St. Thomas, Part 2...

During my life, I have been to many places, seen all kinds of things, and experienced so many things that have given me such a wealth of memories.  And each time I go somewhere new, either with my wife or back in my military days, I often find myself sitting somewhere saying "How do you suppose a little boy from Zanesville ever ended up here."  Most of the time, I end up just shaking my head and sit back taking in the sights and smells.
Well, that was the way it was when I was sitting on the deck of a catamaran in the Caribbean, taking in the sights of the beautifully blue water, waiting for the captain to drop anchor so we could begin our snorkel adventure at Buck Island (well, actually, they do not drop anchor out there -- the coral on the bottom would be destroyed if they did that, so there are maybe a half-dozed permanent tie-offs that the boats tie off to while people are diving and swimming there.).

Neither Pam or I has ever done any of this before, let alone where we were.  I have a friend, Dave, who was an accomplished scuba diver, and used to repair swimming pools as a side job.  But this was all new to us and what a great adventure it was.

Pam picked up a couple of underwater cameras before we left Ohio, and we got some pretty cool pictures.  None of them are gallery quality, but it sure was fun seeing those little pencil-nosed fish right in front of my diving mask, and the sea turtles and sting rays swimming a few yards away from us. At one point, I was trying to focus the camera on a turtle on the bottom, and looked to my right and saw one (the one in this picture) that was swimming right up toward me, going up for air and actually swam right below my feet.  I was only about a foot from it (no pun intended). This turtle was called "Greenie" and is a regular here.  They say they can tell it is Greenie because of the little triangle on it's back.
We used the motor on the boat on the way to the island, but were able to sail back to the dock, a distance of about 15-20 miles, give or take.  That was so refreshing, just sailing along, no motor noises, just the sound of the wind in the sails, and, of course, the people on board having fun, eating and drinking and getting to know each other.  We met a very nice couple on the boat who come from  the Youngstown area.  They too were escaping Ohio's last blast of winter.  They had two teenage daughters, one who was getting ready to graduate from high school and one who was a junior.  The dad said this was kinda like their last vacation trip for a long time (tuition bills !!).  It was easy to meet people and talk to them.  And most of them, like us, had never done anything like this before. 


What a great time.  We were both tired after this day.  Lots of sun, and plenty of swimming.  Hadn't done anything like this for a long time, and forgot how tired you can get after swimming. 

The name of the boat was the "Cat."  One of the things they do while you are on the trip is offer you one of those fake tatoos (they use it for advertising).   Pam and I both got one, and then took these pictures.  We sent them to all of our relatives and neighbors.  Told them we had had too much rum on the ship, got these tatoos and signed on as ship's crew and would be out to sea for a couple of years.  Lots of reaction from the family and friends!!

I have always said I would never want to take a cruise, but that was on the big ocean liners.  This "Cat" trip was just my style.

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.      

Mark Twain

Hooah

St. Thomas, Part 3...

It was the Thursday of our trip before we got into the town of St. Thomas.  Tuesday and Wednesday  saw several cruise ships in the harbor, 6 on Tuesday and 5 on Wednesday.  And just in case you don't know how that works, each of the big ships carries about 5,000 passengers and 1,000 crew, so when these 6 ships hit the port, there was the potential of 30,000 +/- hitting that small town for a whole day of elbow to elbow shopping in a duty-free port.  Our travel agent, all the hotel people, and the restaurant people all told us that this was something we should avoid if possible.  So we held off until Thursday.

In order to get to town from the hotel, one has two options -- the kamikaze cabs or the water taxi.  We chose the water taxi as having the greater chance of getting there and back alive.  It cost $14 per person each way, but very enjoyable and relaxing.

The actual "downtown" area of the town of St. Thomas isn't very big -- only about three blocks deep and maybe 15 blocks long.  However, as I mentioned before, it is a duty-free town so prices there are quite a bit lower than they are back on the mainland.  St. Thomas is part of the U.S., so it's is sometimes easy to say back in the states, but they will correct you on that.  It's "back on the mainland."  Three very interesting things that pop up quickly are 1) there are reportedly 95 jewelry stores in this small town, 2) I did not see any trash on the streets anywhere, and 3) you can barter on prices and not fear getting ripped off.  The tourist business is way too important to allow tourist and ship goers to get ripped off and not come back. 

 All of the shops are connected with little shaded walkways in-between.  This is very appealing as the breezes just gently work their way through the "alleys" giving the tourists a place to cool off, have a drink and savor their purchases.

At the far end of the town, there was a little "tent city" where local vendors had a flea market.  This was the area where you could buy all the T-shirts and trinkets you could carry.  If you were looking to do some bargaining, this was the place. 

There was also a very nice Italian restaurant that all the hotel people recommended.  You needed to make reservations, but since we were going there for lunch, we were able to walk in even though our reservation was for an hour later.  Good food and good atmosphere.

As we worked our way back to the water taxi stand, we came across an old fort that overlooked the bay.  It was being restored, and the guy standing out front had no idea when it would reopen.  I get the feeling that the term "island time" is a universally accepted way of life there.  Things move at a much slower pace, but people are very friendly and easily approachable to talk to, ask directions or just pass the time of day.  That was refreshing and seemed pretty genuine.

We only spent a day in town.  Not really there for a shopping trip.  Besides, I remembered an old Army saying  that I "learned" in the desert -- "If you bring (buy) it, you have to carry it."  I suppose one can spend a great deal of money in this small town, but, again, I am a firm believer that you shouldn't measure the worth of a vacation by how much money you spend.  If that's the case, then something is out of kilter. 

Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes (true) and half the money you need. (Author Unknown)

Hooah