Trip Report – BVI – November 1 – 10, 2004
PROLOGUE
This is a total rewrite, reformat, redo of the most boring thing I’ve ever written. Started out with my day-to-day notes with all the details I recorded . First time for daily notes but had more time being land based. It had all the writing style and interest of an autopsy. Got a feel for how Herman Melville wrote, being paid by the page. Now it's just as long but reads more like a police report! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
Monday – Off for the drive from Augusta to Orlando, armed with Mapquest directions to MCO. There are seven closer airports but this works best for us when you combine low airfare with convenience. And, how else can we survey the endless construction on I-95? Arrival at MCO is simple enough but once on the airport “grounds”, we’re faced with continual choices between Terminal A and Terminal B with lists of airlines on the signs.. no sign of the Hyatt being a choice yet. Finally, arrows pointing a path to the Hyatt and we enter a monstrous parking deck maze. We keep ascending up spiral ramps until we see the Hyatt structure in the distance but no clue how to get there. At last, from the top level, we spot a “bridge” leading to the hotel parking and zoom across the arriving terminal traffic. We end up with a good spot a short walk to the lobby entrance and unload. So far this is too easy.
A sign over a lone phone outside the door instructs you to dial “52” for a bellman. Sounds good.
Two minutes later a snappily dressed young man appears, Matt, who is also an assistant manager and warmly greets us and escorts us to registration. Within moments we learn Matt is a sailor and wants to go with us tomorrow, even if we will be land based. My Hyatt online printout matches the reservation and we’re quickly on our way to the 10th floor to a room overlooking the flight approach path. We then learn that John Kerry has just vacated the 10th floor the day before when he had a big rally in Hyatt convention room. Our room is beautiful. A few drinks and we’re off to McCoy’s, the hotel grill. Wonderful service, food and drinks, then back to the room. Tomorrow is a long day.
Tuesday - Wake-up call is promptly at 6a and bellman appears at 6:30a. He puts our luggage on a cart and escorts us through initial security screening, to the AA check-in counter, then to the TSA baggage X-ray. We have yet to touch our bags. Then we walks us to the direction of our gate. That was too easy. We’ve gone from room to gate effortlessly and quickly. I like this.
Flights are all on time. We have 3 hours to lounge around SJU and set foot on Beef Island at 4:15.
THE ADVENTURE TAKES A TURN
We’re skeptical we can make a 4:45 NSX ferry to Leverick Bay but C&I move briskly and there’s a NSX van waiting outside for the short ride to Trellis. There are others on our flight heading to Virgin Gorda so the van is not waiting just for us. But we’re grateful Kimmers and Lew have made
ferry reservation for us just in case. We no sooner board the ferry than the young lady with NSX
tells me she has gotten a phone call from AE that we’re supposed to go to West End. Huh? No way. We’re going to see Kimmers and Lew. Why would AE be telling me where to go? We waive
her off and explain we have other plans.. but thanks. We’re just passing Bellamy Cay when the ferry captain suddenly turns around and heads back to the dock. Everyone is puzzled but we guess someone was late for the ferry and we’re going back to get them. Wrong! At the dock it turns out that WE are the reason they’ve gone back. The NSX young lady is now more persistent and tells us we can’t go to Leverick! There is also a cab driver with her who is to take us to Sebastian’s. She only says, “there’s been an emergency” and we’re to go with the driver.
We spend the next 45 minutes speculating what could be wrong and getting very worried. Our reservations for Coconut Point and a car are not until Thursday. 5:15p: We arrive at Sebastian’s and Uschi is there to meet us. She explains that Kimmers has been leaving messages all day along our travel route to detour us from going to Leverick. She has had a family emergency in
CA and they’re packing to leave immediately and closing the house for the season. It’s too late to get a car so we opt not to go to Orchid at Coconut Point, having no food, booze or transportation.
Uschi puts us in the Magnolia Villa at Sebastian’s and we call Kimmers. We get all the details and wish them a safe trip and better news when they get back to CA… then off to meet Uschi for drinks and dinner at Sebastian’s. Nice dinner, good company and we’re back to Magnolia to see some election returns. Midnight comes and no final results.. can’t stay up any longer.
THE ADVENTURE SETTLES DOWN
Wednesday – Call Denzil for our car a day early.. no problem. Got a Visitor’s Temporary Driver’s License for the very first time ($10). Don’t know why I’ve never gotten one before. Walk to Sebastian’s to meet the driver and realize we’ve been two buildings down from Manpot’s “chateau”. The “renovation” looks more like major new construction and we speak briefly to Cuz Robin, promising to return later after we get the car. Drove to Soper’s for some breakfast and decided on Pisces. Omar Hurst, the owner, greets us and we’re quickly into a deep discussion of TTOL. Omar has fax, copy, DSL computers, cheap phone calls (35 cents/min to the states) and even wireless services. While waiting for our Eggs Benedict, I fire off some PMs to Eric Hill to get Omar registered and info for a banner ad on TTOL. Eggs Benedict ($10) are perfect and we vow to do this again before we leave. Scott, the chef at the JR, is also having breakfast there. Good recommendation. Stop at Mal’s “Chateau” on the way back and get the tour from Robin. Amazing amount of work they’re doing. It’s going to be beautiful and the contractor, Desmond, says it will be done in a month! Amazing.. and a taste of what we’ll see later at Quito’s.
To Orchid and unload. Flip on the tv and find “W” has won (whew). To Bobby’s in Cane Garden for provisions. Then kick back and enjoy martinis, view of Jost and dinner in tonight. Life is good.
THE ANEGADA LOBSTER MYTH
Thursday – Natasha, from Store-It BVI, brings our bin to Orchid. All my boat “stuff” is in a dive bag in there. It’s always so heavy I can barely lift it… feels like it’s attached to the earth with a mooring screw. Brought 6 small gym type bags to disperse the weight. Off to Cane Garden. Di wants some beach time. I explore the construction at Quito’s. It’s a total rebuild, a second floor, first floor is gutted. Took lots of pics, then chilled over drinks in Club Paradise. Michael (keyboard from The Edge) comes in a explains the “new” Quito’s. Bar will be where bandstand was. Bandstand will be where bar was. All dining on the new second floor. They’re working two shifts, 7 days with plans to reopen by Thanksgiving. Doesn’t seem possible.. but then that’s what I thought about Manpot’s place. An hour in the sun and Di is medium rare. We head for the JR to see Lou. Have a quick visit at the JR and make dinner plans.
Lou & Kay have gone to a wedding reception and Scott greets us for dinner. I order the lobster.
Then Di announces in “The King Has No Clothes” style that Anegada lobster just isn’t as good as New England lobster. What heresy! My lobster is prepared perfectly but I finally have to admit that it really is drier and less tasty than its Maine cousin. Maybe the king really doesn’t have any clothes. I have seven months to dwell on the lobster myth before returning in June.
CRUISERS, YUPPIES & THE DOVE
Friday – Take the infamous dive bag to its final resting place. Go TMM in attempt to give it away and visit with Penny, Sam and Mark. Sam takes the bag for his daughter’s dive gear and we’re off to Road Town.
Our first view of Road Harbour is filled with the Star Princess, sitting at the dock like a giant iceberg. The streets are filled with taxi trucks and people wandering aimlessly and seemingly lost.
Go to Sunny Caribbee.. packed with cruisers.. we pass. Go Huckster’s to see Sue Wheatley.. she just left for Anegada. Try to get into Latitude 18.. packed with cruisers. To Pussers for conch chowder.. not as full but a steady stream of people using the bathrooms. A very few eating or drinking.
Di is intrigued with an ad for The Dove and we go scouting on Main St. to try and find it in daylight so we don’t get lost that evening. The ad says “French Asian Cuisine” but we’ve never heard it mentioned on TTOL. We’re going to find out why in a few hours! We locate The Dove and then go in search for Cappriccio De Mare. Tiny little place on Waterfront Drive but an interesting menu. Split a small pizza before returning to Carrot Bay.
5:30 finds us back at The Dove. There has to be a hundred plus people in there for happy hour.
What is so startling is that we’re in a sea of white faces.. patrons and staff.. all in business attire. The bar and deck are teeming with US and Europeans from the financial sector.. all expats.. and not one single “local”. It’s a white wine, martini, cosmo kind of crowd with a few beers in hand. The Dove could easily been a pub on a corner of Wall Street. We’re seated in a corner of a porch the size of a closet. It’s stifling and the window is locked shut. Shortly after we get our drinks, an Asian couple is seated on the porch too. I track the hostess down and ask to be moved to the main dining room near the bar.. which has about 20 tables and is totally empty save for two young guys eating sushi. At least we can breathe now. Di and I are given menus. There are five entrees and three appetizers.. period.. and our menus have different entrees. Our server reconciles the two menus pointing out what is really available this evening. We usually find the portions to be large so we opt for entrée only.. rack of lamb. Dinner arrives with two huge plates on which there are three pieces of lamb the size of soup spoons, a golf ball dollop of squash and an ice cream scoop of couscous (which I can’t stand). The mass of untouched white plate is almost blinding. Six bites later, dinner is done and we join the drinking masses on the deck. Mark from TTM is there and we talk with him and his friends. It’s 8:30 and no more diners have come in. The bar and deck are packed.. the dining room is empty. There isn’t a trace of anyone who could be suspected of being a tourist. Now we know why it has never been mentioned on TTOL..
no one has ever eaten there.. not even the happy hour crowd. $125 later we know why. I’m thinking about a TTOL post asking where to meet young attractive singles. Start at the Dove at
Happy Hour!
YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE
Saturday – And we decide to do a morning shopping trip to St. John. Our goal is to find a few things at Mongoose Junction and return at lunch time. I’ve scouted the plans the day before and found a 9:15 to Cruz Bay and assurances that we can return almost any hour on the hour. Sounds good and we’re there promptly for the 9:15. The first hint that today is not going to go as planned comes as one of the crew casts off the dock line and announces that we’re going to Jost!
Out of Soper’s and we take a hard right for Great Harbour. Seems that one of their ferries is out of service today and they’re doing double duty. Jost is a quick stop.. a few off and a few on.. and
we’re off to Cruz Bay arriving at 10:15. A few hours at Mongoose Junction and we’ve found what we sought and on our way back to the ferry dock. We quickly find that no ferries leave the main ferry dock for Tortola, only St. Thomas, and are sent to the barge dock by C&I. Returning “any hour on the hour” turns out to be a local myth and the Inter Island back to Tortola is actually scheduled for 3:15. Problem is: “one of their ferries is out of service today”, and there won’t be a
3:15.. there will be a 4:45 with another ferry company.. with (you guessed it) a stop at Jost. We’re to meet Connie and Lance at Bananakeet at 6p and that’s not going to get it. The lady at Inter Island graciously phones for alternatives and we finally end up on a 1p to Red Hook. You can get to Tortola from Red Hook! Two hours later we’re on a 3:15 to WE, arriving at 4. It’s been a $102 ferry excursion ($44 to Cruz Bay + $10 dep tax, $6 to Red Hook and $42 back to WE). Don’t even try to figure out those fares.. but they’re correct.
6p we’re at Bananakeet but there’s a wedding party there, closed to the public so we all head for Myett’s. A phone call might have been wise but after today’s ferry debacle I’m not thinking to well.
Dinner is very good and so fun to see Connie & Lance again after so long. Back to Orchid to rethink ferry travel and wishing, for the first time, I had my own boat.
A SOGGY DOLLAR KINDA DAY
Sunday - Uschi wants to go with us and she’s invited two friends, Peter and Maud from Stockholm. We’re at the WE ferry dock at 9:45 for the 10a to Jost. I check, recheck then ask again about the ferry schedule and if we’re really going to Jost.. just Jost. I’m assured there is no problem. We’ll see.
My fears are unfounded and we really go directly to Jost, for the second time in two days. Walk to Foxy’s, stopping along the way to speak to Joe at Corsairs. Fox is on the dinghy dock about to go fishing but we have time to visit and catch up on things. Debbie is holding forth at her place at the bar and finally, after missing her for the last three years, get to see Justine.. Fox & Tess’s oldest daughter who’s now running Taboo on Diamond Cay. I’ve know Justine since she was 6 years old and feel like a distant uncle. We do lunch at Foxy’s and we’re off to White Bay.. if we can find a cab. After a few inquiries, the Jost clinic nurse, Derek, offers a ride over to Sandcastle. Derek is a Scot about late thirties and most pleasant.. until he asked how I felt about the recent elections. I answered that I was very pleased with outcome. Derek was not as pleased.
The rest of the day was a true to form Soggy Dollar Day. KC slinging PKs. I held tight to my bar stool at the end by the gift shop. Reuben played. Talked to Bruce briefly. Life is very good.. just like a charter. We get Tommy Dorsey’s phone number there and he picks us up for the return to WE. The 5p ferry is actually there.. at 5p. Faith in ferries returning.. slowly. We bid goodbye to our new Swedish friends and retire to Orchid for steaks on the grill that night. Too many PKs and sun have taken the toll on my stamina to party on into the evening. That was a very wise decision because the bottom fell out around 8p and torrential rains were constant throughout the night into
the next morning. Pretty poor driving conditions if I were sober.
MORE CRUISERS – LESS POWER
Monday – Woke to the roaring of rain on the metal roof of Orchid. Water is coming down the hillsides in rivers and waterfalls. It finally starts to slack off around 10a and the power goes off. We head to Soper’s for another Eggs Benedict fix at Pisces. As we approach Soper’s the taxi trucks are thick and packed with cruisers, dumping them off behind Pussers. We finally wedge through and park. At our table in Pisces we watch a continuous stream of taxi trucks bringing in more and more of them. After breakfast we wander over to Samarkand Jewelers. The docks are teeming with cruisers wandering aimlessly and more confused that we saw in Road Town. I’m overhearing constant comments about, “why are we here.. what do we do?”. Aside for the few shops and Pussers, why would you bring 300+ people to Soper’s?? They fill the tables on the deck at Pussers staring out at the boats. They order nothing and the servers don’t bother them. They form lines to the bathroom upstairs. A few wander the docks looking at boats. A lesser number go into a few of the shops. I have no idea why you would bring them there either. Di has become friends with the young Brit girl in Samarkand and finds a pretty gold bracelet.
Back to Orchid. No power. Rain has stopped and the bugs are out. We spend the afternoon reading and trying to stay as cool as possible. Power thankfully back on at 5p and we get cleaned up to meet Connie and Lance at Coco Plums for our last night there. First time at Coco Plums and it’s very good. A very nice evening tinged with the sadness of having to leave the next day.
HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN
Tuesday – It’s clear and sunny again and hate to leave. Everything running on schedule. Call Lou at the JR and he’ll be there for lunch. Spend a few hours talking with them and Kay joins us for lunch. 2p to Denzil’s for a ride to the airport. 4:15 we’re in the air for SJU and the 6:35 for MCO is
on time. (Set watches back an hour). 8:35 we’re in the MCO terminal and I’m really loving the Hyatt now. Grab our bags from the carousel and walk a few steps to the elevator to the Hyatt lobby. A mere 25 minutes after landing we’re in our room, kicked back with a cold drink and relaxed. We’re sold and will be doing it this way again in June.
Wednesday – A short walk from the lobby level and we’re in the car heading home.. starving since we haven’t eaten since lunch at the JR. A stop at the Cracker Barrel north of Cocoa eats up an hour but we’re full and ready for the drive home. Got to see all the northbound construction on
I-95! It’s only been 10 days but turned up the a/c when we left. Had to turn on the heat when we got back. Fall arrived while we were gone. Love the BVI.. but it’s always good to get home.
EPILOGUE
Seeing the BVI as a land based visitor was a real education. The ferries would drive me nuts but I’m learning. Be glad to have a boat again in June. Boats can also spoil you by having power, in some form, all the time. No guarantees on land. Also like the 5 minute showers in May/June vs.
the 24 hour deluge in November.
Being on a charter boat tends to push you to move on and do more. We found ourselves totally
“vegged out” just sitting and doing very little. Probably should have done more exploring on Tortola but it was too easy to kick back with a book and just chill. Maybe that’s a good thing sometimes.
Going twice a year from now on is definitely our goal. Life is really good!
