Oak Ridge is another place we visited several times. And, before you ding us for the spelling, it is spelled as both one or two words, depending on where you see it.

It was in Oakridge that we met the delightful Miss* Sandy Byrd, who owns Oak Ridge Marina, a small, six-slip marina on The Point. She has a big, blue, southern-style home on the sea, complete with a wide front porch and two-story tall white columns. We sat for hours on her porch, sipping cold drinks and swapping stories, fascinated with her tales of the island, and the local gossip. From these visits, we incorporated a new term into our vocabulary, which is “porch-ing”, inferring a relaxing time with lots beverages and good conversation, on a porch, naturally.

* The title “Miss” is the traditional respect given to ladies of a “certain” age, whether or not they are, or have ever been, married. At one time, the term was “Aunt”, but this has been modernized to the less familiar, “Miss”.

On our second visit, after we had met and ‘kidnapped’ Miss Sandy (taken her sailing to Port Royal), we had only planned on staying in Oakridge for one night, but it developed into two nights, then three. Jim was working hard on a pump project for our boat, and I had also “loaned” him out to Miss Sandy to move a dock lamppost. Projects were interspersed with “porch-ing”, and visits to a favorite cafe, "Flavors of the Caribbean". We ate well there, and enjoyed visiting with owners Steve and Yvette Ducker. We also had an opportunity to visit The Reef House Resort, a dive resort of which Miss Sandy was at one time part-owner. One couldn't call it luxurious, but it is fine for island-style living, it is right on the beach, and it's a wonderful place from which to watch the tides roll in, and to set out on diving expeditions. They also make some outstanding pastries there.

The Roatan Map shows the town of Oak Ridge, and the Oak Ridge Map shows details of the town itself. You can see the entrance into the harbor is not very wide, but it is nice and deep.