This Antiguan Life
It’s been months since I last went to the beach, I’m afraid to say that I hadn’t been to the beach for the year. One thing cascaded to another, with my looking toward the warmer months only for the warmer months to whip by at gale force speeds. And so, I made it a point to pull myself out of the house and head off to my go-to beach, Deep Bay.
In the East of the island, it is one of the calmer beaches in Antigua with crystal clear waters and a long stretch of white sand, ending at the Royalton hotel. As expected, the opposite side from the hotel was empty when I arrived around 10 in the morning. Well, almost empty, a couple had arrived just before me and there was a man setting up at a small outdoor eatery.
Sadly, my goggles broke in the middle as I started for the water, dry rot in the island is real, sigh. So, I puttered about in the water, doing a little not drowning, what I call swimming. I noticed the man from the eatery going in, but I paid no mind, that is, until he did something that blew my mind.
From the water a few yards away, where I knew there was seaweed, he came up with a lobster in hand.
Say what? Just so? AWDJY (Ah Wah De Joke Yah)? We have lobster here? Since when?
Next thing I know, boss man is dragging something out of the water, just yards away from where I stood, mind you. It turned out to be a trap of some kind with MORE lobster!!
Hold up, what is really going on here?
I have been coming to this beach for YEARS and I haven’t seen one, uno, un, lobster before and this man trap maybe a dozen. Wait, how come?
So, I had to find out. I was bursting with curiosity.
As he dragged the wood and chicken wire box back into the water, I asked my questions.
It turned out that no, the lobsters were not from the waters of Deep Bay. In fact, some were from other areas around Antigua and the rest from Barbuda. They were kept in the water until they were ready to be prepared at the eatery. The eatery in question is Jus Grillin Seafood.
Located in the shadow of Fort Barrington, this tiny eatery, made up with pallets and cooking equipment, is the embodiment of island life. It stands in stark contrast to the modern hotel on the other side of the beach. Its IG page boasts: Fresh lobster every day, straight from the sea onto the grill. And as this pic shows, where is the lie?
Only two years old, Jus Grillin’s clientele is not limited to Royalton, tourists and locals alike have had their fill of fresh seafood prepared right on the beach. All of whom seem to love the eatery seeing it has a 5-star rating on Tripadvisor and 4.9-star rating on Google.
Although Antigua and Barbuda boast a fair number of high-end restaurants, not to mention a diverse selection, it is eateries like Jus Grillin that showcase great food. Period. No fancy decor. No hit or miss customer service. Just good food, an easy vibe, and the sea water just a few steps away.
This is Antiguan life.
For a while now, I’ve had the idea of a blog called This Antiguan Life, in which I share posts like this, as well as invite others to share posts like this. The focus is life in Antigua & Barbuda from the perspective of a resident. No politics, no pandering to tourists, just observations and insights, a celebration of living in a small place.
It may become a reality, it may not, but for right now, I’ll leave this here.
My supervisor was asking if the guy isn't afraid someone will steal his lobsters.