Island Manor St. John's

... waves) and picked up a few dogs on route. Just above the main village there was a bar with a great view so we stopped for a beer for a reasonable price (about $2). On the way down we passed some little girls who came up to both of us and gave us big hugs. Very sweet but how unusual! Then we decided to have one more drink at a beach bar attached to a quiet hotel. There we made the HUGE mistake of not asking the price and it turned out that a rum and coke was something like $15 ...

... pointed out to us, apparently he's done an awful lot for the islanders and is held in high regard; one of the many things he's done is to build a rehab centre to help locals deal with their addictions. From there we went to the Betty's Hope Sugar Plantation for a Caribbean style buffet lunch, which was just amazing, Creole chicken, rice, salads, dressings, fruit bread, rum punch, fruit, after 2 large glasses of punch a couple of ...

... I bathed and read my book covered in factor 25 tungsten lead lined sun cream. I stayed out for three hours thinking I was invincible. See attached phots for how un invincible I was. After Lisa had stopped laughing at my sunburn (Actually she never stops and still puts her sunglasses on when I take off my top now) we ...

... was built in 1725 and served as a base for the English naval squadron patrolling the West Indies. After a short informative walk with the guide, we were able to tour the entire dockyard on our own. This proved to be quite interesting and beautiful pictures were taken once again. After the tour, we enjoyed our free time to explore the mall museum, art gallery, gift shop and boutiques. We were also served a complimentary drink prior to our departure ...

Today we arrived in St. John's, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda. We debarked the ship and walked a bit until we reached what seemed to be some sort of plaza, where a local was balancing a pineapple on her head while grooving to music, hoping to make a few dollars off of us tourists. Later in the day, we took a tour of the island and saw two gorgeous beaches: Dickinson and Runaway.<br>

... so much that day I'm not sure I cared what was put in front of me. Deserts were extra pretty and noisemakers and hats were put on all the tables. We handed out glow necklaces and light up pins to our tablemates. New Years offered a variety of venues and I think that Andy and I sampled them all. Free champagne was handed out - don't ask me about the quality as I had the obligatory amount for the toast then put it down. The Schooner bar with Daniella & Pete & Eleni was fun with a video feed ...

... island was inhabited by English settlers in 1632,but abandoned when the English were attacked by the Caribs. The English tried to settle the island again in 1663, only to have it taken again, this time by the French.  Antigua was returned to British in the Treaty of Breda and resettled by British Colonists. By the late 17th Century, Sir Christopher Codrington brought sugar cultivation to the island on a grand scale and a century later, the island was a bustling sugar producer ...

... The unemployment is about 9%. I find the locals not as aggresives than the beach sellers. Going back to my hotel, I alternate between the pool, the bar and the beach; I'm so hot, borderline heatstroke, I stay up my neck in the water until my skin is so wrinkled, I start to look like a little raisin. Entertainment tonight is karaoke, for the other guests, that is.................

... lunch so we sat on the veranda and enjoyed a drink before continuing our tour. We chose to have lunch at the Golden Lemon which is a lovely inn and restaurant restored on the site of the oldest estate in St. Kitts originally built by Huguenots in the 1600s. After lunch we drove the windward side of St. Kitts digressing only to drive through the Ottley Plantation to see its gardens and facilities. We dropped the rental car off that afternoon and explored the shops in town. We ...

... ridiculous. We are offered just a plate of fruit salad and some cheese, and we are all very angry. The leader gets nervous and tries to calm us down and the chef from the kitchen tells us that this is what they eat in this exotic island for lunch, so we should not be demanding. I then go straight to the people of the group and tell them to deny eating this ridiculous dish ...