Saturday morning, we showed up for our second trip on The White Squall II – this time to Norman Island and Peter Island. Both trips we went on were pretty empty which was nice. We didn't want it to be just us and the captain (awkward!), but we wanted a small group to make the snorkeling tours more worth it. Plus, we could comfortably spread around the boat with only 6-8 people on board. Apparently the Thursday before our trips, there were 31 people aboard! I don't know how they all fit...
Anyway, we headed out to Norman Island first, and our captain told us that today's sail was his absolute favorite because you actually get to sail most of the way (unlike the Virgin Gorda trip where the engine does most of the work). Sailing was so relaxing – Tom and I both really loved it and have decided to look into sailing classes once we're back in New York. We did some incredible snorkeling at Norman Island – beautiful corals, a myriad of fish in all colors, shapes, and sizes, and a gigantic lobster! Tom also saw a nurse shark (thank goodness I knew those were harmless or I would have freaked out when I heard it was right near us). Norman Island was the best snorkeling we did on our honeymoon, and we didn't even get to go as far as Kate planned on this tour because there were schools of jelly fish in front of us.
From Norman Island, we headed over to Peter Island, but made stop at a floating bar/restaurant called Willy T's – an old sailboat named William Thornton that now serves drinks, lunch, and dinner literally on the water. We all piled in the dinghy and motored over to it – it was a really neat place – and apparently very popular! Chris and Kate paid for our lunch and one drink – the food was good, and we all left full & happy.
We were sailing to a place called the Indians next – three giant rocks that jut out of the ocean and have walls of coral under the surface. Chris & Kate said they were a must-see, so we decided to go check it out. The coral was huge and plentiful – and I'd never seen anything like those walls & caverns under the surface! We had an hour to explore here, but I think we only stayed in the water for 20-30 minutes. Even though it was really cool, I was done with snorkeling for the day. We headed back to the boat, and the others followed shortly after.
When we were sailing back to Road Town, Chris unfurled all of the sails so that we could see The White Squall in all her glory. She's a beautiful ship, and Chris & Kate's boyfriend road out on the dinghy to take photos of her with our cameras since it's impossible to capture the whole picture from the ship. We had fun on the way back and spent some time just relaxing on deck and listening to the waves. There is definitely more sailing in our future.
When we got back to the villa, we jumped in the pool for a bit and then got ready to go watch the sunset at a place called Bananakeet's. We'd heard/read that it was the perfect spot for sunset-watching, so we decided to have a drink there and watch the sunset before heading back down the mountain to a fancy restaurant called The Sugar Mill for our last dinner out on our honeymoon. 
Bananakeet's was the perfect spot to watch the sunset! It set right over the mountains of Jost Van Dyke, and everything just looked beautiful. Our drinks were great, too – I had the Bananakeet – their signature must-have drink, and Tom had a berry Pina Colada that tasted like the strawberry ice cream from the night before. After the sun dropped behind the mountains, we sat and soaked in what was left of the sights while there was still light in the sky.
The Sugar Mill is probably the fanciest restaurant on Tortola, and apparently it's a good idea to make reservations here even though you don't have to anywhere else. We walked in at about 7:30 and they asked us if we had reservations... we of course said no, and it seemed like we weren't going to be able to eat there. After how empty everywhere else has been since it's the low season in Tortola, we couldn't believe it. However, they found one extra table beyond what had been reserved and let us stay. At first we thought they just didn't want to serve us because we were dressed casually, but the restaurant did end up totally filling up, and when we saw an older man in a white sleeveless undershirt and shorts, we knew our clothes had nothing to do with it!
This restaurant got its name because it literally used to be a mill for cane sugar. It was built in the 1700s from stone that was brought over from the countries with which Tortola was trading its goods. While pretty much everywhere else we ate was on the water, here we ate inside a room that had walls made from cobblestones and a ceiling with high wooden beams. It was a beautiful atmosphere, but it was also stiflingly hot without the ocean breeze blowing through. We got wine, salads, and filet (Tom) and snapper (me), and it was delicious. This was one of the places that observes all the old-school etiquette and gives you about 10 pieces of silverware that you don't know what to do with, but we still thought it was a perfect choice for the last night of our honeymoon.
After a great dinner, we headed back for our last night at Casa Luna.
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