Another early morning, this time to catch the boat back to Belize City from where we were transported by car to the airport.  Our friends at AQ Belize Car Rental were ready for us with our second rental and on another glorious day we were off on the drive south to Placencia.  We have regarded this visit to Belize as a scouting trip as well a a snow escape, trying to sample different parts of the country to inform any planning for a return.  Thus we started with the interior rainforest/Mayan ruins, next the offshore reefs/snorkeling heaven, and now a relaxing small beach town for our final couple of days.  The further south you go in Belize, the less impressive are the corals and fish, so it's no more snorkeling for us.  Just as well, Phyllis' throat and sinuses are still complaining.

The drive along the Coastal Highway took about two hours, and along the way we observed two things.  First, it's a rather pristine highway, paving completed just a few months ago, with hardly any of those otherwise ubiquitous and mountainous speed bumps.  Perhaps because there's little habitation along the way, meaning no need for all those bus stops which are coincidentally the locations of the most pronounced bumps.  Second, we began to see the only commercial billboard we'd seen in all the country so far.  Everywhere, there are billboards but with only governmental messages on them, safety/cautionary and the like.  We already wondered if the billboard company was fairly new and had no real customers yet.  Here, we saw billboards for the Hobbs Brew Barge, inviting us to "Just Barge In".  Normally we dislike billboards, but this one alerted us to what turned out to be a really good craft brewpub for our lunch stop.  And yes, it is literally on a barge, moored (or more likely grounded) on a waterway just across from the brewery itself.  While Belikin is known as The Beer of Belize, it is pretty watery for us and we were pleased to discover some beer with character.  

After lunch, we went on into Placencia town proper, scouting for a couple of rums that Craig had decided to take home with us after a long tasting session with Hendry back at Turneffe.  (Phyllis bonded with Hendry with family-type discussions, Craig apparently over shots of rum; thank goodness for the drinks package.)  We found the Tiburon at a company shop but unsuccessfully searched every grocery store along the strip for the second brand.  It appears Craig will have to change his shopping list.

It was a rather warm afternoon so we went on to check in at the Maya Beach Hotel, about 20 minutes back north of Placencia town on the Placencia Peninsula.  It turned out to be an inspired choice: beachfront, quiet, more than adequate facilities, good food on site, so similar to but way less expensive than the Turneffe Island Resort.  We wandered the beachfront a bit and thought about dinner, but were so stuffed from our lunch at the Barge that we just had snacks and turned in early, still exhausted from all our recent outings.