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
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