Being and Nothingness.

For the first time in 34 years, I celebrated my birthday in the warmth.  People with warm weather birthdays do not know how good they have it.  On the day I turned 34, I was in Anguilla where it was 82, sunny, with a breeze.  Just perfect.  And, it remained perfect the entire five days we were in the islands -- except as we were taking the boat to depart where we boated through a brief

Upon my return, people asked me what I did while on vacation.  In short: nothing.  It was wonderful.  For five days, I would wake up and go out to our lanai and enjoy the view from our backyard.

View from our backyard -- yes, the beach was THAT close.

We would order some light breakfast, my mom would take her morning nap, we would go to a beach, have some drinks, return to our rooms and take a nap, go to dinner (great food on the island), have some drinks and go to bed.  I read a lot.  I slept.  I did nothing and enjoyed the heck out of it.

We had a lot of beaches to choose from on the island.  Our backyard overlooked Meads Bay.  Also on the resort's property was Barnes Bay.  On my actual birthday, we went to Shoal Bay, which has at various points, been named the best beach in the world.  It is definitely more touristy than the beaches around the Viceroy.  (While all beaches on Anguilla are public, they don't have to make access easy.  The Viceroy offers a public parking lot that is probably a mile walk to the beach.  Shoal Bay is much more public but it truly beautiful.  One of the local hustlers is Ray De Man.  Even knowing that he is totally hustling the tourists by renting his umbrellas, towels, etc., you can't help but like the guy.  He has business cards and personalized umbrellas:

Yes, that reads I love Ray De Man.

Unfortunately, Anguilla is a bit of trek to get to from Chicago.  My parents flew from Denver to Chicago, where I met them at the gate (which was so unexpected in this post 9/11 era, that neither of them really recognized me at first) and we all flew to Miami.  We had a night layover -- where we got to the hotel at about 10:00pm only to be told our rooms were not yet ready! -- and then flew to St. Maarten and then took a boat to Anguilla.  Mom and I, having made this journey three years ago, had our eyes on the prize: our first beer on St. Maarten while we wait for the boat to Anguilla.  Neither of us really drink beer but for some reason it is perfect and delicious there.

Cheers -- to doing nothing!

First beer!

Anguilla is interesting in that most tourists you talk to have been there before -- in fact, have been there multiple times with plans to return.  It was my second time.  Even with snafus with our room and some annoyances with the resort (which happened last time as well), I have no hesitation in saying I want to go again.

The entrance to the Viceroy Anguilla 

Initially, I was concerned that my dad would not enjoy himself.  He is not a man who does well at doing nothing, at least when he is at home.  But, he took to it like a duck to water.

Getting into the swing of doing nothing.

Although, he and water are not really the best of friends.  So, he did not love the beach portion of our days -- at least the part where anyone actually got wet.  But, he did not mind sitting on the beach with a drink and book.  Not at all.

His beach look: shoes AND socks on, no way is he going in the water.

Mom and I LOVE the beach.  We are both pale people so we were slathered in strong sunblock and sat under umbrellas most of the time -- nothing worse than ruining a perfectly good vacation by burning yourself into discomfort -- but we just love the sand in your toes, the ocean, the breeze, the warmth, the drinks.

More appropriate beach attire.

Proof that everyone looks good in aviators.