Tour of
Main Street Shops |

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Main Street itself
is a treat and
deserves a special tour. Crammed into the base of a
hillside, on the a narrow strip of flat land
before part of the harbour was filled, its historic
character
is evident from the many older wooden buildings, such
as the
Jewelry Box above, often with
traditional red tin roofs and
Victorian 'gingerbread' trim.
The
narrow confines of the street, together with the
jumble of cars, many pedestrians and
West Indian style buildings, lends Main Street its
charm
(photo:
NikonDoug). |
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An eclectic group, the Main
Street shops offer, in great variety, art by local and Caribbean artists,
island and resortwear, beach bags, Sunny Caribbee spices, fine wines,
U.S. newspapers, toys, nautical antiques, hand-crafted and international jewelry,
freshly baked goods, and much more. |
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Shops
by Category.
Art
Allamanda Gallery, Caribbean Fine Arts,
The Gallery,
BVI Inside Art Gallery,
Sunny Caribbee Art Gallery
Clothing
Latitude 18, Pusser's Company Store,
Serendipity
Dining
Capriccio Cafe, The
Dove, Le
Grande Cafe (was Le Cabanon),
Midtown Restaurant,
Mr. Fritz's Oriental
Restaurant,
Pusser's
Pub, The
Roti Palace,
Three Sheets Sports Bar,
Virgin Queen
Gifts, Crafts, Misc. Bamboushay Pottery,
Kaunda's
Kysy Tropix, Huckster's, Oh
La La
Herbs & Spices
Sunny Caribbee
Herb & Spice
Jewelry Jewelry Box, Samarkand
Jewelers
Sights
J.R.O'Neal Botanic Garden,
Her Majesty's
Prison, Old
Administration Building, Old Customs
House, Virgin
Islands Folk Museum
Specialty Food & Drink Dorothy's Superette, Road Town Bakery,
Tico Imports |
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Getting
There
The traditional way to tour the Main Street shops is to start from down around the ferry.
From the ferry itself, walk across Waterfront Drive, across The Plaza and
turn right. Or driving,
turn inland at Customs Rd., then turn right again--Main Street is a
one-way street.
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West
Indian Style Buildings |
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Known for their bright pastel colors, these
buildings are emblematic of the Caribbean. Often they are
wooden houses such as The Gallery
seen here, with 'gingerbread' and other Victorian
trim, contrasting shutter panel colors and tin roofs
that characterize this West Indian style. And here
the artwork is displayed on the front in that informal
Caribbean style
The Gallery artists try to capture in their art. |
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Blackbeard
Stamp |
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Sir
Olva Georges Plaza, directly across from the
Ferry, has
Esme's Shop
with US newspapers, J.R.O'Neal's Drug Store and a
Museum and the Post Office with a great
collection of stamps (see
Island Sun articles on stamps). |
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Pusser's
Outpost |
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Occupying the Old
Administration Building (Crown Governor's residence) is its
Museum with a
Quaker Room and gift shop as well as the Post Office
and its
Stamp Room with a 1787-2001 catalogue of BVI stamps,
known worldwide among philatelists for their exquisite
design and fascinating subjects (photo:
L5Design).
Snacks for the
ferry ride or otherwise are available at
Road Town Bakery
and Dorothy's
Superette, just up Main Street, with
cold drinks, beers, bottled water and
local Callwood rum as well as basic
groceries. Try a "ting," a
Jamacian citrus soda. |
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Alley photo:
Travel Club
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Photo:
Pussers handpainted silk
by Anita Gulliver from The Gallery just up
Main Street
Facing Waterfront Drive above The
Plaza, the Outpost includes
Pusser's Company Store (284/494-2467) with clothing,
marine paintings, Pusser's famous rum and
nautical gifts as well as the very popular Pusser's Pub
(284/494-3897) with English pub food and excellent pizza.
Pusser's Outpost extends through to Main Street
via a lovely narrow walk-through alley.
Across Main Street from Pusser's Outpost,
look for old
wooden houses with large corner posts, bolted to the house
and buried in the ground, that kept these houses, originally
just steps from the shore, from floating away in storms.
Capriccio di Mare |

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Around to the right on
Waterfront Street, this cafe makes a good cappuccino
shopping break. |
An authentic Italian outdoor cafe
(284/ 494-5369), Capriccio di Mare features salads with plum
tomatoes, provolone cheese with country Tuscan focaccia,
delicious deserts,
real Italian pizza and pasta, biscotti, and, of course,
prosciutto --you would think you are in Italy, except its
house drink is the
Mango Bellini. It's run by the owners of the fine-dining
Brandywine Bay restaurant. |
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Just up Main Street is Radical
Designs, Mon Cheri, Caribbean Handprints, the
Virgin Islands Folk Museum,
Samarkand Jewelers, Beacon Bible Book Store,
Oh La La, Stitch N' Time and
Bamboushay Pottery
Also on the right, Kaunda's Kysy Tropix
(284/495-5636) has CDs and cassettes of Caribbean and local music.
Samarkand Jewelers |
Specializing in
Caribbean gemstones from Santa Domingo (such as black coral),
Tortola (such as jasper not normally in green), Dominica and other
islands Samarkand Jewelers (94 Main Street past
The Plaza below the Roti Palace, 284/495-6415), a
family business established in 1971, makes all its own jewelry.
Real local shells are made into molds, the shell burnt out and the piece
filled with gold
and silver. Pendants of private boats are made by special order.
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Ooh La La! |

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Pictured in blue tucked into the hillsides, Ooh La La
(on Main Street past The Plaza, 494-2433) is cramped but popular and
always has the unexpected from games to potholders. Yes, that is a road going
up that cliff in the background (photo credit: Jere
Lull).
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Roti
Palace |
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94 Main Street past The Plaza and above Samarkand
Jewelers, the Roti Palace (494-4196) features beef,
chicken, conch, whelk, and goat rotis on an intimate
hillside porch. And the mango
chutney condiment --yum! A consensus favorite, the Roti
Palace--try a roti before you leave (photo:
UltimateBVI). |
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Beef Carpaccio |
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Le Grande
Cafe |
On Waterfront Drive across
from The Ferry,
Le Grande Cafe, formerly Le Cabanon with a new menu, offers
classical French bistro fare. |
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Escargot |
Dishes include croque monsieur,
beef carpaccio (left photo:
B.V.I.Blog) and lobster (Anegada) bisque.
The breezy patio setting is a great spot for desert, such as
their "heavenly" chocolate mousse. And, the
bar is excellent for late night fun! |
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Below The Plaza is The Dove, Tortola's
very popular restaurant for upscale dining, with its 'Barfly' lounge
Islands Treasures (below The Plaza opposite the hospital
284/495-4787) has a great
collection of Caribbean books and maps, model ships and local Caribbean art
from watercolors to sculpture.
Three
Sheets Sports Bar (was Castaways) opposite the ferry dock, has
a central BIG SCREEN, widescreen TVs throughout, WiFi, good sports bar food
and a nice roof garden. |
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The Dove |

Cocktails Under a Mango Tree |
Featuring Asian and French fusion
haute cuisine in a 1912 "gingerbread" cottage, The Dove (67
Main Street below The Plaza, 284/494-0313,
facebook,
twitter) offers
Thai curry prawns, delicious Dove Steak
and great
Chilean sea bass. |
To begin, enjoy the complementary
amuse bouche (a single, bite-sized hors d'�uvre)
such as fennel topped with shredded rabbit confit served on a
Chinese soup spoon. |
'Bar Fly' |
Have cocktails under a Mango tree
with
duck spring rolls and pulled pork
tostadas at the 'Bar Fly' tapas bar and
cocktail lounge upstairs. |
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Other appetizers or tapas
include soft-shell crab and asparagus and
shitake crispy pot stickers. Don't miss the home-made ice cream
and chocolate souffl�! And champagne happy hours,
all with mellow jazz. |
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Virgin Islands Folk Museum |
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At 98 Main Street just past The Plaza, this small
museum has some
Arawak
and Carib pottery and stone tools, including a decorated
spindle, wreck of The Rhone and H.M.S. Nymph artifacts, plantation
items and reef conservation info. They also sells some t-shirts,
paintings, maps and gifts (photo:
A BVI Vacation). |
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Bamboushay Pottery |
(gallery at 109 Main Street past the Plaza,
284/494-0393) makes beautiful sconces and hanging
lights, glazed and hand-painted vases, bowls, candle
lanterns, platters, dishes and mugs.
Island Roots, at their gallery, offers specialty
coffees and homemade patties, served in their own
crafted mugs. |
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Turtle Sconce |
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Note their own
hanging lights |
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