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Day 4, Thursday: Orient
The day dawned mostly clear and promising, a perfect day for Orient. The Club O area. And in keeping with the trend of this trip there were no crowds at all. By lunchtime there were maybe 20 people underneath the orange umbrellas. That was fine with us. The Perch serves surprisingly good food for a small space. And the Happy Hour experience is always fun. A pair of Guavaberry Coladas induced a good nap. Dinner was tapas a Quai 58 in Grand Case. The place was hopping with what I guess were mostly locals. But despite the crowd, service was prompt and attentive and the food was great … shrimp, prawns and burrata. As we walked through the village it seemed the place that remained open were doing a good business.

Day 5: Friday: Friars Bay:
The plan had been to have lunch at Cool Huere. But when we arrive the place was packed and we were told no way if we didn’t have reservations. In past years we’ve never experience that. Oh, well, we’ll try another day. We decided to try Friars Bay. That turned out to be a good choice that made the several yards of potholed road near the beach worth the trip. The 978 Beach Lounge was open and provided a great lunch (fish & chips and a chicken club sandwich). And as has happened many times we met some folks who live within 30 miles of our home. Dinner was tapas at the Sunset Beach Café at GCBC (no dinner service during this slow season) … excellent shrimp crevice and humus and pita. We enjoyed watching the lights come on across the bay in Anguilla then headed back to the room for a typical island early bedtime.

Day 6, Saturday: Not much
Probably the nicest weather day of the trip thus far. Blue skies, puffy white clouds. In the morning we set up camp under the trees near the little dock on the Grand Case beach side of GCBC. Very calm and easy entrance to the water.
For lunch we decided to try Cool Heure again. This time we had the front desk make reservations for us, which turned out to be totally unnecessary. Only a few tables were occupied. But ours had a reserved sign on it. The food was spectacular. I had shrimp, scallops and vegetables in a cream sauce and my wife had duck breast with mashed potatoes to die for. The only problem with this place is that there is very little English spoken. But the waiter (owner?) does his best to translate the menu. I believe it is his wife who does the cooking so magnificently. It’s an odd place in many ways, located just beyond the basketball courts as you leave Grand Case toward Marigot. It’s right on the highway but easy to miss. Only open for lunch but one of the best food values on the island. We spent the rest of the days lounging around GCBC. Dinner was on the patio outside our room, bread, smoked meats and cheese and wine.

Thanks for the report. Was FBBC not open? I just wondered, since you have stated several places have not been open. Not that unusual for this time of year, I guess. The French side restaurants have always seemed to take time off in hurricane season, more than the Dutch side. We will have to try Cool Heure sometime.

Glad you were able to get in to Cool Heure. It's one of my favorite places on the island.