Tag: rum

Speeding Through The Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands compel you to slow down, and for our first several days we did just that, relaxing in St. Thomas. After touring the Spanish Virgin Islands, we were ready for more island hopping, and that we did! A few days rest and we were speeding through The Virgin Islands.

The Virgin Islands are very hilly and filled with loads of sailors. The islands are so close together it makes for easy sailing: sometimes it only takes an hour to get from one island, nay one country, to another so you can visit a lot of places in a short time.

We took up that challenge! First, we welcomed more guests on board: Jeff and Tanya from NYC flew in last weekend and we crammed in a lot in the 4 days they were here. We visited 4 islands and hit up a lot of beach bars while speeding through the Virgin Islands.

Speeding through the Virgin Islands
Our tour of the Virgin Islands

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Because it is the low season, we didn’t get to enjoy any tourist sites in Charlotte Amelie, the pretty port city of St. Thomas, our first stop in the US Virgin Islands. The Pissarro Gallery and Blackbeard’s Castle were both closed with no word on when that would change.

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Food and Drink of Dominican Republic

In our few weeks in the friendly and wild Dominican Republic, we had a lot of good meals. Here’s some of the highlights of the food and drink of Dominican Republic.

Rum

The rum in the Dominican Republic is plentiful and inexpensive. The main local brand is Brugal and it’s fine. The base rum is less than $10, and there are a few varieties. But we were introduced to something we like better in Luperón. It’s called Columbus – his name is all over the place here since he claimed to “discover” the island – and it’s delicious.

Columbus rum is smooth and good for sipping. And the bottles we bought in Luperon cost $275 pesos, about $6 US so its good for mixing too.

Columbus rum bottle
Columbus Rum

The rum drinks here varied: my favorite so far has been the piña coladas served in pineapples. One at a time though, of course.

 

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Food and Drink in the Bahamas

It’s not far from the states, and there are a lot of Canadians and Americans here, so the food and drink in the Bahamas isn’t very different from home. As long as you are willing to pay, you can get almost everything you want in the shops and restaurants.

Conch

The national food of Bahamas is conch for good reason! The shellfish is so plentiful here and they make some delicious dishes with it.

Conch Dishes Ranked

Here is my ranking of the conch dishes in Bahamas:

  1. Conch salad. Similar to a ceviche in that the chunks of fish are cooked in citrus and then mixed with veggies. Peppers, red onion and maybe some hot sauce. Simple, fresh and delicious
  2. Conch chowder. We’ve had two versions: one in a red broth in Nassau, and a yellow chowder in Clarence Town.  Both had generous chunks of conch and a little kick of spice.
  3. Cracked conch. Lightly fried but with lots of meaty conch.
  4. Conch fritters, which usually just taste like fried dough, so I pass on this dish.
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