This is our trip report from our trip January 31 to February 8, 2004, to St. Thomas, BVI and St. Martin. I will divide this up into sections, so folks can skip through what they’re not interested in. Most of this report will be divided up by subject, and is rarely strictly chronological.
AIR TRANSPORTATION
We booked Frequent Flyer tickets on American, about 8 months out, and were able to get our first choice of dates and flights, which was flights from Washington Dulles through San Juan to St. Thomas, and then returning from St. Martin through Miami. About a week prior to the trip, I got a note from AA saying that they had changed our flight schedule. The flights down were the same. However, on the way back, our original itinerary had been, leave SXM 3 PM, through Miami, arriving home around 10 PM. The NEW flights home were–leaving SXM 9 AM, through Miami–SEVEN HOUR LAYOVER IN MIAMI--SAME FLIGHT from Miami to home. After I had a heart attack and cursed out AA at the top of my lungs, I called them up on the phone, and politely asked to be changed back to my original flights. They did that. No explanation whatsoever for the change to begin with...
The flights down and back on AA were unremarkable, pretty much on time both ways. There were no particular delays in Miami on the way back, although I’ve got to say–was it just the terminal we were in, or are there no restaurants ANYWHERE inside security at Miami?? The piece of lame pizza and the hotdogs that we were able to get there on the way home certainly made us wish we had eaten lunch in St. Martin before we left... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Sick.gif" alt="" /> And, would it KILL them to have SOME type of signs anywhere close to where you come in from international arrivals that tell you where the h*ll you go for your connecting flight????
Between Tortola and St. Martin, we flew Caribbean Star. We made our reservations from home, and got a confirmation number, but didn’t pay till after we got to Tortola, which seemed kind of odd to me. We happened to be going out to Trellis Bay one day to get on the internet anyway, and thus stopped off at the airport to pay for and pick up tickets. I think they have a place in downtown Roadtown also to pick up tickets. We paid about $106 per person one way for the flight. The flight left Tortola at 8:45 AM and we were told to be at the airport two hours before, which we were. We didn’t need to be there that early, but we were. The flight was on time, no problems. I would have hated to have been on that plane going to Antigua though, as some folks were, as they had about four stops they were going to be making before getting to Antigua!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Shocked.gif" alt="" />
ST THOMAS–
We arrived in STT right around 2 PM, with only carry-on bags, and then had to wait for the cattle-car van to get to the hotel. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" /> I tell you, there are many things I love about the Caribbean and a couple of things that drive me absolutely MAD. And the prime one is this CRAP that you have to fill up a freaking van with 15 people before they will go anywhere. Let me pay twice as much and go NOW, please... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" />
HOLIDAY INN ST. THOMAS–
I made reservations for the HI about 2 weeks prior to our trip, looking primarily for a place that was reasonable and close to the ferry dock. I guess I got that, although we paid $175 for one night, which still seems a little high to me. At the time I booked, they said they had no regular rooms available, but could get a “suite” for $20 more. There was a couch (which you couldn’t sit on because the mattress in the sleeper part was missing and you would fall through), and two chairs. There was a refrigerator, coffee pot, etc., but was only marginally bigger than a regular hotel room. I don’t know whether they have refrigerators and coffee pots in the “regular” rooms or not. I was ticked off when we checked in, as we had made reservations through central reservations and they apparently don’t know ANYthing about the hotel. I called a number which I thought was at the hotel, and it rang through to central reservations because no one answered at the hotel. I asked them–“Do the suites have view of the harbor??” “Yes, all of them do” (Actually, don’t think any of them do–ours certainly didn’t) “Do the suites have a balcony?” “Yes, all of them do” (Actually, NONE of the rooms there have a real balcony, although they do have a sliding glass door that opens, basically a French balcony) And we ordered a smoking room and they had none, except a room that wasn’t a suite, and had only a double bed, as opposed to the king bed. In general, for those not familiar with the hotel, it’s a high rise type, built in a square, with rooms around a central courtyard. So, basically 1/4 of the rooms face the harbor. The rest of the rooms have little or no view at all. The shower worked great, but the air conditioner labored to keep the room cool. The hotel is a pretty old hotel, I would say around 30 years old, and the rooms look it. In the courtyard area, there is an outside bar, which is kind of nice, and there is a restaurant across the courtyard from it, but they were not serving any food outside when we were there, which I would have preferred. It was right across the street from the ferry dock, which was the best thing there was to recommend it. The taxi ride from the airport was $20 for two people.
NUTMEG AND RONNIE!!
Nutmeg met us for drinks at the Holiday Inn, and drove us at first to Paradise Point, which was closed, strangely enough!! We met up with Ronnie at PP and headed then to Mafolie Restaurant, which we had not been to before. (We had been to PP a couple of times before.) Mafolie has a FABULOUS view of the harbor, highly recommended!!!!) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> We shared a few drinks and some BS–OK, Eric and I were drinking, Nutmeg and Ronnie were drinking cokes, party-poopers!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> From then, Ronnie left us and we went to Hook, Line and Sinker for dinner, just down from the Holiday Inn. Eric had the fish, I had the beef, as always, and we headed back to the room and passed out, tired out from the standard traveling day “get up at 4 AM” BS to catch the plane...
TRIP TO TORTOLA ON NUTMEG’S BOAT!
The next morning we had breakfast at the Holiday Inn, and took a taxi to the St. Thomas Yacht Club, where Nutmeg has a boat. They very kindly offered to take us in their boat over to Tortola, which was cool!! Thanks Nutmeg!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> We stopped off at Jost on the way, checking out the Super Bowl pre-game show at Foxy’s, along with their new custom-brewed beer there at Foxy’s (the pre-game show is only like 9 hours long, you know... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> ) and cleared customs and immigration there on Jost, so we didn’t have to do it in West End, Tortola. Since I enjoy all things legal, I went along to the immigration shack and observed the proceedings. Funny to me, the sign on the board–please observe proper attire, or something to that effect... Of course, in their minds, shoes are not required, just a shirt... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
We arrived at West End and went to Pussers’ for lunch, and after a while they ran Eric over to the ferry dock where we were supposed to meet up with Denzil Cline with our jeep. He didn’t show up, so we sent the dingy back over and Eric and I finished our lunch, said our goodbyes and headed out to Denzil’s in a taxi.
JEEP FROM DENZIL CLINE–
We had made reservations from home by email for a Suzuki Jimmy 4 wheel drive from Denzil Cline. The problem was that we had originally said we were going to be arriving around noon on the ferry, but subsequently said we were going to arrive around 2. Apparently someone never changed the info on the reservation, as when we arrived at Denzil’s, they said that they expected us at noon, and that’s why they hadn’t met us at 2. On the good side, they didn’t require any credit card to the reserve the vehicle and the price seemed reasonable, at $50 a day for 4 days. We got the cheapest vehicle they have, figuring that would be sufficient, and it was. We had no problems at all with it, mechanically or with the a/c, other than it labored going up some of the hills. The biggest problem we had was that we had to go back to West End to his place to drop off the Jeep, and have someone there drive us to the airport, at a cost of $20. We found out later that Hertz has a pickup at West End and drop off at the airport, apparently the only ones authorized to drop off at the airport, which would have been helpful.
LIGHTHOUSE VILLAS–
Lighthouse Villas is located in Cane Garden Bay, basically above the Ole Works Inn. It is located across three levels, with the upper two levels having a fabulous view of Cane Garden Bay. The complex is new and decorated quite nicely. To my mind, other than villas, Lighthouse Villas is the nicest place to stay in Cane Garden Bay, by far. We stayed on the 2nd level, and had virtually an unobstructed view of CGB from our balcony. I’m not sure I would want to stay on the first floor, as the view there is fairly obstructed by the Ole Works Inn, and the views from the second and third levels are just outstanding!! The balconies face toward the sunset, which makes for some really great pictures, although it does make it kind of warm to sit there to watch the sunset. The balcony features very neat PLASTIC wicker arm chairs, which I hadn’t seen before, and a dining height table, outside a set of lovely French doors.
Our unit consisted of a king sized bed, armoire, dresser, kitchen, with microwave, stove, coffee pot, some dishes, CD player, but NOT an alarm clock. The clock would have definitely come in handy, as we had to get up very early (around 5:30 AM) so we could meet up with the folks at Denzil Cline to turn in our jeep and get to the airport. We carry a portable CD player/alarm clock with us. Unfortunately, on our LAST day in Cane Garden, it decided to die on us. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Mad.gif" alt="" /> So, since we had to go back into town to meet Leon at Bobby’s anyway, we left a little earlier and purchased an alarm clock (for $30 !!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Shocked.gif" alt="" />) at one of the stores close to Bobby’s.
A very nice feature at Lighthouse is the common area, which features several chairs and tables, a grill, an honor bar with several types of liquor, and a hot tub. The hot tub was not hot when we were there. I suspect maybe you have to ask to have it turned on?? The common area had a lovely view out toward Cane Garden Bay also.
Maid service was excellent, with no problems with the maid doing the few dishes we left in the sink–glasses and cups, mostly. Bed linens and towels were of nice quality. The air conditioning worked quite well. The only real complaint I had was that the water pressure was extremely low. I have long hair and it was somewhat difficult to wash my hair in the shower, as the water pressure was so low, I felt I was dancing among raindrops.
I would not hesitate to recommend Lighthouse Villas to anyone interested in staying in Cane Garden Bay, EXCEPT those who are physically challenged. The property has a very STEEP driveway, with stairs in the center for walking, but it is extremely steep. Downhill, it probably only takes about two minutes to get down to the beach, BUT If you are interested in going back and forth to the beach very often, the trip would become fairly tiresome unless you are in great physical shape.
SUPER BOWL IN CANE GARDEN BAY!!!
After dinner at Elm, we headed over to Stanley’s to watch the Super Bowl. They had brought in a couple of extra TV’s for the game, and we had a good view of the large screen and we had several drinks there. We weren’t paying that much attention to the halftime show, however, and missed the extra added attraction... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> After half-time, it was nice to be able to just stumble down the beach and up to our room. We watched part of the second half from our room, and somehow snoozed before the game was over and missed the end... Survivor All-Stars was a lost cause from the beginning.. Oh well...
DINING–
Elm Beach Bar–We had dinner on Sunday night before the Super Bowl, at the regular Sunday night BBQ. The price has gone up some, with a minimum price of $13 for one meat, up to $15 for all three. The meal includes rice and beans, corn on the cob, and was more than I could eat! It’s still one of the best deals on Tortola, complete with the live music accompaniment.
Brandywine–Monday evening we had made reservations at Brandywine, which is something we have NEVER done in St. Martin, in maybe 25 trips since 1988. In St. Martin, everywhere you turn, there is a fabulous restaurant on every street corner, and if we can’t get in to one, we go on to the next, so we never make reservations. Brandywine requires long pants for gentlemen and pants or skirt for the ladies. We arrived a little early for our 7 o’clock reservation and enjoyed cocktails out on the terrace. For dinner, I had a tomato soup, Eric enjoyed a mozzarella and tomato appetizer, we shared a FABULOUS tortellini with gorgonzola, walnuts and pears (I had thought about ordering it for my entre, and I would have been perfectly satisfied with it, as it was wonderful!!!), I had a filet mignon with a kind of a sweet sauce (very tasty!!!) and Eric had a Cuban dish with pork and vegetables, in a wonderful sauce (different and quite wonderful!!!). For dessert, Eric had the lemon tart and I the tiramisu, both with coffee, followed by some lovely Grand Marnier. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> A bottle of water, and a bottle of shiraz, and the bill was right around $200. That was more than we normally spend for a similar meal in St. Martin, but certainly the only meal of that caliber that we received on Tortola.
Quito’s–Tuesday night, we got back to Cane Garden Bay around 7:30, took showers and headed to Quito’s around 8:15. We didn’t have a reservation and walked in right behind a couple who had reservations for 8:30 and we were seated right next to them. So much for reservations... BTW, the last time we were at Quito’s was in June and the place was PACKED. This time, not all the dinner tables were full and many people cleared out fairly early. We had conch fritters (merely OK), I had a nice chicken fettuccine alfredo and Eric had the red snapper. A bottle of Chardonnay and a bottle of water, and the bill was $82, plus tip.
We were seated over toward the edge of the deck, without any view of the stage, so after dinner, we moved over toward the stage, with the assistance of our waiter. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/band.gif" alt="" /> Quito was wonderful, although I was disappointed that he only did one set and did not return thereafter. We bought one of his old CD’s and had him autograph it. BTW, we played it the next day and the CD had a scratch on it. I took it back down there to the Gazebo the next day and they gladly exchanged it for me, by opening a new package, as I wanted to keep my original jacket, since Quito had signed it..
Before we left Quito’s on Tuesday, though, we had to try to corrupt a young couple on their honeymoon from Colorado. We had met them on the White Squall and told them they needed to check out Quito’s. They showed up fairly late, but we had a couple of lemon drop shooters to round out the night. We couldn’t believe that the bartender there didn’t know how to make a flaming Bob Marley, but just had to make do with lemon drop shooters, and even those, we had to tell the bartender we wanted the lemon and the sugar on the rim.... Wow, what kind of help are they hiring at the Gazebo these days?????????? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
Jolly Roger–Wednesday at lunch time, we headed out to the Jolly Roger to meet with Louis and his wife and enjoyed a nice lunch of curry chicken salad and a chicken sandwich and a couple of drinks, one round on Dug. Thanks, guy!!! We enjoyed talking to Louis’s wife, and giving her pointers on St. Martin, where she was headed in a few weeks for a visit..
Spaghetti Junction–We met Cheryl from Purple Pineapple for a lovely meal at Spaghetti Junction on Wednesday evening. We had a table in the corner of the restaurant with a view of the boats and wonderful breeze. We enjoyed a yummy order of garlic bread with cheese, I had the excellent beef marsala, Eric the seafood pasta. (Sorry, I don’t remember what Cheryl had...) We had two bottles of wine, one bottle of water, and 3 coffees. I’m not sure what the bill was, as I can’t find the receipt, but the meal was well worth it!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> Afterwards, we checked out the Bat Cave and had a nice chat with John, who was bartending this evening..
WHITE SQUALL DAY SAIL
Tuesday we spent a wonderful day on the White Squall, which is a 80 foot sailboat, which does trips to the Baths and Cooper Island OR Norman Island and the Indians. We had a VERY quick breakfast at the Village Cay Marina, on the dock by the White Squall and headed out to the boat around 8:45. We had about 16 people onboard. Although the boat is rated for 40 people, they don’t put nearly that many onboard, limiting trips to around 20 to 25 people, max. Thus there is plenty of room to spread out, although most folks on our trip stayed in the shade, to avoid looking like broiled lobsters!! The crew provided constant drinks and some tales of the islands on the way to the Baths. We motored straight to the Baths, arriving in about an hour. Once there, you could swim ashore or take the dinghy. If you’re a marginal swimmer, like me, take the dinghy!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/titanic.gif" alt="" /> We had about an hour and a half to explore the Baths and get back to the boat. Again, if you don’t want to swim back to the boat, they will bring the dinghy for you. Snorkel equipment and swim belts were provided and all the equipment seemed to be in good shape. I have a bad case of CRS (can’t remember sh*t), so can’t remember the name of the girl onboard, but she worked her tail off, getting everyone drinks, helping with the meal and patching up a couple of boo-boo’s on a couple of the older ladies who scraped themselves on the rocks.
While we were ashore, the crew prepared our wonderful lunch, which consisted of BBQ chicken, hotdogs, salad and rice. All of it was wonderful, with many folks, including me, getting seconds, most especially of the wonderful (world famous) rice!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> The rice is so popular that they print the recipe on the back of their sales flyers!
After everyone was sated from lunch, we headed over to Cooper Island, where folks could do some easy swimming and snorkeling in the calm waters. Normally, the boat sails over to Cooper, but there was not a breath of air this day, so we ended up motoring over most of the way, which was disappointing. After a nice swim and some liquid refreshment enjoyed in the water, it was time to head back to shore, arriving back at Village Cay Marina around 4:00. After we got off the boat, we enjoyed a couple of drinks with Maggie of White Squall at the Village Cay Marina.
DRIVING
Driving on Tortola is a whole ‘nother ballgame from St. Martin, which is where we usually go. Driving is on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, there are freaking speed bumps EVERYWHERE, and the roads are up and down like you wouldn’t believe, and we had some difficulties, even though we had been to Tortola before. The worst of our difficulties, we blamed on the horse!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> OK, we have done a lot of driving in the Caribbean and finding a dog or a chicken or a cow in the road does not really surprise us anymore. However, one night when we were coming back from Roadtown to Cane Garden Bay, just past the cut-off for Sky World, there was a horse in the middle of the road. Of course, he was a proper BVI horse, as he was traversing down the left side of the road, headed in the opposite direction... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> No person connected with him in sight, of course, no saddle, bridle, nothing, but he was on correct side of the road!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> Anyway, we followed two other vehicles to the corner and, somewhat bemused by the sight of the horse, I suppose, and laughing our a$$es off, we followed the other two vehicles, instead of turning toward CGB. Shortly thereafter, we came upon a man with a dog and a donkey which had a large load of leafy green material on the donkey’s back. They were all standing in the middle of the road, in the dark, in the rain... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Crazy.gif" alt="" /> We weren’t quite sure at first, but were convinced we had gone the wrong way when we ended up in front of Palm’s Delight, but then just headed up over the mountain and soon were back safe and sound in CGB. Our other biggest adventure, however, was finding Bobby’s, in Roadtown!!!! We drove around for an hour trying to find it! Finally, we stopped at a shop by the cruise pier to ask for directions. The lady there thought we were cruise passengers and couldn’t figure out why the heck cruise passengers would want to go to a grocery store!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> She tried to give us directions, and finally I asked what was in the immediate area. She said Bolo’s was right there, and the little lightbulb went off over my head!! “ Oh, Bolo’s!!! We’ve seen Bolo’s a half dozen times!!!” Anyway, we finally found it!! Hey, Leon, put another sign on the SIDE of the building, OK????
So, after four very busy days in Tortola, it was OFF to....ST. MARTIN–
(Trip report continued on St. Martin forum...)
