All in all, we racked up a bill of $850 for six people from about 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Afterwards we stop for drinks at Hurricane Hole Bar right next to where the boat dropped us off. It’s a pretty good pain killer, but not as good as the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. We talk to some interesting folks who have just come back from a charter to the Grenadines, the island chain to the south. The guy grew up in Trinidad, lives in Los Angeles, and has a house in St Lucia that he stays at half the year, literally every other month. What a life! We have dinner at Chateau Mygo, and the pepper pot shrimp is awesome, but really everything is great here. We also order one of every dessert on a whim. Oh, vacation! Paul, our driver, comes to pick us up, as we don’t want to find out the penalty for a DUI on this island. When we get back, more fresh fruit habanero daiquiris. We call the best one “watermelon fire.” Initial reviews continue to be positive!
On Wednesday, we head out to what is supposed to be one of the nicest beaches in St. Lucia: Reduit beach. It definitely does not disappoint, with warm, calm waters to boot. We rent some chairs and umbrellas and run into Yvonne. She is selling roti – a local food of meat, curry, potato wrap – and fresh rum punch. We say no at first, but then figure we should give it a try. Best rum punch I’ve ever tasted, to be honest. It is simply rum, various fresh juices, nutmeg, cinnamon, and no extra sugar! She tells us she is on Facebook, so we friend her as Yvonne’s natural juices. Be sure to look her up! We come back to a fantastic Mahi-mahi and curried chicken dinner, which is amazing, and then more daiquiris. At this point the heat is starting to come out of our pores, literally exiting the body in all ways imaginable. We now name the drink “fire in the hole,” abandon all plans for our global market domination, and stop drinking them.
On Thursday we drive to Anse Chastenet. The good was not great and it is expensive, but the setting is unbelievable, and it is a thoroughly relaxing afternoon. We go for a snorkel and I decide to go for a scuba dive with Error Flynn (see what I mean?) and Scuba St. Lucia. The reef is alive with trumpet fish, lobsters, banded coral shrimps, spotted drums, eels, and more. On the drive back to the villa we stop at a small, local bar called Horizons on the side of the road/cliff for a Piton and a great view. You will not find this bar online, but it is about five miles south of Anse La Raye high on the hill and it’s definitely worth a stop! Back home for fresh seared tuna and ribs, which is perhaps the best ribs I may have ever had! Let me tell you, I know ribs, I make ribs, I travel for ribs and this was delectable!
On Friday, we drive back to Anse Cochon at Ti Kaye. There is actually a gorgeous, upscale resort, but like every other beach there is a public area. Since this is a British Commonwealth country, there is a rule that nobody can own the queen’s chain (which is 20 meters back from the water) – a great rule, I might add. They charge $10 per person for entry, but credit you against food or drink. The food was fantastic and they had my wife’s favorite French Rosé called Whispering Angel. They tell us that we are getting the second to last bottle, so I ask them to bring the other one too. We then get chairs and umbrellas, and I go for a dive with Island Divers, where we make it around the corner almost to our villa’s beach. I saw lionfish, eels, boxfish; it was like an aquarium. When I finished I realize they had saved one glass of Rosé for me. We have dinner at home, more fresh tuna steaks, then off to check out the Caribbean island tradition of a Friday fish fry in Anse La Raye. It is a bunch of makeshift bars with folding tables and food stalls. We try some homebrewed spiced rum and rum punch, though it’s not as good as at Yvonne’s. The food looked good, which included shrimp and crabs, but we already ate the best at home.
The next day, the worst day on any vacation, we take the drive to the airport. It was a lot of villa time, mixed with a little diving, snorkeling, sailing, some beach time sprinkled in to keep the adventurer in me satisfied!
