a day in paradise

Today in St. Thomas, we had a few rain showers and it seems to be cruise ship Tuesday. There were a lot of boats out there.  I lost count of all the cruise ships we saw coming and going after about the 6th or 7th one.  They still had a few leave after dark - all lit up like a Christmas tree.  They are really massive!  Some of the primary ship lanes are right in front of our hotel.  Plus a lot of sailboats, water taxis, tourist boats, pirate sail boats, a huge yacht being ushered out of the harbor by a pilot boat.  It was a steady stream all day.  I suppose all those cruise ships added a lot of extra traffic as people piled out to do things in a frenetic pace to see the island.

In the morning, my BIL and I ventured out to find a drugstore to get my sister some Zyrtec for her allergies.  We headed for the town, Charlotte Amalie, and encountered a long traffic jam that took forever to get thru.  Went about 2 miles an hour.  My guess is the cruise ships were the cause of that too.  We found the KMart and got the drug.  Outside, were dozens of people sitting with their computers. KMart has free wi-fi.  To get back, I opted to go up the hill and over around the other side to get back.  It's starting to look familiar now.  It was longer but took less time because traffic was less.  I still only added another 5 miles to the car total.  This place is small.

In the afternoon, my BIL and I tried an ocean kayak with marginal success.  Turned out we were in it backwards which the guy didn't tell us until we got back.  We only were in in about 15 minutes.  Even so, the sea was a little rougher today but it is quite stable.  Then we tried a boogie board. It's a floater about 3' long.  I have seen people use them to body surf with.  It took some tries before I got it to stay under me.  Then, I just went around in an oval with the waves.   Physics works just like they said in class - a particle in a wave goes around in an oval but stays in the same place as the energy moves thru the water.   I finally figured out that you only go forward in the cresting wave on the board.  With the single crest just a few feet from the shore, it doesn't give a very long surf distance.  But it was fun.

In the evening, the hotel listed a rum tasting and salsa dancing at the nearby restaurant.  But when I asked, the server didn't know about it.  She checked and they were supposed to but no one showed up to do it.  The server gave us a little of the Cruzan rum flavors in pineapple, coconut, and mango anyway.  The people who work  for the hotel are exceedingly nice.  They were good - very smooth rum.

Tomorrow, we plan to take the ferry across to St John.  I'll put some pics in when the wi-fi is better.