One of My Favorite Places

I love the British Virgin Islands!

About fifteen years ago, we sailed around the BVI on a chartered sailboat. I guess you would actually call it a yacht, but I didn't want to sound so fancy. It's not like we are in the habit of sailing around on yachts... this one was an all-expense paid vacation from my husband's employer... that was back in the good old days when companies weren't going broke. Anyway, I loved it! There was a group of people on four sailboats, four couples to a sailboat. We slept on the sailboat (yacht) and sailed from one island to the next. We stopped on Tortola, where we visited Pusser's Rum. We stopped on Virgin Gorda where we visited the Bitter End Yacht Club. We stopped on tiny Jost Van Dyke and went barefoot at Foxy's Bar. For two weeks, the only wardrobe we needed was our bathing suits. If you asked me to choose any place in the Caribbean, it would be the BVI. I loved sailing. I loved sleeping on the sailboat. I loved dining on the deck (they cooked for us) and drinking wine under the starry sky. I loved visiting hidden beaches that could be reached only from the water. One day we had a race with the other three sailboats. It's nice to remember, and I wish I could do it all over again.

A few years later, we went back and stayed on Virgin Gorda. This time we went with two other couples. We took a flight from Philadelphia to San Juan, then a small plane to Tortola, then a tiny ferry over to Virgin Gorda. One of our companions was grumpy because it took so long to get there. But I loved it... the farther from civilization the better for me! We stayed in a simple little bungalow right on the beach. Just steps from the water, and a screened sleeping porch all the way around the cottage. We had bedrooms, but I loved sleeping on the porch listening to the surf at night. We had rented a tiny little jalopy with open sides, barely big enough for the six of us. We rambled around on bumpy roads, holding on for dear life and dodging goats and and livestock. We smoked Cuban cigars (don't tell) on the beach at night and cooked all of our meals on the BBQ right on the beach. I loved that vacation too!

I haven't had my photos digitalized... but the photo above is exactly how it looked.