Soothin it at Soggy Dollar
A typical day in White Bay
Benjamin Boone
When you approach White Bay in the BVI's Jost Van Dyk you may sense you're about to drop anchor at one of those places, you won't easily forget. And you'll be right.
There is no dock to tie up, so you must swim or dinghy in. The bar got its name because many boaters swim to shore and pay for their libations with soggy dollars.
The Soggy Dollar is really part of a little Caribbean compound on a beautiful expanse of clean sandy white beach with its own snorkeling reef.
It's reputed to be the birthpalce of the original painkiller, a killer of a concotion, made with a generous dosage of rum, pineapple and orange juice, coconut and numeg.
The bar has been around for a long time, but has changed hands over the years. Now it has adjacent restaurant and four cottages. it's all ultra casual Caribbean.
Scantily clad swimmers of both sexes were playing volley ball on the beach, when we stopped at The Soggy Dollar. Others were lazin in hammocks or attempting to swing the ring into a nail into a tree. (The Soggy ring toss game) And quiet types were reading or putting together puzzles at tables or wicker settees.
Before we bellied up to the bar, we took a short a hike up the nearby hillside and discovered some stunning scenery encompassing Tobago Cay on one side and St. John on the other.
Try it. You may pass a herd of goats, meet some banannaquits buzzing and you'll be certain get a breathtaking view of the beach below.
Then belly up to the bar, order a round of painkillers.
It will make a sensational sunset even better.
When we visited Ruben Chinnery was strumming on his guitar, and the bartender was deep into a ballet of mixing drinks, taking orders for signature flying fish sandwiches, smiling and chatting with customers-- all without missing a beat.
A trip to Jost and The Soggy Dollar should make you smile too.
A hammock on White Bay beach in the British Virgin Islands
virginvoices.com photo by Benjamin Boone
Benjamin Boone writes mostly about nature and folklore. But occasionally he'll report on a bar or two.
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