A Little Piece of Paradise

I woke up Tuesday early and stepped out on the veranda of our stateroom as we were preparing to port into St Thomas. I watched as the dock workers tied the large ropes from the ship to the dock and responded to their "good mornings" to those of us who were peering at them from above.

Gabby had officially fulfilled her 24 hour quarantine obligation and she promptly got dressed and headed for the infirmary to get released. Mom, however, could not be released till 2pm that day so Leana volunteered to stay at the ship with mom until she was able to be released. Gabby and I were headed for the beach for the day.

I took off to get some breakfast at the buffet before we headed out for the day and I chose a path that would take me on the other side of the ship so I could see the view from the other side of the ship. Do you ever have that moment when you see something that takes your breath away? When you see something you cannot not stop and take it in? When I picture the Caribbean in my head...  it was exactly what I was seeing at that moment....it was a little piece of heaven....

I walked to the highest deck on the ship and sat there for awhile and took it all in. I watched the million dollar yachts come in and out, watched the small sail boats set their anchors for the day, I watched the small power boats leave with local fisherman...it was a small piece of heaven here in the Caribbean. After I took several pictures of the view around me I stood back and took a picture of my smile.....no one was with me when I was taking this all in and I wanted to make sure I remembered this small moment...this moment of paradise......

After breakfast Gabby and I went off ship for a little while and walked around the outdoor mall that was by the pier before we headed out for the beach. It was a warm day and it was going to be a perfect day to spend at the beach. Like I said, mom could not leave the ship till 2pm... so from our stateroom veranda... "Quarantined" mom waved goodbye to us as we headed out for the day.....

So the first thing that happened as we got ready to depart is we notice that our taxi driver removes a shotgun from his front seat and places it behind his seat?! I look at Gabby and say, "Well this is going to be a fun ride!"........ being from the west I have a familiarity with guns however it is not a common site for a taxi driver to carry a shotgun with them.......however, I really think the British mother and daughter in front of us were more  alarmed than most of us at the site of this weapon......

So I am not sure if I can describe what driving in St. Thomas is like. A few rules I learned is...lines on the road are insignificant, they are there for decoration......and it is okay just to pull out in front of people at anytime and stopping randomly in the middle of the road is okay.....keep arms and hands inside in the car at all times otherwise you may loose them to a car trying to pass you!

Our taxi driver went ahead and stopped in the road and let us get out and take in some of the views of the island.......

An eagle's view of the beach that we were headed to for the day.

Paradise

The view from the road on our way to the beach....there is our ship in the distance.

The beach was beautiful....white sand...blue water...I am a happy camper when you put me on a beach...I love the beach...water....sand...all of it! So here in the states you have to deal with seagulls, crabs, or  jellyfish at the beach but in St. Thomas you deal with iguana's. Really big iguanas that apparently love chicken and whatever else you may be gnashing on from the bar and grill.....

So the other thing that you have to deal with in these beautiful blue waters is fishy's that like toe nail polish. There was small schools of fish swimming in the shallows that stayed away from you but in these schools there was a larger fish that swam low...sand level and really liked feet...our feet. You also needed to keep an eye on the large pelicans feasting on these small schools of fish. They would dive bomb into the water extremely close to you to gather up these fish.

That is Gabby looking down in the water probably questioning that nibble on her foot?

You see... iguana's, toe nibbling fish, and pelicans didn't matter because I had my toes in the Caribbean sand, drinking a pina colada, spending the day with my niece...it was PARADISE!

It was a perfect day...we sat at the bar and grill on the beach and had a piece of greasy pizza and watched the waves come in......

But we did have to finally call it a day and get back to the ship.....

Mom did finally get released and was able to do some shopping....you know what happens to my mom when you a confine her to a small space for 24 hours and then release her....she buys lots of expensive jewelry...that is how she deals with "Quarantine!"...

We ported out around 5 that evening......So we had to say good-bye to St. Thomas......

 

TO BE CONTINUED......St. Marteen