Our B.V.I. Adventure

We had a few "BVI firsts" on Saturday - which is becoming increasingly rare as we creep up on our 3rd anniversary of living here.

We went boating with the Shands who have a house on Great Camanoe, and while we've done that plenty of times, we stopped at two snorkeling destinations that were new to Michael and me!

One of Ginger and Rodney's daughters, Leslie is visiting with her husband Shae.  You may remember, we hung out with them during their last visit in 2010.  They too have had a baby recently, but their little girl stayed back in Mississippi.  

The first stop was Great Dog, where was saw some beautiful parrot fish and some harmless jelly fish.  Thank goodness they didn't sting - one ended up in my bathing suit!  Here is half of the crew on the boat.  Leslie was missing her baby girl so she stayed with Anna Drake while the rest of us snorkeled.

Anna Drake sure was taken with Shae...or maybe it was the other way around.  How cute is that?


Our next stop was Saba Rock for lunch.  This tiny island pretty much consists of a restaurant and a small hotel.  That's it!  We had the lobster tacos and they were really good!



We also traveled beyond the North Sound on Virgin Gorda, past the Bitter End Yacht Club and Saba Rock and onto one of the most beautiful bays in all of the British Virgin Islands.  Oil Nut Bay is unlike any other spot, I've ever seen.


The water is crystal clear and shallow - that's the big difference.  It reminds me of the Bahamas.  There are stretches of white sand, that reach from one of the big bay to the other.  And where there are patches of seagrass you can find inhabited conch shells and other sea things.  I found this queen conch and brought it up to the surface for this photo!  It was huge!


The inside of the shell was the most beautiful shade of pink; the photo does not do it justice!  We also saw a beautiful sting ray and a few sea turtles.  It was stunning!

We got Anna Drake in the water and she loved it too!  Thanks to Leslie and Shae for taking all of these wonderful photos...  We have misplaced the cord for our underwater camera, so we haven't been able to recharge it for months now!
As you can see, it was an absolutely gorgeous day.  And one, we were grateful to spend with our dear friends!!!  What could tomorrow possibly hold that could top this???

As we know, it's a small world and when Facebook came on the scene, it made it even smaller.  That's where, like so many of you, I've reconnected with friends from my childhood, college, past jobs, etc...

Well, when we announced our move to the BVI on Facebook, I got a message from one of those college friends, Dustin Bass.  We went to the University of Florida together.  He wanted to let me know that his in-laws have a place on Great Camanoe which overlooks Marina Cay, the island that Pusser's owns.  I was excited at the prospect of seeing a familiar face when he and his wife Nancy came to visit!

Two months after that initial exchange Dustin sent me another message: his in-laws were coming down for two weeks.  While his own family wasn't going to be able to make it, (they have an adorable baby boy, Jackson) his in-laws were open to meeting us!  We exchanged numbers, which led to Day 56: Meeting the Shands, aka The Honorable Rodney and Mrs. Shands of New Albany, Mississippi!

Ginger met us at the dock at Trellis Bay at 11am.  We took their rib over to Great Camanoe, where they live in Indigo Plantation.  It's an amazing set up with a private docking area, sheltered from the sea.  That's their home there, with the three peaked rooftops:

Rodney met us up at the house.  I have to admit, hearing southern accents and talking SEC football was really nice.  There were no "Go Gators" exchanged though; you see the Shands are HUGE and I mean HUGE Ole Miss fans.  Even with the Ole Miss flag flying high above their home, it is beautiful!  It's divided into three sections with these deep porches.  Here's the view between two of the sections:
Rodney gave us a tour of the island on their "gator" and showed us their wild orchid garden.  Truly amazing! 

Some of their friends who also have a house on Camanoe joined us for lunch, Jim, Denny and Denny's sister, Christie.  Ginger made us the most scrumptious Southern fare:  chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches.  Then it was time to hit the water and head out on their boat!
It was a gorgeous Sunday; we went everywhere!  Past the Dogs, over to Virgin Gorda, beyond Mosquito and Prickly Pear Islands, all the way to Necker Island. (That's the $36,000 per night resort belonging to Sir Richard Branson.)

Here are a few photos from our trip, including a stop at Saba Rock for some rum drinks:


We ended up snorkeling Diamond Reef near Scrub Island.  We saw our first baracuda, along with some gorgeous parrot fish and elkhorn coral.  It was stunning!!!

We enjoyed the day immensely and cannot thank Dustin enough for introducing us to our new friends, Ginger and Rodney!