Cane Garden Bay is lovely, though. It is the perfect size for an easy stroll and has about twice as many bar/restaurants as one would need to have a pretty diverse mix of choices, which gives the illusion of being able to be a tourist with free will. They also have a decent grocery store and a big, clean, cheap laundromat just steps from the dinghy dock.
Cane Garden Bay beach area, where each restaurant offers different colour beach umbrellas
The first thing Maryanne did ashore was pull me into a boutique in search of a replacement hat for herself. She found one that I liked on her better than the one at Saba Rock. Then she flipped over the price tag and saw it was "only" forty-five bucks, a bargin compared to the $225 one at Saba. When I told her we didn't have room aboard for five, she patted me on the head, exchanged a look with the proprietress and bought one. Oh, that works.
Our next stop was at Callwood's Distillery, because that's just what you do here. We were just turning to walk up the empty drive when five minibus loads of cruise ship passengers from Road Town came around the corner and pulled up to the building in a growing cloud of dust and exhaust. Oh, noooooo! Cruise Ship Day!
Callwood's Rum Distillery where we sampled a (repeat) Tour and Tasting
They were all here for "just" a tasting as they were on a full island tour. We wanted a distillery tour (plus a tasting). We then had the surreal experience of being given our own personal tour as the three of us (me, Maryanne and the guide) wove our way through the throngs on their way to and from the tasting room. Since Maryanne and I had the luxury of time, we were able to wait for a lull in the action for our tasting. We both decided our favorite was the one our guide called "for beginners". It was the same potency as the others, but didn't have that knock-you-in-the-chest effect apparently preferred by experienced rum aficionados.
Following that, we had a walk through the various restaurants along the beachfront. Again, we were about fifteen paces in front of a whole fleet of tour busses. By the time we had picked a restaurant, seats were disappearing fast and we were lucky to get a table. Our table actually seated six, so when we noticed a couple wandering around looking for a spot, we invited them to join us.
They were very nice. Originally from Connecticut, but recently retired to Florida, they regularly take cruises out of their new hometown of Tampa as a way to see lots of places without having to deal with airports. As we ate our delicious and generous lunch, they explained that there was just too much food on the boat for them to be interested in eating anything at all. We looked around and noticed that almost everybody else had no more than a rum punch they were nursing until it was time to get back on the bus.
At some point during our stay, Maryanne got it in her head that she wanted to walk the short distance to Mount Healthy National Park tomorrow. Sounds great, huh?
I tried to point out that every single road leading out of Cane Garden Bay was ridiculously steep, like 20% grade. Is she sure? She said she was (we were close to exhausting all that Cane Garden Bay had to offer, and she was keen for some more strenuous exercise).
We at least started our walk early enough that the entire western side of the island was in the shade. No sooner had we left the waterfront and started climbing than Maryanne started making noises about turning around or "letting me go ahead". Oh, no you don't! We're doing this thing.
To get to Mount Healthy, we had a short, but relentlessly steep climb to four hundred meters elevation, before plunging back to the site at 173 meters.
Mount Healthy is a diminutive National Park, which currently consists of a single roped-off abandoned windmill. It was used to crush sugar cane back in its day. At least there was an adjacent bench, where we could sit and view it while rehydrating.
The steep climb gave us some great views, and (eventually) we were at the ruins of the windmill
From there, Maryanne wanted to go home the short (horizontally) way via Brewers Bay. While technically shorter, going down to sea level, then back up to 250 meters, then back to sea level at Cane Garden Bay would involve more climbing. Maryanne said she wanted to do it that way to make sure we would have no choice but to get the rest of the exercise, once we were in Brewers Bay. {Maryanne:We could have simply retraced our steps, but that also involved a rather steep climb of 200m+ before the long descent, so it made sense to make a loop of the walk and see someplace different}.
Brewers Bay was surprisingly deserted. On the whole walk there and back out, we were only passed by two vehicles. Our planned respite at a restaurant/bar on the beach even failed when we were unable to locate anyone at all; despite the "open" sign, the bar was all locked up. After a brief rest and more water (We had brought LOTS of water with us), we resumed our trudge upwards.
Brewer's Bay was so very different from Cane Garden Bay despite the proximity - this is your get away from the crowd bay for sure!
By the time we limped back into Cane Garden Bay and set foot on our first mercifully flat pavement in miles, we were ready to call it a day. It was just barely past noon though, so we popped into yesterday's restaurant for a repeat of our delicious meal. There was no cruise ship today, so it was easy to get a good table right at the railing by the beach. The only other groups in the place were clearly charterers. The group nearest us was comical in how hard they were trying to force the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle on their second day away from the snows up north.
Back in Cane Garden Bay
With still more daylight left, we rowed back to Begonia for a load of laundry to do. While it was running, Maryanne let me babysit it in the sweltering laundromat while she went down the street to the store for some nice, heavy provisions.
When it was all done, we arrived back to our dinghy just behind a large group of charterers who had just had a lively dinner. One of them had had so much to drink that they had to carefully herd him down the dock and then pour him into the safety of their inflatable dinghy. Maryanne and I were a bit creaky ourselves as we lowered ourselves into our dinghy behind them. Ours was certainly from our long walk and not the one beer we shared over lunch. Still, when our heads finally hit our pillows, we were out cold for the rest of the night.
Mooring Ball location >> On google maps
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