Tag Archives: English Harbor

Shirley Heights

Tourism, , ,

We had heard from every single person that we talked about Antigua with that we should go to the Sunday night BBQ at Shirley Heights.  Apparently it is an Antiguan institution!  Shirley Heights itself is an old Fort on top of the hill with beautiful panoramic views of English and Falmouth Harbors.  It is a prime place to watch the sunset while the steel drum band sets the mood with some great music.  How do they get so many different sounds out of those drums?!?!  We got up there just before sunset to enjoy the views and after the sunset we tried the bbq which was pretty awesome.  We sat down at one of many picnic benches and enjoyed the warm night, the food and the music (along with a ton of other people!).  🙂

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The British Empire

Tourism, ,

Where we are staying in Falmouth Harbor Antigua is right next to English Harbor which houses the oldest dockyard continually in operation:  Nelson’s Dockyard.  It was built by the British as a place to keep their ships in order to protect their interests in the Caribbean.  Also, it is a great protected harbor that will keep ships safe in a hurricane.  Construction of the Dockyard began in the 1740s and today it is in use as a marina with a museum, lots of shops and restaurants.  It was fun to explore the history and see all the restored buildings.

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Another interesting thing is that here at the Dockyard they have several small boats that have been used to row across the Atlantic.  They are very small, completely exposed and have just a small water tight compartment to sleep.   They are not even allowed to have a sun shade up because that could be considered a sail!  As we’ve been here there have been more rowing boats arriving in the harbor after 45+ days at sea in the Atlantic.  Crazy! It’s fun though to hear the honks and horns of boats cheering their arrival.  Our friends from Te Mana saw one arrive and said the folks couldn’t even stand up when they got off the boat!  Ryan’s question…. Why would anyone do this?  Don’t they know how to sail?  LOL!

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