Week 4 -- January 30

January 30:
Our last full day in Hopkins! In the morning we took a short walk along the road to bird watch, but it was already warm, and activity was relatively low. We then decided to act like we were on vacation and lounged at the seaside, reading, relaxing, and soaking up the nourishing sun. Much to our delight, we observed two or three manatees feeding on the sea grasses just off of the beach, a bit beyond the pier. We learned from a local this was an uncommon sight; they stray from the Sittee River periodically, but not often. After a leisurely lunch at Parrot Cove (snapper sandwich, coconut fried shrimp, and fresh fruit) we decided to walk along the shore to the town of Hopkins, in search of the hemp lady from Oregon and an ice cream shop that sold sour sap ice cream (recommended by Hartfield). We found the hemp lady easily; a sign posted on a palm pointed to her seemingly ancient run down former school bus converted to living quarters and hemp shop. She was friendly enough, but the goods were pretty rough. We did buy some hemp lotion from her, which she promised would erase age spots, restore elasticity, and ward off little bloodsuckers. A modern day witch doctor? After hiking several minutes more, we realized Hopkins was further than anticipated. We cut inland to get the lay of the land and after passing a couple of grocery stores that did not look so promising, we decided to give up our quest. We returned for happy hour at Hamanasi and talked with a couple of scuba divers from Boston, who highly recommended we learn to scuba in Belize, rather in the northwest. Later in the evening we splurged for dinner at Beaches and Dreams, which is owned by an Italian chef. I had seared ahi, while Dad had pork and Mom had vegetarian ravioli. Dessert was a decadent key lime tart.