I miss Anguilla. I’ve been back from vacation for two days and not only is my heat still on, but it’s raining. There are no waves crashing outside my window. No one is bringing me a continental breakfast to my balcony. There’s not even a marble bathroom! (Insert pity party here.)
But seriously, Anguilla is awesome. If anyone is looking to get away in a matter fitting this description—turquoise water, white sand, palm trees, slushy drinks—I highly recommend it. We saw two weddings while we were there (and we were only there five nights). It’s tropical romance personified.
So now I’m back in Philly. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I was perfectly happy with Philly before I met Anguilla. I got excited that one day in April where it was warm enough to sit outside here. And we’ve got both the Flyers and the Sixers in the playoffs. That’s something, right?
And let’s face it, perfection can get wearing after awhile. I’m sure if I spent too much time in Anguilla eventually I’d want to go to a movie. Or buy shoes not made of hemp. Or wear black. Or drive on the right side of the road. It would get old. Right? Right?
Anyway, here are some interesting observations to share about the tiny little island of Anguilla.
1. It’s pronounced “Ahn-gwilla” like “Vanilla.” Though the locals put a funky twist on it where the emphasis is on the “Ahn” and not the “gwilla.” So it’s more like “AHN-gwilla.” It took us five days to master that.
2. It costs a $5 tax to get to the country but $20 tax to leave it. See, they want to make it harder for you to leave.
3. The Cuisinart kitchen people own the nicest resort on the island. (Seriously, we stayed there). And they serve breakfast on dishes that aren’t their own. But they grow their own veggies in an onsite hydroponic farm. Yum.
4. You get free sorbet on the beach at 3pm. Who doesn’t love free sorbet?
5. Because the resort’s owned by Cuisinart, which is owned by Conair, you get a hairbrush and hairspray along with your bathroom toiletries. It was a like a wedding basket in there.
6. We couldn’t stop joking about how funny it would be to open the “KitchenAid Resort” next door.
7. Anguilla is a British island, yet everything is paid for in US Dollars. However, they make you drive on the left side of the road just so you don’t forget the Brits own it.
8. You have to go through customs to go from St. Martin to Anguilla—we had to wait in line and everything. It was kinda silly being as though you can throw at stick at the other island.
9. The food is awesome. It’s the best I’ve ever had on an island—mahi-mahi, grouper, snapper, shrimp. Seriously good.
10. Anguilla is the world’s source of Pyrat rum, which is owned by Patrón (you know, the fancy tequila). Nice rum, though my husband says he still prefers the Ron del Barrilito from Puerto Rico.
POP CULTURE RANT: Paper Towns –vs– Hunger Games
So I brought both of these books on vacation. I read Paper Towns first because I thought it would be a little lighter than the doomsday storyline of Hunger Games. But I have to say while I loved the humor in the beginning of Paper Towns, it kinda of lost me in the middle. Maybe because I’m not a Walt Whitman fan (aside from his awesome bridge in Philly) and about 100 pages seemed to be a college term paper dissecting Leaves of Grass line-by-line. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. But I have to say that Hunger Games gave it a smackdown. Once I picked up Hunger Games, I was obsessed—blown away by how twisted and creative it was. And I couldn’t stop picturing the movie. I think Tim Gunn should play Cinna. Just imagine, “Make it work, Tributes!”
