Our B.V.I. Adventure

On Tuesday, we headed out with the Campagna clan to the beautiful Jost van Dyke.  We took the Mystique day sail again...I cannot speak highly enough of this boat!  It is in the Voyage Charter fleet out of Soper's Hole.


(Funny side note:  Once we had boarded, and we were awaiting the safety briefing, one of our fellow passengers looked over at me and said - "Do you have a blog?  I googled the Mystique boat this morning looking for their phone number and your blog popped up.  That must be Anna Drake!" While this isn't the first time I've been recognized from the blog, it's the first time in a long time.  So, thanks for reading nice lady from South Carolina!)

Soggy Dollar Bar may have the best painkillers, but One Love makes the best bushwhacker!
We also ate lunch at One Love and it was delicious.  We shared a few savory lobster quesadillas.  How sweet are little Charlotte and Vivian???  They adopted the chill vibe of Jost van Dyke and acted as if this was something they do every day.


We also introduced Liz to the dark and stormy drink.  Have you had one?  It's made with three simple ingredients:  1 part Gosling's Rum (that's the dark) 1 part Ginger Beer (that's the stormy) and then a squeeze of fresh lime.  Here's the finished product:
It was another gorgeous day in the BVI and another splendid day sail on the Mystique.  Thanks to our captain, Nico and hostess, Celia for making it so wonderful!
Don't you just want to dive in and take a swim?  Aunt Alison did - here she is enjoying the cool waters.

We had another splendid day on the Mystique.  This is such a stress-free way to visit one of our favorite islands, Jost van Dyke.  The captain and hostess aboard the boat take care of everything, including mixing the drinks!  That's the catamaran anchored in White Bay.  (Looks kind of small in this photo, but it's 45' long.)


The itinerary was the same as our trip with Whitney...  Sailed to Diamond Point, where we snorkeled and even tried out the kayak, then we headed over to Soggy Dollar Bar for the afternoon before returning to Tortola!  We loved every minute and Anna Drake was such a good little sailor!

We enjoyed meeting some folks from Wrightsville Beach, NC.  My dad wanted them to hear some music by Da Tree Men, Michael's old BVI band, so he confiscated Michael's iPhone and had them play "Jost van Dyke - Tropical Paradise" on the sound system.  It was a nice way to end our excursion.

I really miss the band...  You may remember, the lead singer moved back to the states almost a year ago.  We've worn out the CD of the band's original songs.  Michael's drums are now collecting dust on top of a closet in the nursery.  Sad.

On Tuesday, we headed out for a fun day of sailing on the Mystique - a beautiful 45' catamaran.  We headed over to Jost van Dyke for a snorkel around Diamond Point.  Our captain, Nico (sp?) suggested we look under a particular rock on the south side of the point.  There, he said, we would find lobster!  And sure enough...


Do you see the tentacles sticking out from underneath the coral?  We dove down to see it better, but unfortunately our accuracy with the camera while diving was not so good.

Our next stop was the always beautiful White Bay.  The water was the perfect shade of blue.  Here's Whitney on the bow of the boat:


Nico escorted us to shore via the dinghy, which was really great since we had Anna Drake in tow.  She wore her sporty life jacket!

Before having a Painkiller at Soggy Dollar Bar, we had to decide where to have lunch!  There's One Love on the far end, Jewel's Snack Shack for hamburgers, among other restaurants.  We knew we wanted lobster and this looked too good to pass up!


We ordered the lobster pizza plus half pepperoni and half jalapeno.  It was delicious!  We highly recommend it!


After lunch, Whitney snapped this family photo!  Christmas card, maybe?  :)

Here's the crew in line at Soggy Dollar Bar!
By three o'clock it was time to get back on the Mystique and return to Torotla.  Anna Drake loved it aboard the boat.
We will absolutely choose the Mystique again!  It was much easier than renting our own boat for the day, especially now that we have a little one!