Mark explaining the head-shaving procedure (Sam just wants to start)
Sam's first crack at the clippers (look at that devilish smile)
Ah, the precision of this work
Mark faking a pained look (I know it's out of focus, but I had to include it)
Emma taking her turn (a little more cautious than Sam)
Four-hour layover in St. Martin -- here's the view from our restaurant
While we ate, we enjoyed watching the dog on the boat
Off the plane from the states, 4-hour layover--of course we must have rum punch and local food
An “artistic” shot (see how the yellows go together?)
Me being silly with my rum punch (I was pretty looped off that first half a glass)
Bring on vacation!
Another shot of the water-side restaurant in St. Martin
Fishes!
The view from the front porch of our cottage in Nevis
Again, front porch of cottage
Start of walk from our cottage to the ocean
Sunset --- we always had dinner at sunset on the front porch
Some of my favorite flowers at sunset
Us goofing by the ocean (see how pastey white we are? it's the first day there)
More goofing
Last bit of goofing
Another view from our front porch (just can't get enough)
And another
I think I already took this shot, but this time it's middle-of-the-day, not late day
Pretty flowering bush
Now a view of our cottage (that's the front porch)
Our walk to the ocean
One of my favorite flowers (I had many)
It's a sea of these gorgeous things!
And here's a wider view
Our walk to the ocean (slowly getting there)
The view from our back porch -- there's the mountain/volcano
Tighter shot of the mountain and flowers
Look at these orange daisies! Planted just for me, I'm sure
One of my favorite spots, with the orange and yellow flowers
The view of our cottage from the ocean
Same view
The ocean!
Aloe by the ocean (along my running path)
More ocean
Steps to get down to our beach
Back-porch view of the mountain, with no clouds (which was a very unusual sight)
More cloudless mountain
Dinner on the back porch -- spaghetti and homemade cornbread, yum!
Us happily eating a delicious pancake breakfast
Our front-porch lizard -- we could count on seeing him each morning
The start of a goat parade on the road by our house
The baby goats are so adorable -- I just can't get enough
Town square in downtown Charlestown (capital of Nevis and only 2 miles from our house)
More town square
Town square taken from a windom in the library (which is in an old, beautiful building)
Another window shot
Another shot of Charlestown, with the mountain in the background
A church in Charlestown
By the ferry port in Charlestown (in the distance you can see St. Kitts)
Museum built where Alexander Hamilton was born (his original house was destroyed in a hurricane)
More Charlestown
Cafe de Arts (next door to the museum), where we got lunch most Tuesdays
My surprise latte! What a decadent treat
Another sign for the Nevis museum
Courtyard of the museum
Our beach
More of our beach
Us happy on the beach
Another of us on the beach
Me on my favorite rock (check out that cute orange swim suit!)
Flowers in our gardens
Cat tails -- I loved these, too
Another pretty (and beautiful smelling) flowering bush, but with poisonous fruit (good thing we didn't eat any)
Another of my favorite flowers (man did these smell wonderful)
The flowers near our porch (mini-flowers within flowers)
Can you seen the hummingbird? She's actually at rest during this shot (they are hard to get on film)
The pool at the main house
A view of the mountain from the pool
Okay, I'm a sucker for any orange flowers
Lots of aloe all over the grounds (Mark used it numerous times on sun burns)
Another pretty flower
More of the the grounds (our cottage is on the left)
More of those cat tails I love
Mark eating cereal
Our awesome dinner of homemade salsa and refried beans (and chips, of course)
Sunset from our porch
Us at the main pool
Mark at the pool (with a palm growing out of his head)
Me enjoying the water
The view from a beach chair at the pool
More of the grounds
Mark reading by the pool
Mark reading his tome (the Alexander Hamilton biography)
Me sucking up the Vitamin D
Mark putting aloe (from the grounds) on his sun-burned face
A closer shot of our front-porch lizard
Me writing after breakfast
How do you like my office? Pretty good digs if you can get them
Looking outside from our cottage
Me doing pilates
Look how happy I am doing “hundreds!”
The mountain covered by rain clouds (a common sight -- the mountain gets 300 inches of rain a year)
Mark at the Nevis museum (the day we actual went in to see the Alexander Hamilton exhibit)
Again, the museum
The market we went to each Tuesday (look at all those bananas!)
Our favorite cafe (Cafe de Arts)
The rooster who often joined us for lunch
Sunset on our beach
The full moon
Me at sunset
Another of me
A view during our short hike to the southern tip of the island
Donkeys watching us carefully during our hike
Isn't she cute?
Southern tip of the island
View of the mountain (and Saddle Hill) from the southern tip
Again, rocky beach on the southern tip
More rocky beach
Post-run, I'm ready to open the coconut with my machete
Here's my first whack
Mark drinking some of the coconut juice after some of my hackings
Mark finishing the job on the coconut
The hummingbirds loved these plants -- swarmed them each morning
Flowering aloe plant
Mark during his post-breakfast fiddle session at the sea
Mark fiddling by the sea
My eyeball -- Mark was practicing with the macro-view setting on the camera
Close-up of the yummy smelling flowers
A different flower (flowers, flowers, everywhere)
This is my favorite!
A close-up of the pretty yellow flowers
These were little tiny red flowers
Check out the bee
Interesting opening pod by the cacti
Pretty little purple things
Cow by some plantation ruins (on our hike to Brown Hill)
More plantation ruins
Walking through a rock bed during our hike to Brown Hill
Interesting yard landscaping
More car landscaping
Part of the Botanical Gardens
More Botanical Garden
Even more Botanical Gardens
Last of the Botanical Gardens
View from the top of Brown Hill
Same view (steep hill!)
Us at the top of Brown Hill
Again, top of Brown Hill, but with the ocean in the background
Goat!
Donkeys keeping watch
Passion fruit from the vine on our back porch
Me cutting the passion fruit
The inside of the passion fruit (looks alien, doesn't it?)
Mmm-mmm good!
The Bath House hotel (built in 1778) -- it brought much tourism to the island
More of the Bath House
Cafe de Arts (our Tuesday lunch date)
A bird helping itself to sugar
The cafe rooster with a new hatchling
A close-up of a fuzzy little hatchling
Sunset on our property
More sunset
Mark at the end of our 1000-foot, completely uphill bike ride
Plantation ruins
Golden Rock Plantation Inn (a hotel created from the remains of a sugar plantations)
More Golden Rock Inn
Lunch patio at Golden Rock
Us tired, but happy after our long uphill bike ride
Us entering the rain forest (trails begin from Golden Rock Inn) -- check out our walking sticks
The 5-speed bikes that got us up 1000 feet
Along our rainforest hike
Mark pointing out a monkey (can you see it?)
Cool looking tree
Me by an even bigger, cooler looking tree
Mark hiking
Back to Golden Rock Inn
View from our lunch table
Our companion at lunch
Here he's hamming for the camera
The birdie eating sugar from Mark's hand
The competition! (Or maybe the wife?)
You can see the mountain in the background
A cute little art shop we saw on our way back down the mountain
More flower close-ups (back on our property)
The yellow and orange are sure pretty together
This is just a little tiny thing
Mark got so close you can see the pollen
A close-up of a cat tail
Back to my eye (to show that Mark had learned things about the macro-view setting)
Northern part of the island (that's a view of St. Kitts)
Closer view of St. Kitts
A view of the recreation clubs on Nevis (biking, kayaking, sailing -- they even have a triathlon club)
The catamaran that we could have rented if it weren't broken (this is a sad picture)
Sunshine's restaurant on the beach (famous for Sunshine--the owner--and Killer Bees, a rum drink)
The friendly dog who was the first to greet us at Sunshine's (well, now he's sleeping)
Us at Sunshine's (after another longish, enjoyable bike ride)
Our second Killer Bee!
Check out my necklace (I bought it from the nice lady selling outside Sunshine's)
Sign for the Jewish Cemetery in Charlestown
A grave marker
A grave marker with more clear writing
A really big caterpillar on a tree in the graveyard
More caterpillar
Mark using the macro setting
Super close-up of the front of the caterpillar
And his behind
A bigger shot of the graveyard
Hot tub where we occasionally sat to watch the gorgeous sky and stars
Our back porch
The back of our cottage
Adolfo -- heart and soul of the property (and an all-around good guy)
Mark playing violin on the front porch
Mark in a hammock on the back porch
Spending time on the front porch before dinner
Me on my favorite post-swim meditation/emotional-stuff rock
Me standing on my beautiful rock
Homemade pizza night!
It was absolutely as delicious as it looked. Yum!
Rum punch at Sunshine's for Mark's birthday
Another picture taken by the kind women who sold us jewelry
Mark and his birthday necklace
More celebration of Mark's birthday -- Ice cream!
Our ferry from Nevis to St. Kitts (we flew out of St. Kitts)
Nevis (from the ferry)
Nevis again
Us enjoying the ferry ride
Again, but with Nevis in the background
Mark contemplating the sea
St. Kitts
Me enjoying the view
St. Kitts Harbor
St. Kitts town square (view from our restaurant)
Lunch in St. Kitts before leaving (cheers to vacation!)
