Resorts

In an earlier post I mentioned a conversation about the rise and now fall of the full service resorts in the Islands.  Little Dix Bay on the island of Virgin Gorda was the first to be built many years ago.  It has now closed.  The resort Marney and I know is Biras Creek, at the southeast end of Gorda Sound.   In 1973, we spent Christmas week there as the resort opened.  The trip was a special gift from Marney’s grandmother who hosted her children and grandchildren (I was the only grandson in law at the time).

And there are lots of stories from that one week.  …such as landing on a small runway at the Virgin Gorda airport, only to see the tail of another plane visible as we turned to head to the small terminal (it had lost its brakes and slowly dropped off the runway onto rocks about ten feet below – no one hurt, we were told).  …such as the boat ride we had to take just to reach the end of the sound (no roads in those days).  …such as the plastic “Lego-like” tennis court that came from France and that my father-in-law enlisted the troops to crack open the boxes and snap together because he brought his tennis racket  (it might have been a great idea but whenever it rained, the surface was too slick to use). …such as my first taste of lobster.  And I was supposed to be studying for my Ordination Exams!

Most importantly, it was my first glimpse of the crystal clear blue waters of the Caribbean. 

Looking from Gorda Sound

Biras Creek was built on a hilltop so that you could see both the Gorda Sound in one direction and the Caribbean Sea in the other.  The bungalows were duplexes.  Each had a living room, bedroom,  kitchenette and bathroom with an outdoor shower.  The bungalows were scattered along the hillside facing the Caribbean where you could hear the water breaking over the rocks, a sound that lulled you to sleep each night. 

Much has been added over the years.  Walking paths, hiking paths, horseback riding and stables, a better tennis court, the chairs and beach bar at the private beach about a quarter mile walk away, the exercise room.  We stopped by with Marney's sister Allie and her husband Bill a year and a half ago and were delighted by all the memories.

Last week’s visit was sad.  Biras Creek is closed, at least temporarily, they say.  I suspect it is part of the changing world here, where cruise ships are cutting into the resort business and people are having to shift their work from service personnel at the resorts to selling T-shirts and jewelry to the day-tripping cruiseship visitors.  It’s partly that.

View looking toward Gorda Sound

View looking toward Caribbean

Walking Path to Private Beach

Beach with "park sized" chess set

Unfortunately, it’s partly a poor business plan.  The original owner leased the property to an entrepreneur who, unfortunately, kept losing money.  He decided that he would simply close the place, about six months ago.  He keeps making the monthly lease payment, but the workers are out of work.  The owner is now suing the entrepreneur for breach of contract, claiming that the lease is based on the resort operating and that if the lessor can’t make it work, then the lease should end and the owner can decide what to do next (which, rumor has it, is to try to start over).  So, the courts will decide…eventually…and sometimes “eventually” can take years.

Perhaps the saddest story we’ve heard is the effort some developer tried on the island of Anegada (forgive me, if I'm repeating myself).  Anegada sits on the northernmost edge of the BVI, about twelve miles north of Gorda Sound.  Unlike the other islands here (volcanic, hilly, deep green foliage), Anegada is an atoll, surrounded by a large coral reef.  It is flat, hot, and has beautiful beaches.  Lots of lobster (best in the BVI) and conch are found there.  So…the story goes that a developer came in with a grand scheme.  The government approved.  He went to the Anegadans and asked them to leave their farms and herds of cows and work on this development.  Apparently about two years later, the developer gave up.  He left, took his money, went home.  Unfortunately, the Anegadans didn’t have much left, after two years of untended fields and pastures.  They had been caught by the tourism industry’s promises which sometimes don’t work out.  About 300 people were out of work.

The good news of this story is that the government made a promise to find a job for everyone who lost one on Anegada.  Not necessarily on their home island, but somewhere.  One year later, the government had placed 299 of those workers in new jobs.  I’m sure it was a scramble.  People moved, many to Tortola…and in the shifting world, those from outside (other island nations as well as other continents) were denied workers permits.  It is what it is.

The world from which I come, the institutional church, doesn’t deal with massive developments, re-employment of hundreds of people, or economic failures of such magnitudes.  And it occasionally learns of the impact by one local story (the closing of a plant, the failure of a housing development, the up and down surges in energy development).  And the church offers, hopefully, a mercy presence.  But, being here and listening to this and reflecting, God seems to be reminding me that the consequences of our dreams and actions can profoundly impact others.  That doesn’t mean “don’t dream.”  And it doesn’t mean “don’t act.”  It does mean to take care and remember that we humans are connected deeply to each other and our communities and the whole of creation.  

Fair Winds

Calm Seas

Dave