ANGUILLA, British West Indies -- Relatively few people ever get to experience in person the beauty and tranquility of the Caribbean islands, but a Georgia couple has managed to achieve what many people can only dream of: They have their own island here.

Sandra and Eudoxie Wallace visited Anguilla (her husband's native country) in 1984 and saw a scrubby little island some 180 feet long and about 50 feet wide sitting forlornly perhaps a quarter mile off the mainland.

What a great location for a gourmet offshore restaurant, they agreed. But turning that little spit of jagged coral rock and seaweed into a profitable venture would be a huge gamble at best and require immense time and effort, they acknowledged.

But they decided to gamble. They scraped together all the money they could and threw caution to the wind.

So long, Atlanta, hello Anguilla.

After surviving mountains of governmental red tape, they leased the island, called Scilly Cay, from the Anguilla government (which owns all land in Anguilla . . . no absentee ownership here) on a long-term basis.

"The government here is never in a hurry to do anything," said Sandra (who was Sandra Wilcox when she was growing up in Atlanta). "Their officials may or may not show up for appointments with you. It took what seemed like forever to get everything cleared."

Anguilla is located at the northern tip of what is known as the Lesser Antilles, some 100 miles southeast of Puerto Rico. Anguilla itself is small, only 16 miles long and three miles wide, a relatively flat island with a resident population of about 11,000. The government does not allow outside land ownership and does not permit chain businessess (no Holiday Inns, no Wal Marts, no McDonald's, etc.). Restaurants, groceries, drug stores, etc., are all locally owned. There are more than a dozen major resorts and many small hotels catering to tourists.

"Anguilla is an island for rest and relaxation," said Sandra Wallace. "People come here for its peace and its beauty, and, of course, for its great food."

Getting a long-term lease on the island was only the first hurdle. Converting the island into a habitable state was an even more forbidable obstacle.

"We wanted everything to be as natural as possible with as little commercialism as possible," said Sandra. "We wanted guests to totally enjoy the getaway, so we decided to forego electricity - no blender noise - and telephones - keeping everyone incommunicado."

The Wallaces also decided to build a unique conchshell wall around the island after developing a friendship with several conch harvesters.

"We would give them some food and drinks while they took the conch from the shells and left us the conch shells," said Sandra.

Now, a meandering three-foot high wall of conch shells, held together with cement, surrounds most of the island. "We thought it would be a unique conversation piece, and it is," she said.

They also planted some palm trees, developed a cactus garden, built three pagodas and added numerous brightly-colored flowers. "We are constantly improving and adding touches that our clientele appreciate, whether is a new piece of driftwood or a new cactus garden," she said.

The customer base at Scilly Cay consists primarily of tourists, including many who boat to the island and its beautiful blue-green waters from such nearby islands as St. Thomas, St. John, St. Marteen, St. Bart, Tortola, St. Croix, St. Kitts, etc. "We have even had people boat all the way down here from San Juan," she said.

Customers number into the thousands each month, she said. "Before or after lunch our guests can spend time wading, swimming, snorkling or sitting in a chair relaxing under one of our grass-roof pagodas," she said.

Operating the Scilly Cay restaurant is as time-consuming as the Wallaces originally figured.

"We devote six days a week (closed on Sundays), 10 months a year to the island and even when we are closed for the months of September and October because of the hurricane season we are over on the island fertilizing, planting and brainstorming. We employ eight fulltime and three parttime workers." This includes a boat driver-island caretaker, who ferries customers back and forth from the Anguillan mainland during the approximate four-hour lunch period (from about 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.).

The Wallaces decided to have a lunch-only restaurant primarily because they had two small sons (ages 1 and almost 3 at the time) with whom they wanted to spend a lot of time.

"We wanted Alexander (now 17) and Brandon (now 15) with us, rather than with a caregiver, at least until they were old enought to go to school. And, that allowed us to close the restaurant when school was out and maintain our home life as a family," she said. "They have quality schools here."

Sandra and Eudoxie, who first met in Atlanta in 1980 and were married four years later, said they saw their sons blossom here.

"They learned to swim at Scilly Cay when they were practically babies. They've fished from day one and had their first Boston whaler at ages 5 and 3. The boys have been exposed to guests and celebrity guests from all over the world."
Recent diners at Scilly Cay include such luminaries as Michael J. Fox, Sandra Stone and Liam Neeson.

She said the boys plan to continue the family business as they get older.

"Alexander will be going to a hotel and restaurant management school when he reaches 18, but we have not decided on the school as yet," she said.

Another plus about raising her children on Anguilla has been the social environment here, she says. "There are no gangs and no alcohol or drug problems to speak of. Crime is almost nonexistant. The island is very close-knit. Everyone, young and old alike, take care of each other. Eudoxie and I plan to spend the rest of our lives here."

In recent years the wind has been the only big problem for the Wallaces.

"We went for many years without a hurricane, but in the past six years we have had several. But we always get plenty of warning and can prepare for them. Most structures in Anguilla are steel-enforced concrete with poured roofs and can withstand most wind."

She said the Scilly Cay restaurant has not had any devastating hurricane damage "though our bar did wind up in the sea one time." She said recovery time from hurricanes is very quick, with just about everything returning to normal within a matter of days. "Unfortunately, it takes us longer to recover from tourist concerns by bad press than actual hurricane damage."

Sandra said she makes it back to Atlanta and other Georgia towns to visit relatives for a few weeks a year. "My family is very close. We are spread all over Georgia," she said.

Ocean breezes usually keep Anguilla daytime highs in the middle 80s, with little or no humidity. The island country is small enough that there are no real towns, only communities (the capital is called The Valley, where the governor lives).

A small airport is served by commuter airlines and the Liatairline (the Caribbean Airline).

Resort and hotel rates run from relatively high ($600 or more per night) in peak season winter months to relatively inexpensive ($150 or less per night) during the summer months. Some of the more luxurious resort/hotels include Sonesta Beach, Cap Juluca, Carimar, Caribella, Anguilla Great House, CuisinArt, etc. There are also several dozen quality restaurants, general shopping and car rental firms.

On the internet:

www.anguilla-vacation.com

This story was published on 15 May 2002.