Flip Flops & Time Off – Adventures in Travel & Every Day Life

Sunday, April 24, 2016 – First Full Day

One of the conditions of this trip was making sure Marcus had time to work on his final projects for a couple of his classes. This morning, he set his alarm to get up early…at 4:30am. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard to get up, though admittedly, I laid in bed until 5am. Given we were out cold by 8pm last night, we managed an easy 9 hours of sleep. A couple of aspirin and lots, and lots of water was immediately in store for me. Marcus was in much better shape than I was. 🙂  This morning, we both sat on the balcony of our room and watched the day come upon the world. It really is quite magical to listen to the world around you wake up. From the silence of the night, with nothing more than the sound of the sea crashing against the shore, to the sounds of chicken’s crowing, birds chirping and eventually boats cruising across the harbor.

Marcus spent the next 3-4 hours working on his project, I worked on this blog. And then my husband said the words I’ve waited 6 years to hear him say – could you imagine if this was how we spent every morning? I could get so much done! Followed closely by, I think if we could find a place similar in size to this room, we could live in it. Ahh, he’s finally coming around. The fact that I’ve spent the last two weeks showing him various 1-2 bedroom condos for sale, and strongly suggested we could afford to buy a place here may have helped him see this reality.

By 8:30 this morning we had decided what the day held – a trip to St. John, hike to our absolutely favorite beach and happy hour at Joe’s Rum Hut. We packed up our soft sided cooler and my backpack with the essentials – Rum, juice, Bud Light, a few snacks and lots and lots of ice. Thanks to a fabulous Christmas gift this past year from one of my sisters, we also have these drink holders – which are now a necessity for every trip. Tossed those in the bag with a couple of beach towels, my insulated glass, some sunscreen and bug spray.

Called for a taxi and headed out to meet the cab. Normally, we rent a car – for this trip, however, we decided we didn’t want to mess with it. I won’t lie – it’s a struggle, having to rely on a taxi to get us here there and everywhere. Off to Red Hook for the people ferry by 09:15. We purchased one way tickets to Cruz Bay and were on the 10:00am ferry. This was our first trip since the new ferry’s – that ride is so smooth, and I would almost swear it’s a few minutes faster. Nothing screams “we’re in the Virgin Islands” like that ride across to St. John! Well, maybe a Rum Punch, Painkiller or a Bushwhacker send a similar message.

We decided that morning that we would stop at the Deli in Mongoose Junction to buy some sandwiches for lunch. It’s now Northshore Deli, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was previously. I ordered an Italian and DH selected the Smoked Turkey with Bacon. I had them toss in a can of coke for later in the afternoon.

We crossed the street and headed over to the lower Lindpoint Trail. I love this hike. It’s just enough to make me sweat mercifully, feel like I’ve worked out hard and the reward at the end is Salomon Beach. By the time you get to the beach I want nothing more than to take a dip in that crystal clear, blue water! This is why we come here. Well, the beaches, the water and the people.

Over the years, more and more people have learned of Salomon and Honeymoon Beaches. It’s hard to explain how this makes me feel. Today, I missed the days it was just us and a handful of other people. Don’t get me wrong, there was still only 25-30 people there, but it was more than enough to make the beach feel crowded. I’m happy that others can enjoy this place, but when I see people beach their dingy and leave trash behind – it makes me a little angry. As we spent the afternoon soaking up all of that glorious Caribbean sun, floating in the water and snorkeling off the beach – Marcus finally came to the dark side and said – “when we get home, let’s put together a plan and make this happen. Let’s buy a place here.” I’m sure the look on my face was one rarely seen. That man rendered me speechless. That doesn’t happen. Ever. I vaguely remember asking if he was serious, and his response being if it will make you happy, I’m all in. Seriously. I love this man. Mission buying a home in the Virgin Islands will be underway shortly. Time to update the 5-year plan. I’ll be 40, that should work nicely.  🙂

Around 4pm, we decided it was time to head back to Cruz Bay and hit up Joe’s. The hike back was just as hot and sweaty as the hike in. By the time we made it back to town I was drenched in sweat, burnt, chafing and ready for an ice cold Rum Punch. We also needed to hit up the ATM, because I failed miserably on Friday, and didn’t feel like stopping. A little side trip to the Bank and we were now carying more cash than one should be carrying at any one time on vacation. We really wanted to go to Joe’s, but I also REALLY wanted a shower…and to reapply some deodorant. It didn’t take much to talk each other into just boarding the ferry and heading back to St. Thomas.

Kevin and Kristin were slated to arrive this afternoon. Once we had settled into our seats on the ferry, I pulled out my phone to find that they had arrived safely to St. Thomas, were settled in at their resort and asking if we wanted to meet for drinks later. Duh. When we were back on St. Thomas we were put in a small SUV with another couple for our cab ride back to BBC. Do you ever put your elbow/arm on the door and rest your hand at the top of the window? I happened to be doing that sitting behind the driver. It was about the time the taxi driver rolled up the windows (without warning I might add), that I discovered three of my fingers were actually in-between the window and the top of the frame. Needless to say, when he rolled up the window my poor fingers were shut in the window. OUCH!! Luckily, no blood, no broken bones, cab driver completely oblivious – I was fine. I think the poor girl sitting next to me was more worried than I was. Don’t get me wrong – it hurt, and as I type this they still hurt, but it could’ve been much worse. It wouldn’t be a vacation if I didn’t have some sort of injury to report. When we made it back to our resort, we realized we were burnt. Really burnt. A few text messages between Kristin and I, plans were made to meet them at Iggies over at their resort. We really enjoy Iggies – anytime we’ve been there’s been live music, and overall it’s a pretty fun crowd. We called for a cab to pick us up at 7:30pm, and also made arrangements for a cab to take us to RH on Monday at 6:30am, as we’re sailing on Calypso over to Jost.

Our cab driver was running late, so we didn’t get picked up until 8:10pm, but Iggies is right around the corner from where we were staying, so it didn’t take long to get there. We had a nice dinner with the Bride and Groom – nothing fancy to report, I had a burger, Marcus had Fish n Chips.

A couple of drinks, more time to visit and we were calling for a cab by 10:15. Back to the resort and straight to bed – early wake up for our day on the water.