Adventures in Paradise: Five Unforgettable Travel Moments

Memorable Scenes from a 25-Year-Old Traveling Marriage

I am lucky to have been married to a wonderful man for the last 22 years. I am doubly lucky that he also loves to travel – and has accompanied me on wonderful adventures over the 25 years that we have been a couple.

Gentleman that he is, he’s enthusiastically accompanied me to remote Caribbean islands – even though he doesn’t like the sun and doesn’t really swim. He’s been game at trying out many quirky inns – after years as a meeting planner that took him to posh hotels all around the world. He’s held my hand through tiny-airplane flights that terrified me – not because of the plane, but because of pilots who appeared to be moonlighting from high school and who brought their girlfriends along for the ride. And, like me, he loves going off-season, because we get to really see without being seen.

As a result, we have had some great adventures, including seeing places before they got expensive and overrun with celebrities (Harbour Island, Bahamas) or targeted by package tours. We remember all our travels fondly – even without the prompting of photo albums. But some moments in time stand out more than most. Here are five of them:

Breakfast at Villa Ganz, Guadalajara, Jalisco State, Mexico: As two of the few guests at this stately mansion inn in the “Beacon Hill” of the city, we had a private breakfast served in the garden every morning during our three-day stay.

Arriving in Jost Van Dyke, White Bay, British Virgin Islands (population 103): After taking two airline flights, a big ferry, a cab and a speedboat, we finally reached our destination: a small inn with basic, octagonal cottages with outdoor showers and marine toilets. The inn lacking a dock, we rolled up our pants, took off our shoes, and waded in the last six feet, with our luggage. For a week, we lived like 20th-century Robinson Crusoes – swinging in hammocks, reading, hiking on “roads,” eating simple but wonderfully prepared food, and just watching the world go by our breathtakingly beautiful white-sand beach. Telephone service was available by cell phone, but you had to wade into the water up to your neck to get a connection. Heaven.

Dinner at Queenie’s, Saba, Netherlands Antilles: As the only guests in this dining-by-appointment-only favorite – a tiny restaurant in the chef’s home – we dined on home-cooked peanut chicken with rice, locally grown vegetables and rum punches. The smiling chef and her daughter stared at us, because she was convinced that I was an American sitcom star.

I also remember our wonderful taxi driver, Joseph Leviston, to this day. On Saba, we loved hiking Mt. Scenery in rain-forest conditions, our arrival being announced on the local radio station, and landing at one of the world’s most death-defying airports. Also sleeping in the same hotel room (#8) that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands had slept in at the somewhat shabby Captain’s Quarters (at the time, one of the limited hotel options available – since closed).

Dinner at Chanticleer, Siasconset, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts: As the sole guests for an early-evening dinner at this continental restaurant (since closed), we had the upstairs dining room to ourselves. Wonderful French food, great wine (Grgich Hills Chardonnay), and terrific service. I felt like Grace Kelly – all dressed up with someplace really great to go, in the middle of nowhere.

Eating Mussels in North Hatley, Quebec, Canada: Located in the Eastern Townships 50 miles east of Montreal, North Hatley is to Montreal what Lake Winnipesaukee is to Boston, Massachusetts: a beautiful, laid-back lake area in the country within an easy drive of the city. There was a wonderful restaurant on the back square that specialized in mussels. We had a great lunch, with a wonderful French white wine. Unfortunately, the exquisite inn Auberge Hatley has since burned down, but for three days we felt like we were in France – even though we were only about a 125-mile drive from our home in Northern New Hampshire.

Fussy Diner Rating: Two Forks Up

* Some of the establishments mentioned may have changed since our visit, so please investigate carefully before you go