Somewhere in the Caribbean
THE WESTERDAM is at sea today and the STANDARD cruise is back in political mode. William Kristol, Fred Barnes, and Stephen Hayes are speaking this morning about the war on terrorism. Later, Kristol and Barnes will be joined by Terry Eastland to discuss the future of the Supreme Court while another panel will examine religion and politics in Bush’s second term.
Yesterday was spent in Tortola, which is part of the British Virgin Islands. It’s a place of unbelievable beauty. With its secluded shores and tiny houses nestled in the green hills, it looks like a gigantic movie set–part Jurassic Park, part Thomas Crown Affair.
After an early morning workout, I took my breakfast on the verandah overlooking the island and then settled in for a bit of reading with a good cup of tea. By mid morning, I met up with Victorino Matus, Catherine Lowe, and Tina Winston, and we were joined in turn by Hayes and political genius Mike Murphy. Now that’s a motley crew.
Fortunately for us, Victorino was in Tortola a few months ago on his honeymoon, so he had the place wired. First we took a taxi to Frenchman’s Cay, so we could start the day off at Pusser’s Landing with their patented “painkillers.” Then, after a tiny bit of shopping, our cab driver took us to Apple Bay, on the north end of the island, where we had lunch on the beach at the Sugar Mill Hotel, with the waves breaking just a few feet from our table. Afterward, we retired to the Sugar Mill’s private beach. Two little jetties on either end protected us from the big waves and–for the entire afternoon–we were the only people on the beach.
By tomorrow morning we’ll be at Half Moon Cay, a private island owned by our cruise line, Holland America. We’ll play there in the morning and then meet back at the Westerdam for one last round of panel talks. Then it’s back to Ft. Lauderdale and planning for next year’s cruise. If you’re interested in joining us on next year’s trip, send an email to [email protected] and we’ll get you all the details in a couple weeks.
–Jonathan V. Last
