Hi

Fifteen days of absolute slacker heaven - read, Yahtzee, swim on favorite beach, along with great meals and drinks (including home-made Pain Killers) - then repeat the cycle. These are just the highlights (there being no low lights). Had an uneventful flight from Buffalo to Charlotte Amalie via Charlotte. We were greeted by light rain as we got off the plane - the first of plenty of intermittent rain throughout the trip.

The first night was spent at Best Western Emerald Bay - with nice rooms and views of the beach, and a great supper (thin-sliced raw fillet migñon with a caper sauce plus a Greek salad for me and Fettuccini Alfredo for Chris), plus a waiter that knew more about the reasons for America’s financial troubles than most of its citizens. Big question - what were the Yellow-crowned Night Herons doing in the shrubbery above the pool - surely not looking for fish! Business has been really down since the middle of April.

The next morning, we took a quick taxi ride to the CA ferry dock. We had some iced tea at the Petite Pump Room and watched a ferry load of people coming in from Road Town. The upper deck was packed - it might have been the most sun they had seen the previous two weeks. We did the 5 minute walk to French Town from the ferry terminal in Charlotte Amalie, had drinks outside Bella Blu, and I got a brochure from CYOA and saw their fleet from the distance. I said hello to Captain Jay at Hook Line and Sinker - sorry, but the guy at the CYOA desk suggested that I call you “red neck”. Not my bad! If I can manage to get some of my buddies together, we’ll charter one of their boats (but the Admiral has opted out of this!).

We had a rough ferry passage with lots of chop as far a Soper’s Hole (with the side curtains down), but things calmed down the rest of the way to Road Town. The ferry was loaded to the gills with freight, and the baggage handlers managed to ruin the handle on our large wheeled bag by throwing the bag off the ferry. They are, of course, not responsible for damage to luggage (or anything else). Ethlyn greeted us with open arms at ITGO, and we met her brother and young nephew. We drove our Suzuki over Joe’s Hill Road to Cane Garden Bay. Joe’s Hill Road was in terrible shape, large portions being one lane, but the road down Windy Hill was much better off. We got a similar greeting at Rhymer’s, and went to our old standby (Room #21, right next to the porch).

Throughout the week, despite the reasonable number of boats in the harbor, Cane Garden Bay was very quiet. Quito’s was closed up (although there appeared to be work going on upstairs), with Quito playing solo on Saturday until 9PM, followed by the “Black and White Thang” with very loud music until 5AM. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> Thanks Rhymer’s - for the air conditioning! Stanley’s appeared to be partially or completely closed while we were there. On one walk down the beach, the only action at Stanley’s was two couples smoking dope by moonlight near the outside tables. The only place doing a modest business most of the time was Myett’s (where I had their great ribs and Chris got a ½ lobster). The Elm Bar was pretty much deserted on Wednesday night, despite the lobster special, but we did enjoy the music (presumably by the Elm Tones) on Sunday night from the balcony at Rhymer’s. They were doing a brisk business.

There was no shortage of good food - I had the usual Goat Curry at the Trellis Cyber Café (now labeled Trellis Kitchen), with Chris getting one of Jeremy’s famous sandwiches. Chris got some of his bread, and we commiserated with him about all the criticism on TTOL about trash at Trellis. On Friday, the entire top of Jost van Dyke was capped by a cloud (which looked like a sombrero) and at times Jost was barely visible in the rain. Because of the rain, we skipped going to Bananakeet to see Reuben Chinnery. Sigh! -no “Midnight Special” this year. Instead, we went to Myett’s (see above). On Saturday, we went over Zion Hill and out to the Jolly Roger for lunch. The chili was to die for, and I got a chance to swipe some of Chris’s French fries that came with her cheeseburger. We spent a lot of time trying (finally successfully) to find the Frenchman’s Bay Club - it really requires local knowledge, but what’s new in the BVI!<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> Maybe we’ll go there next year (encouraged by the good reviews by Malcolm and others).

We drove down the road past Long Bay to go to Smuggler’s (with a lot more development in the Belmont estate), with the same beautiful beach. We took some sad pictures of the remains of the old bar and of the remains of the Queen’s Lincoln. The highlight of the day was finding the North Shore Shell Museum open - Egbert’s grandson heard us ring the bell at the bar. Egbert is a little bit grayer and a little bit slower of step - i.e. just like the rest of us. We had his mango daiquiris again (made from his own mangoes), and donated some money to his kids. He broke out an ukelele and gave us a couple of fungi tunes. What a great guy! Breakfast there can apparently be arranged by phone.

The place that was really doing a brisk business was the Tamarind Club at Josiah’s Bay. There were tons of young people, kids and pets. There was scarcely a belonger in the place - mostly expats?? The Secret Garden was still closed but there has been a lot of development on the beach itself, with lots of new shops and brand new palapas..

We went to Banana Republic to male reservations for happy hour at Bananakeet. We got greetings from the bartenders there just before happy hour! Again, we heard about how bad business had been since mid-April. We had a great conversation with six sailors from Florida, one of whom was the lucky winner of a free charter in the BVI won at the Miami Boat Show! At 5, we dropped in at Bananakeet and had several of their great Bushkillers and their great Vietnamese Spring Rolls!<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

On Tuesday, I called Marina Cay (thanks to help from the lady in the boutique at the Banana Republic in figuring out how to use their pay phone). Bummer - Eric Stone has gone back to the States (to Latitudes and Attitudes). I made reservations for Bananakeet, where I had their great coconut scallops and Chris had their scallops. I asked the manager about the large number of vehicles in the parking lot (and on the switchbacks) earlier this week. Apparently, there was a wine tasting and lunch for the local rugby team, which was heavily attended. We were the only ones at the bar for a long period, and had a long talk with the waitress. Apparently, Chris was resting up after yesterday’s festivities.

That night we packed up and the next day drove over the hill to Road Town to turn in our vehicle at ITGO.

Peace
Dugg & Chris
Our VI pics are at http://picasaweb.google.com/papadugg/ but the 2011 pics aren’t up yet