Blog Schedule

I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Trunk Bay

Among my fondest and earliest memories of St. John are those of Trunk Bay.
Some say it is one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. Other's say it is the most photographed beach in the world. Imagine...sometimes I was the only person on the beach. One family story goes my mother's father gave my mother the cay for her twelfth birthday.

I learned to swim here, taking to the water like a fish. Don't I look confident, though? I remember that swimsuit, it was too big for me. The stripes were orange-red and white.


Or I could pretend I was skiing.



Something else I learned here was how to fish off the rocks with a hand line. The part I loved best was smashing a whelk and getting my fingers all gooey from threading the tender abdomen onto the hook.


Whelks are also good to eat. They live on the rocks where ocean and land meet. It was great fun to go whelking, scrambling over the rocks, barefooted, like a goat. To get the sand out of them we soaked them over night in fresh water. Then they were boiled after which they were easily pulled from the shell with a something pointy, like a nut pick, small knife or even a nail. After that the abdomen was pinched off and the soft mahogany colored operculum was pulled away. Then came the best part, dipping the "foot" in my grandmother's wonderful dipping sauce. They were a great hors d'Ĺ“uvre.


The first fish I can remember catching were a doctorfish




I proudly carried them up the hill to the main house where I was taught how to clean them by Thelma. More about Thelma and her man Godfrey next Monday.
(Happy Birthday to Scott McKenzie.)

8 comments:

  1. Wow. So beautiful. Those memories must be really amazing!

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  2. Super amazing memories, Bish. I love, love, love it when you remember and show us about your early life. (Stripes suit you.)

    Fishing off the rocks with a hand line, uh, yeah, I know a little about that, being from the Keys. Those were the days, my friend.

    Can't wait to hear about Thelma and Godfrey. :)

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  3. Trunk bay is beautiful, I've been there. But there were so many people. It must have been amazing to be at the bay by yourself.

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  4. Those pictures are stunning. I love how you bring in your photos from when you were a kid!

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  5. awesome pictures! I can see why you have so many fabulous childhood memories.

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  6. What a beautiful place to grow up! You must have had an amazing childhood.

    Becca @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  7. What a gorgeous place, Bish! As I sit at my desk staring out at the latest pile-up of snow, I find myself really wishing I could be on the beaches of Trunk Bay. Thanks for the temporary escape. : )

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  8. Love the photos - especially the skiing one! Weren't you lucky to grow up in such an incredible place?

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Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!