Rowboats on the Moon: Jersey, UK

"I've got to ask. Why are you nervous about going to Jersey?"

A stranger had overheard me talking to a friend at the airport. I tried to explain that it wasn't Jersey, it was the fact that I was traveling totally alone for the first time. He looked at me as if he wanted to pat me on the head, but instead just said, "Don't worry. About the most exciting thing that happens on Jersey is people grow tomatoes."

So began my first completely solo vacation. Here are some things I know now about vacationing alone:

When you vacation alone, you text your spouse a lot.

And you send him pictures of yourself riding the bus to Gatwick.

When you vacation alone, it's actually sort of terrifying when you arrive at your destination on a dark, cold, windy night, only to realize that the island apparently has NO internet connection for cell phones, and you do not know how to find your guesthouse. And then you thank your lucky stars when you stumble upon a WiFi hot spot.

St. Helier's Alister Guest House is owned by Pete and Jackie, a lovely, zany pair of Jersey natives, who serve up fabulous breakfasts with a side of friendly chatter.

When you vacation alone, you let Pete and Jackie bring you the FULL English Breakfast your first morning. After that, you just order scrambled eggs and toast.

When you vacation alone, you don't really have to have a plan. So, I went exploring, and I found some really great things.

St. Helier's Liberation Square Memorial and the famous Jersey Cow statues.

I walked three miles of beach from St. Helier to St. Aubin, passing Elizabeth Castle, inspecting sea shells, clam beds, and statuary, and walking the slippery, cement crescent that arcs out through St. Helier's bay.

The tide was out at St. Aubin's harbor, meaning the boats were stranded with hardly any water in sight.

Then I followed one of the island's Green Ways (a pedestrian/bike path) another three and half miles to the western coast to see La Corbiere lighthouse.

I loved the Green Ways. Walking on the roads was sketchy in places (narrow with no sidewalks), so these were very much appreciated.

This would not be a terrible place to live. Also, I saw 17 rabbits and 2 pheasants that day.

La Corbiere means "the place of ravens." One story claimed locals would lure the ships onto the rocks using lanterns, because their leader was entitled to a portion of any shipwreck spoils.

At low tide, you can walk to the lighthouse along the cement causeway. But because Jersey has 40 foot tides (whoa), they've installed a siren that goes off to warn tourists when it's time to head for the mainland.

On Day 2, I rode the bus out to Durrell Wildlife Park, a conservation project begun by British naturalist and author Gerald Durrell. They focus on supporting endangered and threatened species, and I got to watch them feed the gorillas...which seriously including a park employee lobbing pieces of fruit and gourd as far as he could into the gorilla enclosure. My favorites were the baby orangutans, the fruit bats, and the reptile house.

Then I set off, walking along the hedges between the farming fields, and hooked onto the North Coast Path. It's a 17-mile stretch that wriggles along the contours of Jersey's rocky northern edge, dipping into tiny hamlets and meandering along the wooded sea cliffs.

I only did around 6 miles of the path, but I would love to go back and do the whole thing.

Next day, I went to take a peak at Mont Orgueil Castle. They weren't actually open for the season, but it was cool to see the castle above the tiny fishing village and to eat a fresh-caught lunch at The Crab Shack.

I stole this picture from Jersey's tourist website. (www.jersey.com)

The best part of going out there, though, was seeing the coastline from the bus. When the tide is out, it exposes craggy rock fields that stretch far out into the horizon. It seriously looks like the surface of the moon. It's incongruous, then, when you pass the odd rowboat, stranded on solid rock like some marooned astronaut. When the weather is warmer, the Jersey Tourist Office hosts walks out on the tidal beds that are actually called "Lunar Walks." Another thing I my early-season arrival made me miss.

Last noteworthy stop: Jersey War Tunnels. These were dug to serve as an underground hospital when the Germans invaded Jersey during WWII. The museum was very well done, and the thing that kept running through my mind was how abandoned the people of Jersey must have felt. When the news came that the Channel Islands would not be defended, the people of Jersey had 24 hours to decide if they were leaving to evacuate or remaining in their homes. One day! It turned out that Germany held the island for 5 years. People were starving. Some were deported into Germany. And yet, they supported Churchill and stayed loyal to England. It made me look at the statue in Liberation Square with new eyes.

And then it was time to catch my flight back to London, so I could meet Russ at Heathrow the next morning and fly back to Lux.

When you vacation alone, you send your spouse pictures of yourself riding the train

from Gatwick to London to prove you haven't been kidnapped.

And then you pop in to see the Queen.

Turns out, the stranger at the airport was right; there's really not a lot to worry about on Jersey. It was a great place for my first solo vacation, and I am glad I went. But next time, I think I'll bring Russ. And you, if you want to come too! It's certainly more fun when you do!

#star #timesifreakedout #travel