Antigua: A Magical Island

Wednesday finds us docking at the beautiful island of Antigua.     I have never visit Antigua before, but this island has held a mystique for me for as long as I can remember.    My excitement built as we left the ship looking for a place that rented motor scooters.     It didn’t take us long to find the scooter rental shop, and we were off on another new adventure.     

     We worked our way out of St. John’s on Sir Sydney Walling Highway heading for the eastern side of the island and the Devil’s Bridge.    As we left the paved road and started down the dirt road that takes us to the coastline, we rounded a corner and met a herd of wild donkeys.    We stopped and watched these beautiful animals for a while before continuing down to the coast.     A few kilometers later we were at Devil’s Bridge.     This is a naturally carved bridge and “blowhole” that the sea attacks on a daily basis.    The wave erosion has created this impressive bridge in the rock cliffs.    Watching the waves hitting the bridge and blowing out the top behind the bridge is very impressive and loud.

     Leaving Devil’s Bridge, we turn to the south and pass through St. Peter and St. Paul Perishes as we wind our way down to Falmouth and English Harbours.    Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour was first used as a hurricane shelter by three British Navy Ships in 1671.   It was recognized as an important harbour to protect the fleet and in 1725 the first ship was built in English Harbour across from where Nelson’s Dockyard is today.  By 1750 construction had begun on Nelson’s Dockyard and operational by 1778.     Today it is a National Park that is a must visit when in Antigua.

     From Nelson’s Dockyard, we head a bit North and West through the Rainforest   then Southwest coastline and some of the most beautiful beaches anywhere.   We follow the coastline back to the north as we work our way back to St. John’s and our final stop at the Antigua Distillery.

     At the Distillery, we get the opportunity to taste three of their finest rums.   First the English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum, fine rum that we have at the Rum Bar that sells well.   Next we taste the Ten Year Old English Harbour; this rum demonstrates the real value of additional aging on already fine rum.   The Ten Year Old English Harbour is a great addition to your rum cellar.     Finally we are offered the opportunity to try their English Harbour 1981 Vintage.    This rum was distilled in 1981, bottled in 2006 and is fabulous from the first whiff to the finish…but it is about $250 a bottle – it is worth the investment.

Safe and sound, we returned the scooters, and boarded the Celebrity Summit ready to shove off for St. Maarten a little later this afternoon.     Antigua fulfilled my interest and I look forward to returning someday soon when I can stay a little longer.     ;o)

St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Distillery

     Today we visited St. Lucia Distillers where Laurie Barnard, the Managing Director, gave us a personal tour of the facility.     Mr. Barnard enlightened us about the history and the operation of the distillery.      The stills at St. Lucia Distillers are very unique, both the pot stills and the column still.    With three pot stills they have the capability to great a great number of heavy, flavorful distillates from which to blend and create bold new rums.     St. Lucia distillery boasts some 17 brands and types of rum.

     After a fire at the distillery in 2006, many casks of Chairman’s Reserve were missing in the ruble and disorder.    Inadvertently, this rum aged an additional 5 years and once sampled, the flavor was so wonderful, it was bottled.   Chairman’s Reserve – the Forgotten Casks is bottled in limited amounts… available to a few lucky individuals fortunate enough to locate it…I got mine at the Distillery.

     There are many not-for-export rums produced by the St. Lucia Distillers, some of which will soon be available in the United States…among these are:  Admiral Rodney, an bold navy style rum;  1931, a new rum made to celebrate 80 years of rum making at St. Lucia Distillers; and Chairman’s  Reserve  - The Forgotten Casks.

     We were afforded an opportunity to sample some of the distillates as they came off the stills and the same distillates after they were aged.     They also let us taste their agricole style distillates both as they came off of the still and after a short period of aging.    The skills of the blenders and the still operators give this distillery tools to provide very fine rums as a finished product.

     The trip to and from St. Lucia Distillers gave all of us a chance to take in the beautiful island of St. Lucia and see many breath taking sights.     We arrived back at our Celebrity Summit Ship in time to prepare for our trip overnight to Antigua.    Tomorrow, if it can be arranged, we are taking a scooter trip around the island.     Antigua is one of the Caribbean islands that has always fascinated me, so I’m really excited about tomorrow’s visit.     ;o)

Barbados: Rum Shops and Distilleries

     Monday and its Barbados.     We leave the boat and head for the port, find a taxi that is willing to carry us around and show us the island.     Hugh is the man that got stuck with us… not really… as it turned out, we all had a great day together.    

     We then left the port and headed to the East to visit our friends Richard and Gail Seale at the Foursquare Distillery.     We caught them at the start of a tour and were able to tag along enjoying the tour of the distillery and the bottling plant.     The highlight of the tour was the visit to the tasting room where we got to try the Rum Sixty-Six and the Doorly’s XO as well as the new 3 and 5 year old Doorly’s Rums.      Adding J. D. Taylor Velvet Falernum to the Doorly’s XO gave us a Corn & Oil Cocktail that just couldn’t be beat.      As usual it is always a pleasure to spend time with the Seale’s here in Barbados.

     Next, we headed cross island to Cherry Hill to visit Larry Warren and his family at the St. Nicolas Abbey.     The Warren’s have been restoring the abbey for several years now and each time that I return it is absolutely amazing how much they have accomplished.      This year the still is running at full production and there is a new 12 year old St. Nicolas Abbey Rum for sale.    This is rum that needs to be added to any serious rum collector’s shelf.       Larry was the perfect host, as usual, allowing us to spend time wandering around the grounds and looking at the Steam-powered cane crusher used to produce the cane syrup that is fermented to make the rum.      After a fine lunch at the Abbey it was time for us to bid adieu to the Warren’s and their beautiful St. Nicolas Abbey.  Next we headed toward the western coast to visit a number of the “rum shops” that the island is famous for.

     The next few hours took us from one rum shop to another and beaches in between.     The rum shops are really Bajan bars.    In the more traditional “rum shops” you buy a bottle of rum, your mixer and how many glasses that you will need.     The glasses are filled with ice…then taking the mixer, glasses and rum – you mix your own drinks tableside.     Six of us drank a rum and coke at each stop - the bill averaged about $ 16 to $ 18 Bajan or about $ 8 to $9 dollars American.     This is absolutely a wonderful thing that I wish could come to Key West or anywhere in America.     Working our way back to the ship, we managed to visit around nine of these rum shops, and four or so beaches.     To say the very least, our group had a really enjoyable day in Barbados.

     Now we are back aboard the Celebrity Summit headed for St. Lucia where we will disembark at 8:30 am for another adventuresome day on the Rum Cruise.     ;o)

A Day at Sea

     Today is a day at sea for the rum crew.   We are enroute to Barbados for a day of distillery and rum shop visitation.       We will start out with St Nicolas Abbey, then to the Foursquare Distillery, followed by Cockspur’s West Indies Rum Distillery.   The rest of the shore time will be spent visiting some of the many rum shops on the island.

     Today it was off to the gym at 6:30 this morning for an hour workout on some of the finest equipment that I’ve ever seen.     This ship has great equipment throughout, and the gym is no exception.    After a great workout and breakfast, I retired to the pool for some tanning and relaxation.     After lunch it was time for the rum seminars.

     The first one was a great lecture and tasting by Bacardi’s David Cid.    David covered the beginnings of Bacardi in 1862 by Don Facundo Bacardi Masso, and the his approach using the “scientific method” to bring rum out of the cellar as a spirit and how he was crucial in redefining the “Spirit of the Caribbean”.     There was an opportunity to taste several of the Bacardi brand rums including the new Bacardi Oakheart Spiced rum.      David’s discussion of yeast, and fermentation was very informative and will be the subject of another blog when I get back home.

     Next was another seminar, this time by Esteban Ordonez from Don Q and the Serralles Family’s distillery in Ponce, Puerto Rico.     Esteban spent a lot of time discussing the importance and the ins and out of aging and blending of the rum.    It is the belief of the Don Q people that barrels need to be used for three different types of aging before they are ready for use in their rum aging method.     They believe that they like most others that you need to start with American Oak Barrels use to age Bourbon, the Canadian Whiskey, Scotch Whiskey, before they are ready for Don Q to be aged in the barrels.     He also discussed the “science of distillation” and the “art of blending’ rums.     We were able to taste several of the Don Q Rums including their top of the line Solera aged Don Q Gran Anejo.

     Finally was the cocktail contest by the Bacardi people after a discussion of the cocktail history of Bacardi and the late 1800”s and the early 1900’s in Cuba.       After the discussion teams were chosen, off to our tables we went to create three cocktails.    First one was the “Mojito”, then the” Daiquiri”, and finally the “Bacardi Cocktail”.     When the results were compiled, and our team won the overall with our “Bacardi Cocktail”, yeah team!!!    These events were very good and I did enjoy the seminars and the cocktail competition.

Watch for the next edition with pictures and stories from Barbados, home of great rums and the “Flying Fish Sandwich”.     ;o)

A Second Day in Old San Juan

     Second day in Old San Juan, it’s off to the trolley and a tour of Old San Juan.      Today we are following the wall as we travel around the city.    Known as the walled city, Old San Juan is a historically significant place that was held and attacked by many countries since its beginnings in the Sixteenth Century.     The fortress is immense and is strategically located at the entrance to San Juan Harbor with Fort San Juan de la Cruz across the harbor from it placing any enemy vessel in a deadly cross fire as it tries to enter the bay.

After leaving San Felipe El Morro Castle, it was down into the walled city to explore the walls and the architecture of this magnificent old city.   Wandering through these narrow streets is an adventure in itself.   You turn a corner and a new world pops up right in front of you and you just can’t keep the camera from taking another and another and another picture.     As we moved toward the South side of the city we were back to the walls again and the feeling that the city had to be impregnable from the land or the sea.     These walls at least 20 feet thick and made of stone and concrete are just plain impressive.     With our time in Old San Juan running out far too quickly, we headed for the port and the Celebrity Summit to get aboard for the beginning of our next adventure.

   

     Once aboard the Celebrity Summit, we got checked in, had the safety drill, move into our room, then it was time for some lunch in the Waterfall café for some lunch and then off to the Setting Sail Party by the pool on the 10^th deck.     The crew made sure that we were well stocked with rum drinks as the ship slowly backed out of its berth and was turned around and got under way.     I can feel the ships movement now as we are at sea and I am in the room typing about today’s events.

Tomorrow is a day at sea so we will be wandering around the ship and seeing what the ship has to offer us as we embark on our sea day. ;o).    

                                                                                                                                               

Walking Through the Walled City of San Juan

Castillo De San Cristobal

Castillo San Felipe Del Morro



This is a recovery day here in Old San Juan, we walked through the streets and spent some time in Paseo de la Princesa.     This is just below the wall of the city on the Southside.      Old San Juan is known as the walled city, because there are stone walls on three sides of the city that protected it from attack from the sea.     The two major fortresses are San Felipe El Morro Castle and San Cristobal Castle at East and West ends of the city.     These 16^th century fortresses have protected San Juan proudly since their construction.    Today nearly 2 million visitors a year visit these “Castles”.     If you ever come to San Juan you will be remiss if you don’t take the time to see these magnificent structures.

     The Walled city itself is a pleasure to walk through the blue cobble stone streets and enjoy the colorful buildings.     The restaurants, and bars here in Old San Juan are as unique as the city itself.       Many of the bars have historical significance to the rum world, like Barrachina where it is claimed in 1965 that the Pina Colada was first created, even though there is a lot of controversy about that, because it is also claimed that it was created at the Caribe Hilton also in San Juan in 1954.    As we wandered through these narrow streets, we found ourselves just enjoying the walk and seeing all of the unique architecture and colors of the city.

     Our stay in Old San Juan is a short on, because tomorrow we have a couple of welcome parties, then it is boarding of the cruise ship for the Rum Cruise.    I wish I had a little more time here in San Juan to get over to the Barrilito and Bacardi Distilleries here  in San Juan, but that can be saved for another visit when there is more time.     We will have to just see what tomorrow has to offer, with Rums of Puerto Rico and Don Q welcome parties.     ;o)

Travel Day to San Juan

     This day is a travel day; we are leaving the Virgin Islands today headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico.     We spent the morning enjoying our last moments of beautiful views and great fun in the Virgin Islands.     I spent some time this morning with my old friend Robert Z and then back to the condo to pick up the rest of the crew and off to the airport.

     Last night Marta and I spent the evening enjoying a fine dinner at Mim’s and a fun time at Iggie’s enjoying the live music and Jason’s fine cocktails.      Jack and Lauren, two of our lab mice, use to live in St. Thomas and work at Iggie’s.   They gave us some really great recommendations of where to eat and drink, and we really appreciate their recommendations because the food, drink and the vibe was absolutely excellent.     

     Today was a recovery day after 5 fun filled days in the Virgin Islands and all of the hijinks of the week; we need to recover before starting the Rum Day in Puerto Rico and the Rum Cruise to follow.      Tomorrow we are visiting a distillery or two here in Puerto Rico, and wandering around Old San Juan visiting some very unique watering holes.      Until tomorrow, it is a laid back evening here in the room.     ;o)

Last Day at Sea: Jost Van Dyke & Cane Garden Bay

     Today we slept in a bit and hit the water headed for Cane Garden Bay and the Callwood Distillery.     It was a bit rainy as we past to the North of St. John and Tortola to slide into Cane Garden Bay in a nice 2 foot swell.    After securing the boat on a mooring ball it was off to the distillery.    It was good to revisit the oldest continuously operating distillery in the world again and to tour around this place where rum is still made the way it was hundreds of years ago.     Seeing the old wood fired pot still and the old condenser it is just a living museum of rum making.     After buying a bottle of Arundel Cane Rum to take back to the boat it was off to Jost Van Dyke for the rest of the day.

     The light rain did not deter us from our voyage across the water from Cane Garden Bay to Great Harbour and Jost Van Dyke.    Our first stop after docking was Corsair’s, a great little bar and grill that is just loaded with character and memorabilia.     After having a great British style grouper & chips lunch and a couple of really tasty cocktails, we were ready for the safari ride over the mountain to White Bay and a visit to the Soggy Dollar.

     The ride over the mountain is an “E-ticket ride” at Disneyland; it is vertical up one side of the mountain and vertical down the other.    We just prayed that the brakes would hold as we enjoyed the fabulous scenery on the approach to White Bay.     A few “white knuckled” minutes later and a great at job by our skilled driver we were safe and sound at the Soggy Dollar.    Immediately it was off to the bar and having Mic fix us Pain Killers from the place that they were first created.     The drinks were fabulous and it was a pleasure to watch the Painkiller master work his magic.     We spent the next couple of hours hang and chillin’ on the beach and enjoying the beauty and the pain killers.    Alas it was time to make the trek over the mountain again and make a stop at Foxy’s before getting aboard the Naughty Nymph #43 again.

     We spent quite some time at the Soggy Dollar, so it was a short visit to Foxy’s.  Fortunately we got the chance to sit and talk with Foxy for quite some time on Monday when we were diverted from Cane Garden Bay by a 12 to 18 foot North swell.   We were able to have a cocktail there before getting underway again.

      Now it is back to St. John and the US Customs check in and home again to Red Hook on St. Thomas.  Tonight we are headed for dinner at Mim’s on Bolongo Bay the over to Iggy’s for an evening bash as our last hooray here in the Virgin Islands.    Thursday it is back to the plane for a short hop to San Juan for 2 days of distillery visitation.     ;o)