A day in St John's Antigua...

We traveled to Antigua as part of a cruise vacation in March 2011 out of San Juan aboard the Serenade of the Seas. This was one of two days on the trip where my wife and I decided we would go off and do our own thing rather than joining our friends. We had no preplanned excursion and our thoughts were to just get off the ship and travel to a beach. I had gone online and looked around ahead of time and many people gave Dickenson Bay Beach a good review so we thought we’d give it a try.

We got off the ship in St John’s and walked down the pier until we came across the taxi stands and said we were two people to go to Dickenson Bay Beach. Luckily we didn’t get stuck waiting on the driver to fill his van with other tourists and he took just the two of us. It was a short ride down the coast and we were there. He dropped us off and we prearranged a time for him to come back and pick us up.

As we walked out to the beach, a local stepped up and asked us if we wanted beach chairs and an umbrella and we said yes. I think we may have paid $12 or $15 for the day which I thought was a good deal based on what we’ve paid in the past. I didn’t try to negotiate with him because I’m just not normally that way. I’m not wealthy and I don’t live in a big house, but no matter what I make, I know that when I get back to the states that I have it better than them so who am I to ask them to take less for what they offer.

We sat down and enjoyed the sun and the view for awhile. Right behind us was a stand that sold drinks and he had my favorite, Coors Light. I got myself a beer and my wife had a juice drink. She seemed relaxed and in the photo looks as if she is taking a nap. I think we both may have napped on the beach that day.

After a bit, we walked up and down the beach. There were Aloe plants growing wild in the hills next to the beach and one of the locals had cut some fresh Aloe and was selling it to sun burnt tourists. We watched him squeeze it out of the plant and rub it on this guys back. The guy looked like he could have been a big cowboy from Texas and you could tell by the look on his face that he was relieved as the local was doing it.

As we walked on the beach, we came across an outdoor restaurant that was out over the water, but it was under repair and wasn’t open. It looked like it would be a nice place to sit and have lunch. Speaking of lunch, it was about this time we started to look forward to our ride back to town and maybe trying some local fare.

After passing the closed restaurant, we came upon a T-shirt shack and a gal who was bound and determined to sell my wife and I a t-shirt. Well, she eventually did. They were only $10 and I’m actually glad she did sell them to us because mine is one of the ones I wear the most back home.

Our driver eventually picked us up at the time he said he would and we went back to town. Our cab drivers name was Glen and he was a nice guy. We chatted along the way and when we got back into town I gave him a nice tip and he seemed surprised at the amount. He said to my wife; “your husband’s a good man!”

We walked back to the ship and put our stuff in our room then came back into town to look for a place to eat. Sure we could have eaten while on the ship, but what fun is that? As you can see the photo looking back toward the pier and the ship, it was convenient to walk around check out the shops.

The buildings are mostly older but they are colorfully painted and they make the area seem more welcoming. Some of the streets and sidewalks were rough shape, but this was a Caribbean island, not some brand new suburban neighborhood. It had character. We felt safe enough, but people sure wanted to sell us stuff.

We wandered around until we came across this place called Hemingways Caribbean Café. It was on the second floor of a building along the street.

I had blackened Mahi and I swear it was the best meal I had the entire cruise vacation. There were two other meals during our entire trip that rivaled my lunch at Hemingways. One was the fish I had a Chateau Mygo in Marigot Bay, St Lucia and the other was the porterhouse steak I had onboard the Serenade of the Seas in Chops Grill.  I would definitely recommend a stop at Hemingways if your in St John's.

After lunch we continued walking around the small town of St John’s and I picked up another T-shirt in one of the shops as well as some more sunscreen.

Soon it was time to get back aboard. That’s always a sad time of day, leaving an island that welcomes you so warmly. We truly enjoyed our day on Antigua. And as Glen told us, it’s “an T ga”. The “u“ is silent.

I miss that place and I believe we’ll be back again one day.