Land-based Trip Report 5/31 - 6/14, Jost Van Dyke and Tortola

This was trip # 6 for us…we’ve been coming to the BVI since ’95 when we chose this wonderful place to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We fell in love with it and need regular doses to keep the DIF at bay <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />! Checking in with TTOL helps too. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Flights - Up at 3:45 for our 7:05 flight on US Air from Hartford to Charlotte to St. Thomas. No problems. We were upgraded to first class on the Hartford to Charlotte leg…wow, is that nice!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Cool.gif" alt="" /> We have also done the San Juan connection to Beef Island, but we find we enjoy the ferry ride from STT, and getting in to West End is more convenient for meeting the water taxi from Sandcastle.

FIRST WEEK - Sandcastle Hotel: This was our second time here and we loved it just as much as the first time. Great staff, very friendly and helpful, absolutely wonderful dinners by Oliver <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /><img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /><img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />, and we love the Soggy Dollar Bar, the hammocks, and the absolute beauty of White Bay. We also enjoyed all the people staying at Sandcastle…several others had been there in previous years. We were on the MAP plan, which includes breakfast every day and 5 dinners.

We had a BLAST with some TTOL folks on Sunday at the Soggy Dollar <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /><img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />…Bill H and LadyDi, Debra (formerly known as Sarag!), Maryann (map), Fran and Karyl, and Gary and Gerry. It is so great to get faces to go with names, and we do all feel like “family.<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

We spent our days lolling in the hammocks or lounge chairs reading, people/boat watching, or just staring out into the incredible blueness of the bay. When we finally needed to move around a little, we snorkeled or walked down the beach to some of the other establishments. Not-to-be-missed is Seddy’s One Love Bar….Seddy does some AMAZING <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Cool.gif" alt="" />magic tricks!

Another favorite activity before retiring to our room is being cozy and stargazing in a hammock every night after dinner….just HEAVEN!

SECOND WEEK - Heritage Villas (located on Windy Hill on the north shore): We spent a week here and found it was a great place to stay, good value for the $$, convenient to most everything we were interested in, a short ride to Road Town, and definitely has a “killer view.” I was hoping to take some spectacular sunset photos, but unfortunately, there were none while we were there….too cloudy for the most part. Our unit was on the end away from the road, and we found it to be very private and comfortable. The bedroom was small but the AC was great. Nice seating area and kitchen, plus a patio with table and chairs. We made good use of their swimming pool, and never even had to share it with anyone else! Tom and Fran, managers (owners?), were most helpful and friendly.

DINING

We don’t do any cooking besides making coffee or tea, because, as Walker says, you can cook at home, but at home you can’t dine in an island restaurant!

Sandcastle…every dinner was just awesome. Every night featured a different, absolutely luscious soup, some kind of innovative salad, and a choice of 3 entrees, which were all wonderful….breast of duck with apricot-ginger sauce, Chateaubriand with béarnaise sauce, mahi mahi with horseradish cream, etc. etc. AND, the Sandcastle cookbook is now available, so we can make some of these great recipes at home! The Asian pasta salad has been a big hit this summer.

Rudy’s in Great Harbour, JVD was excellent. Good service and wonderful lobster ($30). It was raining gently while we were dining there, which somehow increased the ambiance.

Foxy’s barbeque buffet was very good ($25 pp) We went there as a group from Sandcastle on Oliver’s night off.

BVI Steak, Chop, & Pasta House at Heritage Villas on Windy Hill – had some wonderful food here…appetizers one night and dinner another night. Tom and Fran do a great job with the restaurant. Excellent strip steaks, and bruschetta. We had a fantastic time with Bill H and Di one night. Talking and laughing over many things…including our similar experience with tamarinds. Bought them at Big Ben’s Superette, thinking they were a sort of doughnut hole pastry thing for breakfast…Ha ha ha….they are nothing of the sort!! They are sour sour sour, super tart chewy candy-like, and they have these unexpected huge seeds inside. Well, Bill and Di tried them too, and I will never forget Bill’s description of his tamarind experience.

Elm Beach Bar & Grill (CGB) on their barbeque night….a great place for TTOL gatherings. Tony does a great job cooking…great value, with pork ribs, fish, chicken, corn, beans and rice, and coleslaw for $12. We met Misti (Tortola Lola) and Gary Guertin here and Marylou and her Mom…had a wonderful evening. No band though which was a little disappointing….usually Reggie Georges plays here on Friday and Sunday nights.

Big Banana Club Paradise (CGB) – we used our BVI Drinking Man’s Guide here and had a wonderful pizza for lunch one day. The curried calamari appetizer is great, too. Very nice place, comfy chairs, and right on the beach.

Myett’s (CGB) – we love the atmosphere here…like eating in a jungle…food is excellent, a little pricey. I had tiger shrimp with veggies and pasta ($28) which was wonderful; Lance had a Caesar salad with lobster ($15). Again used our Drinking Man’s Guide for a free bottle of Chardonnay. Steel Vibes (with Clem) played…they were very good.

Pisces (Soper’s Hole) – we had a simple soup lunch here…mushroom for me, fish soup for Lance…both excellent. Didn’t get back for dinner, which we’d like to do. Too many restaurants, too little time!

Pussers (Soper’s Hole) – had a really good jerk chicken and pineapple quesadilla ($9.95) here when we just wanted a snack…also good drinks….champagne and mango juice, and a passion fruit freeze.

Palm’s Delight (Carrot Bay) – wonderful! Very busy night there, on a Wednesday. I suggest getting there before 6:30 if you don’t want to wait for a table. I had steamed fish ($12) with fungi, plantains, etc. and Lance had the shrimp sauté ($16). I wasn’t crazy about all the stuff that came with the fish, but the fish itself was excellent. Of course, they are known for their gingerwine chicken, but we wanted to try something new. Their key lime pie was the best I had anywhere.

North Shore Shell Museum (Carrot Bay) – went here for breakfast. And of course, to renew our friendship with Egbert. We were not disappointed. And left, as usual, with some shell creations.

Nicole’s Beach Bar (Brewer’s Bay) – excellent cheeseburger, great pina colada, smiling service, and a shady deck to enjoy it on.

Eclipse (East End) – this was a drive from Windy Hill, but well worth it. Excellent food here, and tons of choices. Different sizes of things, so you could order several things in the appetizer portion. I had the tuna carpaccio with wasabi, and a chevre salad with poached apples and fennel. Lance had a Caesar salad and seafood pasta. Nice atmosphere, right on the water.

BEACHES – best beach overall…White Bay, JVD. Best snorkeling – Loblolly Bay on Anegada. Also good snorkeling at Brewer’s Bay. We happened to go there on Whit Monday…the Queen’s birthday …and it was actually “crowded.” Usually there are only 2-4 other people there, this day there might have been 50-60! Smuggler’s Cove snorkeling was good, also.

TRIP HIGHLIGHT: Day trip to Anegada. We used Fly BVI and had lobster lunch at Big Bamboo at Loblolly Bay. The snorkeling there was absolutely awesome. Same fish as everywhere else, only BIGGER. Lovely coral. And we had the whole gorgeous place to ourselves. Only a handful of other people for a short time. The flight over from Beef Island was awesome…great views from the plane. Our pilot, Sebastian, was wonderful….very friendly and personable. He loved talking about his native Argentina….very interesting.

FIRSTS: There’s always something new to discover!

· Seeing mongoose (mongeese?) saw them in Great Harbour and while hiking around near White Bay.

· First bushwhacker…why did it take me so long to find this awesome tasting dessert-in-a-glass?? Yum…best one at Rudy’s.

· Eating a tamarind!

· Visiting Callwood’s Distillery in CGB. Interesting place, and great prices on rum!

Didn’t do a daysail this time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" />, which we’ve enjoyed immensely in the past, due to Lance getting into an inner ear problem, which made snorkeling for him really uncomfortable. So we decided I could do plenty of snorkeling from shore, while he enjoyed relaxing on the beaches with something to read.

We seem to love the BVI more each time we visit. After coming home this time, the DIF was so bad we decided we couldn’t wait a whole year to go back, so we’ve planned another trip for late October <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />. We love meeting new people, especially TTOLers, so if you’re going to be there, drop me a PM and maybe we can make plans to meet. Looks like there’ll be a TTOL gathering in Cane Garden Bay on Oct. 31st.

Thanks to all who post on TTOL and share their stories and tips, and those who keep it up and running, especially Eric and Carol Hill. It’s my daily BVI fix, and a constant source of ideas and suggestions for future trips. Thanks, everyone! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/thanks.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/thanks.gif" alt="" />

Connie (aka periwinkle) and Lance