This report is a bit late, as we just got back from St. Martin after Tortola and things have piled up. We had visited Tortola several times before, but last in 1987, so we were interested in seeing how things had changed. The trip did not begin well. We were booked on American and American Eagle; Albany-Boston - San Juan - Tortola, arriving late afternoon. At 6 AM we got a call from American to tell us that the Boston flight was cancelled, but we were rescheduled Albany - Kennedy - San Juan -Tortola, arriving 10:30 PM. After 45 minutes on the American Eagle plane at Albany, that flight was cancelled for mechanical reasons, It was now too late to make any connections, so we lost a day. Rescheduled through Boston as originally done. Next morning, American Eagle cancelled its Boston flight. However, we got 2 of the last 3 seats on a Continental flight leaving at the same time, and thereafter things went smoothly, even being able to get on an earlier flight from San Juan. As we were waiting for the taxi (a truck with bench style seats in back that takes everyone going in a particular direction) at the Beef Island terminal, a chicken calmly walked through, so we knew things had not changed too much. However, I do not think they will walk through the new terminal that is under construction; airport expansion, a lot of what seems to be areas being opened up for construction, and cruise ships in port are probably going to change considerably in Tortola in the next few years.<br><br>We stayed at Fort Recovery, and I would like to thank those on this board who recommended it. It has an old Caribbean feel to it, so might not appeal to those looking for something fancy. Pam, the manager, and Anita, the owner, are very accommodating and give the place a very personal feeling. The hotel buildings occupy a small space, but it does not feel crowded, and our villa, a poolside penthouse, gave reasonable privacy, was airy, and was quite roomy; lots of pottery and art decoration, but furnished fairly simply. We were a little surprised to find no locks on the doors and no safe deposit facilities. There is a nice pool, and a small but pleasant beach. Although it is close to the main road, we did not hear much road noise, and although there were the traditional Tortolan roosters within earshot, they were too far away to wake you up. The hotel provides a very informal continental breakfast set up in the reception area; juice, coffee (including decaf) or tea, toast, English muffins, banana bread, hard boiled eggs. It also provided one dinner served in the room. We elected to have that our first night. It was very good. There is a menu to select from; we had a curried vegetable casserole and a chicken roti dinner to get started on local style food. The villas have well equipped kitchens, and supplies are available locally at Big Ben's supermarket that is about a 30 second drive away - small, but a surprisingly good selection. You can walk it fairly easily, but the road has no shoulder and is hot if you are carrying anything. There are larger and better stocked places, particularly the Rite Way in Road Town.<br><br>The hotel had arranged a jeep rental through D&D Car Rentals - quite satisfactory. For an additional $25, less than the taxi fare, we were able to drop off the car at the airport, which was convenient. Roads on Tortola are pretty good by small Caribbean island standards. They have been widened since our last visit, are reasonably pot-hole free, not too much traffic, and have decent signs and even lighting. Some of the switchbacks on the hills may be a bit intimidating to the inexperienced, but at least now they are wide enough that you don't really need to worry if you encounter someone going the other way. There are also a fair number of speed bumps that mean business. Most are easy to see, but a few can sneak up on you. The only other problem is the drivers who don't seem to know the reason for the low beam switch on the headlights. <br><br>We did quite a bit of driving around, exploring and photographing. Visited some of the North shore beaches - Smuggler's, more easily accessible than in ‘87, with the honor bar and a competitor; we found it rather hot and airless; Cane Garden - lots of spots to get beach chairs or hang out; Brewer's - would have liked to have had more time here; Josiah's - couldn't see how to get to the beach easily through the Lambert Beach resort and didn't have time to investigate (this resort looks very nice indeed, with an impressive pool - the main disadvantage is its remoteness - very inconvenient if you want to eat out regularly at night); Long Bay East - great deserted beach. We did not look at Long Bay West, where Long Bay resort is. This is where we used to stay, back when Terry Ford ran it before it was upscaled. Went to Mount Healthy National Park at Brewer's Bay - very peaceful little reserve; would be more impressive if they could incorporate more of the estate remains. The botanical gardens in Road Town are very pleasant. It turns out we had visited them in ‘87, the first year they had opened, and except for some of the vegetation looking more mature, it hasn't changed much. Well worth the visit.<br><br>Restaurants, in no particular order, were Jolly Roger twice; good the first time, but our selections the second time were a little bland. Quito's, very good, with Quito entertaining. Myette's, good food, but it took forever for them to bring our food. Not just island time. This was the least enjoyable experience. Sebastians - excellent. If we had gone earlier, we would have repeated. C&F - also an excellent local restaurant. People have commented on enormous portions - we found them generous, but not excessive (and we are not big eaters). There also have been comments about it being hard to find - actually, it is very easy. Lunch on Sunday at Village Cay Marina in Road Town was very pleasant Also had a lunch at the Pub in Road Town that was quite satisfactory; otherwise we lunched at our room. We do favor places which emphasize local style foods.<br><br>We made our first visit to Jost Van Dyke; back in ‘87 there were no regular ferries as there are now. Lunch at Foxy's also very good. Did not encounter Foy - maybe next time.<br> <br>We were going from Tortolla to St. Martin, and again the airlines made it interesting. When we checked our flight a few days in advance, the airport desk could not find us in the system and Winair had stopped running temporarily. However, the Liat folks in town were very helpful and promised that if the Winair flight was not resumed as promised, they would get us there. As it turned out, Winair came through, although they had changed their flight time.<br><br>This was a quiet but enjoyable stay that reminded us that we liked Tortola very much and we will put it back on our to-return list. <br><br><br>