A group of 4 couples on a land-based vacation in Tortola.<br>All are in our mid-30's and my wife and I are the only ones<br>who had been to Tortola before. I tried to coordinate the travel<br>plans and tried to set expectations ahead for the others.<br><br><br>Friday June 15th<br><br>Started out with a small hassle that just kept getting bigger!<br>DFW was closed with storms and American Airlines was scrambling to<br>reroute people. Since we weren't headed that way, I thought we were safe.<br>I had called ahead and verfied that flight from RDU to MIA was on time.<br>Ended up checking bags with skycap and avoiding lines at main counter.<br>Got to gate and found the 8:00 departure listed as 9:30. What?!<br>Mechanical problems, A/C duct, part was here at 7:30 and 2 hours to<br>fix. Long story short, we finally took off from RDU at 1:15pm.<br>We finally arrived in St Thomas at 8:30pm and stayed at the Holiday<br>Inn across from the ferry dock that night.<br><br>The other 3 couples that we were meeting in St Thomas were now<br>on their own. They had never travelled to Tortola and<br>were showing up without their tour planners there to help them.<br>Luckily I sent out detailed info on ferry/jeep/check-in details<br>for them just in case something like this happened. They made it<br>without incident and had a great time without us. They picked up the<br>jeeps from Denzil Clyne and headed to Long Bay to check in. One couple<br>had a beach deluxe room which they loved. The rest of them made their<br>way up the hill to "Far Pavillion", a 3 bedroom villa high above<br>Long Bay. This place had a million dollar view and was most comfortable<br>all week. Rumor has it that most of the women suffered a little bit<br>of culture shock with their initial impressions of Tortola. Goats, chickens,<br>and donkeys roadside, coupled with the winding bumpy roads made<br>for a different picture than they had in mind. Luckily, after the<br>first night they came to love the island and raved about the<br>natural beauty and friendly people all week.<br><br>They headed out and stopped at Bens Superette for supplies (beer and<br>snacks) and got a recommendation and directions to Palms Delight for<br>dinner "Just go past the church, and you'll see the Coke machine".<br>They said dinner was wonderful and they relaxed in the pool at the villa<br>that evening.<br><br>Saturday June 16th<br><br>We hustled over tot he ferry dock and made the 8:25 ferry. It made a<br>quick stop in Red Hook to pick up some more passengers before heading<br>onward to Tortola. People going to a huge funeral at the church<br>on Zion Hill Rd evidently had filled up the first Red Hook ferry, so<br>we stopped off to get those left behind.<br><br>Breezed through customs and headed over to unpack and relax.<br>Loaded up the crew and took them to Smugglers Cove for their<br>first beach experience on Tortola. Everyone fell in love with<br>the place. Chris was working his beach bar, and his pina coladas<br>were a big hit. I introduced everyone to Bob, and caught up with<br>him on things while I drank a few Heinekins. Everyone in the<br>group loved snorkeling in the clear waters, and proclaimed Smugglers<br>as the prettiest beach they'd ever seen. I may have to agree.<br><br>Had a few drinks at the Long Bay pool before cleaning up and going to<br>Quito's for dinner. I took a "controlled nap" on the beach between<br>dinner and when the band started. Got up and danced until past<br>midnight as Quito and the Edge belted out their fine reggae.<br><br>Sunday June 17th<br><br>A cloudy day, a little rain here and there. Went to meet Bill<br>on Dual Bliss to see if our daysail was still on. Got to Village<br>Cay and he said it looked like a good day. Sailed out to The Indians<br>and were able to snorkel there since the water wasn't too rough. <br>Ate lunch there and then headed over to the Caves. Unfortunately<br>one of the ladies got a bit seasick during lunch, but felt better the<br>rest of the day. The boat was nice, but we seemed to have had<br>a split-personality captain. All morning the usual questions<br>that he hears 1000 times a year were met with smart-@$$ replies<br>and short, abrupt dismissal. Other unsolicited comments were <br>made toward us, none too friendly or flattering. Then at lunch, <br>everything changed. He willingly prepared chicken for a few that<br>didn't want the salmon. His conversational abilities picked up<br>and he started to share some stories and participate in making the<br>second half of the day rather pleasant. A strange experience. <br><br>We ate at Village Cay after returning from the sail. Burgers <br>and sandwiches that were well prepared and affordable. Back to<br>Far Pavillion to relax in the pool before an early bedtime.<br><br>Monday June 18th<br><br>Headed over to Cane Garden Bay in the morning. I was looking forward to<br>hanging out at a few bars, walking the beach, and relaxing. Shoulda<br>known when we saw all the safari busses in the lot at Myetts. A Carnival<br>boat was in today!!! The June cruise ship schedule wasn't up when we<br>left on the 15th, so I had no clue that they were still coming in June.<br>We turned and headed back to Smugglers Cove to avoid the crowds. I did<br>manage to reserve a water taxi for a trip to Jost Van Dyke on Tuesday<br>though.<br><br>At lunch at the beach cafe at Long Bay on the way to Smugglers.<br>Food was good and reasonably priced. Service was much friendlier<br>than I remember too. Spent the afternoon floating, snorkeling, <br>and drinking at Smugglers. Headed back to clean up for dinner<br>at Palms Delight (since we missed the initial visit on Friday).<br>The food was great, shrimp roti, chicken, etc. Palm's Punch sure<br>did carry a whallop too!<br><br>Got back to some bad news. One of the ladies' mother passed away that<br>afternoon unexpectedly. The Long Bay staff went way above and beyond to<br>make all the arrangements for their return home the next day. We all<br>comforted her and cried together as she grieved.<br><br>Tuesday June 19th<br><br>I drove the two over to Beef Island for their 8:25 flight out. I took<br>the ridge road back and spent the drive thinking about life, death,<br>the beauty of the BVI, and the power of friendship. The rest of the<br>group were still upset but we decided to do as we were told, and<br>try to enjoy the rest of the vacation.<br><br>Over to Cane Garden Bay for the water taxi trip to JVD with Cane Garden<br>Bay watersports. Jimmy was a great captain and gave a nice brief tour of<br>Sandy Cay, Little and Great Harbours, then dropped us at White Bay.<br>There was a small French crise ship in, but the folks stayed <br>down the beach and didn't crowd us out along the main beach too bad.<br>The others weren't convinced that anything could compare to Smugglers<br>Cove, but they quickly came to love the Soggy Dollar Bar. We spent<br>hours talking with KC about everything from music to child-rearing.<br><br>Hopped a cab over to Foxy's and he was in rare form. First time I've<br>ever heard him screw up while playing his songs. A number of times<br>he had to stop to repeat a verse or start over. "Waiter, I'll have<br>whatever he's having!" We left a South Carolina baseball hat in the<br>rafters with all our names on it, also listing our missing friends<br>who left that morning. We all vowed to come back and reclaim that<br>hat when the whole group is together again! <br><br>Jimmy picked us up and noticed that the women were a little<br>more "lively" than they were in the morning. Painkillers will<br>do that to ya'! We got into CGB and ate dinner at the Big Banana.<br>Most got the pasta dishes, or the mahi. Food was great and<br>we headed back for our usual late night swim at home. <br><br>I'd highly recommend the water taxi rather than the ferry from <br>West End. You can set your own schedule and it's much more<br>flexible and fun. I sure enjoyed staying at Foxy's past<br>when the 5:00 ferry crowd had to scurry off.<br><br>Wednesday June 20th<br><br>Took a break from the routine, and went to Road Town for some shopping <br>and lunch. Ate at Pussers and then went around to a few shops and <br>Sunny Caribbee before heading over to Brewers Bay. Got to Nicole's Bar<br>to find it locked up, but a 25" TV was sitting out in the open???? I<br>drove over to the campground to buy some beer and was reassured that<br>the owner at Nicole's would be back. We snorkled into some amazing<br>schools of fish, had a few beers once the bar re-opened, then<br>went back to Road Town for dinner at C&F.<br><br>When we arrived we were the first sit-down patrons, but by the time <br>we left it was packed. The quality and QUANTITY of food is amazing.<br>An order of baby back ribs was 2 full racks! The chicken and rib combo <br>is a half chicken and a full rack of ribs! Excellent food and service!<br><br>Cleaned up and went to Bomba's Shack for the Wednesday night party.<br>It wasn't really hopping, but we stuck it out. Met a nice group<br>of local guys and just hung out talking about life and how to live<br>it.<br><br><br>Thursday June 21st<br><br>Started the day with breakfast by the beach at Long Bay. Expensive,<br>but I got some of it back in the Mimosas I drank. Went over to Sopers<br>Hole for a walk around and shopping. Met with another famous <br>"rolling blackout" while there. Shop owners were none too pleased. The<br>previous ones we got were during the night and didn't bother us too much.<br><br>Drove over to Smugglers again for the rest of the afternoon. It was<br>a very hot day with little breeze, so we just relaxed and swam to stay<br>cool. Ate some leftovers from C&F along with burgers at the<br>Long Bay pool bar before heading to Quito's. Light dinner there while<br>Quito played solo. Came home and relaxed, wishing for a few more days<br>to spend together since the week went by way too fast.<br><br>Friday June 22nd<br><br>Off on our separate ways. Scurried around once I found out that the<br>latest ferry we could take was at 10:30am even though our flight<br>wasn't until 2:37pm. Note to self, book water taxi for return trip<br>next time! Everyone got off OK and made it home without horrible<br>problems.<br><br>I think there are now 6 more people on this earth who believe<br>that the BVI is heaven on earth. I personally enjoyed this trip much<br>more by having a group of people travelling together. We met so many<br>local folks and tended to make a party wherever we went. I have <br>a feeling that we'll all be back there sooner, rather than later. This<br>was my third trip to the BVI, and I still have things I want to do<br>and see. To loosely quote Quito "Ooh Tortola, I can't get you off my<br>mind. I'll come back to be with you, for a long long time"......<br><br><br>
