♪ ANTHONY: LONG BOASTED IT HAS A HUNDRED 65 BEACHES, ONE FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.
ITS NEWEST TOURISM SLOGAN IS THE BEACH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
♪ ANNOUNCER: THIS IS "CHRONICLE" ON WCVB NEWS CHANNEL 5.
ANTHONY: IN THE CENTER OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS, HISTORY MEETS A GROWING TOURIST ECONOMY ON THE GROWING NATION.
ABOUT THE SIZE OF MARTHA’S VINEYARD, ANTIGUA IS HOME TO OVER 1000 -- 100,000 LOCALS, BUT IN WINTER, THE NUMBER MORE THAN DOUBLES WITH AN INFLUX OF TOURISTS SEEKING WARMTH AND
ADVENTURE.
OUR FIRST ADVENTURE STARTS HERE AT 268 BUGGIES.
I’M ANTHONY.
>> HI, I’M JOEL.
ANTHONY: I AM READY FOR SOME BUGGY LIFE.
HE HAS CARVED OUT A TOURISM NI CHE BY OFFERING A UNIQUE WAY TO EXPLORE ANTIGUA’S INTERIOR ON FOUR WHEELERS.
MI SHIFTING?
>> THEIR FULLY AUTOMATIC.
TO STEP ON THE GAS PEDAL.
ANTHONY: AND AWAY WE GO.
FROM STREETS TO BACK ROADS TO THIS.
♪ ANTHONY: FOR A COUNTRY FAMOUS FOR ITS BEACHES, THESE LUSH PASTURES ARE A HIDDEN GEM BUT THEY DON’T CALL THESE MUDDY BUGGIES FOR NOTHING.
AND ONE LAST SURPRISE.
A PRISTINE BEACH ALL TO OURSELVES.
♪ ANTHONY: THE ISLAND THE WAY PEOPLE DON’T GET TO SEE IT.
>> WE START TRAVERSING THESE TRAILS SINCE WE WERE KIDS.
RIDING DONKEYS ALL OVER THE PLACE.
WHEN WE WERE READY TO START THIS, WE SAID WE WANT TO GIVE YOU AN EXPERIENCE YOU WOULD NOT GET WHEN YOU ARE BACK HOME.
WE DO SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
ANTHONY: LEAVITT TO A NATIVE ANTIGUAN TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION THIS POWERFUL.
AFTER OUR BUGGY RIDE, WE LEARNED THAT GOING ANYWHERE ON THESE NARROW ROADS IS ALMOST AS DRILLING.
ANTIGUAN’S DRAFT ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD, A VESTIGE OF BEING A BRITISH COLONY UNTIL 1981.
THAT COLONIAL HISTORY IS ON FULL DISPLAY AT OUR NEXT STOP, NELSON STOP YARD.
>> THIS IS A 10 CAPSULE.
ANTIGUA WAS THE LAST BASTION FOR THE BRITISH NAVY.
ANTHONY: HISTORIAN DR. REGINALD MURPHY TELLS US THE POSITION OF THIS PORT ON THE STILL AND PROTECTED WATERS OF ENGLISH HARBOR MADE IT AN IDEAL STAGING GROUND.
IN 1784, THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DISPATCHED AT REAL HORATIO NELSON TO THE ISLAND AND HE WOULD LEAVE AN ENDURING IMPRESSION.
>> HE WAS HERE AND HAVE THE NAVIGATION ACT.
ANTHONY: AN UNPOPULAR LAW EVEN MORE SO AS THE PEOPLE OF ANTIGUA WERE STARVING THROUGH ONE OF THE WORST ROUTES IN ALLEN HISTORY.
TODAY, IT IS A WORLD HERITAGE SITE, WHICH INCLUDES TOURS, RESTAURANTS AND HIKING TRAILS, PLUS THIS MUSEUM.
>> WE HAVE A COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS AND HISTORY RELATED.
IT GIVES A NICE OVERVIEW OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING AND WORKING IN THESE SPACES, INCLUDING THE SLAVE AFRICANS.
THEY WORK AS NOT JUST LABORERS BUT MASTER CRAFTSMAN, BLACKSMITHS, CARPENTERS AND DIFFERENT TRADES THAT WERE NEEDED AND NECESSARY.
ANTHONY: SOME OF THE DESCENDENTS OF THOSE ENSLAVED STILL LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY AND ABLE TO MAKE IF FAIR LIVING USING TECHNICAL SKILLS PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS.
THE HISTORY OF THE DOCKYARD MAKES IT A HOTSPOT, BUT MURPHY SAYS THE FIND THE MOST EXCITING HISTORY, YOU MAY NEED A WETSUIT.
>> SUNKEN SHIPS COME EVERYTHING IS THERE.
ANTHONY: WHILE ARCHAEOLOGISTS COMB THE FLOOR OF ENGLISH HARBOR FOR ARTIFACTS, ON THE WESTERN SHORES OF THE ISLAND, THESE TOURISTS FROM MASSACHUSETTS SEARCH FOR SOME THING ELSE.
>> WE CALL IT THE JEWELRY OF THE OCEAN.
ANTHONY: LINDSAY AND LOU DISCOVERED THIS SEAGLASS BY ACCIDENT.
>> WE WERE LOOKING TO SPEND SOME TIME IN ST. JOHN’S AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS WHERE WE HONEYMOONED.
BY ACCIDENT, WE BOOKED A TRIP HERE.
TRUE STORY.
ANTHONY: THAT ACCIDENTAL BOOKING HAS TURNED INTO A SIX YEAR LOVE AFFAIR WITH ANTIGUA AND ITS HIDDEN BEACHES, SCATTERED WITH SPARKLING TREASURE.
>> SEAGLASS IS NOT MANUFACTURED.
ANTHONY: AND EVERY COLOR TELLS A STORY.
>> QUITE COMMON.
MANY GREEN, MANY BROWN.
>> THE BLUE COMES FROM A COBALT LOOP GLASS CONTAINERS THAT YOU SAW IN THE 1800S.
THAT IS WHERE PEOPLE PUT THEIR MEDICINE IN.
ANTHONY: THEY TOOK THIS HOBBY TO ANOTHER LEVEL WHEN NANCY DECIDED TO WRAP THE PIECES IN SILVER TO DISPLAY AT A CRAFT FAIR.
>> I SOLD 30 PIECES IN MAYBE TWO HOURS.
PEOPLE LOVED IT BECAUSE OF THE STORY THAT WAS BEHIND IT.
THIS PARTICULAR PIECE CAME FROM ANTIGUA.
THIS IS WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR.
ANTHONY: BRINGING PEOPLE A TINY PIECE OF ANTIGUA WITH ONE ADDED BONUS.
>> I FEEL LIKE WE ARE DOING OUR PART TO RECYCLE.
IT’S WIN-WIN.
SHAYNA: I KNOW WHERE I WANT TO BE RIGHT NOW.
BACK TO NELSON DOCKYARD, WE KNOW IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH BRITISH NAVY HISTORY, BUT DR. MURPHY SAYS IT IS A BIG PART OF YACHTING.
ANTHONY: IN THE 1940’S, THE NICHOLSON FAMILY SALES INTO THE DOCKYARD AND AN AMERICAN TOURIST IS THERE.
WOULD YOU GIVE ME A TOUR?
THE WORD SPREAD AND THAT LED TO A CHARTER BUSINESS THAT EXIST TO THIS DAY.
YOU CAN CHARTER BOATS FROM THE NICHOLSON DOCKYARD.
SHAYNA: NICE LITTLE STORY