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Ground-based trip - Part II - Tortola and St. John
Ground-based trip - Part II - Tortola and St. John
Hi
This is my second post on this board - just thought it would be of greater interest here than it would have been on TTOL (never posted there). The first part was pretty much on the BVI portion of our tenth trip in May-June of this year - land based.
Again, we just hope that we're not too long winded, but here goes (the rest of the time on Tortola and the remainder on St. John) :
Day 7 - May 28 : Up late and went to the balcony at Rhymer's. There is, apparently, a large shoal of fish near the beach because a large flock of brown boobies and pelicans are dive bombing them, with the usual compliment of laughing gulls trying to steal a meal. Got some reading done before going in to Road Town to find Pearl Vision to straighten out Chris' glasses. From here it was a ride to One Mart (no orange/pineapple Tang for out home made Pain Killers, but great meat and veggies. Imported goat meat on Tortola - what?
We drove past Brandywine Bay and Fat Hogs Bay to the East End and across the new bridge. We couldn't find a schedule for the Marina Cay ferry (on the hour according to the man at the Trellis Bay Market), so we settled in at the Trellis Bay Cyber Cafe so that I could have my favorite - curried goat - and Chris could have calamari. Their version of a Dark and Stormy is something to write home about, involving a VERY strong infusion of ginger (not ginger beer) with Gosling's floated on top to be drunk with a straw from the bottom to the top. WOW! Snooped at Aragorn's studio but didn't buy anything (this time).
After returning over Joe's Hill Road to CGB, and eating no supper (after those high calorie drinks), I wandered down to Quito's where a keyboard player was cranking out Louis Armstron and Hank Williams songs for an older audience (most speaking French). Behold, a party of 14 bridesmaids and bride (complete with sash and crown) showed up from a wedding at Long Bay. They were readey to boogie. I asked the keyboard to play "Night Nurse" (which he followed by "No Woman, No Cry"), "married" several of them on the spot, and danced with two.
The best men (an maybe the bride groom) finally showed up from a MUCH quieter party at Myetts and just milled around, not seeming to know what to do. I had my quota of two Pain Killers (consumed very slowly) and left after the bridesmaids had retired. Youth is wasted on the young (at least on the males)!
Day 8 : It's an overcast morning, with everyone setting up beach chairs in preparation for a cruise ship invasion. We had the usual great breakfast at Rhymer's and staked out a table with an umbrella in front. The boats in the bay were pulling out for Jost van Dyke (at least the flotilla part was). I called Brandywine to reserve a meal (dinner starts at 6:30) and found that, Walker to the contrary, a modified dress code is still in force, i.e. you don't HAVE to have long pants - decently long shorts are OK, but a collared shirt is still needed.
It was time for me to play my usual game of catch a gull/tern perched on the buoys marking the swimming area. What a bummer - the cruise people emptied the beach of birds, with the laughing gulls returning after the last taxi had gone. Rhymer's actually had a decent lunch crowd and sold quite a few drinks - their lavatory was marked 'for paying guests only'. (Lack of loos for the crowd and lack of cruise ship patronage are BIG problems at CGB.)
We left about 5:30 to go over the hill to Brandywine, hitting the last of the rush hour traffic near Purcell, and parked (mistakenly) on the grass because a car with some of their help pulled in there. We went out to the porch (with its couches and comfortable pillows and a beautiful view of Norman) to order drinks and the meal. I got a fascinating upside-down version of a Dark and Stormy (made with white rum, ginger beer, flavored with basil, lemon grass and brown sugar!) Davide was able to deal with my special dietary needs (his base stock uses flour to which things are added later) by just using the fruited mixture itself for our duck. What a delicious meal, with rice and veggies, topped off by a rose (out of deference to Chris' emerging sensitivity to tannins in wine). We went back on the south shore and crossed over at Zion Hill rather than go over Joe's Hill in the dark.
Day 9 : Another morning reading before setting out for Joe's Hill, Road Town and the East End in order to catch the 11:30 ferry to Marina Cay. They were carrying a huge load of boxed food stuffs, including New Zealand butter!) and - finally - a last minute passenger (a manager carrying a replacement cash drawer wearing a yellow shirt and tie). We went straight to the restaurant, bypassing the Pusser's store. A large group of guests trooped in to prearranged place settings and were served first. (No biggie, there were only two waitresses and we were certainly in no hurry.) The number of laughing gulls flying into the restaurant/porch was drastically reduced from last year (and the same was true of the terns on the reef).
It was a awesome dish of Caribbean nachos for me and calamari (again) for Chris. Watch out for those #3 Pain Killers! Some visitors were consuming their fair share of Shotz - apparenlt preapaing for their last 1 days at Dix Bay. Alas, Chris wasn't able to smoke at the beach side tables - apparently a customer had complained and he had to be one of the smoking police. This was the first time we had seen the so-called smoking ban enforced in that rigid a manner. (Myett's were very much more flexible.)
I got a t-shirt at Aragorn's on the way to De Loose Mongoose, which is obviously home base for the permanent/sem-permanent residents of Trellis Bay. Then it was up Little Dicks Road in East End/Long Look (with its white center lines) to Ridge road and on to CGB, past the beautiful murals at the side of the road. I got a chance to swim (and both a gull and a tern evaded capture). It was time to heat up the left-over shrimp, listen to Quito in the distance, and get some packing done.
Day 10 : We polished off the rest of the orange/pineapple drink with breakfast, finished packing, and drove to Road Town, where a moderately talkative driver for ITGO drove us to Soper's to board the Inter-Island ferry ($26 + $2 for luggage). When we got to Cruz Bay, I was foolish enough to drag the luggage almost all the way to Courtesy Car Rental (just past the police station) in the hot sun. (They would have picked us up if we had called!) We gave our buddy (who we had met on VG) from Denton, TX a ride to Caneel Bay (where he had worked previously), and then drove on to Cinnamon Bay campground, signing in and lugging our goods (in a cart) to Cottage #10B. Our neighbors regaled us with a story about an iguana that fell out of a tree in front of them, dusting itself off before fleeing into a nearby bush. We also have a neighborhood mongoose that regularly crossed the lane between us and the water faucet near #9. We immediately went back to Cruz Bay to drop off a load of (badly needed) laundry.
We had just a light snack (salsa, chips, crackers and smoked oysters) but were driven indoors by the no-see-ums. That's OK - we were exhausted and went to bed early. Because of the recent rain, the tree frog chorus was much better than usual at the Cottage. (Nothing like the chorus at the tent sites, though!)
Day 11 : After a great breakfast, we left to go to Miss Lucy's for the jazz brunch, getting there about 11 AM (it actually started at 10) and, finding that nearly all of the tables were occupied (and all of the ones in the shade), took a table in the completely empty screened-in porch. Unfortunately, there was nothing there that I could eat (celiac strikes again), with everything being on an English muffin or on top of waffles or pancakes.
They had a great duo (a guitarist and a keyboard/wind player) who did a lot of Getz/Konitz/ Herbis Mann type 50'5/60's progressive jazz. (I recognized some hometown Spirogyra-type arrangements too!). Miss Lucy's Lime 'n Coconut and Bushwhackers are to die for!
We drove out the East End road past Estate Zootenvaal and Hurricane Hole, saying hello to the stone turtles on the way (now with a shell necklace). We went up the now completed road to the 'developed' area just past Haulover Bay, where only a few of the home sites were occupied and with lots of realtor signs. An immense investment for a largely failed development! On the way back, it was sad to see Island Blues all boarded up.
Lunch was at Margarita Phil's - the enchiladas and chalupas were spectacular. The couple next to us were going to be married next week on Peace Hill, followed by a honeymoon on Peter Island after taking the family on a sailing cruise. A next door set of two families from Cincinnati were enjoying dinner with a fabulous set of kids (except for a very minor food fight).
We drove back 'home' for a rousing game of Yashtzee! We both have a bad case of beach pox. Another tremendous tree frog chorus.
Day 12 : This was a day devoted almost entirely to swimming. Even though I used to sports setting on my Panasonic digital camera, I just couldn't get a decent pictures of the pelicans trolling our beach. (Cottage #10 is about 20 steps in the sand from the water.) It was fun watching a laughing gull landing on the pelican's beak and trying to steal a fish. (Didn't work, even after repeated attempts.) More Yahtzee! - the main reason for coming here (decompression) was definitely being met, with sand gravity was firmly in control.
Day 13 : After a magnificent cheese omelette (if I do say so myself) followed by a morning swim, we went back to Coral Bay and Miss Lucy's for lunch. The cream base for the conch chowder doesn't contain flour in it, so that and a Caesar salad topped by jerked chicken seemed in order (but NO croutons!). Chris had blackened sea scallops and beurre blanc. The waitress suggested that we try Sweet Plantains (which is past Shipwreck Landing and short of poor old Island Blues, near where we had seen a man selling fresh fish by the side of the road). It was recommended that we phone for reservations for supper.
When we got back to Cinnamon Bay, Tony (the campground man-of-all-trades) told us a wonderful story about the wild donkeys. It seems the powers to be were reluctant to put in the necessary cattle guards and instead decided to use painted "cattle guards" instead. The final score was donkeys 1 - administrators 0. One of our newer neighbors was attempting to catch an Anolis to take home. (A friend had found one in her luggage.) LOL! Again it was oysters and crackers and back to bed early.
Day 14 : After another cheese omelette we left to sho at starfish Market and asked the lady at the Info booth for suggestions for lunch. She suggested that places in Wharfside village wold be too hot and that Line Inn or places in Mongoose Junction might be cooler. The walk to Margarita Phil's (again) would be a long hot walk. We parked the vehicle in the Courtesy Car Rentals lot and walked to Lime Inn. It was nachos for me and a salad for Chris. Great drinks and endless ice tea, plus comfortable temperature.
Going up Centerline Road, we found that Pastory Gardens were open for lunch. I took pictures of Coral Bay from near Chateau Bordeaux with tons of sailboats in the Drake Channel. We went down the path to the center of Cinnamon Bay's beach, and I took pics of the Archaeology Lab. (Chris is a Physical Anthropologist.) The children that moved into Cottage 10A spent moist of their time feeding the laughing gulls sea grapes and practicing their boogie board techniques. Tony agreed to help us hump our baggage up to the desk area. Finished off the rest of the beef stew and dozed off.
Day 15 : Up early, polished off the dishes while Chris packed. I hailed the (other) handy man, who was kind enough to take Tony's place, saving wear and tear on my poor knees. (It's a long hike with a cart full of baggage from #10 to the desk, half of it uphill. We inquired about what dates were available next year at about the same time (at #10), only to find that only three consecutive days were available. Cottage #9, the second best choice was available though. Bummer! We may decide to try to go to Jost van Dyke instead. (We have stayed at Sandcastle before - White Bay is pectacular!)
The sad drive to Soper's got us to customs in plenty of time for the 11:15 ferry to Charlotte Amalie and decided not to go to the Petite Pump Room upstairs in the ferry terminal, but went directly to the airport. Had some drinks at the same bar (with the same bartender) near the waiting area. (Pretty pitiful food area though!) We had a painless flight to Charlotte, where it was 96* (10* more than in St. Thomas) and from there to Buffalo (also in the midst of a hot spell). DIF has already set in.
Peace
Dugg and Chris
http://picasaweb.google.com/papadugg/
Note : Finally got the '96, '97, '98, '02 and '04 pics posted.
This is my second post on this board - just thought it would be of greater interest here than it would have been on TTOL (never posted there). The first part was pretty much on the BVI portion of our tenth trip in May-June of this year - land based.
Again, we just hope that we're not too long winded, but here goes (the rest of the time on Tortola and the remainder on St. John) :
Day 7 - May 28 : Up late and went to the balcony at Rhymer's. There is, apparently, a large shoal of fish near the beach because a large flock of brown boobies and pelicans are dive bombing them, with the usual compliment of laughing gulls trying to steal a meal. Got some reading done before going in to Road Town to find Pearl Vision to straighten out Chris' glasses. From here it was a ride to One Mart (no orange/pineapple Tang for out home made Pain Killers, but great meat and veggies. Imported goat meat on Tortola - what?
We drove past Brandywine Bay and Fat Hogs Bay to the East End and across the new bridge. We couldn't find a schedule for the Marina Cay ferry (on the hour according to the man at the Trellis Bay Market), so we settled in at the Trellis Bay Cyber Cafe so that I could have my favorite - curried goat - and Chris could have calamari. Their version of a Dark and Stormy is something to write home about, involving a VERY strong infusion of ginger (not ginger beer) with Gosling's floated on top to be drunk with a straw from the bottom to the top. WOW! Snooped at Aragorn's studio but didn't buy anything (this time).
After returning over Joe's Hill Road to CGB, and eating no supper (after those high calorie drinks), I wandered down to Quito's where a keyboard player was cranking out Louis Armstron and Hank Williams songs for an older audience (most speaking French). Behold, a party of 14 bridesmaids and bride (complete with sash and crown) showed up from a wedding at Long Bay. They were readey to boogie. I asked the keyboard to play "Night Nurse" (which he followed by "No Woman, No Cry"), "married" several of them on the spot, and danced with two.
The best men (an maybe the bride groom) finally showed up from a MUCH quieter party at Myetts and just milled around, not seeming to know what to do. I had my quota of two Pain Killers (consumed very slowly) and left after the bridesmaids had retired. Youth is wasted on the young (at least on the males)!
Day 8 : It's an overcast morning, with everyone setting up beach chairs in preparation for a cruise ship invasion. We had the usual great breakfast at Rhymer's and staked out a table with an umbrella in front. The boats in the bay were pulling out for Jost van Dyke (at least the flotilla part was). I called Brandywine to reserve a meal (dinner starts at 6:30) and found that, Walker to the contrary, a modified dress code is still in force, i.e. you don't HAVE to have long pants - decently long shorts are OK, but a collared shirt is still needed.
It was time for me to play my usual game of catch a gull/tern perched on the buoys marking the swimming area. What a bummer - the cruise people emptied the beach of birds, with the laughing gulls returning after the last taxi had gone. Rhymer's actually had a decent lunch crowd and sold quite a few drinks - their lavatory was marked 'for paying guests only'. (Lack of loos for the crowd and lack of cruise ship patronage are BIG problems at CGB.)
We left about 5:30 to go over the hill to Brandywine, hitting the last of the rush hour traffic near Purcell, and parked (mistakenly) on the grass because a car with some of their help pulled in there. We went out to the porch (with its couches and comfortable pillows and a beautiful view of Norman) to order drinks and the meal. I got a fascinating upside-down version of a Dark and Stormy (made with white rum, ginger beer, flavored with basil, lemon grass and brown sugar!) Davide was able to deal with my special dietary needs (his base stock uses flour to which things are added later) by just using the fruited mixture itself for our duck. What a delicious meal, with rice and veggies, topped off by a rose (out of deference to Chris' emerging sensitivity to tannins in wine). We went back on the south shore and crossed over at Zion Hill rather than go over Joe's Hill in the dark.
Day 9 : Another morning reading before setting out for Joe's Hill, Road Town and the East End in order to catch the 11:30 ferry to Marina Cay. They were carrying a huge load of boxed food stuffs, including New Zealand butter!) and - finally - a last minute passenger (a manager carrying a replacement cash drawer wearing a yellow shirt and tie). We went straight to the restaurant, bypassing the Pusser's store. A large group of guests trooped in to prearranged place settings and were served first. (No biggie, there were only two waitresses and we were certainly in no hurry.) The number of laughing gulls flying into the restaurant/porch was drastically reduced from last year (and the same was true of the terns on the reef).
It was a awesome dish of Caribbean nachos for me and calamari (again) for Chris. Watch out for those #3 Pain Killers! Some visitors were consuming their fair share of Shotz - apparenlt preapaing for their last 1 days at Dix Bay. Alas, Chris wasn't able to smoke at the beach side tables - apparently a customer had complained and he had to be one of the smoking police. This was the first time we had seen the so-called smoking ban enforced in that rigid a manner. (Myett's were very much more flexible.)
I got a t-shirt at Aragorn's on the way to De Loose Mongoose, which is obviously home base for the permanent/sem-permanent residents of Trellis Bay. Then it was up Little Dicks Road in East End/Long Look (with its white center lines) to Ridge road and on to CGB, past the beautiful murals at the side of the road. I got a chance to swim (and both a gull and a tern evaded capture). It was time to heat up the left-over shrimp, listen to Quito in the distance, and get some packing done.
Day 10 : We polished off the rest of the orange/pineapple drink with breakfast, finished packing, and drove to Road Town, where a moderately talkative driver for ITGO drove us to Soper's to board the Inter-Island ferry ($26 + $2 for luggage). When we got to Cruz Bay, I was foolish enough to drag the luggage almost all the way to Courtesy Car Rental (just past the police station) in the hot sun. (They would have picked us up if we had called!) We gave our buddy (who we had met on VG) from Denton, TX a ride to Caneel Bay (where he had worked previously), and then drove on to Cinnamon Bay campground, signing in and lugging our goods (in a cart) to Cottage #10B. Our neighbors regaled us with a story about an iguana that fell out of a tree in front of them, dusting itself off before fleeing into a nearby bush. We also have a neighborhood mongoose that regularly crossed the lane between us and the water faucet near #9. We immediately went back to Cruz Bay to drop off a load of (badly needed) laundry.
We had just a light snack (salsa, chips, crackers and smoked oysters) but were driven indoors by the no-see-ums. That's OK - we were exhausted and went to bed early. Because of the recent rain, the tree frog chorus was much better than usual at the Cottage. (Nothing like the chorus at the tent sites, though!)
Day 11 : After a great breakfast, we left to go to Miss Lucy's for the jazz brunch, getting there about 11 AM (it actually started at 10) and, finding that nearly all of the tables were occupied (and all of the ones in the shade), took a table in the completely empty screened-in porch. Unfortunately, there was nothing there that I could eat (celiac strikes again), with everything being on an English muffin or on top of waffles or pancakes.
They had a great duo (a guitarist and a keyboard/wind player) who did a lot of Getz/Konitz/ Herbis Mann type 50'5/60's progressive jazz. (I recognized some hometown Spirogyra-type arrangements too!). Miss Lucy's Lime 'n Coconut and Bushwhackers are to die for!
We drove out the East End road past Estate Zootenvaal and Hurricane Hole, saying hello to the stone turtles on the way (now with a shell necklace). We went up the now completed road to the 'developed' area just past Haulover Bay, where only a few of the home sites were occupied and with lots of realtor signs. An immense investment for a largely failed development! On the way back, it was sad to see Island Blues all boarded up.
Lunch was at Margarita Phil's - the enchiladas and chalupas were spectacular. The couple next to us were going to be married next week on Peace Hill, followed by a honeymoon on Peter Island after taking the family on a sailing cruise. A next door set of two families from Cincinnati were enjoying dinner with a fabulous set of kids (except for a very minor food fight).
We drove back 'home' for a rousing game of Yashtzee! We both have a bad case of beach pox. Another tremendous tree frog chorus.
Day 12 : This was a day devoted almost entirely to swimming. Even though I used to sports setting on my Panasonic digital camera, I just couldn't get a decent pictures of the pelicans trolling our beach. (Cottage #10 is about 20 steps in the sand from the water.) It was fun watching a laughing gull landing on the pelican's beak and trying to steal a fish. (Didn't work, even after repeated attempts.) More Yahtzee! - the main reason for coming here (decompression) was definitely being met, with sand gravity was firmly in control.
Day 13 : After a magnificent cheese omelette (if I do say so myself) followed by a morning swim, we went back to Coral Bay and Miss Lucy's for lunch. The cream base for the conch chowder doesn't contain flour in it, so that and a Caesar salad topped by jerked chicken seemed in order (but NO croutons!). Chris had blackened sea scallops and beurre blanc. The waitress suggested that we try Sweet Plantains (which is past Shipwreck Landing and short of poor old Island Blues, near where we had seen a man selling fresh fish by the side of the road). It was recommended that we phone for reservations for supper.
When we got back to Cinnamon Bay, Tony (the campground man-of-all-trades) told us a wonderful story about the wild donkeys. It seems the powers to be were reluctant to put in the necessary cattle guards and instead decided to use painted "cattle guards" instead. The final score was donkeys 1 - administrators 0. One of our newer neighbors was attempting to catch an Anolis to take home. (A friend had found one in her luggage.) LOL! Again it was oysters and crackers and back to bed early.
Day 14 : After another cheese omelette we left to sho at starfish Market and asked the lady at the Info booth for suggestions for lunch. She suggested that places in Wharfside village wold be too hot and that Line Inn or places in Mongoose Junction might be cooler. The walk to Margarita Phil's (again) would be a long hot walk. We parked the vehicle in the Courtesy Car Rentals lot and walked to Lime Inn. It was nachos for me and a salad for Chris. Great drinks and endless ice tea, plus comfortable temperature.
Going up Centerline Road, we found that Pastory Gardens were open for lunch. I took pictures of Coral Bay from near Chateau Bordeaux with tons of sailboats in the Drake Channel. We went down the path to the center of Cinnamon Bay's beach, and I took pics of the Archaeology Lab. (Chris is a Physical Anthropologist.) The children that moved into Cottage 10A spent moist of their time feeding the laughing gulls sea grapes and practicing their boogie board techniques. Tony agreed to help us hump our baggage up to the desk area. Finished off the rest of the beef stew and dozed off.
Day 15 : Up early, polished off the dishes while Chris packed. I hailed the (other) handy man, who was kind enough to take Tony's place, saving wear and tear on my poor knees. (It's a long hike with a cart full of baggage from #10 to the desk, half of it uphill. We inquired about what dates were available next year at about the same time (at #10), only to find that only three consecutive days were available. Cottage #9, the second best choice was available though. Bummer! We may decide to try to go to Jost van Dyke instead. (We have stayed at Sandcastle before - White Bay is pectacular!)
The sad drive to Soper's got us to customs in plenty of time for the 11:15 ferry to Charlotte Amalie and decided not to go to the Petite Pump Room upstairs in the ferry terminal, but went directly to the airport. Had some drinks at the same bar (with the same bartender) near the waiting area. (Pretty pitiful food area though!) We had a painless flight to Charlotte, where it was 96* (10* more than in St. Thomas) and from there to Buffalo (also in the midst of a hot spell). DIF has already set in.
Peace
Dugg and Chris
http://picasaweb.google.com/papadugg/
Note : Finally got the '96, '97, '98, '02 and '04 pics posted.
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
I feel your pain when it comes to Celiac Disease. It sucks. I’m deathly allergic to shellfish too, so that limits me even more.
You had nachos a couple times though…do you always ask if they fry their own chips? So many places fry their chips so I can’t have them because of contamination from the fryer.
You had nachos a couple times though…do you always ask if they fry their own chips? So many places fry their chips so I can’t have them because of contamination from the fryer.
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain