The wife and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Tortola, purely land-based this time, a first for us.
We had just decided the previous Sunday to take the trip. Our anniversary is in a couple of days, and that was just the justification that we needed! We checked with Southwest and with Seaborne and, low and behold, fares were really not too bad. Book 'em Dano!
We flew out after work on Thursday evening from BWI on a non-stop to SJU, scheduled to get us in some time after 11pm. Checked into our room at the airport hotel, very small, but clean and extremely cold! We turn the air warmer and head for the hotel restaurant, the only thing open at that late hour. I think it stays open until midnight. Our flight actually arrived at least 30 minutes early. WOW! Anyway, we shared a $30 bento box, not bad, but hard to believe they charge $30 for that, glad that we weren't very hungry and split it. Apparently, it is always on "special". Took a beer to go and head to the room to crash.
Took the 8am Seaborne the following morning and again landed early, about 8:30. Rented from National right there in the terminal. Free upgrade for being an emerald club member. Sweet.
OK, pull out of the airport, oh right, LEFT! We stayed at a little place near the Tamarind Club. Cheap and the people were nice, but the place that we stayed needs a lot of work. It is not affiliated with Tamarind, just near by. We had a fantastic time hanging out at the Tamarind. Mixed drinks were relatively cheap, the food was great and the people were fantastic. Very friendly and easy going! Check out the Friday trivia night sometime if you get the chance. Such fun!
Saturday, we did some more exploring, just driving around the island, checking things out. Lunch at Myett's, great burger as always. Head to Nicole's for a quick nap and a Carib, then into the water for some snorkeling on the west side of Brewer's Bay. Once you get out far enough, lots of live fan coral, big fish, etc. Found a turtle and followed him for a while, he got bored of us and we parted ways, only to reconnect on our way back to the beach. About 300-400 yards off the beach, we both started getting "stung" or "bit" by something unseen and decided to head back in. After swimming about 50 yards, it was better again. Not sure what we got into. Was it the microscopic spawning jellyfish that I've read about? Not sure.
Grabbed another round of Carib's at Nicole's and hung out in the water for a while, so peaceful and serene! Met an expat local couple on the beach that had just gotten belonger status. The lady had found a seahorse in the grass and brought it in so that we could see it. They were just fantastically nice people and we talked for a while. Before we realized how much time had passed, the proprietor at Nicole's was standing at the railing, waiting for us to pay our check so that he could get home. Oops, sorry!! Pay up and we decide it's time to head on ourselves. Off to Bananakeet for a dip in the pool, sundowners and dinner. The lady had the steak and I had the Mahi Mahi dinner plate. Both were very flavorful, the fish was oddly a bit tough and chewy. It was quite hazy, so the sunset wasn't as spectacular as I'd hoped, but was beautiful nonetheless. The service and ambience at Bananakeet is always among our favorites. The evening drive back to east end was a joy as well. By the time we were back, we were ready to call it a night after a long and eventful couple of days. We were finally relaxed.
The following morning, Sunday, we attended a local church service. What wonderful and welcoming people! Lunch followed at Peg Leg's, it was fantastic as usual. Then beach time at the little Nanny Cay beach and bar area. All afternoon we were watching the poker run boats come and go. What a sight some of those boats are. After a few hours of that, we decided we wanted one last drive around before boarding our flight. We headed for east end via west end by turning left out of Nanny Cay. We just LOVE the north shore of Tortola, especially from Brewers Bay west.
Eventually, we filled the car, returned it to National and had an hour or so to wait at the airport for out flight back to San Juan. This time, we were back into SJU before 8, but were exhausted and dehydrated. We grabbed a quick bite at the hotel restaurant, this time leaving the AC cranked full bore, before returning for an early bed time. Flew out at 7am the following morning and were back at BWI by 11:30.
What a fun trip! Can't believe how much we did in just 3 days on island, it felt like we had been gone for a week, not that we were ready to leave by any means. So glad we did it and even more glad that we will be back in December!
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