Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mers clustered around the entrance. The water inside the caverns is shallow (about 5ft deep)
and brimming with silversides, glassy sweepers and little lobsters.
The Bight
is adjacent, an anchorage with more than 100 moorings and two fantastic
bars, including one aboard a converted schooner. Except for the beaches at the Bight and
at Benures Bay on the east side, the island is so overgrown it is virtually impenetrable.
Depending on the season and traffic, you may find a trail open between the beach at the
Bight and Spyglass Hill. The hike takes about half an hour each way; running into wild
goats and cattle is not uncommon.
Eating & Drinking
You have two choices: one on land, the other at sea. Both places bring in live West Indian
bands or just crank Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffett over high-voltage sound systems.
Weekends are always a huge party scene.
William Thornton
BURGERS, SEAFOOD $$
( 284-496-8603;
www.williamthornton.com
;
mains $12-24; lunch & dinner)
Moored in the Bight and flying the Jolly Roger, the 'Willy T' is a 100ft schooner converted
into a restaurant-bar. Jumbo prawns, barbecue ribs, fish and chips and burgers are really
just side dishes for the all the booze that goes down the hatch. Belly shots and the infamous
'shotski' (you'll have to see it to believe it) fire up the crowd. Many a patron has been
known to jump off the deck nude after a few too many.
WILLIAM THORNTON
Odd but true: the
Willy T
party boat is named after a studious Quaker. William
Thornton was born on Jost Van Dyke in 1759. He was educated in Scotland as a
physician, but was also a self-taught architect, painter and inventor. He wasn't just
fooling around: he went on to design the US Capitol building in Washington DC. Ge-
orge Washington and his administration had a contest, and Thornton's plan won for
its 'grandeur, simplicity and convenience'. He received $500 and a city lot. He later
went on to become the first US Secretary of Patents.
