Here is a trip report detailing our third trip to the BVI's. Hopefully pics will follow

Day One: Thursday (3/2/06):

Travelling from the U.S. Continental Midwest to the British Virgin Islands always makes for a tedious day, but as it is at the onset of a much anticipated vacation, it is bearable. We had one unfortunate delay; the airplane in Atlanta had a loose window in the cockpit, and the entire plane had to de-board to switch planes. Besides that tacking an extra hour onto the voyage, the journey was uneventful, and early evening found US enjoying the first Caribs of the trip at the Jolly Roger. As it turned out, we really should have just stayed at J.R. for dinner; the menu was good, prices reasonable. and the staff was attentive and pleasant. But we were keen to get to our accommodations, so the four of us who were staying at the Mongoose Apartments (I can't say enough good things about our apartment - this was our third stay there, and good circumstances willing, will not be our last) in Cane Garden Bay had the third couple in our party drop us off before they drove the Denzil rental vehicle up to their apartment farther up the hill on CGB. We all met up and had dinner at Myett's, which, in the past, has been one of our favourite dinner spots. Myett's, as usual, had wonderful drinks, and the best conch fritters in the BVI's (IMHO), but it took over an hour to be served dinner, and the dinner was good, but nothing spectacular, and considering the disinterested way we were served (this was so strange and disappointing to us, because we recognized the waitresses from years past and they have always been very friendly and pleasant and service was relatively rapid), and the extreme wait for the check and our change, spectacular food would have been necessary for us to make a repeat visit for dinner. My 6 smallish sized shrimp with a meagre amount of vegetables cost $28 and although my husband ordered a "special" that was also $28; they brought him something that didn't match the description of the special, and, in fact, was the same as my dinner with a different sauce plus 3 small bits of chicken, for which they charged him $38. Our wait for everything was so bloody long and our waitress was acting like she either didn't speak English or didn't want to wait on us, so we didn't feel lilke it was worth the hassle to complain. We just won't be eating dinner there again. After dinner, we went to Quito's. Wow! The renovation is great! We immensely enjoyed having our evening end listening to the smoother than smooth acapella Quito, and the six of us toasted our good fortune in being able to return to Tortola and the BVI's. Our beds at Mongoose were so comfy, and the music from the tree frogs so comforting, that we were asleep almost as soon as our heads hit our pillows.

Day Two: Friday.

The two other men in our group went to Nanny Cay for a Blue Waters Dive, leaving my husband and the three of us ladies to enjoy a relaxing morning at Cane Garden Bay. The four of us went down to the beach and since there were NO (Woo-hoo!) cruise ships in that day, the beach was practically deserted and B. E. yoo-tiful. We had all taken turn shopping at Bobby's - what a great place; they had almost everything we needed (we filled in the blanks at the little shop/bar at the corner of Mongoose Ln.) and the people working there are very nice. It was wonderful to not have to make the trek in to Road Town. We checked at The Wedding to make sure he'd be open for lunch, so when it was lunch time, we headed down to the rickety stairs past the tire swing. The one man who was the entire staff that day (cook, bartender, waiter) was just delightful, and our grilled Mahi sandwiches, washed down with some ice-add Presidentes was an outstanding meal. The meal, however wonderful, paled in comparison with the view from The Wedding. The rest of our party joined us just as we were finishing but we certainty didn't mind staying while they ate, because it was so pleasant there. We enjoyed the beach at CGB Bay awhile longer, then went to Myett's for Happy Hour. Myett's has a swell spot to Happy Hour and enjoy the sunset; we've not soured on the place itself - just dinner there. We wondered if the change in attittude was at all due to the intermittant influxes of cruise ship people. They do have sand fleas aplenty though - we went through a lot of insect repellent and still got bitten righteously. The other four decided to stay at Myett's to eat appetizers instead of dinner, but my husband and I went back to our apartment, got cleaned up and headed down the beach for a "real" dinner. We were hoping to have a cheeseburger "in paradise", but alas, Stanley's was closed (in fact, passing by on different days and at different times of the day, we never saw Stanley's open), so we went to Paradise/Big Banana and had a very fine dinner, served relatively quickly and with a smile. It was very reasonably priced, tasty, filling, and had us on our way to see Quito and the Edge in no time. We snagged a table with a perfect view of the stage and the dance floor, and we had a fantastic time. Inexplicably, there is now, or was that evening, a girl "singing" with the band. She has a lovely figure, but her singing was so dreadful and loud that people in the audience left the dance floor to sit down, and everywhere people were making "kill me now" faces. I've stepped on a cat's tail before and heard more melodic sounds. She does have a set of lungs on her-I'll give her that; she was belting out flat notes at decibels that probably had dogs howling on the coast of Cuba.

Day Three: Saturday.

RAIN. We had planned to get over to Jost Van Dyke as early as possible for Foxy's Music Fest, but heavy rain delayed our departure. Still, we got Glenn to boat us over under forboding skies and were rewarded with a beautiful sunny afternoon on JVD. We had a great lunch at Soggy Dollar, and bought the requisite souvenirs, and Pain Killers. The Pain Killers were even better than we ever remembered them. There were two small cruise ships at JVD, which made White Bay more crowded than we prefer, but it was still beautiful and fun and we can't wait to go back. We migrated via BUN taxi down to Great Harbour to Foxy's, and weren't disappointed in the music. They had a marvelous buffet, but while the other four shared their buffet meal, once again, my husband and I wanted a "real" meal (we were in the mood for a more relaxing feed) and so we went to Corsairs. The dinner was wonderful, and we had a darling feline dinner companion. Corsairs was a great experience - we would definitely go back there. We weren't sure how we would feel about it since we had enjoyed spending time there a few years back when it was Club Paradise, and we had been sad about not being able to visit with the previous owners with whom we had such a good time. After dinner, we returned to Foxy's to join the rest of our group, and the music was excellent. We enjoyed the last band that we heard so much, we would like to buy a cd of their music, but we don't know the name of the band. We get in front of the "Foxy Cam" and phone home - yes, they can see us! In spite of liberal spraying of insecticide, two of us get eaten alive. We were having such a good time, though, that this seemed insignificant until the next day.

Day 4: Sunday.

Our two divers went for a dive of the Wreck of the Rhone, and their wives went in search of places featured in the Drinking Man's Guide. Since it was Sunday morning; not much is open, but they have fun trying. My husband and I enjoyed CGB, which was mostly deserted; blessedly devoid of cruise shippers; and when the other four get back, we lounge around on the beach, then go up to the one couple's apartment to enjoy the sunset from up on the hill. Thanks to the convenience of Bobby's, we decided to go back to our apartment where we cooked dinner and all ate together there.

Day 5: Monday.

The six of us chartered the Kuralu for a day-sail, and it was splendid. http://www.kuralu.com/crew.htm The crew consisted of Robin, his son, Tom, and their friend, Christopher (and Cayleigh (sp?) the golden retriever), all of whom were wonderful to spend the day with. We went to a couple of wonderful snorkeling spots, that they recommended, where the fish, conchs, & sea turtles were plentiful. Our two divers had heard whales singing when the dove, so we were very hopeful, but we didn't see any. We visited the Willy T, and basically sat around enjoying the scenery. The lunch that Robin prepared for us was very, very good, and it was so relaxing. There is certainly something to be said for just paying your way aboard a standard day-sail and meeting new people, but since we had the boat to ourselves, I think it was shot more relaxing for us. Personally, I think it was well worth the extra expenditure. The crew was delightful (four of our group had gone on a day said with Robin before, so they were already sold on the Kuralu). We had dinner at the Jolly Roger, and realize that it was our mistake not eating there before, since it was another great experience-very nice and relaxing outside dining alongside the giant tarpin, and the food and service was excellent. We retired to the Mongoose Apartments and were too worn out from a day of relaxing to do anything else. How does one get worn out from doing nothing active? Hard to say, but the less we did of an active nature, the less motivation we had come nightfall.

Day 6: Tuesday:

We leave two of our friends who are bound for home at the ferry dock and go to Smuggler's. We heard that an American has purchased a good chunk of Smuggler's real estate, and we fear that the resort he claimed to be planning may restrict access to parts of the now unspoiled beach, or at the very least change the landscape with added construction, so we go down to enjoy the incomparable beauty there before it is ruined by development. We make lunch back at our apartments, nap and lounge around - Cane Garden Bay is packed with cruise boat folk - mostly French and Italian, in various stages of nude-i-ness. I would think that they must realize that nudity (even semi) on BVI beaches is not only illegal, but is also offensive to the inhabitants, in particular, children who actually live there, but there they are anyway, apparently not caring about this. I have a lovely long talk with Lyn Blyden, the postmistress and mail all of my postcards even though we will doubtless beat them home by weeks, we go down to Myett's for happy hour and then try to eat dinner at Quito's. Unfortunately, we had not made reservations, so we would have had a huge wait. Instead we ate dinner at Paradise/Big Banana and returned to Quito's to listen to Quito until bedtime. Glorious.

Day 7: Wednesday.

We drove to the other end of the island (at least it seemed that way) to catch a boat from Trellis to Marina Cay. We spent hours there - it is small and there was not much to do, but it was very welcoming and comfortable, and with the gardens and beach teeming with fish and ray, there is plenty to be interested with. The palapas are comfortable, and appropriate shelter from the sprinkles while still affording a great view. Of of the 3 Pusser's, the food and Pain Killers at Marina Cay were voted best by us. We were very glad to have made the effort to get there. The weather was off and on rainy, and by the time we got back to Trellis Bay, it was quite windy. We nevertheless had a jolly time strolling around Trellis, taking in the sights. The artwork, Aragorn's and the other local artisans, make this area a real treat to the eyes. We hope to enjoy full moon there on a subsequent trip. We made reservations at the Last Resort from the dock; the last time we had dinner there, we had a great time, so we were anxious to go back. Unfortunately, we had to choose between very early and very late; our reservations were at 6:45, and our particular server was so poor (we were watching people around us being served attentively, by energetic, friendly staff, but we must have drawn the short straw on this) that by the time the singing chef appeared appeared on stage, we were ready to go home. We really felt bad to be leaving just as he was ready to perform, but we were worn out by the long waits with no explanation and lack of readily available drinks. We had such a wonderful time before; and we were seeing better experiences ocurring around us, so we feel sure our personal experience this time was an unfortunate anomally. We will have to try to make reservations earlier on next time to get the time slot we want - the show there is so much fun, the resident menagerie swell, and the food is excellent.

Day 8: Thursday.

Even though there was a cruise ship at Tortola, and a big one, we stayed the day in CGB. Our original plan was to spend another day at JVD, but the ocean was too rough for Glenn to take us over, and we were happy enough to hang around "our" beach. We had another outstanding lunch at The Wedding, enjoyed happy hour, replete with music by an affable gentleman called Kap Eye. We were having a great time, and after several delicious Reggae Sunsplash drinks,we were having a spectacular time. Kap Eye treated us to his version of "Fins", as we had, indeed, come "down from Cincinnati". The conch fritters and wings are great as usual, and we decided to forego formal dinner. We returned to own apartment to pack :-( and then joined our friends for our last chance on this trip to hear Quito in all his mellowness.. we were sad that this was our last evening, but the vacation had to end, and this was definitely the way to see out the final evening.

Day 9: Friday (3/10/06).

We were dropped off at the ferry dock, while our friends who were staying on two more days boarded a different ferry to JVD, and we were miserably on our way to St. Thomas. Since the timing is always iffy, we left on the 10 am ferry for a 3:30 flight. <sigh> Neither of us enjoy Charlotte Amalie. much as a rule - too many people, too much traffic, etc., but we did have a lovely lunch at the Greenhouse and a pleasant drink at the Petite Pump Room at the ferry dock before taking a taxi to the airport. The people working in St. Thomas were oh joy to encounter, and that made our stay there much more pleasant. We saw Eric Clapton's "Blue Guitar" boat pull into the harbor, and then it was time for us to go. We resolved to return to the BVI's as soon as possible. A week later, we haven't gotten back there yet and it's already not soon enough!