Breakfast in Vieques

Our days in Vieques were simple: woke up to roosters welcoming the new day– though their cries did sound more like misery than excitement.  Got ready for the beach.   Then packed the car and headed to town for breakfast.  It would have been more convenient to cook breakfast in the condo, but it wasn’t appealing in that shabby kitchen with no dish soap.  Plus, the eggs we found at The Green Store were dated about 1 month earlier.  The woman there said that was the ship date, not the use by date; but we didn’t want to take any chances.  Instead we ate at Belly Buttons.  I don’t get the name and find it slightly unappetizing, but we had perfectly satisfying breakfasts there.  I assume they use the same eggs that they sell in The Green Store, but I’ll pretend I don’t know. I’m a firm believer in the whole “ignorance is bliss” thing.  One of the things we have learned from being in some foreign countries or small islands is to ask if the veggies are fresh, or more specifically, if the mushrooms are canned.  I’m sure you could apply this to other veggies that might be hard to keep fresh while transporting to an island.  They were canned, so we stuck to fresh things (which probably improved our meal) in our omelet: green peppers, tomatoes, and bacon.  The bacon was nicely cooked– more on the crispy side, and less on the white, fatty side.  It came with some well seasoned breakfast potatoes.  For a few days Belly Buttons did the trick.  They seem to have great sandwiches that they’ll make to take for lunch at the beach, but since we don’t eat bread, our options were limited.

They have a bar too, which appears to make for a great time later in the day.All of the restaurants along this block have that fun, tropical, Caribbean vibe.  And this pretty much makes up the town of Esperanza.  Esperanza is the town on the south side of the island and it’s the tourist area strip.  I didn’t expect until I saw it that it was literally just one street.  I liked it much more than I thought I would because I felt like I was on a tropical island.There is a cute little boardwalk that isn’t much more than this, but it is beautiful.  You can stroll (not a long walk) or simply enjoy the view from any restaurant on the street.  Just don’t expect to lounge on the beach here.So this was how we began everyday: rooster wake up call, breakfast overlooking this magnificent view, and the next stop being the beach.  If I were stuck in a Groundhog Day that looked like this, I think it’d be okay.