It's all about the people (and the food!)

The title says it all! In my old life, a tough day at work was always balanced by getting to work through the challenges with some pretty awesome people. Now that we're traveling all the time I can say that it still holds true--the best memories, whether they be made on pristine beaches, in a hot engine compartment, or in a crazy storm, are usually all great memories because of the people. But then there's the other travel joy...THE FOOD! And when those two glorious things come together, that's when the real magic happens.

And that's what we have here in Great Harbour Cay. Two years ago we had our first conch salad of our cruising lives (and the Skipper's first ever) at Brown's Garden. Ronnie Brown served up his specialty with a smile and a good dose of stories about the island. We visited him a few times that week, even celebrating our 15th anniversary with his conch salads served in plastic bowls with plastic spoons and cold Kalik beers. That conch salad became the one we compared all others to! We were back again last year, in the midst of COVID, and while things were definitely slower on the island, Ronnie was still in good spirits and we chatted quite a bit over Kaliks. This year, things still aren't quite back to how they were the first year, new family members are working with him, but his spirit at that great conch salad are still there!

Conch salad (background), scorch conch (foreground), and a cold Kalik!

Based on a conversation we had last year, we had a little gift for Ronnie from the states...a culinary treat that is a little hard to come by on the island. Last night the three of us headed to an early dinner at Brown's so we could deliver and Ronnie was so surprised! He has brought us so many smiles over the years and it was great to give him a little joy in return. Hugs and shots were shared, and when it was time to get dinner going, Ronnie took Trent down to the water with him to learn more about conch. We gather and clean our own conch onboard, but here Trent was getting to learn from a real master! Ronnie told him all about how to get the conch out and let him do one, taught him all about the conch anatomy, showed him how to clean it, then gave us a peek at his salad technique. And we ate and chatted and smiled and left with full bellies and hearts. 

Cheers to good friends!

Ronnie's "office" is stunning! And he and Trent had way too much fun cleaning those conch!

Ronnie sporting a big smile while making that conch salad...you can't help but smile back!

I love learning about a culture through its food. Eat the exotic stuff, hear the stories, and appreciate the work that went into the food!

~Jo, 1st Mate