Tuesday, May 24The day is finally here! I arrive at Atlanta-Harstfield Airport to catch my 10:00am Delta flight to St. Thomas. While everyone was in the waiting area, the co-captain gets on the loud speaker, introducing himself. He goes on to say that he will be in charge of the landing. Apparently, he and the captain have a contest on who has the best landing, so he instructs all of us to say “good job!” upon leaving the flight in St. Thomas. It was a great landing so, of course, everyone did what they were asked when we were disembarking. The captain was just rolling his eyes! He knew what was up. The flight attendants were comical as well. During their usual push-off spiel, the head flight attendant added, “The lights in the cabin will be dimmed in order to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants.” Overall, it was one of the best flights I’ve had – smooth, on-time, and entertaining.
The luggage came out quickly and I was on the shuttle to the ferry dock in no time. I caught the 4:15pm Road Town Fast Ferry. When we arrived in Road Town, it was pouring rain. There were a lot of first-time ferry riders who were unaware that the luggage, etc. has to be unloaded before we disembark and they were being loudly impatient, complaining about standing in the rain. Just go back inside the ferry and sit down. Duh.
I was the fourth person off the ferry (yay!) so I went quickly through customs. And this time, the experience was very pleasant. The customs officer was super nice and even remarked on my many visits to BVI due to all the stamps on my passport. Hopefully, a change for the better..
My “brother” Tony was outside, ready to pick me up and whisk me away to his home at the top of the hill in Horsepath, where I would be staying until Thursday. The views from his home are spectacular. I could see all of Road Town, Drakes Channel, and beyond. Beautiful. After changing, we met up with some friends at Brandywine Bay for appetizers and drinks. We had the lobster ravioli and crunchy shrimp over avocado with basil sauce along with mango martinis. To die for! I’m a die hard NBA fan so we hit a local sports bar to watch the Bulls/Heat game and to meet up with my best friends Sam and Kaletha, and Doc, who live on the island. Other friends came through, among them Wolf, who would later be found murdered the next night. Little did we know that this would be the last time we would see him. RIP.
Wednesday, May 25Tony and I woke up early and ran errands all day in Road Town. We hit Crandalls Bakery for their delicious beef patties. These are not like the flaky Jamaican patties. These are a bit more doughy but just as good. We also hit Baz’s smoothie stand in town. It was good to see Baz and have his tasty smoothies.
Later that night, we had dinner at my friend Alsha’s restaurant, Brisani’s. After that we went bar-hopping at several spots in Road Town, arriving home at 3AM.
Thursday, May 26We woke up to the shocking news of Wolf’s murder. Very sad. Tony had some work to do before we left out so I packed my things to get ready to head to Cane Garden Bay to check into my hotel that afternoon. I had two girlfriends arriving from Chicago on the 5:00pm ferry in Road Town. It was their first trip to Tortola and I couldn’t wait to see them. We had a little problem getting out of Tony’s place because it had rained the night before and it was very muddy on the hill. Thank God he owns a Range Rover because I think we would have been stuck. It was a little scary because we were sliding everywhere and I could picture us going over the hill.
We got to CGB about 3:00pm to check into the Grand K Suites, which is located next to Bobby’s. I can’t say enough about this hotel and the hospitality of Sandman Rhymer. We rented the two-bedroom suite and it was fabulous. You have a short walk up a steep hill so if you have hip problems, etc., I would reconsider. It wasn’t bad but it took the place of my lunges and we felt the burn! That walk also determined our footwear for the evening.
Once you open the door, you enter into an open floor plan with a full, modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances, round dining table with chairs, rattan couch and chair, TV as well as other décor. The floors were cool Mexican clay tile. Lots of windows. The bedrooms contained modern furnishings as well. Queen beds, dressers with mirrors (a must for three women!) and huge closets. The bathroom had a rare shower/tub combination which was a plus for me because I’m a bubble-bath kinda girl. We had a huge balcony that we took advantage of every morning. Everything was brand, spankin’ new. Sandman did an excellent job on these rooms. We also received Myett’s guest privileges such as using their internet for free. I highly recommend the Grand K Suites. He also has two one-bedroom suites. We went through Purple Pineapple. Much thanks to Cheryl and Billie Jo!
After unpacking, Tony and I headed to the ferry terminal to pick up the girls, Jaye and Kim. They were still in awe over the ferry ride and the beautiful scenery. But that was nothing compared to their faces when we hit the roads and the switchbacks over the CGB. They were holding on to dear life! They were also amazed at the homes that seemed to be floating in the hills. Newbies!
After unpacking and catching up, we head over to Myetts for drinks. I took them by the Elm so I could see Elvet, Tony and Steve. Once they saw the water, they quickly kicked off their shoes and made a beeline for it. They were immediately in love. We walked up the beachside of Myetts and had some drinks, courtesy of our host Sandman. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay because I had a hot date (hehe) but they were in good hands. When I came back to introduce them to my friend before we headed out, they had a crowd surrounding them so no worries!!!
Friday, May 27We had breakfast at Rhymers before Sam and Kaletha came to pick us up for a day at Smugglers Cove. It was a perfect beach day. I was very thankful that the weather held up for the entire trip because I was worried after hearing the reports of the torrential rains they’ve had for the past two weeks or so. There are a lot more vendors at Smugglers than the last time I was there but I still claim it as one of my favorite beaches. Oh, and we saw Manpot go whizzing past us on the road in “da ting” when we were headed back to the hotel!
Later that night, we went back to Myetts for dinner and hit the first night of the music fest. Trey Songz, Iwer George and Black Stalin were great. Following, we and a crowd of friends went to the after-party at Quitos, then hit the sack at 5:00am.
Saturday, May 28Tony picked us up so we could take the girls sightseeing in town and pick up some toiletries at Bolo’s Department Store. They were amazed over the prices - $28 for a box for Gain detergent??? We also had delicious lunch at Capriccio’s, where we sampled two types of pizza and a caprese salad.
When we got back from town, we unwound to get ready for the second night at the music fest. We ate a tasty jerk chicken dinner from one of the vendors on the beach before we caught fantastic performances from Keyshia Cole and Capleton. It was extremely crowded this night. We skipped the after party this time. We had to wake-up at 7am because we were participating in our first Poker Run!
Sunday, May 29Poker Run Day! Tony’s cousin had entered two boats into the Poker Run – a go-fast boat called “Shakin’” and a power cat cruiser. We were not THAT adventurous this time so we chose the cruiser. Participating in the Poker Run was one of the most exhilarating and fun experiences of my life. I’m hooked!!! Just seeing the go-fast boats fly past us was so exciting. And it was perfect for my first-time visitors because they got to see a lot of the BVI, and what better way than by boat. We had a great time at the Pirate’s Bight, the midway point of the Poker Run, where they had a huge beach party. I am SO THERE next year. I may try the go-fast boat the next time! Once we found out that our poker hands were out of the running, we headed back to Tortola for the final night of the music fest. What a day!
We had dinner again on the beach. My girls were now officially addicted to Painkillers! I really enjoyed the local jazz band, Blue Essence. Very talented musicians. I was disappointed in Boyz II Men. They were accompanied by a DJ and not a live band, which I would have preferred. But they were highly reviewed by most everyone else. To each their own… The long day had caught up with us so after the show ended, we went straight to bed.
Overall, the music fest was underwhelming this year for me. Too much time wasted setting up between acts and the DJ's could not keep the crowd going between acts with the music they were playing. I was tempted to commandeer the stage with my iPod because we were literally yawning. Who plays slow music to keep the crowd hyped? I really enjoyed the past fests when the stage was on the beach and they had music playing from practically noon until. It was more like a beach party. This doesn't come close.
Monday, May 30Our last full day in paradise. We slept in, and later chatted on the balcony about our experience thus far. One bad thing – the mosquitoes were AWFUL. Worse than I’ve ever encountered there, and they love my blood. I thought I’d try something new and I bought a Bug Band at Wal-Mart before I left as well as my usual can of Deep Woods Off. The band actually worked! It claims it loses its effectiveness after 120 hours of use but it was more like three days for me. And three days with no bites is really saying something for me. I’m definitely going to buy more of these before my next trip.
Later, we headed for lunch at Rhymers and spent the entire day lounging, swimming, drinking, and sleeping in CGB. It was practically deserted so we felt we had it all to ourselves. We really took advantage of the 2 for 1 happy hour!
They were hooked on Myett’s food so we had our last dinner on the island there, listening to the smooth, political, and humorous sounds of “Candyman”. It was the perfect ending to our last day in Tortola.
Tuesday, May 31Sandman took us to the ferry terminal to catch the 10AM Road Town Fast Ferry. We checked in and ran across the street to have breakfast with Sam and Kaletha at Capriccio’s before we took off.
With heavy hearts, we boarded the ferry and waved so long to Tortola until next time. For me, that will be in August! Soon we were on our respective flights back home.
This was the first time that I had friends from the US accompany me to Tortola and they are hooked. My friends on the island greeted them with open arms. They have traveled the Caribbean before but their experience has never been quite like this - the local food, the sea, the lushness of the island, the hospitality, the Painkillers! It looks like we have new converts! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" />
