Ft. James

May 29

As we (cruising friends) drove our Yaris rental around the small island of Antigua, it was difficult to find the way as roads were often marked, if at all, from the other direction. Looked for the 'you are here' map symbol with no luck. St. John's is cruise ship heaven, so quickly left. English and Falmouth Harbours were nearly deserted. We must be too far north for the seasonal migration to Grenada or Trinidad and too far south for those going to Bermuda and Europe.

Ft. James, guarding the entrance to St. John's Harbour, is a drive-in where iced tea costs $3.20 for a small glass with no refills. Perhaps this is why most defensive fortifications of the 17th and 18th centuries didn't include this feature.

Antigua is inside out in a way. The interior looks, for all the world, like suburban, small town America. City, towns and businesses are around the outside with bedroom communities in the center. This makes sense, of course, and is probably typical of islands, but just struck me as very pronounced on this roughly round, 36 square mile patch of dirt.

North around through the inside passage to North Sound tomorrow, then Falmouth Harbour on Sunday for a day or two before heading to Deshaies (Day HAY), Guadeloupe.

A woman asked a group of three guys what they thought was the worst thing about a dress. A suggestion by one, who will remain anonymous, was that they contained women... This answer was somewhat imprudent. It was also wrong. Dresses don't always contain a woman. Anyway the answer, as patiently explained to us as to children, and reason I seldom wear them, is that they don't contain pockets. Many women use a bra to store valuables. This is also a mistake as men, miscreants all, look there first.

Jack