Well, we're back, and already planning our next trip. But until then, here's a diary of our 8 day stay in the BVI.

Saturday, May 3: Left Winston Salem around 6am, (me, my husband, his cousin & her roommate). Hit Charlotte around 7:15am. Got through security pretty quickly, flight departed at 10am, arrived at 1pm. Took taxi to Red Hook (my poor seasick self can't handle the CA route). Took 3:15 ferry to West End. Jerry (of Jerry's Rental) picked us up from the ferry dock. Cheryl with Purple Pineapple met us at Jerry's and then took us to our villa...SUGAR PLUM at Little Apple Bay (halfway between Long Bay and Bomba's). Bobby's had stocked our fridge and kitchen with everything we ordered. It was wonderful to walk into a stocked kitchen!!! Had dinner at Quito's (we had hoped he would be performing with the Edge, but alas, he was not). But, dinner was great...but we were exhausted from all the traveling, so we headed back to the villa and got some rest.

Sunday, May 4: With all the groceries at the villa, we had breakfast & prepared our lunches every day. So after breakfast, we hit the road to Long Bay to show our guests where my husband & I had gotten married back in '06. From there, we went to Smugglers Cove (our VERY favorite beach on Tortola). Hung out there until the brief rain showers made us run to the jeep. We decided to use that opportunity to pick up anything that we forgot to get from Bobby's. So, we headed to Soper's Hole. Wow...most expensive groceries I've ever bought!!!! Not knockin' it if you can afford it, but dang! Headed back to the villa and got ready to head to the BBQ at the Elms. Great food, great atmosphere! Before heading back to the villa, we stopped by Bomba's for the live music.

Monday, May 5: Took the 9 am ferry to Virgin Gorda. Headed immediately down the hill to the Baths, then hiked, swam, waded over to Devils Bay...our favorite spot on VG! We hung out there for a couple of hours, then headed back up the hill and had some drinks and appetizers at Top of the Baths. Took the 3:30 ferry back to Tortola. This particular night, we had dinner at the house. (My husband claims it was the best spaghetti EVER...but he admitted the surroundings might play a small part!) <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Tuesday, May 6: Headed to Cane Garden Bay with every intention of touring Callwood's. However, a cruise ship was in town, so they weren't doing any tours. But, once we explained to Kervin that we were STAYING ON THE ISLAND, he was quick to say if we came back later that day, he would take us on a tour. So, we headed back to the villa for lunch and then back to Smugglers. We had a sunset dinner & drinks at Bananakeet....awesome as always! Then, we headed to Quito's for his solo performance. Met Manpot & BillH! It was so great to meet the folks that you "chat with" all the time! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> Quito was awesome, and we finally got to meet him. He's such a wonderful person...so accommodating to his fans. We own all of his CDs, and are looking forward to the new release. It was funny because another couple in the bar had walked up to me and asked how I knew all his songs....I simply said, I listen to Quito all the time!!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" /> Once Quito was finished, they cranked up the tunes and we hit the dance floor. Headed back to the villa sometime after midnight...

Wednesday, May 7: Headed to Jost Van Dyke on the 8am ferry. Ivan actually shared a cab ride with us, so we just hopped out with him. It was nice to meet such a legend. Hung out there for a while, and then hiked over the rock hill to Soggy Dollar and One Love. Had lunch at Jewel's Snack Shack...our favorite place to grab a bite on JVD. Hung out at Foxy's before catching the 5pm ferry, and actually had a chance to meet Foxy as well!

Thursday, May 8: Hung out at the villa most of the morning...all the running around was finally catching up to us! Hit Roadtown that afternoon...had a late lunch at Pussers. Did some shopping, got some cool stuff at Bamboushay, Sunny Caribe, etc. Had dinner at Rhymers (awesome lobster & shrimp!) and then back to Quito's for his solo performance again. I just can't say enough about how much we love Quito!!

Friday, May 9: Headed to Brewers Bay for a couple of hours. We had never been to this beach before. It was virtually deserted, but a little eerie because there is a campground hidden behind the palms and it was quite empty. Lots of pelicans diving for lunch, so that was pretty entertaining. Headed back to the Long Bay/Apple Bay area, but not before stopping back at Callwood's for some rum. (The spiced rum was my favorite). I won't go into major detail, but 3 of us got a touch of food poisoning at dinner that night. I don't want to give anybody any bad publicity, but 3 of us had cheeseburgers, one of us didn't. Not a fun thing to endure when my main goal for that night was listening to Quito & the Edge. So, I took some medicine and made myself forget about it for the next few hours. Needless to say, I'm glad this didn't happen the night before we left....I would not want to endure ferry rides & plane rides with a bad tummy. On a better note, Quito & the Edge brought the house down Friday night. They played several songs from the new CD, and some old stuff too, along with some Bob Marley. Hot! Hot! Hot!!!

Saturday, May 10: Took one of our party crew back to the ferry...she headed back a day earlier than the rest of us. So, we hit Smugglers again for the afternoon, had dinner at Sebastians and started packing up.

Sunday, May 11: Checked out of the villa a little after 10am, dropped off our jeep at Jerry's, headed to the ferry dock. Took the 12:30 ferry to St Thomas (via St John of course), got to the airport around 2:30. Pretty quick escape through customs, then wheels up at 4:40. The flight was a little bumpy coming home because of all the storms around SC & NC, but I'm not complaining. It could have been worse! Landed at 8:45. Picked up our car from the airport and headed back home. Finally walked through the door at 11pm. We're already planning the next trip...hopefully for 10 days or 2 weeks...overall, it was a great trip. The best part was having our own villa this time. It was fun to show some new folks our love of the BVIs...now they're ready to go back as well. The weather was great, we saw some "old" friends and made some new ones! Now it's back to work to help us save for the next time! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Here's a link to some pictures, I took almost 400, but here's a scaled down version of the collection:

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k298/lonewolf1977/BVI%202008/

And here's one of my favorite pics:
[Linked Image]