My wife and I arrived in STT on Sat. Feb 23rd. We were met at the airport by Ronnie owner/host of Crystal Palace B&B. His place is beautiful and has a great view of Charolette Amalie harbor. The house has been in his family for 4 generations. I highly recommend this B&B. That night he sent us down the hill to his cousins restaurant "CUZZINS" the food was as good as the service. After dinner his cousin Brent gave us a ride back up the hill. We sat on the veranda overlooking the harbor all lit up with ships of one variety or another. The next morning after breakfast Ronnie was kind enough to drive us to the ferry dock so we could catch the ferry to St John. Upon arriving in St John we rented a vehicle from Spencers Jeep Rentals, a Jeep Cherokee that has seen better days. Took a little getting used to driving on the left side and dodging the donkeys. Drove to Leinsters Bay and snorkled Watermelon Cay, saw lots of starfish, reef fish, a stingray and a turtle. Next we hopped back in the Jeep and drove to Coral Bay to eat at Skinny Legs, had burgers and rum punch. Tried to make it to Haulover but needed to return to catch the ferry, maybe next time. Ferry arrived in West End, unloaded got thru customs after COMPLETELY filling out the paperwork. Caught a taxi to Cane Garden Bay to stay at Ole Works Inn. Arrived after the office closed so the bartender (Fitz) showed us to our room. We were in room #117 on the 3rd floor, the view was awesome. That night we ate at Myettes the food was good but the service wasn't. I figured it was island time that I kept hearing about, until I noticed other people arriving after us getting their food before us. The next day we snorkled on the reef by Da Wedding, snorkling there was much better than I thought it might be. It was a great sensation to be surrounded by thousands of little fry all moving in unison and a big suprise to get bombarded by pelicans going after the fry. A bigger suprise was the 4 ft barracuda just staring at me, just a tad unnerving. The days that followed were full of limin',snorkeling and rum. We enjoyed eating cheeseburgers at Stanleys and drinking rum punch (made with Callwood rum) at Da Wedding. We saw Quito play twice solo which was excellent and once with his band The Edge. That night the place was packed with locals and they jammed all night long. One morning we woke to clouds and showers so we decided to run over to Virgin Gorda and the Baths. We left a little on the late side so we knew we wouldn't have alot of time. When we arrived the cruise ship passengers were just leaving. We ate at Mad Dogs, good sandwiches and better Pina Coladas. The Baths are incredible with the caverns and the pools that they form. Unfortunately we had very heavy surf so snorkeling and swimming was difficult. The next day we rented a Suzuki from Dels in CGB and drove to Brewers Bay to snorkel , unfortunately the surf was up and the visibilty was down. But this didn't take away from the beauty of this area. It was interesting to see how the campground is set up with it's primative jungle atmosphere. We then headed to Smugglers Cove, the road was bumpy but not as bad as I had thought. The beach was beautiful and the view of Jost Van Dyke was great. Again the surf was up and clouds let loose with some rain, but it was better than 10 degrees below zero and snow. Places that we ate at included Paradise Club- good food but a little spendy, Elm- good food good prices strong drinks, Quitos Gazebo- good food fair prices excellent service, Rhymers- good food good drinks good prices. We really knew Tortola was special when the CGB Elementary School held its phy ed class on the beach. We found it to be very homey the way people interacted with one another. We made lots of friends while there, Fitz at Quitos has an adorable 3yr old daughter that loves to dance when Quito is playing. It was hard to say good-bye. We now truely know where we will be coming back to when it is time for relaxation, besides we still need to explore the rest of the island. When we returned to STT it was like going from a small town to NYC with its hustle and bustle. We shopped for a few hours before the flight left. Got to the airport only to find out that our flight was delayed for 2 1/2 hrs. The airline gave us a voucher for food at the Best Western Emerald Beach on Lindberg Beach. Beats being stuck in the airport because of a blizzard. Made the best of it, although my wife and I were anxious to get home to our kids. We now know what makes this island so special, it's the people and their way of life. We will be returning.<br>Scott
