More pictures from Hawksbill Beach

Eric serving us drinks prepared from Millie our favorite bartender.  When we were leaving, she pulled us aside to let us know her schedule for the rest of the week and the other bar on the island where she works.

The rock formation which gives Hawksbill its name.

At the end of the day leaving Hawksbill

Last night, we ventured over to The Crow's Nest for some drinks and music, rode our rented bikes up and down the road in front of the villa like little kids, brought a beer to the security lady manning the gate for this community and laughed and laughed and laughed until the tears were streaming down our faces.  

Today, we are going to try another beach on this side of the island.  

Here's the itinerary:

Beach With Waves - Done

Beach With Clear Water - Today

Do you like Penis Colada?

Today was an exceptionally good day in Antigua.

Due to our 24 hrs of traveling, we were exhausted last night and none of us were in much of a hurry to get moving this morning.

Some of us were much more exhausted than others.  The hotel in Trinidad only had 2 rooms available so Butch, Jeff and I shared one room and Allison, Eric, Charlene and Jamie shared the other.  My room was nice and quiet; lights off at 1 am and everyone sleeping soundly in a few minutes after that.  We did not stir until our 5 am wake up call.  The other room was dominated by Eric's epic snoring interleaved with his talking in his sleep.  Jamie and Charlene have a new found appreciation for Allison's life.  It goes something like this "How do you not smother him with a pillow?"

Pictures from our beach and pool.

This morning we finally got moving around 10 am.  Butch wanted to go to a beach with waves so we went to the surfer beach, Galley Bay beach.  We arrived to find a red flag and really scary crashing waves.  Butch said he likes waves but also likes being alive.  So we left.  The waves in Jolly Harbour are too small and the waves in Galley Bay are too big.

We drove around the corner to Hawksbill Beach.  The waves here were just right.  Everything about Hawksbill was just right.  Perfect actually.

Hawksbill Beach is actually 4 beaches at the Rex Resorts.  You can park outside the resort and go to the beaches but, for $40 per person, you get chairs, lunch and unlimited drinks from the bar.  OMG. Did the Rex lose money on us.  The bartender Millie made Pina Colada after Pina Colada.

The most remote beach at Hawksbill is a nude beach. Charlene and I walked over to the nude beach. To quote Elaine Benes, "Naked is not a good look for a man."

I'll post more pictures tomorrow. The internet at the house is being too slow and annoying to upload pictures.

Better late than never...

After traveling 24 hrs including a pit stop in wonderful Trinidad, we have arrived in Antigua.

This is the hands-down, no contest, do not pass Go, best house we have ever rented.

This is the view from our house

A pool and on the beach - the picture speaks for itself.

A few more pictures in case you are not sufficiently jealous yet

Speaking of Trinidad, if we never return again it will be too soon.  They have the slowest customs that I have ever encountered. 1 person on duty.

We are already well known at Castaways, the bar just down the beach from our house.

Today, we will spend the rest of the day just swimming and hanging around the house.

Greetings from Trinidad. Not kidding.

The Good News: Our Caribbean Airlines flight took off from JFK.  We were in terminal 4 advertised as the "Terminal of Choice" at JFK.  I have to admit there is a good selection of bars and restaurants in Terminal 4.

The Bad News: We have a 9 hr layover in Trinidad.  Seriously.

The Good News:  It's a new country and one that was not on any list that I could ever have imagined. 

In order to qualify as a new country, you have to leave the airport and have a meal so I'm writing this from a hotel room at The Regent Star. They have a shuttle bus to and from the airport.  The driver also shuttled us over to the market to buy some beer.    

If our luck continues we will be on the beach in Antigua in a few more hours.  

Charlene has had exceptionally good luck so far.  In our haste to book the tickets last night, her name was misspelled as "Shalene."  The lady at the ticket counter was able to fix the booking for her.  Then she got a free drink at the bar at the airport. Who gets a free drink at an airport bar? Shalene does. That's who. 

In what will undoubtably not be the last picture of us at a bar, here we are happy to be escaping the snow

Speaking of snow, here they are clearing it from JFK

Next update from Antigua! 

Romance... Really?

The cover of Condé Nast Traveler this month is "The Romance of Travel."

JetBlue cancelled our flight so I am writing this from Connecticut and the second question on my mind is "what exactly about travel is Romantic?"  Travel is a slog until you finally get to your destination.

The first question on my mind continues to be "Why did I not go with my first instinct?"  I had this feeling that JetBlue would cancel the flight and that's why I booked that ridiculous multi-hop flight out of Bradley.  The weather report scared me off so I decided to take my chances after the snow.  You live. You learn.  Always go before the snow.

I booked 3 different flights for today and tomorrow that will eventually get us to Antigua.  We will be a day or 2 late but that much promised romance awaits us.

If all goes well we will be there tomorrow and I will add an unexpected country to the 50 by 50 quest.

I was really mad about the snow and making the wrong decision about the flights but then I realized that I have no right to be mad.  A dear friend of my family was badly injured last week.  He has a right to be mad.  Me? Not so much.  I have good friends to travel with and the sun awaits us.

Next update from wherever it is that we get stuck next...

Whenever we get there...

The group who brought you the Barbados Bacchanal and Loose in St. Lucia are back for the 2016 edition of their beach trip.

This time we are off to Antigua for a full week stay at the White House of Jolly Harbour.

Whenever we get there.

It was the mildest winter on record right up until the weekend we are flying.

Butch and I attempted to fly around the storm by booking tickets out of Hartford for Saturday afternoon.  That was a great plan up until the time that the storm decided to track farther north and engulf that airport too.  The winning strategy would have been to leave Friday evening.

We are all watching the weather and hoping our flight out of JFK tomorrow morning is not delayed too long.  At the very least, we will all be stranded together at JFK which will make some bartender very happy.  Well... we will be stranded right up until Chris can find an American Airlines flight out of there.  Everyone knows that I am not afraid to ditch the group.

Besides the uncertainty of the travel conditions,  all the usual questions remain...

Can we really visit all 365 beaches?
When will Lindsay "Charlene" Lohan make her first appearance?
Who will be Chris's adventure buddy?
Banks or Piton or Wadadli?
Will be really be "alive" at the end of the week?

Stay tuned for updates from the trip.

For those keeping score, this is my 30th country.  I need 4 more countries in 2016 to stay on pace to reach 50 by 50.