Eric and Amy picked us up at 4:30 as they were having their car serviced and could drop it off near the airport (free parking) and it would be waiting for us in valet upon our return. Let’s hope.
So we arrived in plenty of time for our 10:50 flight to Atlanta which went smooth. We had a two hour layover there that turned into 6 hours as the plane had an issue. Everyone had boarded and waited for 45 minutes when they declared they were calling in a different plane.
Waited another hour and then told us we had to board in 20 minutes and close the doors or the pilots would ‘time out’ and they would have to find another crew.
So instead of arriving at 2:30 we got there about 5:30 and din’t get our rental car until DARK. There were no lights in the parking lot as a result of the hurricanes, so we found the car with our flashlight apps.
We had about a 30 minutes drive to our condo on Cowpet Bay, but the roads were dark, not mush in the way of center lines or fog lines, lots of street signals out, driving on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel on the left. The roads were windy and narrow. and threw in some rain bursts for good measure.
Some how we made it after stopping for some supplies and found our 2 bedroom condo right on the white sandy beach. We noticed what looked like a beach bar so headed down an arrived at 8:55 to be told they close at 9 so please order quickly, which we did and had goods appetizers.
The next morning Pam and I took a walk and explored the Ritz complex of hotel rooms, condos, pools and restaurants All of which were closed due to damage. we found a gal at the front desk whose job was to just tell people that they are closed at least util the end of the year.
Spent the morning on the beach pretty much to ourselves then drove 5 minutes to the end of the island, Red Hook, and had some great burgers and beverages.
Then back to the grocery store to replace the big bottle of wine that fell of the fridge self onto the tile floor in spite of my barefooted attempt to ease its fall. I have a nice bright purple big toe. (No I was loading the cooler with water and beer in the morning and the beer was behind the wine and glass water bottle that I saved.) So I turned water into wine and the kitchen to the entry have a scent of Chardonnay.
Also got flank steak, potatoes, broccoli and had a nice dinner at the condo. Followed by Pam & I trouncing them in a game pinocle.
We drove into the main city the next morning which was a big mistake as after lunch we roamed the shops and Pam looked for a birthday present in a jewelry store. She was successful and I got a few rum punches out of the deal.
We packed up the next morning and went to the ferry that was downtown, dropped off the bags, dropped off the car at the airport and waited for the ferry to Tortola.
We were met by a big cab as there were two other Jones couples on the ferry with us. We were dropped off at the Moorings hotel and met the Brill’s, our shipmates from McMinvill That were in our old region years ago. The are both advisors and been with Jones since 1982.
We met our skipper and chef who are both from the UK. I had emailed them earlier to warn them about us. The boat is very nice and they will be fun. They came back to help out the Moorings for a few weeks as they were trying to get back to speed. The skipper is rep for Pfizer and the chef has a pr company. They have been together for some time.
He sat down with us over beverages to suggest places to go. Said it is very quiet and we can go places that have been restricted, but have been opened to encourage tourism. The weather should be calm.
Before we arrived we had to fill out our food preferences, allergies, and drink preferences. They said our group had checked more boxes on the booze side than any other, but we had all checked we wanted to snorkel, which they love to show. They went our and bought another case of Rodney Strong Chardonnay and a lot more rum.
We have our business meeting at 8 this morning and should be launched by 11 heading to a spot near the Baths, but with only 2 buoys that he thinks should be available. One of his secret spots.
Hope all is well with everyone and pictures to follow.
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