I’m currently in St. Thomas on a week long vacation with the fam. Can’t twitter at all, so, I’m just gonna try and write a quick journal of the haps so far for those that are curious/bored.
Landed in St. Thomas safely and soundly on Saturday around noon (EST) but had no idea what I was supposed to do next as I landed alone. I knew the other family travelling with us, the Drakes, were supposed to fly in around the same time but wasn’t sure if they came in before or after me. It was after, as I sat on my bags in the island heat for about 20 minutes wondering what I needed to do and the whole Drake gang came strolling up. Uncle Ben, Auntie Sharon, their kids Katie, Courtney, and Kara (their son Chase couldn’t come), Katie’s husband JD and their two sons Ethan (4) and Hudson (6 months) and Kara’s college roommate Brenna. We haul our luggage into two rental cars and make our way to the Marriot in Frenchman’s Cove. The drive there reveals something completely bizarre here: The cars are American but everyone drives on the other side of the road. Very trippy.
Check in. Bottom floor, decent view. Relax for a bit, my parents and brother still haven’t arrived. We get ready for the pool right quick. Go for a quick swim to cool off although the weather is a bit off, cloudy and starts to drizzle. Ten minutes and it’s sunny and hot again. Fairly huge igunas carouse the edges of the pool and pool slide. Eventually see my parents and bro walk in to the pool area and they sit at the bar/restaurant next to the pool. We get out of the pool and grab a snack with them. Our room is finally ready and we throw our stuff in. Relax a little more before we head off for dinner to a place called Wikked. Eat a decent crab and avacado salad to start. End with a double smoked jerk beef brisket that’s marinted for hours and smoked for hours too. Tender and juicy as heck. Head back to the hotel. Bed early. So tired from no sleep on the red-eye flight over.
Day two, Sunday, we wake up and head out for the beach right next to the hotel. Spotty weather again, but clears up fast. Spend a good time on the beach chairs and actually pass out for a bit. Luckily one of the Drake girls wakes me up before I cook for too long. Finally, we see my sister Tricia walking towards us after having been picked up by the parents at the airport. Spend another hour or so swimming in the ocean, napping on the lounge chairs, and soaking up rays. A great beach day. Mike and I hit the gym for an hour or so and then try out the sauna for a bit too. Wash up and then head out to dinner at Havana Blue. Pulled pork sliders to start and I get the seared ahi rubbed in spices. Our group orders two dessert platters which has a half order of every single dessert. Madness ensues. There’s a sweet potato cheescake, molten chocolate souffle, blueberry panacotta, banana breadpudding, banana flambé, strawberry angel cake, and an assortment of sorbets. We polish both platters off. Back to the hotel, we hit the hot tub and pool for a bit before calling it a night.
Day three, Monday, wake up early to catch our own private little boat for the whole day. We begin by stopping at a few bays and see some amazing homes on some tiny islands. First stop is at The Baths and Devil’s Bay on Virgin Gorda, one of the islands named by Christopher Columbus. We jump off the boat about 1/4 mile off shore and swim for it as a group. My mom can’t swim so Uncle Ben drags her along on a boogieboard. The Baths are amazing. A small system of boulders and caverns right along the beach that you can climb and walk through, with some small pools inside. My brother Mike and I climb a little of trail and end up at a dead end where we have to jump back into the ocean to get to the trail again. I jump off first from the boulder, from about half way down cause Mike says the water looks deep. I jump and it ends up being only about 4 feet deep. Luckily, I land in soft sand. Good thing I didn’t jump from the top of the boulder though.
We climb around a little more till we make it to Devil’s Bay, a great beach surrounded by more giant boulders. Our boat is waiting for us there and we swim back to it. More boat riding as we make our way to The Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke. It’s a beach that is peppered with boats waiting just off shore as people swim in to eat or drink. The island normally has about a population of 100 or so, but apparently on New Year’s Eve, over a thousand people come in on boats to party there. Sounds like something to keep in mind one year… We grab a bite at a bbq place there. Then grab drinks at The Soggy Dollar, the place that invented the drink The Painkiller. After quite a few drinks and some rounds of “swing the ring on the nail,” (cheap bar game), we swim back to our ship. We head to the middle of nowhere near a small reef to do about 30 minutes of snorkelling. Great, wide open area with some cool stuff to see. Barracuda was the highlight. Finally head home. Wash up. Sunburnt and heat rash. Stop at the local grocery store. Barbecue burgers for the whole gang. Salad. Fries. Bed.
Day four is a day off. Don’t wake up until late, step outside real fast to take some pics, come back in, snack, watch a movie, hit the sauna alone. Head out to dinner for Ethan’s 4th bday at Oceana. Great view right by the water. Tapas, tempura squash, Thai asparagus soup with lobster, mahi mahi. Home for Ethan’s cake and pin the tail on the donkey, squirt guns. Hot tub with everyone, hit the sauna in the girls locker room so we can all hang but everyone doesn’t last very long in the heat. What was hilarious was that Mike and I went into the men’s sauna first and I was checking the vent and saw you can see right into the women’s locker room. Very Porky’s moment. Finally head to bed.