Friday Nights

Many would think that Tortola is a sleepy little village.. others would beg to differ.

 

Friday night ritual is going to the Dove for drinks after work.  Here you tend to find the lawyers and financial services crowd on a Friday.. much like going to Corks back in Gibraltar I suppose.  Next door to the Dove is Castaways which passes for a pub/nightclub/pick-up joint for teenagers and yachties.  A bit further along is Le Cabanon restaurant which is really a restaurant but also known as a meeting point for people, generally the rugby crowd on Thursdays.  More up market is 15 Abbott Lane with a wonderful lounge type drinks area outside the restaurant overlooking Road Town, real classy.

 

Then there are the strip clubs and lap dancing locales.  I only found out that there was a lap dancing club (not the strip club I mentioned in a previous post) this week.  to get to it turn left at the end of the roundabout and then turn left again.  Entrance fee is $5 for men and $10 for women.. apparently women are discouraged from entering as "they give too much trouble".  Then today I find out that there is another lap dancing place, this one is inside a shipping container!  Whereabouts unknown... watch this space.  Apparently, an informed source who visited this locale recently, was disappointed because the day he turned up the dancer was not there as her work permit had not been renewed.. classic!

 

Friday nights is also good to go to Quito's in Cane Garden Bay where a DJ plays the night away.  It is interesting to see in action what I thought was a myth.  That there are two shifts to night life in Tortola.. the non-belonger shift which goes from 7-11:30/12:00am where tourists and expats go out to enjoy themselves and the belonger and down-islander shift which starts after 12:00am.  I was at Quito's at midnight and there was a sea change in who was there.  After midnight the locals go on with their grove, grinding away to the music and there was hardly a non-belonger in the locale. By the time I left, shortly after my shift, there were tons of locals making it into the place.