Friday, August 30, 2013

This Week: Jost van Dyke, British Virgin Islands

That Time of Day

Kenny Chesney and I share a common bond. Not every day I have the same experience as that of a country music superstar. What could we possible have in common? We both know the joys of happy hour. However, I should state that it’s not just any happy hour. We know deeply the sublime and transcendent experience that is happy hour at the Soggy Dollar Bar in White Bay, Jost van Dyke. An experience so memorable Chesney wrote a song about it for his latest album, Life on a Rock. I hope he doesn’t mind if I borrow the song title for this month’s blog.
First some background. Jost van Dyke, a British Virgin Island, is only four square miles of rock and scrub in the Caribbean Sea. It sits next to two much larger islands, Tortola, its British sister and St. John, its American cousin. The remnants of an ancient volcano, Jost resembles an emerald boulder dropped in the ocean. Nothing financially productive can grow on it and it’s too small for any industry, which makes it ideal for leisure. Jost is a great place to vacation precisely because you can’t do much there.
The Soggy Dollar Bar is an icon in its own right. Part of the Sand Castle Resort, it was built in 1970 by George and Mary Myrick. It quickly became the favorite watering hole of local fisherman and millionaire yachties alike. In the mid-1970s George created the Painkiller, an intoxicating mix of rum, pineapple and orange juice and crushed nutmeg on top. Over the decades word of this concoction spread from sailor to shore to mainland to continent and now people from all over the world come to White Bay for a Soggy Dollar Painkiller.
After several visits to this Caribbean hideaway Kenny and I have noticed there is a certain melancholy at this place that considers itself as the happiest on earth. Kenny put his feelings very succinctly in a song. I, however, will blather about it in this blog.
I should explain a few things in more detail. The Soggy Dollar’s happy hour is from noon until 3 PM, unlike in the states where happy hour normally ends the work day, usually from 4 to 6 or 7 PM. The reason for this early event is because a majority of visitors to White Bay are tourist from the US side and before they return, these boats have to pass through customs and those offices close between 4:30 and 5 PM daily. So around 3 PM is when these boats leave the bay for the trip back. It’s also when the sun starts to dip down in the sky. I found out when happy ends the hard way. Starting at noon I purchased two painkillers for $8, $4 each. Shortly after 3 PM I went to purchase two more (my husband and I had already had three). The bill? $16, double that of happy hour.
But oh the joys experienced in those three short hours! An entire life is packed into them because the people you meet will become lifelong friends you will never see again. You trade stories about your kids and pets, share smartphone photos and get awkward hugs from men you don’t know while your husband gets cheek kisses by co-eds. You laugh, you cry, you sing songs and dance and yes, you get drunk. You beg your boat captain to stay for just one more drink or you beg your new friends’ boat captain to stay. When you’re on a boat, the vision of Jost getting smaller behind you is depressing. When you’re on the shore, it can feel down right lonely watching the boats leave one by one.  If fact, a lot of things on Jost shut down after the tourist boats leave, which makes staying on the island even more lonely. The two places to stay in White Bay, The Sand Castle and Ivan’s Stress-free Campgrounds, don’t have TV’s or phones or wi-fi. When the sun goes down, you are in the dark. The Soggy Dollar’s kitchen closes at 8 PM. We didn’t know that when we stayed on the island. However, in true island manner, when we arrived hungry at 8 PM the bartender and chef offered us a series of appetizers; all that they had left that evening. We were grateful for that.
As Kenny sings, though, you never really say goodbye to Jost. Instead you say, ‘until we meet again.’ That is the real beauty of happy hour at White Bay.
It’s That Time of Day by Kenny Chesney
It’s that time of day
That we all knew would come
To pay for all the rum
And pull up anchor cuz we’re done
It’s that time of day
I see a cotton candy sky
So many colors in my eyes
Proof again God’s alive
This ain’t a goodbye, it’s ‘til I see you again
What a wonderful time we’ve all shared my friends.
Another day at sea has come and gone away,
Adios to Jost
Adios to Jost
Adios to Jost, it’s that time of day
It’s that time of day
When we bottle up the sun
Let our inhibitions run
Feeling courageous and numb
It’s that time of day
When we take a leap of faith
Hand in hand as we pray
In this moment we could stay
This ain’t a goodbye, it’s ‘til I see you again
What a wonderful time we’ve all shared my friends.
Another day at sea has come and gone away,
Adios to Jost
Adios to Jost
Adios to Jost, it’s that time of day
I see sails in silhouette
Sailor’s sky turning red
So many I love you’s said
Toasts are made
It’s that time of day
Adios to Jost
Adios to Jost
Adios to Jost, it’s that time of day
 
http://www.goworldtravel.com/white-bay-travel-british-virgin-islands/ - my article on the Bubbly Pool for Go World Travel