~~~ Part 10 ~~~
As promised, since Henry had been such a good sport about diving - he'd actually not only completed his certification, but then gone on to dive with Elizabeth for a third day - Elizabeth went with him to see some of the dozens of churches on Anguilla. Admittedly, Elizabeth would have gone regardless. Churches were Henry's thing, not hers, but she enjoyed seeing his adorably boyish excitement for religion and its history and architecture, and his enthusiasm was infectious. Henry touring churches was timeless; they'd visited churches on so many trips over the years, and each new trip brought back older memories and made new ones. So even though Anguilla didn't have the ornate churches of England or France or Italy, nor the grand mosques and temples they'd seen on some of their other trips, they were making their own church tour.
Henry drove them along the main road to the center of the island, towards The Valley, the island's main town, where several of the churches were located. On the way, they made quick stops at two modern Seventh Day Adventist churches that they passed. The first of the two had unfortunately been destroyed by Hurricane Irma, and its roof and one of its walls were completely torn off. Seeing it up close gave Henry and Elizabeth a sense of the magnitude of the storm and the havoc it had wreaked on the island. The second church, with one decorative stone wall, appeared to be in good condition and was evidently in use by multiple congregations whose church buildings had been damaged. After witnessing the damage at the first church, there was something uplifting about seeing this church that had opened itself up so that people of all different denominations had a place where they could come together to seek comfort during a time when so much else in their lives was in upheaval.
Once they reached The Valley, their first stop was at a very modern church: St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church, a striking building, or rather a pair of striking buildings. According to the notes Henry had brought along (yes, he'd brought notes), St. Gerard's was constructed in the 1940s, and then rebuilt after a hurricane in 1961 - yet another hurricane leaving its mark on the island, Elizabeth thought to herself. It was made of exposed multicolored stone masonry and had a facade of three arching towers. The door was bright red, and there was a cross above it, with a small bell and another cross at the very top. Inside, Henry and Elizabeth found that, despite having a dark wooden roof, it was very well lit, as the sides were entirely windows. They took some time to appreciate the ambiance and to admire the unique baptismal font with a shell base.
They then walked around the church grounds for a few minutes. There was a second, more recent, building, which was almost a near-replica of the original, but made of single-color stone. On the adjacent lot behind a white picket fence, sat the Wallblake House, the great house of a sugar plantation built in 1787, serving as another reminder of how tightly the island's history was intertwined with the practice of slavery.
After leaving St. Gerard's, Henry drove barely a mile before arriving at St. Mary's Parish Church, which was the oldest Anglican Church on the island. It was a modest but elegant white building with a modified gable roof topped by a white cross. Built in the 1870s, it replaced a series of older church buildings on the site that dated back to around 1700. They made their way up the brownish-red steps and through the church's arched doorways. The interior of the church was bright white with vivid sky blue support beams and columns, and there were stained glass windows depicting the resurrection of Christ and the sacraments.
Taking in the brass Stations of the Cross and the electric organ, Henry couldn't help but recall his visit to a far more ornate church in Cuba with Alison when she was in high school. She had snapped a few photos of the church to post on Instagram, and he had snapped at her. In response, she'd walked out of the church in a huff, after suggesting that he should make more of an effort to get to know her. He sighed. Maybe their relationship hadn't changed much since then. Though they'd made up minutes later, there were still plenty of times that he felt he didn't understand her. The difference was that now, it seemed, she was less interested in him understanding her than she was in having the space to be independent. He took a couple of photos of the church to share with Alison, hoping both that the aesthetics would still appeal to her and that she would understand the gesture.
He remembered what it was like being a teenager, and how eager he had been to move out of his parents' house and get away from his dad, so he supposed he should count his blessings that Alison had moved back in with them for a time and that Stevie was still living with them. But now with Jason about to start college... He was proud of the adults their children were growing up to be, but sometimes he couldn't help being sad that they couldn't stay the innocent little kids they used to be forever. He reached over and squeezed Elizabeth's hand, and they remained holding hands as the exited the church and passed the freestanding stone belfry which had been added in the 1900s.
Next they went to Ebenezer Methodist Church. Like St. Gerard's, its facade was mostly stone, but the rest of the exterior was newly painted white with the same sky blue trim as St. Mary's. They learned that the church had lost its roof - not for the first time - in Hurricane Irma. The stone front was from the original 1830 structure, but the belfry, gable roof, and stronger walls to support it had just been added.
They were only a few blocks from the highest ridge on the island, so they made a scenic stop there to take in the view. They could see a long beach immediately below them, as well as the rest of Anguilla and some nearby islands.
"I was thinking about Cuba, going to churches with Alison, driving around in that old Chevy convertible," Henry said, breaking the companionable silence. Elizabeth waited for him to continue. "Ali pushed me outside of my comfort zone on that trip, forced me to consider different ways of appreciating beauty. And on this trip, you got me outside of my comfort zone to experience an entirely different kind of beauty underwater. And I wanted to thank you for that."
"Well thank you for reminding me how to slow down and experience travel for pleasure," Elizabeth replied. "Honestly, after so much work travel, I wasn't sure that was something I could do."
They decided to take a different route back to their hotel, which would allow them to detour to the island's only bookstore. The bookstore turned out to be tucked away in a residential area well off the main road, and they were glad to find signs directing them so they knew they hadn't gotten lost. Inside was a surprisingly good collection of books for an island that size, including many children's books, several of which had been written locally. Henry browsed through collections of Anguillian folk stories and poems and a cookbook, while Elizabeth skimmed an Anguillian history book and a book about the leaders of the Anguilla Revolution. As they were about to leave with their purchases, a book about local animals also caught her eye, and she looked up the Lesser Antillean Iguana.
Their lunchtime conversation with Leroy had really stuck with her, both the part about the threats to coral reefs and other wildlife and the part about Hurricane Irma. After talking with him, she'd gone back to the hotel and pulled out her laptop - despite her resolution to avoid using it on vacation unless absolutely necessary - and read about Hurricane Irma. Irma had been a monster of a storm, with maximum sustained winds over 180 mph and hurricane force winds extending more than 100 miles in diameter. The eye of the hurricane made direct landfall in Antigua & Barbuda, St. Martin, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, and Cuba, and because of its large size, nearby islands like Anguilla also experienced the brunt of the storm.
Some of the same islands then suffered a second Category 5 hurricane, Maria, only two weeks later. When faced with the possibility of being hit by Hurricane Jose just after Irma, Barbuda, where an estimated 95% of buildings had been destroyed, ordered a mandatory evacuation. Most of the islands' 1700 inhabitants relocated to neighboring Antigua for four months until they were allowed to return. Reading about their evacuation, Elizabeth's thoughts had naturally turned to David Akua, the new young leader of Nauru, and she had sent him a quick personal email to check in with him.
After the bookstore, Henry had a surprise for Elizabeth. "One last stop," he announced when they were nearly back at the hotel.
Elizabeth turned to him with a puzzled look, since she thought they had already hit all the churches on Henry's list. Her eyes lit up in comprehension when she saw he was parking in front of an ice cream shop. "Now this," she exclaimed happily, "is my kind of church!"
Elizabeth's mouth dropped open when she saw the menu, "They have ice cream and Belgian waffles!" Henry suppressed a smile. "And you already knew that, didn't you?" she inquired. Henry shrugged innocently, but didn't deny it. There was no use pretending otherwise. Of course he'd thoroughly researched ice cream places; they both knew each other so well.
Elizabeth ordered a waffle with chocolate ice cream and almonds, and Henry ordered one with coffee ice cream and fudge.
"This is really good," Elizabeth praised, already reaching for another forkful of her dessert. Henry held out his fork with a large bite of waffle and ice cream for her to try. "So is yours," she pronounced after tasting it.
"It is," Henry agreed. Elizabeth fed Henry a bite of her ice cream in return.
After finishing her waffle, Elizabeth leaned back, sated. "That was a wonderful idea, Henry."
"It's hard to go wrong with you with ice cream," Henry chuckled, polishing off the last of his dessert.
"True," Elizabeth was quick to agree. "But the waffles really kicked it up a notch."
"I figured if I wasn't going to be making you pancakes on this vacation, this would be the next best thing."
"Hmm ... definitely a top candidate for pancake-making substitute," Elizabeth responded, intimating she had another idea in mind.
"Oh?" Henry inquired.
"Even without pancakes, you could model your chef apron for me."
Henry laughed. "You and your apron fetish!"
They were still chuckling when they exited the shop and headed back to the car.
"Anything else you have in mind to do before our sunset horseback ride?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, I didn't bring the apron, so... Scrabble?" Henry suggested.
"You're on!"