2012 Caribbean Trip...ah, where do I begin. First, it's a wonder this post is even happening, considering the fact that we only booked the trip a month ago. Because of the difficult May we decided in June that July was a good time for a spur-of-the moment vacation. This is TOTALLY un-Kerr like, but I guess the Sasser part of me went with it.
After narrowing down our choices to somewhere with a Marriott that Delta flies to, and a location that provided maximum relaxation, we settled on a return trip to the Virgin Islands since (
obviously from last post) we love those blue waters so much.
Feeling a little more adventurous than normal after a few trips to the USVIs, we found a private island called Scrub Island (off of Tortola - the British VIs) that has a new resort affiliated with the Marriott. (I'm not sure how it's affiliated, but enough for us to use points, which is all I was concerned with.)
The only challenge about the resort was getting there. This private Island did boast a helicoptor pad for all those arriving via private jet onto neighboring Beef Island, but since we left out of ATL instead of PDK and our heli's in the shop (joking), we decided to schlep it across all the islands via taxi, ferry, and the occasional back of a truck.
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| How we roll... |
So we spent one night in St. Thomas upon arrival where we awaited our ferry to the BVIs the next day. Our first trip in 2007 with friends we ate at this very cute restaurant with BEAUTIFUL views, so we decided to stay at their hotel for one night. Bedrooms left a little to be desired, but who can argue with what was out the window!
Heading over to the BVIs was....interesting. Passenger ferries range from really scary to sort-of scary vessels, but fortunately the one over was only sort-of scary. (The one coming back...whew, I still have nightmares.) Being the Southerners that we are, we quickly made friends with some other passengers who were New Orleans and spent the entire trip over chatting away. Coincidentally, they are from Houston, she went to Texas A&M, he went to Georgia Tech and now her parents live in Tampa. SMALL WORLD. But I digress....
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| And you thought Delta man-handled your luggage! |
Arriving on Tortola we took a taxi over to Beef Island where we had to wait for another small ferry on Trellis Bay to take us to Scrub Island. We passed the time by finally eating lunch, discovering a very yummy Island beer and Chicken Roti (my first of many this trip). Being on the British side meant an uptick in curried foods, so this gal was happy.
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| Scrub Island (seen in the distance) |
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| Welcome, Sassers! |
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| Scrub Island Ferry |
1 plane, 4 taxis, and 2 boats later, we
finally arrived on our little bit of paradise for the week: Scrub! The resort was gorgeous - very small and intimate; beautiful rooms; lovely boat dock; untouched beaches and landscape; heavenly views. I could go on and on. But I won't. I'll just show you.
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| View from the Restaurant |
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| View from the top of the Island (quite a little hike!) |
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| Private beach on the Island - so tranquil |
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| Private Beach |
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| View from our Balcony |
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| Little slice of Heaven |
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| Hiking around Scrub |
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| Watching the sunset from our Balcony |
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| Night Shot |
This trip was not without adventure. Because Scrub is so isolated, finding different places to eat always required a boat. Some days it was the ferry or speedboat, but one afternoon we got SUPER adventurous and decided we could kayak across the vast blue Caribbean to Marina Cay Island, home of Pusser's famous restaurant and beach bar.
We did head back there for dinner one night, too, but they picked us up in a little dingy (no more kayaking for us!)
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| Yes, he's on his Blackberry....rum punch in hand. |
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| Picking out my dessert from the "menu" |
We found another interesting place to try called Last Resort. Also on a remote island (are you sensing a theme in the BVIs?), but they were kind enough to come pick you up in their little speedboat at the dock in Trellis Bay.
Other days/nights we would make it as far as Trellis Bay (where the Ferry from Scrub dropped us off), where we hung out with the local yocals, stray cats and feasted on West Indies fare. You'd be surprised how delicious the food could be coming out of some of these colorful shacks.
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| The Parking Lot |
We explored Road Town one day, which is the capital of the British Virgin Islands. Quite a laid-back little city, with lots of shops and boutiques to explore. The electricity went out for a few hours during our trip, which meant only a quick in-and-out of most shops because 1) it was so flippin' hot and humid, and 2) we were limited to cash and we had to save money for Caribs. :)
On a side note, there is a Deloitte office in Road Town. Perhaps a little secondment, James?? I'm in!
The biggest adventure of all was probably a snorkel trip through the BVI waters with a small group from the resort. We don't have an underwater camera so I didn't capture the time spent under water. But above water we had quite a fun time.
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| Looking fabulous, JB (sarcasm) |
After snorkeling through some lovely spots we headed to lunch at Willy T's, a famous beach restaurant located out in the middle of a cove. That's right, in a cove. As in, someone took an old boat, put in a grill, tables, and bar, electricity for the frozen drink machine, and it's one of the most happen' place in the Islands. Genius. James is still drawing up business plans in his head for how to one day own/run such a cool spot. (NOT HAPPENING, babe.)
From Willy T's we petitioned against any other snorkel dips and headed straight to Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke. Only accessible by water, Soggy Dollar requires you to swim up to the beach to partake in their world famous Painkillers. Which we did. Have mercy, we did...
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| View from our "parking spot" - just a short swim in! |
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| Our fabulous group |
Did I say we had a little too much fun at Soggy Dollar? Well we did. Which resulted in
this once we got back to the resort:
As you can see, we had a WONDERFUL trip that provided us a little R&R away from everyday life. Spontaneity worked in our favor on this one. :) Can't wait to go back!
