Last night Curtis, Kristen, Nick and I went to Elvi’s for the Mayan buffet, after looking at the buffet Curtis and I decided to order off the menu, while Kristen and Nick decided to give the buffet a go. I ordered scallops in garlic butter. Curtis opted for the grilled scallops. They were very good and the coconut rice was a bit different than in the other restaurants, but still very good. After dinner we went to the Salty Dog souvenir shop so Kristen could exchange a shirt, then we headed back to Banyan Bay.
I didn’t get to bed until after midnight, a record for the trip and possibly even the entire year. Of course what do you think happened at 7 am? Wide awake again. I peeled myself out of bed for some island coffee and computed awhile before the four of us went to breakfast at Rico’s. This time I opted for the tropical waffles, since everyone seemed to rave at about them. They were good. After breakfast we went to the dive shop to square up our bill. Ouch.
Kristen and I walked a couple hotels down to check out some handmade jewelry. They had a small selection in the dive shop and Eli told us the lady would have more displayed today. I ended up getting a bracelet directly from her, then buying a pendant that I liked back at the dive shop.
Finally a day to relax and catch some rays… it’s hard to tan when you’re constantly under the water. We were finally poolside and in the sun around 11 am. Kristen and I lounged around while Nick and Curtis practiced blowing air rings in the pool. We also racked up quite a bill while poolside… Kristen and I were drinking banana daiquiris while Curtis was enjoying mojitos and Nick was guzzling down Sprite, not to mention our snack of nachos and ceviche!!
Soon the daylight was waning and we were faced with the difficult decision of where to eat dinner. We talked about ordering pizza again, but we still needed to venture into town to get some last minute souvenirs. Then we discussed going to the Blue Water Grill since Curtis and Kristen enjoyed their meal so much. I was willing because I would have liked to try something else, but Nick wasn’t too hot on the idea. We also considered going back to Caramba. Finally we decided to ask the gals at the lobby desk for a recommendation. We had it narrowed down to either the Sunset Grill, which was on the lagoon side of the island, or Fido’s, which one a new restaurant. We decided to go to Fido’s. Once we got to town we decided to do a bit of shopping before dinner. We hit up a few stores then walked back to Fido’s. We ordered drinks then found out that they only were serving appetizers. It was 8:00 and the waiter said if we wanted to have dinner we should get going right away. He recommended Jambels Jerk Pit and gave us directions. After consulting one of the maps outside (they have mall directory type maps of the island on all the street corners) we arrived at what we thought was Jambels, only to realize we were actually at El Patio Restaurant and Grill, but quickly decided to eat there when the Maitre Di told us of the fresh arrival of lobster and snapper and started describing some of the different meals. The environment at El Patio was fun. A tall palm frond ceiling covered a sand filled floor. The chairs all had cushions which pleased our behinds, sore from the mostly wooden chairs and bumpy cab/golf cart/boat rides. In the center of the restaurant was a fountain with running water, which only seemed strange because all the other fountains on the island were filled with plants or, in the case of our hotel, dirt. El Patio was located on a side street between Front and Middle Streets, and we got to watch a group of kids playing some sort of ball game that appeared to be a volley ball version of PIG or Lightening, played with a soccer ball.
I think if I had to pick a favorite restaurant in Belize, El Patio would be the one. I ordered a spicy coconut crusted snapper with a side of coconut rice and a salad with ranch dressing. Let me tell you about the ranch dressing. It was the best ranch dressing in the world. Homemade too. It was so good I dipped my fish in it. I even let it touch my coconut rice. I’m glad we ate there the last day, because if we were there any earlier in the trip I would have wanted to eat there the whole time.
Feeling a bit full following our meal, we passed on dessert and headed back to our condo. Kristen was trying to come up with a list of reasons why she was glad to go home, but it was a little short. We packed up our bags and got everything organized for the morning before heading to bed.