PubClub.com Has Been To This Restaurant In The British Virgin Islands
Mystery solved.
You can toss out all the legends, the rumors the “no THIS is the place” talk. According to the man himself, this is where Jimmy Buffett got the inspiration for his”Cheeseburger in Paradise” song.
This is what he said about it introducing the song on his Radio Margaritaville.
“I had been out for two weeks and it was not a lovely cruise (laughs). They had just opened up and we had lots of cheeseburgers and Pina Coladas. I wrote the song the next day.
“It was there and nowhere else.”
By “we” he meant the crew that was sailing with him; they had just come from Puerto Rico, a trip that took longer than expected due to problems and a lack of wind.
Village Cay Marina on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Located in the main “city” of Road Town, it contains a hotel, marina and restaurant. Of course it was the marina that Buffett and crew were seeking.
And I have been there! At the time I did not know it was the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” place. Wish I would have had the cheeseburger, dang it! I did enjoy the steel drum band playing while having cocktails overlooking the water.
“We gave particular instructions to the waiter on how we wanted them cooked and what we wanted on them – to which little attention was paid. It didn’t matter,” Buffett has said about the experience. “The overdone burgers on the burned, toasted buns tasted like manna from heaven, for they were the realization of my fantasy burgers on the trip.”
For you sailors looking for a taste of the same, the GPS location of the restaurant is: 18 (degrees) 25′ 23.00 (degrees) N 64 (degrees) 37′ 02.00 (degrees) W.
The Village Cay Marina’s website is: Village Cay Resort and Marina – Good Food, Good Drinks, Good People!
I’ve sailed the entire Leeward Island chain over a span of roughly a decade in time. In 1988 I stumbled across an old (1800s) 180 tall ship named “The Sir Frances Drake” that was crewed by usually 12 folks and only accommodated up to 22/24 guests. By being aboard 8 different weeks, we sailed from Puerto Rico down the the US and British Virgin Islands where we learned about Jimmys location of where he supposedly wrote his classic Cheeseburger in Paridise tune. Then later aboard another week we had sailed out of Antiqua up to St Martin where the other location Jimmy had declared he wrote the song in St Barts! Regardless of which place he got the inspiration he got and wrote the clasic, I can say, it doesn’t really matter. Having sailed from the USVI all the way down to the Grenadines has been my most favorite locations for getting away from it all, And yes, Im a “Son of a Sailor” no doubt!!!!
No better place on this Earth
Ha, I think it’s that way with a few of Jimmy’s songs, where he says several places are the inspiration. Thanks for this great post contribution! — PubClub.com
As founder of Village Cay / manger Jimmy docked on C dock living abroad his Choylee for several months with guitar. Likely recorded in London he sent me a demo with a toy taxi. He later moved St Bart’s after the release of Cheese Berger with a smart new open yacht. The restruants manger went on to be Egon Roney inspector sheff Cooper Island.
John
Interesting and thanks John!