Saturday, January 1, 2011

New Year's Caribbean Style!

"Ringing in the New Year,
With Old Jamaican Ginger Beer!" -K2

"Boat Hopping" is one popular New Year's Eve tradition in the Caribbean. But we're not sure if our boat, My Ann, had visitors last night since we went to check out the celebrations at the Bitter End Yacht Club.

On Friday morning it was a lengthy sail from Peter Island to the Bitter End. Brent was in heaven; he's particularly resistant to using the boat's motor. Pure sailing adds time and makes the ride more daunting for the prone-to-seasickness-crowd (or, the rest of us) but we've all decided to humor Brent and let him have his fun. After all, he did get stung by a jellyfish!

We found another winner hike in Bitter End called "Guy's Trail" recommended to us by the physiologist triathlete New Yorker we met earlier in the week. At the top we had great views of surrounding islands. We spent the afternoon swimming, snorkeling, shopping, etc.

Our delicious dinner was holiday worthy as well! Kay's been a wonderful cook and we'll certainly miss hearing her menu descriptions and calling us all "darling." I love getting Kay talking about her daughter, Kayla, and seeing her pride in being a mom.

After our New Year's Eve Feast we pulled out the best attire we'd brought on the boat (Andie wins for bringing the dressiest) and went ashore in search of the nightlife. It was great people watching, a live Caribbean band with everyone from little kids in preppy outfits to the old folks, dancing it up.

It's been hard to focus on any new year's resolutions on vacation so I think my 2011 goals are going to have to wait until I'm back in the states. Anything I might resolve while traveling in this "it's all good" atmosphere might not be quite up to snuff.