Today was the Star Flyers beach BBQ in Antigua, so basically a chill day. It is amazing how they can prepare, cook, and transport all the equipment and food to the island. We took a tender out about 10 a.m. and walked around the town. We went to Nelson’s Dockyard, which is a fully restored historic site honoring Horatio Nelson, the British Hero of Trafalgar. It was built in the early 18th century and abandoned by the British Navy in 1889. While it did have some interesting things, it was more on the commercialized side, in my opinion. We headed back towards the opposite side of town and John stopped at the local liquor store and found Skullduggery Rum, which is made in Antigua. We took the tender back to the ship to drop off our purchases, changed into our suits and tendered back out about noon and the festivities were in full swing when we got there. They had BBQ chicken, ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, and numerous sides to go along with them. When we disembarked the tender, our friends were already on the beach under a shady spot, so we joined them for a few minutes then headed to the water. It was gorgeous!!!! The water felt great as it was hot outside. We stayed for a couple of hours and then headed back to the ship. We all met up for afternoon drinks then hit the showers before dinner.
The dinner theme was pirate night and the crew dressed up as well as some of the other passengers. We didn’t get the memo on that so had nothing to dress up. Apparently, there was a group that had done the cruise the previous week and knew what was coming up, so they were prepared. A suggestion was made to make sure the passengers know in advance so they can participate. After dinner we had a local Steelband board the ship and they played Caribbean music for about 45 minutes. They were amazing! At the end they had some of the passengers testing their skills at limbo and John tried his hand at it, lol! It was fun for all.
We headed up to the top deck for awhile and chatted while we set sail towards St. Barth’s.
Excerpt about Antigua from the flyer:
Columbus discovered this island on his second voyage to the New World and named it after the statue of a saint in Seville Cathedral who was said to work miracles. However, no attempts were made to colonize the island for over 150 years due to its lack of fresh water. The sole inhabitants were Carib Indians until the English arrived from St. Kitts in 1632. For the next 50 years the English grew cash crops to sustain the island until 1674 when the first sugar plantation was established. For the next 300 years, sugar was Antigua’s primary industry until it was replaced by tourism, less than 30 years ago. During the sugar industries’ heyday, there were over 150 sugar mills on the island and their remains can still be seen today. The island nation consisting of Antigua and Barbuda gained its independence from England in 1981 and has since made great efforts to bolster its infrastructure to support the ever-growing tourist industry. Antigua has also become one of the Caribbean’s largest offshore banking centers. There is no doubt that tourist are Antigua’s greatest asset, and with 365 white sandy beaches, one for every day of the year, turquoise water and spectacular coral reefs, not forgetting the duty-free shopping and casinos, Antigua certainly has a lot to offer them.
