Hi

Day 8 - Up early to pay the bill and go over Windy Hill to turn in the car at ITGO after topping the tank at the Shell Station. We got a ride to the ferry dock and took Speedy’s catamaran watching baseball on their TV (for me, even the highlights are like watching pain dry - with apologies to my dad, born across the river from Cooperstown). There was a lot of chop in the channel and a lot of reefed mains on boats going uphill to Leverick or with only a partial genoa going downwind.

I didn’t recognize the lady from Mahogany that met us last year - this time she was out of uniform, After chatting with Tina and Valerie, we went to Rosie’s for orange/pineapple and Coco Lopez. Our old buddies were back - the neighborhood pearl-eyed thrasher and laughing gull. The skeeters were out in force (all this rain) so I got a can of DEETS at the commissary - declaring war on the Minnesota State Bird. Leftovers in the microwave.

Day 9 - We had a big omelette for breakfast, and Charlie and Helem (in Frangipani) gave us a TTOL shout. It was their opinion that the laundry at the Stevens center was closed and Tina wasn’t sure, so we checked it out - no-one around even though it was unlocked and a radio was playing near the front desk. We went to the laundry drop-off at the Yacht Harbor - the lady in charge was at the Bath and turtle - and checked out the times. No reservations required at the Mineshaft Restaurant this time of the week, so we got there at about 6:00 so that we wouldn’t miss the great chicken migration. The tree was in full bloom and foliage (thanks to the rain). The feature of the evening was a hen and chick that stood their ground as the rest of the flock rushed past. We saw a hen with a chick on her back, likely the way the litt;le ‘uns get to the lowest branches.

Chris had lobster (overcooked) which will make a good leftover, and my mahi-mahi was only so-so (but had a great sauce). Chris had a smoke at the end of the porch and they had Galliano. Another perfect lazy day - topped off by a record crop of night-blooming cereus just up the road,.

Day 10 - We had a three hour power outage last night (courtesy of the time on the clock radio). We dropped off laundry at Yacht Harbor and went to the Bath and Turtles outside bar for bushwhackers (light on the rum) and talked with a retiree from Illinois visiting his school teacher daughter. It was time to go down to the beach. GSB has a house key that includes a transponder that opens a gate on the road to the beach. Most of the folks on the beach were folks from the villas nearby. Visited with Charlie and Helen and Chris got her bathing suit wet. An African-American girl - Ashley - was talking to Chris and volunteered her snorkel gear. (Her friends had swum out to some rocks and left her behind.) The beach was easier on the feet than last year - the sand wasn’t nearly as hot. Two ladies from Boston were lugging a load of water toys to their vehicle to take back to their villa. We found out from them that Ludwig, Tina’s husband, had died of a heart attack five weeks ago (in the doctor’s office, no less!). There was apparently quite a church service at the Anglican church just off the road to the Mine Shaft (where there is a two day jazz concert going on now).

We took showers and returned to the little porch to watch another sunset fizzle out into the clouds on the horizon. We had smoked oysters and crackers, and had some Royal Canadian with 7-Up. Later, Chris managed to trip over the rock on the lower porch, banging up her ankle, knee and head. (She thinks her glasses saved her on the last part.) It’s nothing like the disaster on the steps to the little porch in the past. Antibiotic salve definitely goes on next year’s packing list.

Day 11 - Another totally indolent day - late breakfast and a snack before having Valerie check on transportation and reservations at Leverick for supper. At 6:00, the taxi had still not shown up, so Valerie called again. The crew cab truck arrived at about 6:30 and we made it over Gorda Peak in record time, with the driver talking on his cell phone while making the tight turns going up the mountain. The maitre d’ apologized for the late arrival and said that an accident had slowed things down. There were only three couples (two couples at a time) on the upper terrace. A large wedding party took up the entire lower level dining area, with all the usual honorary speeches (several in pure “Valley Girl” accent, complete with the usual number of “likes” per sentence) and the usual bouquet and garter throwing. Chris was waiting for someone to be thrown, jump, fall (or be pushed) into the pool. It was fun watching a tiny flower girl, with a long dress) wading through every available puddle.

We both had blue-fin tuna with soy sauce and wasabi mashed potatoes after several earlier drinks. We had a bottle of Alice White ($35/bottle - ouch!). The waitress and the cook had a ball watching the wedding aftermath from above at the end of the terrace. We had a delightful conversation with the waitress (another single mother with a small son), largely focused on Jumbie dancers and their dancing. We left before the wedding cake was cut and took a much more conservative return ride over the mountain to Guavaberry on the back of the taxi/truck hybrid. We enjoyed the breeze on the upper deck and finally quit to go to bed.

Day 12 - Breakfast was grits with pepperoni and cheese. We stopped at Rosie’s for ginger beer and ginger ale. We checked out the Crab Hole and the Sea Dog (supposedly OK for West Indian food) for lunch, but decided to go to the Top of the Baths for luch. We had a nice meal with bushwhackers (what else?). The crowd consisted mostly of people from dive boats and their official BVI Scuba dive masters. Interestingly enough, the music that we heard was from the same band that played at the wedding at Leverick Bay - and with the same lineup of tunes : No Woman No Cry, Buffalo Soldier, Stand By Me, Dock of the Bay, etc. After they finished their gig, I mentioned that I didn’t get a chance to ask for “Night Nurse” - definitely not on their play list. Chris asked him whether anyone at the wedding jumped into the pool - the answer was YES, but obviously long after we left. The rest of the evening was spent reading (surprise!) long into the night. I polished off the rest of our pork vindaloo.

Day 13 - The grits plus again! In the early afternoon, we went to the office to make reservations for Chez Bamboo, where I picked up two books on Caribbean trees and flowers. I made the rounds at Guavaberry Spring Bay, taking pictures of everything I thought I could identify.

The reservations were for 7 PM, so we parked in the parking lot next door. The first part of a party of four was already at their table, with the rest following soon after. I had shrimp, while Chris had bouillabaisse, and we had a glass of rosé apiece. The place filled in a little bit with two more couples. We retired to the other end of the restaurant, where I had a Galliano and coffee. The barkeep gave Chris a water glass half filled to use as an ash tray - they are apparently enforcing the no-smoking ban to the limit, apparently. (Got the last of the Galliano free!) We chatted with the owner briefly and Chris told her that the bouillabaisse was excellent but too salty! We returned to the house and spent a little time reading but went to bed early. We had our second power failure in two days, lasting from 2AM till 6AM.

Day 14 - We had a huge omelette with the rest of the pepperoni and cheese. The cleaning ladies came in, one of them obviously being broken into service (based on the long conversations). I said that I had done the dishes, but they said that they had as well. There was more reading on the deck before repairing to the small porch for chips and dip. We went to the office and paid our bill, got $40 from our travelers checks. Valerie couldn’t get boarding passes from American Airlines or USAir because it was more than 24 hours before departure. I returned the tree and flower books. I left Chris to pack and went for a swim. I had a great chat with a guy from Boston and later with his buddy, on his 11th trip to the BVI. I did my best to convince them to go to St. John, coming by way of St. Thomas. I gave them as much info as I could about Cinnamon Bay campground (and about Maho and Estate Concordia as well), mentioning snorkeling at Waterlemon Cay and the Reef Bay hike. Reading took up the rest of the day.

Day 14 - We had to get up early because we had to make a connection to the North Sound Express at 8:20AM. We left the keys in Bougainvillea and drove to the ferry dock, leaving the keys under the mats. Interestingly enough, the ferry went from Spanish Town harbor to North Sound first, stopping at Biras Creek and at the Bitter End Yacht Club first before turning back to go to Beef Island. (Our first view of both places.) After getting off the ferry, we deferred going on the first vehicle to the airport to a larger party having an earlier flight, and drove up with a remaining single passenger. Before leaving, we got a modest hello and pitch for the resort at Scrub Island from a young lady who was the mother hen for people leaving on their launch for Scrub.

We had plenty of time on our hands, as our flight doesn’t leave until 12:05. We had a coffee at a small coffee bar at the airport, and later a couple of Painkillers at the bar near the gate where we would depart. The flight to San Juan was uneventful. One of the interesting features (that we saw on the way down as well) was a Buffalo chicken wings restaurant visible just outside the airport - courtesy of Chris’ smoking break outside the airport proper. We didn’t fancy paying the ridiculous prices that we paid before and made a great discovery. There is a lovely little mini-restaurant in the casino, reachable by elevator just down the ramp. It’s run by a Chinese/Japanese? couple - had good bar food (including sushi) and drinks. We were entertained by the antics of four gamblers in the next table, spilling their drinks and gabbing in French

We went through the TSA tango and got on the plane to Charlotte. We had a lovely young Puerto Rican mother sitting next to us who surreptitiously breast fed the child and chatted along happily about visiting her family in Tennessee. We went to our usual restaurant at the Charlotte airport - I was way too full to order the monster taco plate that I have usually gotten. The only problem faced was paying the bill. The flight back to Buffalo was uneventful

Peace
Dugg & Chris
The 2009 VI pics are now up at http://picasaweb.google.com/papadugg. 2010's not done yet.
NOTE : Have to find a way to get Valerie and Tina identify the flowering plants I took pictures of at GSB. I’m pedaling as fast as I can. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />