Yet another beautiful destination.....Antigua (promounced "Antiga") :)

Antigua is our second stop on our trip to Spain. The weather has been great…..we are blessed with good fortune. Actually, Pat was blessed with good fortune. Like the book “Under the Tuscan Sun, “ Pat had a pigeon poop on her head.  Pat was as disgusted as I have ever seen her but she brightened considerably when her daughter told her the story from Ms. Mayes book As the author relates the purchase of her house in Tuscany,the owner of the house she purchased would not sell until she found out a pigeon had pooped on her head.....the owner took this to be good luck and agreed to sell Ms. Mayes the house.…..If this truly means good luck; we are in for a great trip!




Pat.....right before the Pigeons did their damage

Antigua is one, if not the most, beautiful of Caribbean Islands. Of top 10 beaches in the world, Antigua is host to either two or three of them depending on which website you read. With 365 publicly owned beaches, you can hit one a day and not repeat your visit for an entire year. Discovered by Christopher Columbus, Antigua was home to the Nelson Dockyards named after Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. The inlet to the dockyards is hidden from the ocean….only one way in or out and it makes for a protected and strategic ship repair facility which is still in use today. Settled by the British, Antigua is part of the British Commonwealth and gained their independence in 1979. Agriculture and tourism are the major industries along with a good rum business. Sugar cane production used to be very strong but, like many islands in the region, it is no longer economically feasible to produce sugar…..most of that production has been converted to rum. The saying around here is that it is better to stay drunk….if you sober up, you will just have to get drunk again anyway.

We took a tour with other’s from our ship and visited some high points of the island which include the overlook to the Nelson Dockyards, the Dockyards themselves, the Town of St. Johns and surrounding areas. We were lucky to visit on such a clear day. We could see some of the other surrounding islands like Guadaloupe and Montserrat. Montserrat has the only active volcano in the Caribbean and we could clearly see the plume from the crater. Antigua is just 108 square miles and has a population of around 80,000. With roughly 40 miles of coastline….most of it is good, beach front property. It must have some attraction. Among other celebrities, Eric Clapton lives here.

Antigua emancipated their slaves about the time that most other Islands did in 1832. As with most British Commonwealth territories, Cricket is one of the favorite sports and Sir Vivian Richards (the “Master Blaster” to those knowledgeable about the sport) is a national hero….he even has the local cricket stadium named after him. I can’t understand cricket….it takes days to determine a winner and they throw way too many ground balls for my taste…

Our driver was a real character….he named himself “engine number 9” mostly so that we could all remember which bus we were on. He was irreverent and didn’t hesitate to make racial jokes that we would cringe at in the US. During the tour, he pointed out a Donkey and called it a Antiguan “BMW.” None of us knew what that was. He answered that it stood for “Black Man’s Wheels.” Kind of gives you an idea of our day….very funny guy. Part of our tour included rum punch with 151 proof rum…..I needed to go back to the ship and take a nap after that…..I’m not in college any more!

Antiguan BMW

It’s been 20 years since Pat and I had visited this island….we remembered it fondly and we had our memory refreshed. It’s a quaint and peaceful place with scenery and beaches (for the water sports inclined) that you can get in few other places. We plan to return and spend more time soon.

As I write this, we are on our second day of 6 crossing the Atlantic. Internet service is spotty….carrier pigeons might be more effective. Hopefully, I will be able to post a few pictures along with the text.

Best to All….we will update you on St. Lucia next time.

Pat and Chris