2007.12.25
soon friends of all kinds began to arrive at nelson's dockyard. fortunately, we arrived early& scooped a shady tree. ché & willow instantly connected with the many, many other children while they climbed trees, ran around & played musical blankets.
the vibe was as positive as it gets. it was like a lollapolooza festival with kiddles. no matter which way you turned friendly people were there to chat and share a glass of champagne. all parents looked out for all children. it was a combination of locals, brits who have made antigua their home & visiting tourists. from 6 months to 85 years old, people enjoyed the music, bevvies, foods & each other, all day.
we never made it to the beach. each time we considered it, more friends arrived, showed up with hugs, best wishes and lots of conversation.
our good friends alison, colin, paul, kate & her family from ireland seemed to be a nucleus of picnic blankets & well wishers. richard met many folk that day and took it all in with interest. he wondered how we managed to connect with so many people, even though we'd only been here barely more than a year.
the day concluded for us as dusk began to set. as the champagne, hot sun & activities began to take their toll, we noticed the families were calling it a day; being replaced by local teens who were ready to pick up where we left off. no doubt the celebrations went well into the night.
we want to thank everyone who shared this excellent day with us. it was a day of relaxed revelry. by the end, the children were done & we were too. we went to bed early with big smiles on all our faces.
who ever is lucky enough to come down from the great white north for christmas 2008, will be in for a treat. the champagne christmas at nelson's dockyard is already on our calendar.
to kate's family, we had such a wonderful day, we feel we are part of the family. although we don't expect to see you next year, should we be in nelson's dockyard, we'll think of you guys.
and to all our antiguan friends, we look forward to celebrating christmas in 12 months. we couldn't have planned a better day.
click here to view the photo hi-lights of our christmas celebrations.
photos from the top - down.
- falmouth on christmas day. a 5 mast, tall ship cruised into the harbour. this shot is from the edwards' front porch.
- santas keeping wet under hot beards.
- ché & richard checking out all the cool sailboats in the dockyard.
– willow using a giant... something... as a monkey bars... and loving every minute of it.