Bob invited Dan and Alan to go spear fishing so we head back to the bay first thing in the morning. He picks them up in his boat while Tristan takes the rest of us to shore. Karon and I decide to take the kids for a walk on the island. Tricia told us about the trails that have been cleared and a trail to the other side of the island to the ocean beach.
As we head up the path Genna and Bobby join us. We see Tricia and ask her if we can take her kids with us on our nature walk. She is trying to get things ready for the owners to come back so she thinks that would be a great idea. We take a long hike, led by Bobby to the other side of the island. Their children are so smart. Bobby and Genna gave us a great tour pointing out the different trees and bushes along the way. After what seemed like a long hike we were rewarded with a beautiful empty beach. We took a much deserved short swim before heading back to the house.
When we got back, the men had returned from a successful spear fishing trip. Dan and Alan had the time of their life, including some close calls with some hungry sharks. As soon as a fish would be speared the sharks would come out of nowhere. They had a short time to get the fish back to the boat before coming face to face with a 6 foot hungry shark. When the sharks showed up, they would have to leave and head for another spot to spearfish. They (Bob) caught a grouper, a hogfish, and a mutton snapper. Alan caught a parrot fish. Bob filleted the fish for us, and then we took a walk around the main house and the yard. It was so incredible! The house was built very openly. The shower off the master bedroom had one wall that was tiled with rocks found on the property. One wall was open to the backyard. When I admired the key limes growing on the trees Bob immediately loaded me up with some. When I asked if that was a papaya tree, next thing I knew I had a papaya to take with me. They also had some amazing birds. Tricia set up some bird seeds on the porch for the kids and the little birds would eat out of their hands.
There was one particular bird that liked men. Bob had Alan sit in the hammock with some bird seed and this bird would eat from his hand. They had a lizard to feed too. This lizard lived loose in the house. Tricia put a grape tomato out for it to eat. The kids laughed as he made a mess, squirting tomato seeds on her clean floor. It was just a great day and Bob and Tricia were amazingly generous hosts. They said the people who owned the house encouraged people to come up and look around. They even had a sign that read “Yes Trespassing”. That is how Bob and Tricia first met them. So now they were returning the favor to us. The kids went out to slide down the slide a few more times, but the last time we saw a shark swim under the dock so we decided that was enough. Karon mentioned she would like a coconut, so off goes Tricia to slice one open for her. At this point I was so afraid of us overstaying our welcome. We knew the owners were due back pretty soon and they had a lot to take care of before they came. Reluctantly we told them we had to go, and I asked Bob for his best recipe for the fish. He asked if we had breadcrumbs and I said no. He goes into the house and comes out with a bag of breadcrumbs and some Cajun spices. He said to blacken some of the fish and cook it on the grill but the kids would probably like theirs breaded and fried. He told me to bread the fillets in the crumbs and fry them in a little butter. He also gave Dan a spear gun. We were so fortunate to meet up with such nice people who went out of their way to show us a great time. We felt bad that they were headed back to live in North Carolina in the next day or so, but it sounds like they have a wonderful house with a little farm. We wish them all the best and again thank them for everything.We hope to see them in North Carolina when we finish our trip.
