It's no secret that the rich and famous retreat to Mustique for privacy and serenity. Mick Jagger and Tommy Hilfiger are just two of the celebrities who own homes on the island.
This eclectic mix of English royalty, rock stars and affluent international guests make for some interesting evenings at the gathering places in the village. Every Tuesday night the Mustique Company sponsors a cocktail night at the
Cotton House Hotel So we decided to join the English lords and local schoolteachers for an enjoyable night of rum punches and island gossip. The
Cotton House Hotel is a restored plantation house and sugar mill set amid lily ponds and flowering tropical splendor. Oliver Messel designed the guest cottages and pool complex and the boutique hotel includes a white sand beach and tennis courts. The newly opened spa, decorated in soothing hues of lavender and blue, reflects the serenity and beauty of the nearby sea. While there we could see the candles flickering in the dining room set with cobalt blue china for a formal evening meal. (Note. The Beach Café, under construction while we were there, is now open.) Basil's Bar on Britannia Bay is the place to be for Wednesday night "Jump Up." Each week the well-heeled rub elbows with island guests, visiting yachties and locals for authentic island grub and lively steel drum music. You never know who you might run into at Basil's.
Mustique's tiny village includes three fine boutiques, the Sweetie Pie Bakery and a grocery store. Inside the grocery we found an interesting mix of fine wines and foie gras alongside plantains, yams and sweet potatoes. One afternoon we stopped across the street from the grocery store to watch the local fishermen unload their catch of grouper, snapper and lobster destined for the island's kitchens.
The days seem to drift by in a blur. Each day we thought about hiking one of the island's many top-notch nature trails that showcase the hardwood hammocks and mangrove forests. We even thought of arranging a horseback ride with the Equestrian Center or playing a few games of tennis at the Tennis Club. We knew that sailing charters, surfing, SCUBA diving, kayaking, even golf (on nearby Canouan Island) were all available, but that's one of the great beauties of Mustique --- the emphasis clearly rests on the simple things and the villa life. The "activities" and "sight seeing" becomes an ethereal possibility instead of a "must see, must do." Life seems to slow down and we found ourselves talking in hushed voices for no apparent reason at all. As the sun set on our final day on Mustique we spotted the green flash once again. Science says we must understand the mirage before we can understand the science of what's real, but under the
sway of a cool Caribbean breeze brushing across the beauty of the island, the thin line between reality and fiction blurs easily on Mustique.
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