Chicken Wings and Proper Cubby Organization - Part Two, Day Two of My British Virgin Islands Adventure

Part Two - Day Two British Virgin Islands

Hello LilyOnTheLam.com Readers:

This is the third installment of a 9,002,341 multi-part series about my vacation in the British Virgin Islands.  So if this is the first post you are reading, stop being avant garde and go back and read parts one and two.  NOW!

OK now welcome back ... this is part two, day two (a.k.a. Sunday afternoon).  When we last left our heroic main characters - Lily and Squidge - they were sightseeing near Wickham's Cay near Roadtown on the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.  They were also wondering when and where they and their luggage would get picked up to go to the Yacht Promenade for a 10 night sailing trip.  

Squidge and I headed back to the casitas by the ferry port for some window shopping.  There is a small stage with a binocular style view finder in which you can view the horizon.  We took several pictures from this scenic spot and boosted the local economy when I purchased a pair of colorful beaded earrings.  The weather was perfect.  

There is a grocery store and small department store down the street from the Village Cay Hotel and Marina.  We stopped in to the grocery store to see if my sister wanted any treats for the sailing trip (even though the Yacht Promenade does a very good job of being stocked with lots of delicious yummy goods.)  I must say the grocery store was the cleanest and most well-stocked as I have ever seen it.  We checked out all the exotic types of juices and marveled over the great cheese and deli meat selection.  A great place to stock up for a picnic.  They also have a large hot table where you can purchase pay by the weight hot foods to go.  Everything smelled wonderful.

After sightseeing, we made our way back to Bamboushay Lounge - which advertised $5 painkiller drinks and free wifi.  I have not been to the BVI in 4 years and the proliferation of free wifi is amazing.  Now some would still prefer to live off the grid and not be connected, but I was happy to be able to check my email and let friends and family know we arrived to the BVI safely without paying $2.50 a minute for a phone call or 50 cents for a text (international roaming costs).

We reconnected with the world and I took great delight in having my first painkiller of the trip - with a big dark rum shot floater on top and freshly ground nutmeg.  Delicious!  Squidge, wary of the tropical heat, stuck to pineapple juice and water.  A smart move that I would later adopt in the afternoon when the effects of the painkiller had me a little loopy.

More sightseeing was had and then we made our way back to the Village Cay hotel's bar.  Miss B had given us the wifi password, so we checked email and relaxed.  Miss B joined us for a drink and we found out through the magic of Facebook that Captain Chad would soon be picking us up.  

We waited and waited - and then decided a snack was needed-- in a macabre homage to the large amount of chickens and roosters roaming the island we ordered chicken wings.  They came coated with a fruity, sweet but hot sauce.  It reminded me of a mix of mango, habanero and ketchup - which may not sound tasty but were pretty darn good.  As we were enjoying our chicken wings, Captain Chad came to look for us and did not see us - evidently we already looked like locals with our tans!  

Luckily Captain Chad came back and this time we spotted him before he could spot us and off we went!  Since this was not a typical charter, we headed over to Captain Kerry's condo to hang out and catch up while the crew finished cleaning the boat from the last charter.  We sat on the waterfront deck that was a mere twenty feet from where the trimaran was anchored.  We watched as the crew diligently cleaned the boat.  Finally our vacation was about to begin!  

Eventually the crew came over in a dinghy, loaded us and our luggage and we were off to the Yacht Promenade!  

The first two times I sailed on the Yacht Promenade - I had my own cabin - a room in the starboard hull with its own bathroom and double bed.  But this time, I would be sharing a room with Squidge and staying in one of the back cabins in the middle hull.   We have a sink and two beds but would share two bathrooms with two other cabins.  For a small room, there are tons of cubby holes in which to store your stuff.  To make my life more organized and easy in the small space, I had taken two and a half gallon plastic ziplock bags and organized my clothes by bag.  Swimsuits in one bag, shorts in another, etc., etc.  It is a true time saver in such a small cabin.  I tend to wear a lot of dark colors, so trying to find the correct shirt or skirt or dress in a small dark cubby can be difficult.  Now with the pre-sorted ziplock bag system, I can quickly find what I need.

Squidge and I spent our first hour on the boat unpacking and organizing so we could fold up our luggage and get it out of the way.  In such a small cabin, you need proper organization skills.  Once everything was unpacked it was time to truly relax.  The rest of the guests arrived and we sat in the "saloon" (like the boat's living room) with cocktails and a light dinner of cheese, salami and crackers.  The charter would not truly begin until mid-day Monday.  The crew had the night off, so Miss B. and Squidge put together the meat and cheese platter for our evening munchies.

It was nice to catch up with the people on the trip who I had met before and also to learn about the new people - who were not new to the boat, but new to me.  One by one, the sleepy but very happy guests said their goodnights.  Squidge and I decided to also go to bed, but then in true "sleepover" fashion we stayed up talking in the dark for an hour.  Neither of us slept very well - too excited, cabin was stuffy and hot -- we had foregone air conditioning the first night since the charter had not officially started.  Big mistake!  But we had fans in the room and eventually we both drifted asleep.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day Three British Virgin Islands!