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June 4-13 land based trip report - LONG
#2736
06/14/2004 05:59 PM
06/14/2004 05:59 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,326 Triangle area of North Carolin...
Charlie2001
OP
Traveler
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OP
Traveler
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,326
Triangle area of North Carolin...
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Land based trip report June 4th - 13th, 2004
This was our return trip to reunite and renew our friendship with 2 other couples with whom we've been best friends for 13 years. We all arrived in phases, my wife and I on the 4th with Fred & Rakale arriving on the 5th and Richard & Barbie on the 6th. This was F&R's second trip to Tortola, R&B's third, and our 7th visit to paradise.
Summary: lots of great food, excellent weather with only 45 minutes of daytime rain the whole trip, the Drinking Mans Guide is a must, if you ever pass by a place and say "should we stop here?" then just do it, you won't regret it.
In reading through this before posting it, I realized that it's full of personal interactions, experiences, and less about the places where these events occur. That seems to always be the nature of our trips to the BVI. It's the people that make it the treasure that it is. I hope you enjoy the personal side of our trip to the BVI.
Friday June 4th ---------------
Kim and I had a 6:45am departure out of Raleigh, thru Miami, then to San Juan and finally Beef Island. American did a fine job, all flights were on time and we landed at EIS at 3:10pm. Immigration was smooth, but a second Eagle flight landed just as we did, and it caused havoc for the sole baggage handler on duty. We waited 30 minutes as he unloaded both planes, then loaded in the new passengers' bags before bringing our luggage to the terminal. Many stressed out people including a group of older gentlemen with what could be described as "trophy" wives who were none too pleased over the delays. We sat back and enjoyed the transition to Island Time as we waited for the bags.
Grabbed a cab and a couple Caribs from the truck in the parking lot, then ran over to Cane Garden Bay to check in at Ole Works Inn. The room was clean, comfortable, and had a nice view. The water pressure and AC worked well, but the mattress was a bit tired. Overall it was an excellent value and a great place for a short stay in Cane Garden Bay. We shopped for the recently released CD's in the gift shop, and picked up some shirts as well. Kim took a short nap while I walked the beach, There was a group of 3 boys and one girl who were playing on the beach. The boys were taking the girl's sandals and playing "keep away" with them. They eventually noticed me and came over to chat playfully. They asked me for a dollar, but I told them that I don't give money to little boys that are mean to little girls. Then one boy tried to serenade me with the 8 year old version of Happy Birthday ".... you live in a zoo..." but I beat him to it with a new version and punchline that he had never heard. He made me teach him the new version and quickly became my friend. I headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and get ready for dinner. We had drinks and dinner at the Big Banana and headed back to listen to Quito and the Edge. We only made it through the first set, and left early thanks to a 4:00am wakeup that morning and a long travel day.
Saturday June 5th -----------------
Kim woke with a migraine. I walked down to the new Bobby's market to get some muffins and sodas. Unfortunately the food did not help with the nausea and pain from the migraine, so as Kim slept it off, I walked down the street to find Glen at Cane Garden Bay Pleasureboats. I had spoken with him about a daytrip to Jost to avoid the crowds at CGB, since the Carnival cruiseship was in Roadtown today. Since Kim wasn't up to the trip, I notified Glen and then grabbed a chair at Rhymers to watch the people arrive in droves.
The transformation of Cane Garden Bay from a laid back beach into a cruise ship daytripper base was remarkable. Chairs, umbrellas, beach stands, and vendors seemed to have sprouted up overnight like mushrooms! With only one ship in port, the crowds on the beach were manageable and the people were spending money on drinks, braiding, food, jet skis, pedal boats, and chair rentals. From my chair near the bar at Rhymers, I spent about 90 minutes just chilling out, watching the day unfold. I also took a walk the length of the beach to take it all in. Sure, there were some visitors who were rude, but many of them were genuinely interested in learning more about the BVI. I am no huge fan of the jet skis, but many of the other businesses were also benefiting from the business. Watching the day progress, I gradually changed my mind on this whole cruise ship issue. One large ship per day is a manageable number of visitors. They really do get a small taste of the BVI experience when it's not so crowded. The businesses benefit and it balances out to benefit many folks.
Kim was feeling better by around 1:00, so we went down to the beach and relaxed in the sand. Took a nice walk and had a late lunch at Stanleys. Then we got cleaned up as we waited to hear from Fred & Rakale. They were on the US Air flight into St Thomas and should have made the 4:00 ferry, arriving in CGB by 5:45 or so. By 6:15 we were getting worried, so we headed down to check with Fitz at the bar. Sure enough, F&R were perched on a beach chair in the sand, enjoying their complementary rum punch. Many hugs and catching up followed. We went down to Stanleys to watch the Belmont Stakes and went down to Myetts for dinner. Had a great dinner of Mahi, chicken, rice, and veggies. Kim, Fred, and I took in a whole evening of fine reggae from Quito and the Edge. Kim requested "No Tears" from Quito during the break, but he said that his new bass player didn't know it yet. When they took the stage he played "Hotter on the Phone" and apologized since they couldn't play the exact request. We just love all his music. It does seem that the band is playing less than 50% of Quito's songs in their setlist. Not sure why that is, but we'd have loved to hear more of the classic music from The Edge too.
There was a blonde gal there who was dancing with two different local fellows. She was rather scantily clad and was not leaving much to the imagination regarding her dance moves with the guys. They would take a break back at the bar where she would turn to one side and kiss one guy, then spin around to start kissing on the other. It made for some interesting people watching, but little did we know how it would weave its way through our weeklong stay.
Sunday June 6th ---------------
Moving day. The 4 of us checked out of the Ole Works Inn. Brian from Denzil Clyne came to pick us up in a nice Mitsubishi Pajero that would be our wheels for the week. It was in good shape, A/C was real cold, and we were on our way quickly. They always treat us well, and we delight in returning to them year after year.
Went to check in at Long Bay Beach Resort. We had booked a 3 bedroom hillside villa for our stay. I called a week prior to our arrival to request a unit on the west side of the property. I spoke with my old friend Carlotta and she remembered me and assured that we'd have a nice villa for our stay. Upon arrival at the reception area, Carlotta greeted me us with hugs and kisses and stored our luggage until the villa would be ready. We changed into swimsuits, picked up some beach towels, and drove over to Brewers Bay for a wonderful day of snorkeling, drinking and eating at Nicole's place, and walking the length of the beach.
Headed back to Long Bay and checked in to the villa. Man, what an awesome place! We've stayed in every different room type at the resort and this was the best one yet. It's IDEAL for 3 couples. Each bedroom/bath is on a separate level with excellent privacy. The common living and kitchen was big and roomy, and the covered veranda was a great place to sit and relax.
While checking out the views, Kim noticed Richard & Barbie down by the pool. They were on the Delta flight into St Thomas that arrived at 3:20. The planets were totally aligned for them to reach Tortola in record time. They only brought carry-on luggage, and as they got off the plane they were the last 2 passengers to fill up a van headed to the ferry dock. They got to the dock at 3:35 and were able to get on the 3:30 ferry that had not yet departed. Arrive at 4:25 at West End, breezed through customs, and were at Long Bay by 4:45. Kim said "that's Richard, I know by the way he walks" and sure enough, it was!
We yelled down to them, and drove down to pick them up. We had a few drinks at the villa then headed over to Jolly Roger for dinner. The food was excellent and service was wonderful. We ate down by the water and enjoyed great Mahi, steak, chicken roti, and pizza. Then we went over to Bombas for a little while and met Johnny, a great guy who would figure into many events later in the week. Johnny is a big teddy bear of a guy who works for Nubian Princess and can be found at Bombas most nights. He made me aware that "you have a girls name, Shannon, Ha Ha Ha!" and also informed us that he plans to marry an Asian woman. He was great to talk to and we had a great time. We'll always remember his famous quote "spin it like a top".
Back to the villa for an early bedtime, saving some energy for Jost tomorrow.
Monday June 7th ---------------
Headed down to the breakfast buffet at Long Bay before making the trek to Cane Garden Bay. The food was great, service prompt and friendly, and we ate just enough to tide us over to a much anticipated lunch at the Soggy Dollar. Drove over to CGB and met up with Glen at CGB Pleasure Boats. He used a nice cabin cruiser to take us over in the morning. With Bob Marley playing on the stereo we made our way out and toward Sandy Cay. Glen stopped and suggested we take a few pictures off the stern with Sandy Cay in the background. We chatted with him as pointed out areas of Little Jost and Jost, then he dropped us off at White Bay. We arranged for a 5:30 pickup in Great Harbor and then set up camp at Sandcastle. We rounded up some chairs, arranged them near a hammock, and proceeded to grab a round of Caribs to start the day off. The fellas took a walk over to the eastern half of White Bay and quickly realized that the lack of shoes was a major problem. We opted to swim around the point on the way back rather than walk the torturous path again. A few separate bouts with the ring and hook game interspersed with some beers got us up to lunchtime.
Lunch of jerk chicken and flying fish sandwiches, conch fritters, and fries was delicious. We collected our 4 painkillers off the board, used our Drinking Mans Guide for some more, then proceeded to buy another round for the ride to Foxy's. Once we made it to Foxy's we got down to serious business of retrieving a pair of panties that were left in the rafters back in 2002, then hanging up a shirt to commemorate this 2004 trip.
At 5:30 Glen came into the dock to pick us up. Riding on the bow of the boat were my little buddies from Friday at Cane Garden Bay. Turns out that one of the boys is Glen's son, and the others are his nephews. We made it back to Big Banana for some excellent pizzas and rum punch, and a truly magnificent sunset over Jost. Then we headed back to Long Bay for a late night trip to the pool and hottub.
Tuesday June 8th ----------------
Slept in a bit, headed down for another great breakfast, then off to the Ridge Road to see the mural wall. We took a slight off-road detour from Sea Cows Bay up to the Ridge Road. Stopped to see the excellent depictions of early days on Tortola, then drove on toward Josiahs Bay. Unfortunately a section of Ridge Road is closed between the murals and Josiahs Bay. Detoured down through Roadtown then back over to Josiahs. Settled in out front of the Grape Tree beach bar and proceeded to snorkel along the rocky edge among thousands of fish. Had a great lunch of burgers, chicken, hot dogs and fries, and Carib. The owners young boy was there with his dog, "chicken Dog". We were informed that "chicken dog will bite you if you try to pick him up" so we heeded the warning and merely petted him. During the meal ol' Chicken Dog made it known that he'd appreciate some food. Richard tried to push him backwards with his heels, but Chicken Dog held firm. Richard said "move BACK Chiecken Dog, and I'll take care of you". For some reason this was the absolute funniest thing to me, and I lost it in a laughing fit that brought tears to my eyes. That little tan dog was not budging. We tossed him a fry but he was not interested in anything but meat. Incidentally, the chicken sandwich was awesome, small slices of marinated white meat on a toasted bun, yum!
The little boy spent the afternoon playing on the beach and walked the length of it with me. Then he played on one of our inflatable floats until Kim found a baby hermit crab. He came to check it out, then took it to show his grandma. We never saw him after that to say goodbye.
Back to Long Bay to get cleaned up, then off to Carrot Bay and a much anticipated dinner at Palms Delight. Shrimp Roti and Gingerwine Chicken were the order of the evening and did not disappoint. This is one of our favorite meals in the BVI. After dinner we returned home to rest up for the big day tomorrow.
Wednesday June 9th ------------------
Up early and packed to head to Anegada. Quick breakfast then off through Roadtown toward the dock at Trellis Bay. Oops, why is traffic totally stopped at the roudabout near Prospect Reef? Snarls in the morning commute cause us to be 15 minutes late, but luckily Corinne (sp?) from DoubleD Charters is there waiting for us. We hop aboard and wait until 9:30 for JT & crew to show up, but they are a no-show. We had to leave the dock at 9:30 to let the North Sound Express onto the dock, so we pulled off and headed toward Anegada. The ride was just over one hour and we all enjoyed sitting up top and talking with the captain during the somewhat rolly ride. There was some spray over the bow of the Northern Sun as we made way up to Anegada, but the ride was very smooth and we made great time.
Pulled in to Setting Point and got a beer at Anegada Reef hotel. Took a short tour of the island and saw about 5 flamingos from the bridge across the salt pond, then stopped at the iguana project before heading to Loblolly Bay. Placed an order for 5 lobsters and 1 BBQ chicken lunch to be served at 1:00. Then the guys snorkeled the reef at the point while the girls enjoyed their Bamboo Teasers. Fred saw a large (6 or 7 foot) shark in a gap in the reef out past the point. We got in just in time for our lunch and man, it was Awesome! Delicious fresh lobster, potatoes, rice, and veggies. That left enough time for another snorkel and a walk on the beach before heading back to the dock at 3:00. The gals took a look in the giftshop and we each got a rum smoothie before taking the boat back to Trellis Bay.
The ride back was smoother, and we enjoyed a few beverages underway. We stopped off for a walk along Long Bay East before making way to C&F for some delicious ribs. A short rain shower moved in as we made it over to Pussers and the Pub before driving back to Long Bay for the night. Richard & Barbie decided to head back out to Bombas where they once again ran into Johnny and saw him rather entralled with the same blonde that was at Quitos over the weekend. They were dancing rather closely and appeared that they were becoming "good friends".
Thursday June 10th ------------------
Another late day of sleeping in. Made our way over to Sopers Hole to do some shopping after breakfast. Bought some stuff for all our kids at home, had a few pints of Newcastle at Pussers, then headed back over Zion Hill with Smugglers Cove on our minds. We dropped the ladies at the Long Bay pool to place a lunch order while the guys went down to make sure that Chris had his beach bar set up. Yes, he was there so Richard and I went back to retrieve the gals and we all spent a great afternoon on the beach and in the water. Cheryl at the pool bar had cooked us a nice lunch of hot dogs and fries. We had many delicious banana dacquris and pina coladas with Chris and enjoyed catching up with him.
Back to get cleaned up and off to dinner at Quitos and to see him playing solo. While Kim was in the shower, I fell asleep in a patented "rum induced power nap". Kim woke me and said that the others would just have to eat without us. I looked at the clock and saw it was 6:45, and informed her that they serve breakrast until 11:00. After a nice showed I rebounded to head out for dinner with everyone else.
Quito came on just as our food arrived and we quickly ate so we could get out on the dance floor to enjoy the music. We played the part of ultimate "groupies" as we sung along to each and every song. At one point he introduced himself and referred to us as his "choir". We stayed through both sets of his wonderful music, and he autographed a CD sleeve for our daughter. We made plans to return to see him Friday night, but would miss Saturday since he was headed to a conference in San Juan.
Friday June 11th ----------------
The usual routine of sleeping in and breakfast. Made a couple of short stops along our route to see some sights that the others in the group had never experienced. The first stop was the North Shore Shell Museum. We toured the shell museum then came upstairs to have a Fungi Band session with Egberth. He showed us the new "history museum" with seemingly every piece of furniture having been built in 1712. He gave Kim a really neat painted tin sign as we were leaving. We left a nice donation for the work that he is so passionate about. From there we went through CGB and stopped at the Callwood Rum distillery. They were in the process of distilling a batch of run when we arrived. We talked brewing process and history with the fellow there and bought a bottle of the dark rum. Then we headed over to Brewers Bay for another day of sun, sand, snorkeling, and fun. We saw a couple of lobsters holed up in the reef and nobody could muster the courage to reach up in there to "grab" us some dinner. Another delicious lunch at Nicoles and we headed back toward Long Bay to clean up for dinner. Stopped at Bombas when we saw Johnny, and got a drink. He told us that the blonde "left me in the dust" because her boyfriend was arriving Thursday.
Cleaned up and headed to Myetts for dinner. Had more great food while sitting off to the side of the stage as MJ Blues played. We were loving the entertainment as the waitresses were dancing with lit candles on their heads! It was great fun and the folks at Myetts provided the best service and atmosphere of every place we visited. We will definitely come back again and again.
Off to Quitos to catch Quito and the Edge. Lo and behold, there was the infamous blonde with her boyfriend in tow. She introduced him to the bartenders, but for some reason only stayed for one song before leaving quickly. By the end of the first set Rakale was quite tired, so Fred took her back to Long Bay and returned in time for the second set. The break between sets was interesting as all the local folks really enjoyed the DJ music and dancing. We lasted until about 1:15 before heading back. Quito waved us goodbye as we headed out. He is such a kind man and we are all very devoted fans.
Saturday June 12th ------------------
Richard and Barbie have to leave on the 10:30 ferry. Richard wasn't feeling great after a few too many late night Caribs on top of the wine we had with dinner. They hopped the ferry and we went to Sopers Hole to watch them pull off toward St Thomas. Back toward Long Bay and over to Smugglers for our last day there. We kept Chris busy making drinks, then Fred and I snorkled out to the east point and all the way across the bay, making it back to the reef beside the honor bar in about 45 minutes. We grabbed a refreshing drink and wandered around behind the old bar and back to the old hotel. There are still alot of old items inside the room where Bob was living before he died. We could see an old wheelchair of Nell's and some ham radio magazines among the items strewn about. Later Fred did some more snorkeling and found a spear gun stuck down in the reef. We played around with it and tested it out, then we hid it in a secret spot. We'll check back for it the next time we return.
We took the road around Belmont Point to West End. It was surprisingly smooth and we saw some really neat views from up there. Over to Sopers for Pizza and Painkillers, and who should we see but the infamous blonde and her boyfriend. Kim actually said hello to her and dropped a causal comment that we had seen her all over the island this past week, and at Quitos last weekend. Her eyes got pretty large, and after she returned to her fellow she kept glancing our way to see if we were going to come introduce ourselves to her beau.
Back home to Long Bay to clean up and pack a bit. We went back out to Sebastians for soup and greek salads. The service was pretty slow due to a very large group that was over from Voyage at Sopers Hole. We just rolled with it and enjoyed the time to relax. However, there was a group of 4 that consisted of an older couple, and a young couple with an obviously expectant lady. The pregnant lady sent back her steak when it arrived, and after another was prepared and brought to her she actually stood up and carried it to the hostess station and declared it unfit to eat. It is obvious that the relaxed pace of the islands is lost on some folks. I couldn't help but sing Quitos lyric:
"man you so angry, with your steak you're not pleased, but half of the world would give thanks for just bread and cheese"
Back for our last night of relaxing in the villa and listening to some Quito CD's.
Sunday June 13th ----------------
Travel day. It's always sad to leave, but especially when you don't have a return trip planned yet. Ate one last breakfast and checked out. Loaded the jeep and went over to Sopers for a few last minute shopping items. Fred dropped us at the ferry dock with our bags then drove back to drop the jeep with the fine folks at Denzil Clyne. Again, who would we see at the ferry dock but the blonde with her boyfriend. They were on the 12:15 ferry, so we didn't get to compare notes with her to find out how she enjoyed her stay. We hopped on the 12:00 ferry and took off just a few minutes late.
Ferry ride was beautiful but hot. Got through to STT easily and had a good lunch before Fred and Rakale had to start boarding. Powered up the cell phone only to get a message that Kim's folks had a conflict and couldn't bring the kids home on Sunday. Much scrambling to arrange a sitter managed to straighten things out, but more snafus were to come. Upon arrival in Miami, we found the flight to Raleigh delayed by an hour. Then once the plane arrived, the crew didn't have enough time remaining in their shift to fly us back. A crew was assembled and the 8:27 departure got airborne at 11:20pm. Upon arrival in Raleigh they were short baggage handlers and taxi drivers, so we made it home at a lovely 2:00am.
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