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After 2 1/2 days at sea we were anxious to arrive to our first port of St Thomas located in the US Virgin Islands. Pulling into dock, the allure of the pale blue waters mesmorized our senses. My eyes have not seen such beauty!
We decided not to book any of the excursions through the ship, rather let the universe bring to us what we are to experience. John and Jeanne headed to Water Island by ferry to visit a good friend of theirs that moved to the Island several years ago while Joe and Allyson went on a speed boat excursion. Pictured below John discovers a bunker to explore.
We stepped off the boat and headed in the direction of everyone else, like cattle being prodded along. We jumped on a taxi, which is more like a trolly bus and for $6 found our way downtown. The local merchants surrounded us like piranha trying to lure us into their shops to spend, spend, spend! My most interesting pick up line was from a store owner who stopped me on the street and commented on my sneakers. "Oprah was endorsing those same sneakers you are wearing on tv yesterday" "Really? I replied. "Yes, she said they go well with the decor of my store". I have to admit, he was being creative, but it didn't work. We continued on our way exploring the quaint alleyways lined with shops and engaged in conversation with some of the locals as to where we might find a nice beach. With directions in hand, we were told to once again board the trolley taxi, but to wait for the one that has the dark skinned locals on board. That taxi is only $1.00. We felt special to learn one of the island secrets :) We boarded the trolley which took us near the airport where we discovered a hotel resort on Emerald Beach.
We walked with confidence on the hotel grounds as if we were paying guests as we found our way to the clear blue waters and white sandy beach. Once there, we secured a couple of lawn chairs and stripped down to our bathing suits anxious to immerse ourselves in the warm carribean waters.
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Iguana are EVERYWHERE!!
We did notice a local in a hut renting out snorkeling equipment so we quickly secured a mask and fins and were in the water exploring a variety of brightly colored fish. There had been reports of lion fish which are poisonous, so of course, I was on high alert. Guy says everytime he looked at me, my eyes were open wide searching for any lurking preditors. We did see some eel in the coral formations but they didn't pay us much mind.
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Careful not to get "discovered" as a non paying guest, and cautious of not getting too much sun, we left the beach and as I turned around, I took one last picture of our little found paradise and then started our trek back into town on our $1 trolley.
Once again we were in the center of town along with all the other tourists. We bought a couple of tickets for a 3 hour tour of the Island. The same excursion offered from the boat but at half the price. We road up the winding hills to an elevation of 1300 feet where the views were expansive and the flowers and wildlife abundant.
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St. Thomas was an amazing adventure and we loved finding our own way. The weather was beautiful, the people friendly and the scenery breathtaking.
We headed back to the ship to dress for dinner and the night festivities that lay in store for us.
My brother's room being right next door, we decided to remove the divider on the balcony to give us a more spacious feel. We sat on the balcony with a glass of wine in hand as we sailed out of port exchanging our stories of the days events as we eventually lost sight of the islands. -
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