BVI Honeymoon Trip Report – April 18-24

Sunday, Apr 17th
Drove to Chicago and stayed at an airport hotel. Our flight was leaving the next morning at around 6:30am so we needed to spend the night. We were both very tired from the eventful wedding weekend, but also a bit wired and excited for our upcoming trip. We fell asleep fairly quickly, but morning came way to quickly...
Monday, Apr 18th
As usual, I set things in motion way too early. Our flight was a 6:30am one out of O’Hare so I set a 2:30 wake up call to make sure we wouldn’t have any time issues. All went very smoothly and we were at the airport by 3:15! The only time issue was that we were there before the employees! Oh well. I hate and fear being late, but I really overcompensated this time. At least the check-in lines weren’t long.
Our flight to San Juan went smoothly. The American eagle flight to Beef Island was interesting. Kind of like a Greyhound bus in the air. Flying over Tortola was great! It was like an air tour of the island because we were so low. I loved it because I finally got to see first hand all the places I had only read about or seen photos of.
On arrival, we got off the plane and were hit with the heat of the island. It was perfect! The taxi ride to Long Bay was better than most roller coasters. The terrain was intimidating and made me wonder what I was getting into by renting a vehicle the next day.
We arrived at Long Bay Beach resort and checked in without incident. We were greeted with a nice rum punch that I’ve been craving ever since. You drink a little and then the waiter adds the rum. That is a nice touch for those who don’t necessarily like rum (whoever they are). We were escorted to our cabana and went about unpacking and surveying the amazing view we had. Coconut palms, sandy beach and Jost Van Dyke off in the distance. We had arrived in paradise. A walk on the beach was now in order. The water was wonderful. Warm, clear and amazingly blue. After the walk, we collapsed on the bed. Both of us were excited about this trip, but desperately needed a nap.
Our first dinner of the trip was at “1748” at the resort. You will notice that this report may revolve around dining a bit. We both love trying new restaurants so it was a big part of our trip. “1748” was in a beautiful setting right on the beach and open air. I had Mahi Mahi and Sarah had a curried chicken dish. Both were good. We then decided to turn in a bit early. As we were getting ready for bed, -pop- the power goes out. I had heard that there can be sporadic power outages so we just waited a little while, lit a candle and sat on the deck. After a while, I called the front desk and reported the outage. They immediately sent a guy with additional candles and offered to move us. We said we’d wait it out. Since it was already nighttime and we were going to sleep, we didn’t really need any electricity right then anyway.
Tuesday, Apr 19th
The power was still out until after breakfast, but finally came back on and we had no other problems with it. We walked around the resort and perused the various shops. ITGO car rental picked us up to go get our jeep in Road Town. After getting the vehicle, our first destination was West End and Soper’s Hole. On the way, I took a “wrong turn”, backtracked, and then realized we were going the right direction the first time. This is typical for me. Pusser’s Landing was very nice and relaxing. We used our DMG2 and had our very first Painkillers of the trip. They were very good! For lunch, I had a chicken roti and Sarah had fish and chips. Both of which were mighty tasty. After lunch, we walked through all the shops in the area and looked at all the boats. The water was so blue that we joked that it looked like toilet cleaner. We wanted to visit Mr. Handler’s studio because we have one of his photo books. Unfortunately, it was closed for some remodeling. “Provisioning” was needed for our cabana so we walked over to the Ample Hamper Too. I purchased some Carib, Chips and salsa and we were off.
On the drive back to the resort, I experienced my first attempt at driving up and down one of the crazy hills on Tortola (Zion Hill Rd). It wasn’t bad at all once you realize your vehicle can make it. Back at LBBR, we walked the beach and I swam a bit at the west end of the beach. Sarah found some sea glass and some pretty rocks. I saw Nathan’s and made a mental note to stop back when I had $ on me to get a drink. After our walk, it was time to go back and get cleaned up for dinner. We were off to Brandywine Bay! Oh my, dinner here was incredible! What an experience. After arriving, we were met at our Table by Davide the owner and chef. Davide must be one of the friendliest guys around. He presented his menu to us and we were left with the daunting task of picking from all the great selections. We both had the house cabernet, which was nice. We split an appetizer of fresh mozzarella that was made on the premises and tomato with basil. It was much more flavorful than other fresh mozzarellas I’ve had. We then had pumpkin ravioli with a browned butter and sage sauce. We could have eaten plate after plate of this! For the entrees, Sarah had the Roasted duck with passion fruit sauce and I had a NY strip cut of Buffalo with an onion chipotle sauce. We both were very happy with our dinners and loved each other’s as well. Dessert was panna cotta with passion fruit sauce. It was a fine finish to a great meal. After dinner, we went out on the patio to enjoy the view. Davide was so nice. He bought each of us a glass of grappa to celebrate our wedding and honeymoon. We chatted a bit with him and enjoyed the night. One thing that really made the evening perfect was the service. Our servers, Spice and Leon, were so hospitable and kind.
Wednesday, Apr 20th
This morning we got started early and caught Speedy’s ferry in Road Town destined for Virgin Gorda and the Baths. The trip was pretty fun – we were on top of a huge catamaran. Once we arrived, we were whisked away to the Bath’s. It was pretty busy here because a cruise ship was in. Not super packed, but busy. We did some snorkeling (Sarah’s first time). She had fun once we remedied problems with her mask. We also walked through the grotto area (with about 30 others). It is an interesting place, which reminded me of some of the formations back home near the Wisconsin Dells.
Back on Tortola, we headed down to West End and had lunch at the Jolly Roger. I had another chicken roti (quickly becoming a favorite item) and Sarah had a fish sandwich. Both were good, but the roti was incredible! After lunch, we headed back to LBBR and I realized I was quite sunburned. We took a nap at the cabana and then got ready for dinner. Tonight we were dining at Bananakeet. This was a great restaurant though the parking was a challenge. Sarah had wine and I tried a drink called a Bananakeet. It was awesome and I could drink them all day long. We had our first conch fritters here and they were delicious. For dinner, Sarah had a huge tuna steak and I had fusion shrimp. Both were very good. The view from the restaurant is great because it is way up in the hills. It was fun looking out over Long Bay and seeing our resort.
Thursday, April 28th
Today was nice because we didn’t really have anything planned. It rained a little in the morning, which was nice. It made everything smell fresh. We decided to try Sebastian’s for breakfast. It was a great choice. Sarah had banana pancakes with guava juice and I had Rum French toast with orange juice. Both breakfasts were great. We were entertained by a group of dogs that were playing and chasing each other on the beach. Very comical.
After breakfast, we braved the treacherous road to Smuggler’s Cove. The ruts in the road weren’t horrible, but I worried about sharp rocks giving me a flat tire. When we got there, there were about 25 people on the beach, but it didn’t seem crowded. There were 2 juice/cocktail stands and a t-shirt stand. We didn’t stay long as we were just checking it out for later in the week.
Our next trip was to Cane Garden Bay. I’ve noticed by this point that driving on the North shore, while a bit hillier is much less stressful. There isn’t as much traffic to deal with. We wanted to go to CGB on a day that there wasn’t a ship in. Boy, did we pick the wrong day! There were actually two ships docked in Road Town. We lucked out with lunch and got a table at Myett’s before the crowds came through. The beach was packed though. Myett’s has a great atmosphere and the food is good as well. Just ask the cat that shared my fish sandwich.
After lunch, we headed to the south side of the island. We wanted to pick up some pottery and a cute little place called Bomboushay, which is located in the Nanny Cay marina. Nice pottery and nice people. After that, it was back to LBBR for a stroll on the beach. Even though “au natural” sunbathing is supposed to be a no-no in the BVI, you’d never know this if you visited the west end of Long Bay today. Not that it bothered me, but it catches you off guard when you all of a sudden see naked folk walking around. I just hope they had on enough bug spray to keep away the no-see-ums.
Tonight, was dinner at The Sugar Mill. What a beautiful restaurant and bar! We sat right next to the tropical garden area of the restaurant. It was fun having a fancy dinner while watching lizards hunt for their dinner in the plants. I had a lobster and shrimp pasta dish while Sarah had a filet with potato gratin. Food and service were good here.
Friday, Apr 22nd
Woke up to my sunburn throbbing. I guess that’s the price I pay for being in paradise. We headed back to Smuggler’s cove this morning for a little snorkeling. We had the place all to ourselves for a little while. We saw quite a few fish and some basket ball sized sea urchins. Unfortunately, coral in the area doesn’t look very healthy. I’m not sure why. After snorkeling, I had a wonderful banana daiquiri from one of the stands. A really friendly guy made it with these tiny bananas. It was the perfect breakfast.
Our next adventure was a trip over to Jost Van Dyke. I was really looking forward to this, as I have wanted to visit Foxy’s and the Soggy Dollar for a long time. After the ferry ride, we walked into Great Harbor and to Foxy’s. What a beautiful island this is. I loved the little shops and bars along the sandy road. Foxy’s was great! A guy was playing guitar during our lunch and he was fantastic. The place just had a peaceful vibe about it. The beer ain’t bad either. Sarah had a light beer brewed there and it was good and slightly fruity. After Foxy’s we taxied over to White Bay. Getting a cab wasn’t the easiest task, but we managed. We arranged for the driver to pick us up at 4:30 for our 5:00 ferry and then we were off to the Soggy Dollar. This place was sure hopping with lots of people. I wanted to try one of their famous Painkillers, but getting the bartender’s attention was very challenging. I finally got our drinks and we kicked back in one of the hammocks. The painkiller was okay, but nothing great. I think I had it built up as something that would be phenomenal. I preferred the ones from Pusser’s and LBBR much more. We got up and walked the length of the beach. What a beautiful place. Before long we were back in the hammock watching people play the ring toss game. When it was time to go, we went and waited for the taxi. He was 10min late and I was starting to worry about making the ferry. He showed up with plenty of time and we made our ride. This taxi trip was definitely a “trip”. The driver had his kids along and they were very cute. They were climbing all over the van and pretending to be monsters. Apparently, the little girl took this to a new level and started chewing on Sarah’s knee! All of this in a 5 minute ride. The ferry back was uneventful. I think we saw some cottages on little Thatch Island. They looked really nice.
Dinner tonight would be at Palm’s Delight at the recommendation of people on TTOL. This place is quite tiny and simple and was right next to the water. The food here made up one of the best meals we had. Sarah had the Gingerwine chicken and I had the Steam Fish with “provisions”, green banana and funghi. The fish was perfect and so was the chicken. During dinner, there was a total downpour outside. Since the place was open-air, it was nice to watch the rain. It was also amusing watching people brave the rain to get to the outhouse.
While getting ready for bed this evening, we pulled back the covers on the bed and there was the smallest little lizard I have ever seen. He couldn’t have measured more than an inch or two and he was FAST! Luckily I caught the little guy and set him out on the deck.
Saturday, Apr 23rd
Woke up to cooler weather, wind and rain today. We headed into Road Town for breakfast and a little shopping. We had to drop off the car today and had time to burn. We had breakfast at Capriccio del Mar(sp?) which is Davide’s other place besides Brandywine. It was a cute place tucked back in some palms. I had croissant French toast and Sarah had a frittata. Both were good. We met some nice folks here that were renting a house on Virgin Gorda and were heading over to St. Thomas.
After breakfast, we checked out Main St. I got some stamps and some other gifts for people. We also walked over to a little area of colorful shops by the water. Cute area, but nothing really jumped out as something I wanted to buy. Lots of shops were still closed. In this area, there is a fruit/cocktail stand that I’ve wanted to stop at all week. When I finally did, they were closed. It figures. Our next stop was Pusser’s General store. We picked up some rum, and had a painkiller and a daiquiri. As the taxi was driving us from the rental car shop to the resort, I noticed the fruit/cocktail stand was open. I can’t win! I will have to get there next trip.
Back at LBBR, we finally got around to spending some time at the pool. It was nice and relaxing sitting under a canopy and sipping some drinks. After that, we got ready for dinner at the Palm Terrace. The food here is pretty good and the atmosphere is great! It is open air with lots of palms as the name suggests. We watched more lizards hunting their dinner here as well. After dinner we had the depressing task of packing for the trip home. This was our last night on Tortola.
Sunday, Apr 24th
Woke up to another beautiful Tortola morning. We had breakfast at the resort, fixed some erroneous charges at the front desk and we were off to the Beef Island airport. I have come to the conclusion that this airport sucks! (Can you tell I am getting ornery and don’t want to leave?) Everyone was friendly and things went smoothly, but would it kill them to have a few fans around? At least have the windows cracked a bit. The temperature in there was stifling. I don’t buy any excuse about conserving energy either because they had a bunch of monitors on with completely useless information. There was even a “Welcome to the Airport” message on a monitor in the DEPARTURE area. I felt sorry for those people that had to work here day in and day out. Our flight was late of course. Once in the air, things were fine. In San Juan, we had to make a mad dash to our Chicago flight. Apparently this is called the “customs dash” because you have to pick up your luggage clear customs, clear immigration, recheck luggage and then run to the other end of the airport to make your flight. Well, we made it, but just barely. Off we went to Chicago…

Highlights of the trip
- Cabana/location
- Food all over the island
- Brandywine bay experience
- Foxy’s
- Dramatic views from anywhere in the BVI
- Roti at Jolly Roger
- Pusser’s Painkillers

Low points or things we missed
- Missed seeing Quito
- Septic system odor at resort
- Beef island airport
- Missed doing a day sail
- Health of coral at Baths and Smugglers Cove
- Missed stopping by Nathan’s.
- Having to leave

I will post a link to photo soon!

Scott