ST.THOMAS
I love visiting new places, especially warm, new places!!!
our ship from the ground - this is deck "0"
I've never been a big shopper, but anything in a tropical country is more fun for someone who grew up in a very cold Washington state. We got off the boat and wandered around for a minute. Just smelling the air made me so relaxed and happy. I LOVE THE TROPICS! Okay, so we found a cab/bus/taxi/whatever to get us to the main part of town and wow were we happy we did. The port and main street were not as close as the map looked. Anyway we were dropped off in this street that reminded me of an upscale market. All of the shops were indoors, but all the front doors stayed wide open inviting people in to shop. Most of the shops on the street were jewelry stores. I would've felt very overwhelmed if we hadn't done the shopping briefing. With the coupons in hand and some shops circled on my little map, I dragged my poor husband around the St. Thomas shopping area.
reminded me so much of Santo Domingo, DR
Most of the jewelry stores were offering free bracelets, charms, necklaces, loose stones, and amazing deals on beautiful things. I wanted to collect the free things for my sisters and daughters and then I really wanted to see a couple of fun shops like "Mr. Tablecloth" which sells what else? Tablecloths! But they are handmade. Along with table linens, and some dresses, they also sold jewelry cases that I loved! My sisters totally made out from this island! Chris and I had saved enough to buy some fun things for our families and for ourselves while we were out and about so I had a lot of fun.
I especially enjoyed the surprise in one of the stores we hadn't planned on visiting. We walked in and I immediately liked the place. It was smaller, cuter, and quieter! Some of the bigger stores were pretty impersonal, surprise! Anyway, the salesperson was so nice and the jewelry was really beautiful. So we played and tried things on and then all of a sudden Chris handed over the money! Holy Cow! The earrings are gorgeous! I love them and I really love how unplanned their purchase was. My sweetheart-so romantic!
isn't she so cute? I loved her!
(I know such a tourist thing to do, but hey, we owned it)
Well after all the fun in the shops we found a taxi back to the boat in time for a quick lunch and a hop into line for our shore excursion. Something so fun about being on a floating hotel is that sooner or later you run into people you've met and seen before. We ended up on the excursion with a family of three that we'd met several times before. He was previous military and the family was really cute. Within no time we were heading to another smaller boat called the "Bimini Breeze" with some guys that were so cliche' in their beach bum-type characters that if they hadn't been right there and being who they were I wouldn't have believed it.
this was such a crazy boat! the guys and the tourists too
Side note: I've realized that cliche's are that because they are so often correct, not because that's the way the movies do it. There are actual beach bum people out there and they are just as fun and interesting and relaxed as they are portrayed. They aren't unintelligent, but they can often give that impression until you're in their area of expertise.
yep, seats and a bar, that's all you need down here!
shhhh - the coolers have soda!
Anyway, so the idea of the trip was to go snorkeling in the Caribbean. It was so AMAZING! No, there weren't a lot of fish or turtles though we did see enough to satisfy. The amazing part is that I got to go snorkeling with my best friend and husband! Both of us had done the activity, but we'd never done it together! We had so much fun swimming around and playing.
did you see it move? - yeah, neither did we
We chased schools of small fish and watched see urchins, chased a turtle or two, and got as close as we could before Chris almost beached himself on some rocks. Good thing he floats well!
too many people for my taste, but I only needed one - my honey!
We went to two different places to swim. The first was a lot of fun and the second was more about turtles and exploring. We saw a couple but were more interested in wandering. We really enjoyed the time to do something we both loved to do and the opportunity to do it together.
don't we look like teens (except for the ring, right)?! Cracks me up!
isn't he amazing? oh yeah, the view too...
One of the most memorable parts of the excursion wasn't the snorkeling it was the trip on the boat to and from the sites. On the way out we were literally on a very wet roller coaster. It scared some of the younger kids, but the adults were having a blast. I'm not a big roller coaster fan, but even I had fun and of course, got soaked. We were wetter on the trip out than almost the rest of the trip! Getting splashed like that reminded me of all the water rides I'd been on as a kid. On the way back they handed out punch and played the music nice and loud. (the punch was "extra special," but was de-specialized for those who were too young or didn't want to be special, like us boring Latter-day Saints : )! ) By the time we got back to the port, the boat was full of very happy and very tired people.
can't tell we like having fun together can you?
It was great. We had so much fun in St. Thomas and very much looked forward to relaxing a bit more. Dinner with our friends was great and so was the rest of the evening. What an eventful day!
I know so sappy, but hey, I married him for a reason right?
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