Kathy and I (well, mostly me) have been planning this trip for almost two years. After finally finishing college (after taking a year off 12 times) I graduated and got a real job. So the two year gap in our BVI traveling really added to just how special this trip was to be.
Wednesday Feb. 25th – after a couple hours sleep we left for O’Hare for a 6:30am flight ORD-PHL-STT. It was uneventful, with only minor delays. Landed at STT a ½ an hour late and barely missed the 3:30 (?) ferry to west end. Oh well, that gave us until 5 to “de-stress” at the petite pump room. Ferry to west end after Caribs and conch fritters. Jerry was waiting for us when we cleared customs, and after taking care of business at his lot, drove to Sebastian’s to check in. We were hoping to run into Malcolm at Myett’s but ran late. Had dinner there and the ribs were FANTASTIC! I had heard many good things about Jerry’s here on TTOL, and I actually cancelled another reservation weeks before our trip to book with Jerry. I was not disappointed. Jerry runs a top-notch business and I will book with him every time I go to Tortola. There is a ding in a fencepost at Sebastian’s that matches perfectly with the small dent on the back bumper of the jeep Jerry rented me. There were a few other dings on the jeep, but I was expecting a minor payout regardless. Nope. Nada. Admitted my fault, and it was no problem.
The next week and a half had us not only on Tortola, but Anegada and Jost Van Dyke via the ferry. I’ll only include the high points.
Tortola: Quito 2X acoustic. I am always amazed each time I see him. Kathy and I get to dance and not worry that people back home are laughing at our rum soaked four left feet. Fitz is an added bonus, he even burned a CD for Kathy when he found out we were Keb’ Mo fans and had it waiting for us when we got back from Anegada. This was a budget trip this year so no Brandywine. Capriccio D’ Mare filled in nicely. I had my usual capriccio pizza. Yum! Yum! Yum! Even if Davide isn’t there every day, his presence is. Sebastian’s hotel was our kind of place. We stayed in one of the rooms across the street and loved it. Clean, basic- just enough. I’m a morning person, but if you are not- beware. The roosters are blind and start crowing around 3 or 4am, well before sunrise. Josiah’s Bay leaped over Smuggler’s as our favorite beach on Tortola. But I’m afraid the cruise ships have found it- more on that later. Josiah’s was always sunny, Naomi’s cheese burger was great (but only a seven, Nicole’s was an 8), but the real showstopper was the Honey Stun Chicken next door to Naomi’s. Oh My God! One of the best fried chickens I have ever had! Snorkeled around to the right of the beach and marveled at the millions of tiny fish and half a dozen tarpon. About those cruise ship people- there was a mass of Italians one of the days we were there. Kathy and I were sipping a Carib, basking in the sun when the music blaring from the place we got the awesome chicken from changed from Bob Marley to the Bee Gees. Four dozen Italians grabbed surfboards from Naomi’s and people that had no earthy business wearing speedo’s burned my eyes out. We stuck around and laughed our a$$e$ off! Three kids trying to ride one surfboard, they were having fun! The three of them stood on the board while an adult tried to push them when the wave came!
Anegada: Cow wreak conch fritters. Hands down our favorite; we ate them for lunch each of our three days there. I spent time listening to Vernon talk of his history on Anegada, his girlfriend, and life in general at the bar at Neptune’s (where we stayed). Listening to Vernon was like listening to my grandfather talk when I was a kid, I feel blessed to have made his acquaintance. We met Dettefree and Glenn that weekend. We enjoyed talking with Idette over dinner and over the weekend. She is now mine and Kathy’s Facebook friend. I had been looking forward to meeting Glenn since I found out he was going to be there the same weekend, and I wasn’t disappointed. Malcolm was going to introduce us, but damn US Air, our flight arrived late. Oh well, he really does look EXACTLY like his avatar and was easy to find. We often ran into Glenn on our morning “nature drives”. As barren as Anegada seems, there is an amazing array of wildlife. I found an insect that had to be a bumblebee. Unfortunately the picture blurred. I laughed that a growing century plant looks exactly like a giant stalk of asparagus. Even though it was late winter, we managed to find a few frangipani flowers. The caterpillar that likes that plant was really interesting too. Our three days were too short. On Sunday afternoon, we hugged Belle at Cow Wreak and promised we’d be back soon. We made acquaintances with her the last time we were on Anegada, but this time we brought Frango chocolates so we were upgraded to Cow Wreak VIP’s. Thanks to Honeymoon2 and his recommendation of snorkeling at Loblolly, it was fantastic. I saw a turtle there and was amazed at the beauty of the reef. Besides the tarpon at Josiah’s, this was the best underwater experience.
Jost Van Dyke: We loved Ivan’s BBQ, Ruben played and it was a moment I’ll never forget. One love ran a tab for us for three days that we had to chase Raquel down to close. I hiked the hill above Perfect Pineapple and the hill to the right of White Bay and got some great photos. On another rum soaked moment, I tripped over the palm tree that has the ring toss at soggy dollar and instead of spilling my painkiller absorbed a nasty scrape on my arm from the palm tree. Perfect Pineapple was, well- perfect. Gregory was a great host. Went to the Bubbly Pool on our last full day and it was really active! We had it to ourselves for a few minutes before a crowd arrived. I hiked over the rocks and looked out over the Atlantic, the views were unbelievable.
Back home wearing shorts to 20 degree weather the next day and I’m already planning an October Anegada trip.
Its good to be me.
