Caribbean Adventures Aboard Kalalau: Exploring Antigua

Friday, January 18

We rented a car on Friday so we could run a few errands and explore more areas of the island. We first headed to St. John which is the capital of Antigua. St. John is very similar to the other cruise ship ports in the other islands which bars and casinos lining the streets near the dock. We were able to find a store called Aquasports that sold fishing gear and beach toys, so we picked up a gaff, more lures, and a beach chair to replace the one we lost in Nevis. We walked around the shops and stopped for lunch at Hemingway's and learned a little about the history of the restaurant from one of the owners whose husband's great great grandfather had built the building where the restaurant is now located. She believes that Hemingway used to stay in the building during his visits to Antigua.

Next we drove down to Jolly Harbor to stop in Budget Marine to pick up another winch handle to replace the one we lost while sailing in St. Kitts. We ran into our cruising friends Mike and Audrey in the store who were picking up a few things in preparation for their haul-out on Saturday when they planned to do their anti-fouling work.

After leaving Budget Marine, we headed over to Half Moon Bay. The roads in Antigua aren't very well marked, so we made a few wrong turns on our way over there. By the time we had gotten there, we were within an hour of sunset. We hung out on the beach for a while, then decided to head to Shirley Heights to watch the sunset over English Harbor. Shirley Heights is a historical area at the top of the hill over English Harbor where the British navy had several lookouts in the 1700s. The main lookout at the top of the mountain has been turned into a restaurant/bar which is famous for their Sunday sunset BBQ. From the restaurant, we had a perfect view of our anchorage in Freeman's Bay with English and Falmouth Harbors in the background. We had a drink and watched the sunset over the harbor.

Fruit stand along Fig Tree Drive