Diana Petterson Antigua and Barbuda, Caribbean Islands

Antigua and Barbuda: Slave Plantation, Nelson’s Dockyard, Devil’s Bridge, St. John’s Cathedral & Redcliffe Quay

This is how I ended my day on the island of Antigua, enjoying a rather delicious Old Fashion Rum Punch at Cuties Restaurant in St. John’s Historic Redcliffe Quay, one of the oldest parts of the town dating to the 17th & 18th centuries overlooking the harbor. (Dec. 17, 2024)

Antigua and Barbuda: Country #91 on my Countdown to 100 U.N. countries by the time I turn 70 in 2026.

Spent the day on the island of Antigua, the most populated island in the country of Antigua and Barbuda. The two islands are about 25 miles or 40 kilometers apart from one another with surrounding smaller islands. The country’s population is just under 94,000, with 97% residing in Antigua.

The capital of Antigua and Barbuda, St. John’s doubles as the nation’s primary port. Named for the island’s patron saint, the city, like the islands, have a storied past deeply rooted in indigenous cultures (the Arawaks and Caribs) and influenced by European colonizers and enslaved Africans.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus surveyed the island of Antigua, which he named for the Church of Santa María La Antigua. Great Britain colonized Antigua in 1632 and Barbuda in 1678. Following a period of internal self-governance, Antigua and Barbuda gained full independence from the United Kingdom on Nov. 1, 1981.

The first stop on our private tour, Antigua Round Island Tour, was the former sugar cane factory and slave plantation of Betty’s Hope now mostly in ruins but in the process of being restored. We also made stops at the Devil’s Bridge, Nelson’s Dockyard and around the island which at one time was covered with sugar cane fields and mills for refining the crop. 

After the tour, I walked around St. John’s up the hill to the St. John’s Cathedral and then back to the Redcliffe Quay, the former historic market for enslaved Africans along with the trading of rum and sugar. 

And now, Radcliffe Quay is a shopping area around the Nevis Street Pier. Although the all aboard on the Insignia was at 10:30 pm, most places around the pier closed at around 6:00 pm, just enough time for me to enjoy a delicious rum punch before boarding the ship. 

Here’s to a day in Antigua, of the island country of Antigua and Barbuda.

This is how I ended my day on the island of Antigua, enjoying a rather delicious Old Fashion Rum Punch at Cuties Restaurant in St. John’s Historic Redcliffe Quay, one of the oldest parts of the town dating to the 17th & 18th centuries overlooking the harbor. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Views from our docked Oceania Insignia ship at St. John’s, the capital city of Antigua and the largest city of the island country of Antigua and Barbuda. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Views from our docked Oceania Insignia ship at St. John’s, the capital city of Antigua and the largest city of the island country of Antigua and Barbuda. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Views from our docked Oceania Insignia ship at St. John’s, the capital city of Antigua and the largest city of the island country of Antigua and Barbuda. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Arriving at Betty’ Hope Sugar Plantation, the first stop of our private tour with Vernon “Antigua Round Island Tour” on the island country of Antigua and Barbuda. It was the first large-scale sugar plantation to operate in Antigua and belonged to the Codrington family from 1674 until 1944. (Dec. 17, 2024)
This is what is left of the Great House on Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua, one of the earliest sugar plantations dating from 1651. The great house was not particularly grand considering it was for a time the seat of government, on one of the richest plantations on the island. The Codrington family, which owned it for many years, spent very little time here instead using overseers to run the plantation. Supervised by a handful of European managers, hundreds of Africans lived out their lives on this and similar plantations, first as slaves, then as laborers after emancipation in 1834. (Dec. 17, 2024)
This is what is left of the Great House on Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua, one of the earliest sugar plantations dating from 1651. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Not much left of the Great House at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Not much left of the Great House at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua, one of the oldest sugar plantations from 1651. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of the Still House at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua where the pipes carrying the condensed rum into large tanks for mixing and diluting down to about 60% alcohol, and then into wooden barrels for storage and in some cases aging. The fermentation tanks, for the wash, would also probably have been located on the lower floor of the still house. The upper floor would have been used for storing the barrels. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of the Still House at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of the Still House at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of the Still House at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The restored windmills at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua which took about eight years to restore. The windmills were used to crush sugar cane and central to the operation of a sugar estate. The extracted cane juice, produced after milling, was collected into a large iron tank located below the rollers from where it was then pumped to the boiling-house for further processing. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of a Cistern Complex at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of a Cistern Complex at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The remains of a Cistern Complex at Betty’s Hope Sugar Plantation in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Me at the Devil’s Bridge National Park in Antigua is a natural rock arch that features several natural blowholes which shoot up water and spray powered by waves from the Atlantic Ocean. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Devil’s Bridge National Park in Antigua is a natural rock arch that features several natural blowholes which shoot up water and spray powered by waves from the Atlantic Ocean. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Devil’s Bridge National Park in Antigua is a natural rock arch that features several natural blowholes which shoot up water and spray powered by waves from the Atlantic Ocean. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Devil’s Bridge National Park in Antigua is a natural rock arch that features several natural blowholes which shoot up water and spray powered by waves from the Atlantic Ocean. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Devil’s Bridge is on the rougher Atlantic Ocean side while just across the way is the turquoise, calm waters of the Caribbean Sea. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Devil’s Bridge is on the rougher Atlantic Ocean side while just across the way is the turquoise, calm waters of the Caribbean Sea. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Entering the Nelson’s Dockyard National Park at the English Harbor in Antigua. The dockyard is named after Admiral Horatio Nelson who lived in the Royal Navy Dockyard from 1784 through 1787. It was built in the early 18th century and abandoned by the British Royal Navy in 1889. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Entering the Nelson’s Dockyard National Park at the English Harbor in Antigua. The dockyard is named after Admiral Horatio Nelson who lived in the Royal Navy Dockyard from 1784 through 1787. It was built in the early 18th century and abandoned by the British Royal Navy in 1889. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The yachts docked at the English Harbor of the historical Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua. It has been home to one of the largest charter yacht shows, welcoming super-yachts from around the world. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The yachts docked at the English Harbor of the historical Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua. It has been home to one of the largest charter yacht shows, welcoming super-yachts from around the world. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Admiral’s Inn Hotel at Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua. This fully restored working dockyard, named after Admiral Horatio Nelson, is the only Georgian dockyard in the world.
The former home of the British hero, Horatio Nelson, is now the Dockyard Museum at Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua. When restoration of the dockyard began in the 1950’s, it was renamed Nelson’s Dockyard in honor of the three years from 1784 to 1787 he spent in Antigua, despite the fact that he disliked being in Antigua. He called the island a “vile place” and a “dreadful hole”. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The Admiral’s Inn Hotel at Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The former Officers Quarters at Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua was built in 1821 to provide accommodation for Royal Navy Officers awaiting repairs to their vessels in the dockyard. It is a two-story structure of wood, stone and brick. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Boggy Peak, named Mount Obama from 2009 to 2016 after former U.S. President Barack Obama, is the highest point of the Shekerley Mountains on the island of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Views of the Shekerley Mountains on the island of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Views of the Shekerley Mountains on the island of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church perched on a hilltop in the capital city of St. John’s, Antigua and largest city of Antigua land Barbuda. The cathedral with its imposing white twin towers was built on a fossilized reef, in 1845, and is now in its third incarnation, as earthquakes in 1683 and in 1745 destroyed the previous structures. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The southern side of St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church perched on a hilltop in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
A unique feature inside the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua, is the pitch pine interior structure and cladding to provide lateral reinforcing for earthquake or hurricane loads. As a result, the cathedral is known by the epithet of “a building within a building.” (Dec. 17, 2024)
A unique feature inside the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua, is the pitch pine interior structure and cladding to provide lateral reinforcing for earthquake or hurricane loads. As a result, the cathedral is known by the epithet of “a building within a building.” (Dec. 17, 2024)
The pitch pine interior of the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The altar inside the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The dark pitch pine choir seats inside the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The large cemetery surrounding the exterior of the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The large cemetery surrounding the exterior of the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. The oldest gravestone, which can’t be read, is supposedly from the late 1600s. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The large cemetery surrounding the exterior of the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. The oldest gravestone, which can’t be read, is supposedly from the late 1600s. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The large cemetery surrounding the exterior of the St. John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church in the capital city of St. John’s in Antigua. The oldest gravestone, which can’t be read, is supposedly from the late 1600s. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Views of the city of St. John in Antigua from the hillside of the St. John’s Cathedral. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Walking around St. John’s, the capital of the island of Antigua in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. (Dec. 17, 2024)
St. John’s, the capital of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
St. John’s, the capital of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
St. John’s, the capital of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
St. John’s, the capital of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
St. John’s, the capital of Antigua. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Redcliffe Quay, the picturesque waterfront area lined with colorful buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, is located at the south end of the cruise terminal on Nevis Street. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Redcliffe Quay, the picturesque waterfront area lined with colorful buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, is located at the south end of the cruise terminal on Nevis Street. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Redcliffe Quay, the picturesque waterfront area lined with colorful buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, is located at the south end of the cruise terminal on Nevis Street. (Dec. 17, 2024)
The picturesque waterfront of the Redcliffe Quay in Antigua is lined with colorful buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries and it’s located at the south end of the cruise terminal at the Nevis Street Pier. (Dec. 17, 2024)
Me heading back to my Oceania cruise ship, Insignia, at the end of a full day in Antigua. Standing on the pier with views of Redcliffe Quay, the picturesque waterfront area lined with colorful buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, is located at the south end of the cruise terminal at the Nevis Street Pier. (Dec. 17, 2024)