This is my trip report. It is long and winded but I am finding as I write that I need this….
This was the first time sailing for myself, husband Brian and our 2 children Cody- 8, Shelby- 5. We planned this trip with LoriB, our captain, her husband Mike and daughter Kaylee-5, over a year ago. I can say that I was a “bit” nervous, I even discussed with Brian about having the kids wearing lifejackets while they slept, I mean what if they started to sleep walk in the middle of the night (even though they never have before)! I also had a bit of a problem with this new philosophy call LIMIN.. We are Disney World people, there is no LIMIN in Disney there are only 5 days to see it all, get photos and all characters autographs so there is a certain freakish-time controlling- never relaxing quality about me.
We started pumping the kids up first by watching the Moorings promotional cd (mostly for the boat filled with fruits and Aragorns items that they saved their money to shop from) and listening to Michael Beans, and Quito Rhymers music. They were really looking forward to showing off to Michael by knowing all the songs and all the pirate questions for free rum shots (for the captain and myself of course)! In March of this year LoriB found TTOL and it has been an addiction for us both since. After being turned in to this phenomenon I needed to see it all, do it all (and I thought I could pretend to “Lime” while doing it).
So the day arrived, we arrived at Beef Island by 3:11 pm. My fear of losing the luggage was soon gone as all 7 bags were unloaded. And it began…..
06/11/04-We arrived at the Moorings and immediately LoriB and here husband were taken in to Briefing. We took the kids to the pool. My first drink at was at the pool bar at the Moorings Strawberry & Banana Daiquiri. Once Lori and Mike returned we received possession of Yellowbird our very own 463 for 1 full week!! She was big and pretty. That night we ate at Spaghetti Junction. While waiting for a table, the kids danced in the bat cave. We forgot our drinking mans guide.
06/12/04- The first day out we sailed to Cooper Island to “Lime” and get the 2, 5 year olds snorkeling slowly, Shelby may have been a bit sea sick and a bit nervous (she is her mamas girl after all). Cody was already an expert on snorkeling upon entering the water. The girls found Dory (Finding Nemo charater) and they were HOOKED! I made a pitcher of Anegada Smoodies from Walkers site, we cooked on board and we had the best tasting shish kabobs ever (we said this A LOT for most of the food in the cooler, PBJ, the BEST, cheese & crackers AWESOME)!
06/13/04- The next morning we headed to the Baths. Our girls got their hair braided, Brian and Cody snorkeled. Brian said this was the best place of all the snorkeling he went to. We ate at the Top of the Baths. We then headed off to moor at Bitter End and had dinner at Saba Rock the buffet looked great but I had the shish kabobs again I think it was swordfish &beef but I can not remember. It was here that we decided to start feeding the kids on the boat before going out to dinner to save on arguing with too tired kids to eat the meals they ordered, the turkey sandwiches could have fed all 3 of them but it had cranberry sauce spread on it and it was a little too alien for them (I thought it was THE BEST <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />).
06/14/04- While filling up the boat with water Lori and I took the kids to BEYC. The pool was not opened yet and there was a charge, we had no money on us so told the kids we were only there to look. The man at the pool told our kids they could take a dip since no one was around. We then headed to Anegada. What a sail! It was a beautiful trip! Once we arrived an amazing thing happened to me, I began to realize that this Limin thing was real and it had actually caught me between the Baths and Anegada. We made reservations at ARH and received the last 2 lobsters so we also ordered steak. We stopped for our drink and were told that they watched our approach through the onocular (SP? It is a single binocular) Made us a bit self conscience as we looked for the first red buoy for a very long time. But we made it!! On a suggestion from a lady working at the gift shop we decided to go to Cow Wreck Beach because she said it was a good place with kids. Alex picked us up (we used our drinking mans guide coupon for a free ride, otherwise it would have been $38) and we arrived to the place of my dreams. If I was not limin before I WAS NOW. There were 2 couples neck deep in the water doing NOTHING but having some drinks and just hanging out. Later we met one of the couples and were happy that we recognized them as Kimmers & Lew from TTOL. They absolutely live the dream by spending 9 months out of the year in VG! It was great meeting them.
The kids were safe & happy on the beach, Lori and I drank quite a few of Alex’s Wreck Punch ( THIS IS MY VOTE OF THE VERY BEST DRINK THAT I HAD on any of the islands <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />), walked the beach, Limed in the ocean and drank. Brian and Mike are on the pale side so they stayed in the shade or talking Pistons vs. Lakers with Alex (Alex is a Lakers fan). Lori and I left 2 big conch shells on the beach because we were unsure of whether we could keep them after they were emptied. $5000 fine was a bit steep, but Alex enlightened us so we walked the beach again to retrieve them (SMELLY!!! But we soaked them in bleach on for the next 4 days). It was sad to leave as this beach was the most peaceful perfect place I have ever been to.
We had of course the BEST EVER lobster dinner and steak. Our girls drew pictures for the bartender at ARH and he put them both up, they were really geeked about that.
06/15/04- Kaylee got sick , we stopped at Trellis first for medicine for her then on to Marina Cay, we knew ahead of time (through TTOL) that Michael Beans was not going to be there. So we used our Pussers coupon, sat under the umbrella and let the kids play. We then went to the top and took lots of pictures.
06/16/04- We needed to fill up with water and while filling, Aragorn showed up! We were all so excited. We bought some fruit and Aragorn told us that if we took the kids to his shop he would get Johnny to get the kids a coconut. We were going anyhow as we needed more power to download 300 pictures onto the laptop. Brian and Mike went to the Cyber café (where they found out that the Pistons had won) and the rest of us went to Aragorns. What a GREAT shop! We wanted so much! The kids bought drums (Codys and Shelbys were stolen from our luggage on the way home <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" />) and weaved lizards and other stuff. There was a man outside the café who showed the kids how to play the drums. Aragorn came back and sent over Johnny (he was Perfect!) to cut up 2 coconuts and the kids drank from them, they did not like the taste but they loved watching him hack up the coconuts and presenting them. Cody got a piece of sand in his eye which irritated him for the next 24 hours.
We headed to Sandy Spit after Trellis, it was a bit too rough for snorkeling but we did notice the Cattitude and stopped by to introduce ourselves to Carolyn and her husband. They were very nice and I started thinking how cool it would be to have a power Cat, Cattitude was a nice looking boat!! The whole sailing part was nice but I think that I would rather motor. I am a bit to strung out as a parent for sure, I have a monkey for a son so under sail I found it hard to relax, on more than one occasion Cody & Shelby told me to “Chill out mom, stop freakin out”. This was the last time we met anyone else from TTOL. If there is a next trip we need the flag!
That night we moored at Cane Garden Bay, used our book at Quitos for drinks, and also at the Big Banana for pizza for the kids and utilized happy hour w/ 3 or 4 each painkillers. I liked the painkillers here the best. Shopped for a few items at Bobbys.
06/17/04- We stayed at Cane Garden Bay for the morning for swimming and playing. The headed off to Sopers Hole. There we shopped, showered, and relaxed.
06/18/04- We woke up and went to breakfast at Pieces which was really good!! After showers we headed to Norman Island. There we spent the day relaxing at Pirates while the kids played on the beach. We bought some pirate shirts and shorts for fathers day and Cody actually found clothes (t-shirts) that he did not mind spending his own money on. We then headed to Willy T’s to try the jerk chicken for a late lunch but we were too late so made reservations for dinner, jerk chicken was not on the menu for dinner. Lori and I took the kids for some shell hunting while Brian and Mike stayed at the bar.
Once back aboard Yellowbird, Deliverance showed up and we bought icecream for the kids. Then we headed for Willy T’s. The bartender that night was another name that I have missed and he was SO AWESOME. He let Cody and Kaylee jump off the bar level from the back of the boat. Afterwards all 3 kids got the infamous tattoos on their arms. He told them all that if he seen them during the night they needed to pirate speak to prove their new status of pirate hood! And he did, all night long he would see them and they would yell to him “ARHHH there Matey!”. After dinner we stopped at the bar and he stopped serving for at least 10 minutes to read the kids the story of William Thornton out of his pirate book. They were engrossed, I was floored, it was the perfect end to our last night in the BVI’s. The Margaritas were great too <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />
06/19/04- We woke early to move the boat and have a smorgasbord breakfast at the caves of nearly everything in our fridge. We then snorkled and headed back to the Moorings. We cleaned up and was off the boat by noon. We ate lunch at the Moorings poolside restaurant and spoke with a couple from California just heading out (LUCKY!). I finally had jerk chicken and loved it. The kids played in the pool and then we left at about 2:00, but not before touring a 4500 CAT……
We spent a lot of time preparing for the kids, gameboys, kites, bubbles etc as we did not want them bored. They all kept trip reports which we had them update every night (Thank you for this suggestion HAKMUT!). And in the end after they each got there own form of illness, they enjoyed it more than we could have ever hoped for, they limed as much as we did, they want to go back. My two said that it was WAY BETTER than Disney, this says it all.
We spent 2 nights of downtime in San Juan. It was really nice but not what I needed. It has taken me a full week to recuperate, and then to reflect. People have asked to explain our trip and I seriously can not. It was good, it was beyond good, it was the most perfect vacation to me that I will ever take. I can explain the islands and the people but for me it was so much more than a vacation. It may just be the whole reflecting on what a great time we had, but I hope not. I hope that I can embrace the whole “Stopping to smell the Roses” attitude for the rest of my life. If I never make it back again, I can say that I have at one time made it to Heaven on Earth…..
Thank you for all the information TTOLers. It has helped us prepare, plan and yes, LIME!
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/thanks.gif" alt="" />
Lisa Hodges
