Macon and Robert Visit Antigua!

Wednesday, Feb 5 - Arrival in Jolly Harbor Antigua. We secured a mooring ball in the very calm, protected bay just inside the main anchorage. Easiest mooring situation so far. 🙌 If you had blindfolded me and plunked me on the bow, let me open my eyes,I would’ve said maybe I was in the sound portion of Wrightsville Beach. Aside from the mountains in the background it reminded me of home. There were unassumimg condos on the water with boat lifts full of Scouts and Boston Whalers. We got situated and headed to

shore to find the resort nearby where Macon and Robert would be staying upon their arrival tomorrow. We also found the greatest grocery store that we had been in since we left North Carolina. Felt like Harris Teeter! Praise be for aisles that more than one person can fit on, K cups for my coffee maker, and real deli meat!!

Thursday, February 6 - Macon and Robert arrive today. We still had to check into customs so we loaded up our schoolwork and headed that way. Thankfully, we motivated relatively early as the check-in situation

was long, required three different phases, and the office spaces were only big enough for one person plus the customs officer. Truly there were several customs employees that were hanging out on the deck outside because they could not even fit in their own office. Please excuse my continuing customs rants. This is our 11th Island and it remains to be my least favorite activity.  It took about 45 minutes and we were informed that we must have an Antigua flag flying on our vessel. So we departed customs we walked up the street to purchase our flag. Just for good measure we popped back into the amazing grocery store (I’m nicknaming it the CHT -Caribbean Harris Teeter) on the way home to get a few random items that we didn’t need ...,we just liked the store. While the kids finished their work I hopped a cab to the airport to surprise Macon and Robert when they arrived. I barely made it but the reunion was fantastic. Finally, my people! They got checked in and we all enjoyed the afternoon at the Starfish Jolly Harbour resort. All inclusive situation meant that we ate an unlimited amount burgers, fries, hotdogs, and grilled cheeses while the adults enjoyed some special beverages made with the bottom shelf rum! People watching was pretty fantastic as well. Think adult spring break! Grown ups acting like teenagers. They had activities such as trivia where when you got the answer wrong you had to take Jell-O shots and some serious 80s and 90s DJ music blaring over the pool deck. The kids were super excited for a pool since all of their swimming experiences for the last 43 days have involved only saltwater.It was a great day catching up with my sis!

Friday, Feb 7 - Schoolwork and a visit from the mechanic in the morning (still dealing with generator) and more Starfish Jolly Harbor resort activity in the afternoon.  M and R we’re game for a dinner “off campus” so we showered and met up at the Crows Nest Restaurant between where we were anchored and their hotel. It appeared to be a great atmosphere, steel drum band onstage, and was written up as one of the popular restaurants in the area. We sat at  730pm...... food arrived at 9:30 PM. Mills was asleep on my lap. This was one of the strangest restaurants in regards to the Wi-Fi situation. Each individual that wanted to use Wi-Fi had a different password that expired in one hour and they would only bring out a few at a time. We were visibly frustrated about our long wait so our waiter brought out six passwords as if to smooth over the situation. #passwordsonthehouse ???? Really? We were thinking something more like free dessert, free round of drinks, or perhaps the entire meal should be comped?  If you’re in Antigua don’t go to the Crows Nest for dinner!

Sat, Feb 8, Macon and Robert have had their fill of the adult spring break scene and had not seen our boat yet so we decided to make a day sail up north to Deep Bay to check out a shipwreck dive site. Another stop by the amazing CHT to get charcuterie board supplies. 🧀 🍇 It was a sunny day but quite windy and the sail was rough and rolly.. but once we got anchored it was pleasant. The wreck dive was cool.. decent visibility and Charlie was excited to experience something different than a reef. The sail back was a bit calmer...BUT, no true sailing excursion is uneventful. Instead of securing our dinghy on to the stern of the boat like normal, we decided to just tow it with the line since we are going such a short distance. But the following seas caused it to get yanked back-and-forth and about halfway home the line completely ripped off the bow handle and the dinghy was left floating at sea. Dinghy rescue involved a man overboard and the use of an extra shackle we had bought earlier. It worked out well!

Sunday, Feb 9 - We had decided earlier in the week that we wanted to check out another part of the island before Macon and Robert left. English Harbor was a relatively short distance around the south side of the Antigua and we had been reading about it in the planning stages. So Macon and Robert, despite the rough sail from the day before, decided to go with us to English Harbor.  They were still not keen on the adult spring break scene. When we woke up it was super calm with a light breeze and we thought it would be a delightful journey but the wind picked up and there were sporadic rain storms pretty much the entire day. It was about a four hour sail and we were excited to arrive and check out this historical and charming area of Antigua. We wound our way to the back of English harbor into a very calm secure cove called Tank Bay. We dinghyed to the dock and made the short walk over to Falmouth Harbor. The yacht scene there was extraordinary. Since it was Sunday, most places were closed or not serving food but we did find a fantastic upstairs restaurant, Cloggies, to have a drink. We walked back over to English Harbor and explored the Admirals Inn and then ended the evening at La Brasserie, the French waterfront restaurant just across from where we were anchored. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Macon and Robert after dinner...they were flying out the next morning. It was such a fun four days to be together!

We stayed two more days on English Harbor to dive a little more into the history. A hike to Fort Berkeley and Shirley Heights (which we mistakenly assumed to be Eric Clapton’s vacay home) on Monday afternoon presented  tremendous views of the south portion of Antigua. Tuesday morning we took schoolwork to shore for a great breakfast and lots of table space, something the kids have missed. Mills and Charlie each secured an entire table at the restaurant. The staff we’re looking at us like “who do these people think they are???” I joke often that as we move from place to place we should have “latitude adjustments” - and its so cheesy...but so true! Somehow gerunds and participles are more tolerable on shore in the Caribbean. (That doesn’t mean they make more sense...sorry Mrs. Mackey! -I am enjoying Anne Frank)

We really wanted to visit the Clarence house, A historic home on the island before we left. Our cruising guide told us to dinghy to the slipway marina and walk up the hill to the site, which we did. When we got there, all of the gates were closed. A trend I have mentioned several times in other blogs. Operating hours are just weird and sporadic. Turns out you have to call ahead to book a tour. So we waited outside the closed gate while I called and thankfully Dr. Chris Walter was available and arrived five minutes later for a private tour of the property. The home is the old Governor’s mansion and was able to be completely restored after a hurricane by a generous donor ($3 million)that won the Antigua race week. It is strategically positioned at the top of the hill overlooking the Nelson Dockyard and harbor so that the governor and navy generals could “look down” on their laborers to make sure they were working. That evening we went back to Falmouth for more yacht views and some delicious 🍣 sushi... and the sun set on our time in Antigua.

Davy Jones Locker list: No new items.

HOS Lesson of the Day: “Our days are like identical suitcases. Some just pack more in than others” - Lil Taylor

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