Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“You have to ingest something,” he chided, as if using the word
ingest
would convince
me to do anything other than laugh in his face (assuming I had the energy).
Next he tried to persuade me to eat a bowl of cereal. Cornflakes no less. I made faint
gagging sounds and retreated to the balcony with Book Two.
This was Jane Hamilton's
A Map of the World
. Hardly a masterpiece, I admit, but grip-
ping in its own way. I felt true pity for the heroine, Alice Goodwin, when she went to jail
for a crime she didn't commit. Halfway through the rousing courtroom scene, my fever
broke. Between the penultimate and final chapters my nausea subsided. And by the time I
put the topic aside I felt almost robust.
I was reminded, not for the first time in my life, that there's nothing like someone else's
troubles to cheer me up.
Michael, restless as ever, sensed my upgraded status and proposed another beach out-
ing. I agreed but suggested we try a prehistoric-monster-free beach this time around.
Luckily, while I'd been reading a book with the word “map” in its title, he'd been study-
ing actual (i.e., useful) maps. This was another of his favorite, vaguely obsessive-compuls-
ive, activities. He spread a wrinkled map across the kitchen table and pointed to a strip of
land along the southwestern corner of the island. It was labeled
Playa Grande
in pseudo-
gothic treasure map script.
When the U.S. Navy had vacated Vieques earlier that year, Michael patiently explained,
two-thirds of the island had been turned over to the Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a
National Wildlife Refuge, which now contained all the best beaches on the island. And one
of the best of the best, according to Michael, was Playa Grande. After downing a fistful of
pills, I grabbed a towel and we headed out.
I'll never forget that first drive to Playa Grande. The road leading to the beach takes
you in an almost direct north-south line from the top of the island to the bottom. At first the
road looks like nothing more than a rocky dirt path that leads to nowhere. But after a few
twists and turns it broadens slightly. And after you've chugged and bounced your way up
a very steep hill, it opens up suddenly onto a deep, lush valley into which the road plunges
straight downward before climbing up again.
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