Charlestown

Monday 14 January, Nevis day 6: Visit Charlestown, and we fell in love with this town.

Out and about today, visiting Charlestown. From the sea, its shoreline looks picture perfect: very well preserved colonial buildings, colorful and clean. And as we drove through it the last few days some of its streets have revealed themselves to us in the same manner, all very clean and well maintained. And today it’s the time to walk it leisurely and take in all the sights.

At the Tourism Authority a very nice lady (from Birmingham!) points us towards the main attractions, adding a few tips on what else we should see on the island. Hmm… looks like we will have to rent a car again as there are still quite a few more sites to visit.
As we walk towards the Alexander Hamilton Museum we pass a small bakery selling fresh bread and patties. Smells are inviting and we walk out of it with our mid-morning snack, beef patties.

The Alexander Hamilton Museum is on the waterfront in a small stone building, where Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of USA, was born. It also shares the space with the History of Nevis Museum. The museum itself is just one room and the displays are basic in appearance, printed sheets on wood panels, but it is very informative and we learn quite a few things both about Nevis and Hamilton. Hamilton went to New York at 12, fought in the war of independence, became a respected lawyer and financial minister, started anti slavery groups and helped write the constitution. Sadly he died at only 47 in a duel, after he insulted a fellow politician. How stupid “gentlemen” were in those days. What a waste!
As for Nevis, its history as British colony, the thriving era of sugar plantation and the recovery after sugar industry collapsed and plantations went into ruins, is quite a story.
An enjoyable read and visit, even for me, the “museums make me sleepy” girl 🙂

In the Museum garden there is a small venue, Cafe des Arts. A brightly painted multi-colored hut, very popular with expats. It is buzzing, so we have a coffee break. Espresso machine and good coffee, a rare find in the Caribbean. While sipping our coffee we giggle reading all the signs that are decorating the hut. “I kiss better than I cook” gets Glen’s interest, and he starts asking the ladies in the kitchen which one is the sign valid for, as he would like to sample. Needless to say they are all killing themselves laughing. Sadly for him, all he gets to sample is the coffee 🙂

From there we walk the main street of Charlestown, bordered by beautiful buildings with stone walls on the ground level and wooden upper floors. The colonial looking balconies are so beautiful, and the tidiness of it all makes the town even more appealing. It probably is the cleanest town we have seen in the Caribbean. And as usual, everyone is very friendly with no other agenda.

In the War Memorial Square we find the Court House and the Public Library, hosted by an original building from the 18th century. We visit the library on the upper floor and the interior is as impressive as the outside, with a very interesting vaulted ceiling which looks like a boat upside down.

Next stop is the Bath Hotel, since we didn’t have a good look at it the other day when we stopped for our hot “spa”. The building is nice and as we walk on its terrace we try to imagine how it must have been in its era, busy with wealthy European tourists coming especially for the healing powers of the thermal springs. On a board it is described as being set in lush gardens, but seeing it up on the hill with hardly any garden, we have a hard time imagining the original setup. It would have been nice to see some old pictures of it, depicting it all how it was. But we have found none. It is also famed for a banquet that was held there with main guests being Nelson and his new bride Fanny Nisbet.

Two buildings along from it is the Horatio Nelson Museum, which again shares space with the Museum of Nevis History. Even more basic in displays, but also very interesting reading on the printed boards.
We feel we’ve learned more about Lord Nelson here in the Caribbean than we knew when we were in Europe. And his love story with Fanny Nisbet certainly has attracted many tourists to Nevis. It was from his base in Antigua (Nelson’s Dockyard) that he gained his reputation as a no-nonsense naval commander. His duty was to stop ships from the new Americas trading with the English islands – upholding the English law that all produce from the colonies must come to England and England only! His countless sinking of American trading ships did not go down well with the rich plantation owners and islands traders, but nonetheless he gained their admiration.

It feels very hot today, and on the way back we stop at the thermal bath to “cool off”. When we put our feet in the water and we can’t decide what is hotter, the concrete we are sitting on or the water. And our feet turn red very quickly.
We walk back to the town quay, and return to Cloudy Bay for another healthy lunch in the cockpit. During which we discuss that we definitely want to spend few more days on Nevis, and we seal our decision by booking another hire car for tomorrow morning.

For late afternoon entertainment, Glen resumes the touch-up activities on the handrails, applying the last coat of Coelan. And on the aft seats. As he finishes, just before sunset, he concludes “that’s horrible, horrible, horrible stuff to apply – give me varnish any day”.
Then one of his favorite passed time activities, polishing, he finishes off underneath the solar panels.
Jobs end with new seals added around the gas locker hatch and some minor corrosion on the gas bottle valves dealt with.

We have another relaxed evening on board with no wind and gentle rocking. It’s been several days now with little or no wind, we are starting to wonder what happened to the trade winds that usually consistently blow at 15-20 knots from the east this time of year. It must be a conspiracy because Glen wants to go kite-surfing on the east coast. No doubt the winds will return the day after we leave!