In the Caribbean tiara, every island stands out for a different reason. Antigua (an-TEE-gah, not an-TEE-gwah) is British, upscale, an international yachting centre, and is blessed with a pantheon of resident artists and artisans. One of the most famous is Nick Maley, locally known as Yoda Guy for his key contributions to the movie Star Wars. Leaving Hollywood behind and making Antigua his home and inspiration, Maley now sells his paintings through local galleries.
One way to harvest the best of an Antiguan holiday is to find the perfect piece of art to bring home.
The Art Scene
Antigua’s native red and white clay deposits have been shaped and baked by potters since the times before the first Europeans arrived. Some traditionalists still make crude charcoal cookers called coal pots for use at home and at street fairs. Fired in primitive hearths, they’re too brittle to bring home to a cold climate, but modern potters such as Michael Hunt, Sarah Fuller and Nancy Nicholson import their clay and use real kilns to create enduring works. The Hunts, whose signature pieces include “donut” teapots, do mostly commissioned pieces. Other pieces may be seen at individual potters’ studios and in galleries.
The island’s leading art centre is Island Arts, where you can shop for works ranging from sculpture and photography to ethnic dolls, hand-painted dinner plates, mahogany carving, weaving, pottery, driftwood, scrimshaw, jewellery and wall art. Find it at Heritage Quay. Harmony Hall in Brown’s Bay at Nonsuch Bay is another colourful gallery filled with works of locals in a large variety of media.
One of the liveliest spots for arts shoppers is the farmer’s market every Friday and Saturday morning on the southern edge of St. John’s. In addition to live chickens and the cornucopias of fresh produce you’ll see folk arts in abundance, all part of the colourful swirl of authentic
Antiguan life.
In the Beginning
Christopher Columbus named the island in 1493 for Santa Maria de la Antigua, patron saint of Seville. British settlers arrived in 1632, building massive sugar plantations and more than 150 windmills to process the cane. By the late 18th century, with the region boiling with pirates and foreign intruders, Britain recognized the island’s strategic location as the gateway to the Caribbean. Horatio Nelson arrived in 1784 to turn English Harbour into the fleet headquarters for the entire New World.
Today Nelson’s Dockyard National Park is one of Antigua’s best tourist attractions. Old warehouses, chandleries and sail lofts have been turned into shops, pubs, restaurants and museums. Spend all day exploring beaches, nature trails, views from Shirley Heights and ruins of once-mighty fortifications, and then stay for the sound and light show that brings history alive.
With the end of the sugar era, Antigua turned to tourism. It remained part of the Commonwealth, with Barbuda and the tiny island Redonda as dependencies, until 1981 when it achieved total independence.
Nightlife
Live music and moonlight are usually the after-dark fare at resorts but the island also has three high-energy nightclubs and three glittering casinos. The swanky 18 Karat in St. John’s plays the latest techno for the over-21 set; the Bay House at the Tradewinds Hotel is where local singles mingle. Cricketers gravitate to Lashings, which serves Tex-Mex cuisine. Yachties end up at the Life Bar or Mainbrace in Nelson’s Dockyard or at the Admiral’s Inn in English Harbour.
The Royal Casino in the Royal Antiguan Hotel has slots, blackjack, baccarat, and roulette. To enjoy a Monaco-like ambience, gamble at the glamourous St. James’s Club. King’s Casino is small but its handy location at Heritage Quay puts it in the centre of St. John’s.
Accommodations
Antigua has 60 hotels offering a wide choice of lodgings in all price ranges starting with such ultra-posh resorts as the Blue Waters Beach Hotel, Carlisle Bay, the venerable Curtain Bluff, CocoBay Resort, Coconut Beach Club, Galley Bay, Hermitage Bay, Jumby Bay Resort and the elite St. James’s Club.
In the premiere category are an upscale Sandals all-inclusive resort, the intimate Siboney Beach Club, Dian Bay Resort & Spa, the full-of-yachts Sunsail Club Colonna, and Jolly Beach Resort, which has just added a small spa. The Copper and Lumber Store at Nelson’s Dockyard offers accommodations that are funky, tony and steeped in maritime history. For those who prefer self-catering there are guest houses, cottages and condos. Barbuda’s resorts, all in the exclusive category (Princess Diana vacationed here), are The Beach House, Coco Point and
the K-Club.
Put Antigua on your travel palette soon and you’ll paint a portrait of serenity surrounded by turquoise sea.
Antigua
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