Spa and Beach Vacation Guru

In St. John's

If you're staying outside St. John's (which is highly likely), you might consider visiting the city during the Saturday morning market. In the southern part of St. John's, the semi-open-air market, on the lower end of Market Street, is colorful and interesting, especially from 8am to noon.

The present building dates from 1845. With the intention of preventing heavy damage in event of earthquakes, the parishioners had the interior completely enclosed in pitch pine.
Exhibits at the Museum of Antigua & Barbuda, at Market and Long streets (tel. 268/462-1469), are within one of Antigua's oldest buildings, built by English colonials in 1750 as a courthouse. The museum covers the island's history, from prehistoric days up to its independence from Britain in 1981. Exhibits include fossils and coral remains from some 34 million years ago, examples of each of the semiprecious stones (especially jade) you can find on Antigua, a wattle-and-daub house, an awarak canoe, as well as models of sugar plantations, steam engines, paintings, and historical prints. The museum gift shop is worth a visit, carrying unusual items such as calabash purses, seed earrings, lignum vitae pipes, historic maps and local books. It's open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4pm and on Saturday from 10am to 2pm. There is a US$2 suggested donation.

Around the Island

Eighteen kilometers (11 miles) southeast of St. John's is Nelson's Dockyard National Park (tel. 268/460-1379), one of the eastern Caribbean's biggest attractions. English ships took refuge from the hurricanes in this harbor as early as 1671. The park's centerpiece is the restored Georgian naval dockyard, which was used by admirals Nelson, Rodney, and Hood, and was the home of the British fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1784 to 1787, Nelson commanded the British navy in the Leeward Islands and made his headquarters at English Harbour.

When the Royal Navy abandoned the station at English Harbour in 1889, it fell into a state of decay. Restoration of the English Harbour began in 1951; it reopened with great fanfare as Nelson’s Dockyard, November 14, 1961. Within the compound are crafts shops, restaurants, and two brilliantly restored 18th century hotels, the Admiral’s Inn and the Copper & Lumber Store Hotel.

With displays of ship models, a model of the English Harbour, silver regatta trophies, maps and prints, the Admiral’s House Museum recaptures the 18th-century era of privateers, pirates, and battles at sea. Its colonial naval buildings remain as they were when Nelson was here. Although Nelson never lived at Admiral House (tel. 268/460-8181)-it was built in 1855-his telescope and tea caddy are on display, along with other nautical memorabilia.

The park itself has sandy beaches and tropical vegetation, with various species of cactus and mangroves. A migrating colony of African cattle egrets shelters in the mangroves. Archaeological sites here predate Christ. Nature trails, with coastal views, lead you through the flora. Tours of the dockyard last 15 to 20 minutes; nature walks along the trails can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours. The dockyard and all the buildings noted in this section are open daily from 9am to 5pm. Children 12 and under are admitted free. The admission price of US$5 includes admission to Admiral House, Clarence House, and Dow's Hill Interpretation Center .

The best nature trail on Antigua, a well-maintained footpath, goes up the hill from English Harbour to Shirley Heights, starting at the Galleon Beach Hotel. Follow the sign that points to the lookout. The trail is marked with tape on the branches of trees. Eventually you reach a summit of nearly 150m (492 ft.), where you're rewarded with a panoramic view. At the lookout is a restaurant, Shirley Heights Lookout, who is most famous for its lively Thursday and Sunday barbecues that continue into the night with live music and dancing. It serves dependable burger, pumpkin soup, grilled meats, and rum punches.

Another major attraction is the Dow's Hill Interpretation Center (tel. 268/481-5045), just 4km (2 1/2 miles) southeast of the dockyard. The only one of its kind in the Caribbean, it offers multimedia presentations that cover six periods of the island's history, including the era of Amerindian hunters, the era of the British military, and the struggles connected with slavery. A belvedere opens onto a panoramic view of the park. Admission to the center, including the multimedia show, is included in the price of admission to the dockyards. Hours are daily from 9am to 5pm.

On the way back, take Fig Tree Drive, a 32km (20-mile) muddy, rutted, steep circular drive across the mountain range. It passes through lush tropical hills and several tranquil fishing villages along the southern coast. You can pick up the road just outside Liberta, north of Falmouth. Winding through a rainforest, it passes thatched villages, every one with a church and lots of goats and children running about. But don't expect fig trees: Fig is an Antiguan name for bananas.

Betty's Hope, a picturesque ruin just outside the village of Pares on the eastbound route to Long Bay, was Antigua's first sugar plantation, founded in 1650. You can tour it Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm (US$2 for adults, free for children). Exhibits in the visitor's center trace the sugar era, and you can also see the full restoration of one of the original plantation's twin windmills.

Indian Town is one of Antigua's national parks, on the island's northeastern point. Over the centuries, breakers from the Atlantic have lashed the rocks and sculpted a natural bridge known as Devil's Bridge. It's surrounded by numerous blowholes spitting surf, a dramatic sight. An environmentally protected area, Indian Town Point lies at the tip of a deep cove, Indian Town Creek.