"Tour to Nelson's Dockyard" Top 5 Page for this destination Antigua and Barbuda Travelogue by grandmaR

December 18th was our stop in Antigua, which is apparently pronounced with the hard G and without sounding the U - Ant IG a.

We had a tour to Nelson's Dockyard which 80 other people had signed up for.

It was overcast and looked like rain. There were three other ships in this port. One was the Astoria.

Approaching rainstorm at the first overlook

They divided us up into 4 groups, each in a separate small van. Our guide was named Jane. Bob was sitting in a jump seat and two black ladies whom we had eaten dinner with the previous night were also on the bus. The one in the first seat was bantering back and forth with the driver whose name was Charley.

Jane was concerned that we'd be caught by the rain, so we hustled (and Charley was driving REALLY fast - I'm sure over the speed limit) out to the first place which was an overlook.

Fountain with car washing ramp on the far side

On the way we passed a place where they had a combination fountain and car wash (there was a ramp in the side of the pond with the fountain where people could drive their cars down to the water), and a village (in the All Saint's Parish) with 13 churches including 10 different denominations. The stone in this area has a lot of copper and has a greenish tint

Monserrat in the distance

We left there and hustled to the second overlook, from which we could see Monserrat - at least we could before it rained. We all took shelter in a pub there

Sign at entrance

When the rain let up, we got back in the bus, and drove to Nelson's Dockyard, which is a National Park. By this time it was sunny. A local guide took us through the Dockyard and then we were given a free rum punch (or in my case a fruit juice) at the Copper and Lumber Store Hotel.

Tropical fruit medley with Coconut Sherbert

Then we fought our way back through traffic to the ship. We had lunch in the dining room. We sat with some teachers (and a man who the husband of one of the teachers who drove a bus). I had the Tropical Fruit Medley with Coconut Sherbet (very refreshing), beet soup (I think it was borscht although the waitress said it wasn't like what her mother made) which one of the teachers pronounced the best thing she had all week, Bob had the Herb Grilled Salmon, and I had the Fusili Pasta and BBQ Pork. Most people at the table had marinated berries for dessert. Bob and I had ice cream.

Bow camera picture in Antigua

I showed Bob where the washers and dryers were - there's no charge for using them, but we have to buy soap because Bob left the soap and bleach that he bought in Miami at our daughters.

We've discovered that the pool we see in the bow camera is probably for the crew as there seems no way for passengers to get to it.

We missed trivia because I wasn't dressed yet. It was formal if you want to do formal night. We asked to share, but we didn't have any luck with that. They don't seem very efficient in the dining room about seating people.

Chocolate Orange Bavarian Cream

I had marinated artichoke hearts and Bob had the Florida citrus appetizers. We both had the Gazpacho which was very spicy, and Bob had flounder and I had beef stroganoff for our entree. I had something called Dark Chocolate Orange Bavarian Cream for dessert.

[Note: The desserts are only about the size of a medium cupcake.
Just enough to taste.]

Tomorrow is Bridgetown, Barbados