Friday, January 25, 2019

YOLO folks in Antigua, Nov 2018

We arranged to stay in Antigua after the rally and move back onto Mira after their family visits ended in a few weeks.  We'd get the boat hauled and antifouled, as well as complete some projects for Glenn and Pam.  We found a local apartment to spend the three weeks in for the interim.  Above is the view of the harbor from our balcony at sunset.

Jason enjoying a relaxing moment on the balcony of the apartment we rented in Marsh Village, a collection of cottages and apartments a few minutes walk up the hill from the Falmouth Harbor.
Karen gets to enjoy a relaxing moment too.  The walk up the steep hill to get to the apartment just about killed me.
A trip to St. John's, the capital, had us looking at several giant cruise ships in port.
The sign is meant for the cruise ships, but look at the grounded hulk below the sign.
Jason chatting with a security guard at the market in St. John's
A cheesy statue of the political leader of Antigua..
A view from the second story of the market place.  Unfortunately, it was nearly empty the day we were there.  Only a few locals had their stands set up for business.  Weekends are the time to be here.
The kitchen in our apt.
Jason in our dining room/living room.  We had two bedrooms with a bathroom shared between them, so we were quite comfy.  No air conditioning, but the fans worked ok and the screens kept the bugs out.
Looking from our balcony down over Marsh Village cottages.
The view towards town from our balcony.  You can see it's a hike to get here.
Beautiful magenta bouganvillia blooms just outside Jason's bedroom window.
A huge copper pot is now the home for these miniature water lillies as we walked into Nelson's Dockyard.
Karen selfie near a small cannon housed in an 'almost cave' along the path into the dockyard.
I like the old bricks that make up the walls here.  Different colors and textures.
This part of the wall has become home to some ferns growing out of it.
The pillars of the old sail loft building that was destroyed years ago.
Another big anchor.
You can see the layers of rust peeling off the huge iron/steel anchors.
The green rock is green basalt, aka green tuff, which makes up part of the cliffs and hills around here.  Local buildings were made of the stone hundreds of years ago.  It's a pretty unusual color for a rock.
One of the pillars at Nelson's Dockyard.
Looking down on a healthy cactus plant at Nelson's Dockyard.  It may be a form of a spiny agave or a Spanish Dagger cactus.
The tiny beach at the dockyard resort.
Some pretty flowers sprout out of the old brick walls.
A huge old windlass in the yard.  People or animals walk in circles to turn the spindles to pull the boats out of the water.
A huge anchor on the lawn.
Our calzone and pizza at a local pizza restaurant.
These white/yellow butterflies were around by the thousands.  It was apparently mating season for them.  Here, they congregate at a mud puddle for some moisture.
An old hat in a field by the road caught my eye.  I don't believe there is a person buried under there, though.
Antigua's only craft brewery has a pretty dull sign on the road.  But the beer was wonderful and full of flavor for a change.
Doc Marsh with his race car.  He and his brother Bryce are putting the hood back on to transport it to the drag strip.
The car is ready to go, but just had to get some air in the tires.  He had to start up the truck to power the compressor to put the air in.
This green vine with the pretty pink flowers is everywhere.  I learned that they put some of these vines on caskets in newly dug graves to deaden the sound of the dirt being shoveled back into the grave.  It stops it from clunking on the casket lid.  What a pretty dirt cushion.
A little tyke mimics his dad at the race track.
The drag strip hosts cars, off-road vehicles and motorcycles.
These colorful ladies have green and purple lipstick on.
Large tarpon hang out around the docks hoping for scraps.
 A chunk of the green basalt.  It's thrown into dirt roads as filler here.
 Pam and Glenn joined us for pizza one night.
 Karen and Jason at the pizza joint, Famous Mauro's.
 Wood fired pizzas are the norm here.  Pretty tasty, I must say.



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