Trip dates: April 8-23rd.

Departure day bloomed bright and early. 3am to be exact. We had my daughter and her hubby spend the night so no one would oversleep. No one meaning my daughter! All went well that morning until halfway to the airport my daughter says, “honey did you bring my bag?” “Honey” had not brought the bag, and after retrieving said bag, we headed back to the airport with literally minutes to spare. A call was made to the tarmac to hold the doors open, and we were finally on our way!

We arrived at STT without problems. We were about 5 minutes late for the 3:30 ferry so off to the Petite Pump room for some cold ones! We did have a small issue where a man in a uniform kept rudely insisting we take the Road Town Fast Ferry; even after explaining to him numerous times we were going to West End. An inexperienced person would have taken the wrong ferry due to this man’s insistence.

The ride to Tortola was a blast, with the boat’s wake so high it was coming through the windows and getting everyone wet!

Denzil met us at the ferry dock and Jeep’s were secured within 10 minutes. We had originally planned to go to Myett’s for happy hour, but ended up having pizza and Caribs at Sebastian’s, then off to bed.

Day two (Friday): Up bright and early. Breakfast was on the patio at Sebastian’s with the wonderful view and the sound of the ocean. Stopped in to say hello to Uschi with the promise we would call her arrange to have drinks. With breakfast over we were off to Smuggler’s. Expecting to see Patricia we instead found 2 girls we had never met running her stand! All was well after we discovered it was her children. Patricia arrived about an hour later and hugs were given all around!

I had two things on my mind that day, a fresh fruit drink and her famous potato salad! She did not disappoint me with either! A wonderful day was had by all.

Evening found us at Myett’s where we met some wonderful people (Leigh, Andrea, Tom, Myrt, Dani and her husband) and saw some old friends. Brian performed a great show and fun was had by all! Our next stop was Quito’s for more dancing and drinks! We could not have asked for a more perfect first full day!

Day three (Saturday) was a repeat of above except instead of going to Quito’s after Myett’s we went over to the Big Banana where we danced to blue’s music. The musician (? His name) was excellent and put on a great show. Met TTOLers Norma (soaknsaltwater), Dale and his wife.

Day four (Sunday) was spent at Brewer’s with lunch at Nicole’s. Sunday evening found us at The Elm eating ribs and listening to The Elmtones. This group is amazing. The place was packed, fun was had by all, and a group of us ended up staying until well after closing!
Day five (Monday) – Day eight (Thursday) was spent repeating above, a trip to Long Bay East and Trellis, and a few days of rest! Whew! Met Colleen (orangeburst) and her husband during this time. They are delightful people. We took our daughter and her husband to Bananakeet for their anniversary on Thursday. Reuben was playing a put on a great performance. Their seafood pasta is to die for!

Day nine (Friday) Saw my daughter and her hubby off and spent a relaxing day just lounging at the villa. Evening found us at The Elm where we met up with Saildoggie, his nephew Keith, Norma, Dale, Leigh, and Andrea. Dinner, drinks, dancing and fun was had by all. Colleen (orange burst) and her husband were also there.

Day ten (Saturday) took us to CGB to check out the kick off activities for the upcoming music fest. Stopped at Stanley’s for a cheeseburger and cold Caribe and met up with Tom, Leigh, and Andrea. It was mentioned that Quito was practicing for the upcoming St. Lucia music fest so off we went to Quito’s. Upon arrival we found the full band, including the women, playing! If you ever get the chance to hear the entire band play you are in for a very special treat! It was an awesome performance and we spent the entire afternoon dancing and feeling like we were attending a private concert!

Evening found us back in CGB to listen to Brian at Myett’s and then off to Quito’s. As part of the music fest kick-off, Quito’s had a special evening planned, with press coverage, raffles, and music. I think all of Tortola was at Quito’s that night! People were still coming in when we left at 2am! If you were anchored in CGB that night, sleep would have been hard to come by! Goodbyes and phone numbers were exchanged with Leigh and Andrea as they were leaving on Sunday.

Day eleven (Monday) through day fourteen (Thursday) was spent relaxing. Thursday was spent at Smuggler’s until it started to rain. While there we met a very nice couple, Larry and Candy. That evening we met up with Uschi for a few drinks. Hours later still found us having a “few” drinks, good conversation and laughs! Larry and Candy were having dinner and joined us for drinks afterwards.

Day fifteen (Friday) Took the 10:30 ferry to STT. Upon arrival we were made to stay on the boat for about 45 minutes! With the heat and diesel fumes it was not an enjoyable experience. Customs only took about 10 minutes and we were off to have lunch in downtown St. Thomas. During lunch we had this torrential downpour that lasted about 2 hours so a taxi was hailed to take us back to the ferry terminal. Upon arrival at the airport I was overcome with joy, as there were only about 8 people in line at the US Air ticket counter, until Michael said look at the customs line! The line for customs stretched clear down the terminal! 2 hours later we find ourselves ready to enter the terminal when I notice I do not have my boarding pass! We are sent back out where I am given another boarding pass with my husbands name on it! I finally get the correct boarding pass and we are allowed to enter the terminal.

Within a half hour it is announced that our flight is delayed due to mechanical problems and our flight would be delayed 1 hour. True to their word we were allowed to board an hour later only to sit on the tarmac for almost 2 hours before we took off! This of course caused everyone on the flight to miss their connections. Upon arrival at Charlotte Michael asks me, “Did I give you my wallet?” He already knew what my answer was going to be. So there we were with 17.00 dollars, no credit cards, and we’re stuck overnight in Charlotte! We are given hotel vouchers but are concerned they will not let us stay as we did not have a credit card. Upon arrival at the hotel they only ask Michael for his driver’s license, which is somewhere in St. Thomas, so he offers up his passport! Disaster averted we head to our room and get to bed at 12:30am.

Morning finds us with no suitcases so we take showers and put on our clothes from the day before. Flights home were uneventful except we spent an hour before our flight calling the credit card companies to cancel the credit cards.

Other than flight issues we had a wonderful time, met many wonderful people, listened to great bands, danced a lot, and never tire of our times spent in the BVI.

Pics to be posted soon.

Toni & Michael