Despite the fact that Chantelle was NOT quite at her happiest with me on my return from work on Friday night, she couldn’t exactly say no to some supper at Bertie’s Moorings (especially since our TV was buggered), so off we twaddled to this quaint little family restaurant/bar sitting in Harbour Island, Gordon’s Bay.
Bertie’s Mooring is famed for the live performances that it hosts there and we were disappointed to see on entry that Prime Circle had in fact performed there just the night before! Still, the ambiance as always was buzzing and despite it being such a beautiful wind still evening outside, we opted to sit inside, closer the to the blazing fire and out of reach from those chilly fingers that the night air was reaching out with.
Our waiter was friendly and efficient enough, and both Chantelle and I opted for seafood for a change, with her going for the calamari and chips while I went for my standard deep fried hake and chips. The food was excellent once again and we enjoyed a nice, intimate supper with just the two of us, interrupted only by the loud chatter all around us.
However, with our food all eaten and the supper done, things finally went a little pear-shaped when it came to paying the bill. Now these days I hardly ever carry cash in my wallet (unless eating out in a group when you have to do the inevitable ‘split the bill’ at the end), opting rather just to wildly swipe my debit card at will, close my eyes and pretend that things like bank charges don’t in fact exist.
But not tonight.
No, as my friendly and efficient waiter assured me, there would be no debit card swiping tonight.
Turns out that they had just changed their telephone number in the week, but had forgotten to change their card readers in the process, meaning that all bank card transactions were now offline, leaving more than a few bewildered diners and a lot of people taking the long walk along the pier to the hotel which thankfully hosts a small portable ATM inside.
Leaving Chantelle behind as collateral, I took said stroll down the pier, only once considering running off home but then stopping when realising that Chantelle held the keys, withdrew my cash and paid said smiling waiter.
Thankfully we were both in pretty good spirits at the time so this minor inconvenience was just that. Still, you would think they would at least have posted a sign up on the door or something – or at least changed ALL their numbers on time!