Da Conch Shack - the calm before the storm!

So what do we do on the eve of a hurricane? we go eat conch (a TCI delicacy) and chill out to some reggae music! and where does one do this? at Da Conch Shack! We have been wanting to visit this place for some time, it is definitely one of those places where if you are a tourist and you come to the Island you can't go home until you've eaten here! 

It's been a reaaaally long week! a rather stressful and frustrating week in my job where I've questioned what we're even still doing here! but last night sitting out on the beach with the ocean waves a few feet away rolling in and sitting beneath the stars and the palm trees of Provo, listening to some Bob Marley beats, I remembered why we're here! 

Da Conch Shack has an awesome atmosphere and we really enjoyed our night.  The live musician supplying the reggae was actually a new buddy of Byron's! His name is Stanley Roots, you can actually buy his album through itunes if you're a reggae fan he's pretty good, and he did some awesome covers of songs Byron and I love! By met him one night a few weeks back fishing down at the marina.  On Wednesday night they met up again for some night fishing and unfortunately By didn't catch anything whilst Stanley and his buddies caught some real big fish! so taking pity on By they kindly gave him one of their smaller catches to take home (which is actually bigger than anything By's caught before!) so By is excited about BBQing that up at some point soon.  So we went along to support his new friend! He has the longest dreads I have ever seen in my life!

This is the 'Rum Bar' section! 

and some of the indoor seating

Here is By with his conch combo platter - a mix of conch fritters and 'cracked conch'.  

and of course no dish is complete without a side order of 'peas and rice' - very Caribbean! You won't be surprised by the fact that I wasn't planning on indulging in conch being the non fish lover I am.  So I played safe and order a chicken curry, but Byron persuaded me I needed to try some conch - and wouldn't you know I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more than my chicken curry so I know what I'll be ordering next time we return! 

The barman offered to take this picture for us, and I was pretty surprised at how well it turned out considering he seemed to have been on the rum all night long! 

For now we are breaking out our hurricane kit we bought back when we first arrived, storm shutters are on, Byron is whipping us up a batch of banana bread to see us through and we're praying that we won't get hit too hard! We will likely lose internet for a few days so don't be surprised if you don't hear from us.  So we're off to experience our first hurricane...wish us luck!