Tuesday, July 2nd, 2002<br>The 7:30am phone call was John Hayes from the Aristocat checking to see if we wanted to go on a day sail tomorrow. I had sent him an email before leaving home and he had said to contact him when we arrived on Tortola. He and his wife, Sandra, were on St. Thomas for a couple of days and unreachable. We were glad he called as we wanted to go on at least one daysail. Not his usual trip though - we’d be going to Sandy Spit, Soggy Dollar, and Great Tobago. Fine with us. Well, now we know how we’ll be spending the day tomorrow.<br><br>Now that I’m awake my stomach reminds me that I’m not feeling all that great. (Guess we should have listened to everyone's recommendations about Lambert's restaurant, but I surely hadn't expected to get food poisoning.) David left for Roadtown to see if he could hunt down some pepto bismol and or immodium. He had success at Riteway and we both have a pepto cocktail. We eventually got ready and drove back into Roadtown. We walked around Main St. and Waterfront Drive. We stopped in the jewelry store that one of our servers told us she had purchased her hibiscus bracelet. It was very, very pretty, but they only had one silver one left and it wasn’t as nice as hers. Bought t-shirts where the miscellaneous tents and tables used to be. They’ve been replaced with a little village of shops, brightly painted, paved walkways and nice landscaping. We stopped for an ice cream at Dolci Vita. I had lemon, David had watermelon. Both are quite tasty - plus anything cold at this point is refreshing. One in the afternoon is not a smart time to be wandering around town. It’s hot! We drank a liter of water we had in the cooler in the car and cranked the ac - ahhhhhhhh, much better. We head back to Lambert and spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach. The water is wonderful - although I notice a bit of an undertow today - felt like it was going in two directions and the smooth sandy bottom is now deeply rippled. I sat at the edge of the water and played in the sand. How wonderful is this?! There’s only one other couple on the beach with us. David yells out “it’s rum punch time”. Funny how quickly 5:30pm rolls around. We’re having dinner at Brandywine Bay tonight. We’re so excited!<br><br>Well, I’m back and Brandywine Bay wasn’t good, it was superb! One of the best restaurants I have ever been to. (Now I know why Ray Snow says he likes to save his birthday celebration for Brandywine Bay!) The driveway is a hoot - wide enough for only one car and it’s a two way. (Get ready to have to put it in reverse!) It’s located at the end of this road, out on a point. Fabulous views. There’s a wonderful rock terrace where you can sit and have a cocktail before dinner. Cocktails were imaginative and delicious. After our cocktail we were seated for dinner. <br>We were only 1 of 2 couples dining that evening. Amazing - we virtually had a private audience with Davide, owner and chef. Davide came out to explain the evening's menu to us. Making a decision was very difficult - everything sounded so good. The two women who were serving us were wonderful. I had a grilled portobello topped with polenta and cheese as an appetizer. David had the most delicious onion soup I have ever had. We shared a pasta dish. Homemade raviolis stuffed with veggies and cheese. For the main course I had duck (stellar) and David had a fabulous steak dish. All the accompaniments were wonderful as well. Beautifully presented with an amazing blend of flavors to cause the taste buds to dance. I had the lemon tart for dessert (superb) and David had the tiramisu. Oh, can’t forget the wonderful chianti with our meal. Davide was a gracious host and made this evening very special for us. As it was quiet for Davide, we had a chance to chat with him at length after dinner. He was kind enough to show us his plans for his new home. Absolutely gorgeous! Tortola has a gift in Brandywine Bay and it’s is a must for future visits to Tortola. Yes, it is expensive, but this is an upscale establishment with fine dining at it’s best. Back at Lambert we both fall into a deep, satiable sleep.<br><br>Wednesday, July 3rd, 2002<br>Well we started out a bit rough today. I set the alarm for 7:15 so we could leisurely wake up and leave for the West End at 8:00. Unfortunately the regular time was set for a.m. instead of p.m., therefore the alarm never went off. I woke up at 7:45 and oh, my, god, 15 minutes to get out the door. We were out the door at 8:05am. We decided to heed John’s advise and take Ridge Rd. the whole way to avoid traffic in Roadtown. Somewhere after Bellevue Rd. and before Mountainview we get behind a huge construction vehicle towing a trailer with a backhoe on it. Needless to say we drop down from 25-30mph down to 1mph. This vehicle also took up both sides of the road. No way would a vehicle coming the other way be able to pass. This was a scary thought. Glad we were on this end of it. We finally get to Mountainview, but don't take it because we're afraid of getting stuck in Roadtown, but now it's almost 8:30am and we aren't even to Roadtown yet let alone the West End. We turn around and take Mountainview. It comes out by the Botanic Gardens, so we know where we are, but are stuck in Roadtown's rush how, not too bad (compared to home), but it's now 8:45 and we're supposed to meet John in front of Pusser's at Soper's Hole at 9am. We finally get onto south shore road and move along at a good clip. Spoke too soon as we get stuck behind a local going 15mph, get by him, then we're behind a huge dump truck carrying a huge uprooted tree. Such is island time this morning. <br><br>We get there at 10 past nine - apologize for being late - took us over an hour to get there from Lambert when it really should only take about 40 minutes. John dinks us over to his cat and we're off. We head out and around to the north side of the island and then across to Sandy Spit to snorkel. It was a great snorkeling spot. It was just us and one other couple - Nathan and Anndria from Dallas. The water was a bit wavy, but we were ok. Fantastic snorkeling! The reef was gorgeous here. Not a lot of fish, but the coral was magnificent. I saw a turle and swam with it for a bit. How awesome! Next stop was over to White Bay and a visit to the Soggy Dollar Bar. John dinked us onto the beach and said he'd be back in a bit to get us for lunch. We lounged and sampled the painkillers. It is a beautiful bay, but I thought it was a little too busy for my liking. Lot's of boats and people on the beach. The water was gorgeous though.<br><br>Lunch back on board was very nice. Cheddar and blue cheese with crackers, deviled eggs, a veggie salad, potato salad, garden salad, baguette bread, luncheon meats and fruit. Of course there were sodas, water, beer and rum punch available throughout. After lunch we sailed to Great Tobago. The entire island island is a national park and nesting site for boobies. The sky was full of boobies and friggates. Some of them were dive bombing us for approaching their nesting areas. We anchored and then went in to snorkle. David spotted a huge ray and we all got to see it. Then a curious barracuda came by to investigate. We've been around hordes of these fellows in the Caymans, but even just the one unnerved me slightly. Nathan stayed to play around chasing and being chased by him, while David and I headed over to the starboard side of the boat. Resting on the sand in the shallows I spote a nurse shark about 8 or 9 feel long. Wow, we really got to see some of the larger animals out there today! We really did get to see some wonderful things today, gorgeous coral, multitudes of fish, a turtle, a ray, barracuda and a shark. Fantastic.<br><br>We set sail for our return and it's a bit on the rough side. Thank god for bonine. Truly enjoyed our sail, chatting with our hosts, John and Sandra and Nathan and Anndria. Got back around 6pm and chatted for a while longer. John checked out our pictures on his computer and copied them. David bought a t-shirt and then we decided to have dinner at the Jolly Roger since we were right there. We were thinking C&F, but we were pretty hungry after being out on the water all day, so when we said the Jolly Roger, John asked if he and Sandra could join us and we gladly accepted. Louis came over and chatted with us along with most of the rest of the place. Very good meal - we always enjoy ourselves here. I have BBQ and David has a chili burger. I have to admit I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. Enjoyed our conversation a bit longer and then headed back to Lambert. Took us exactly 40 minutes. Not bad. What a great day. We can't wait to go again. We'd definitely recommend Aristocat Charters daysail with John and Sandra Hayes. Within no time both of us were sound asleep.<br><br>To be continued.....again......<br><br>
