st. thomas
day 4… port #1
Well, we have been waiting and waiting to finally see some land and today, it happened.
After my few too many drinks last night, i took it upon myself to sleep an extra hour or so. Kristen was writing her post for last night when i rolled out of bed and into the shower. I got ready, then she got ready and we were kicked out of our room so ‘Dean’ (our room attendant) could turn down our room. We headed up to the buffet for some ‘brunch’ and had our share of pancakes, waffles, hash browns, sausage, bacon, pasta, french fries, and pork chops. While we were eating our food a very small rock island (about the size of a house) floated on by. … well, actually, we floated by, but it seemed so strange to see such a small secluded island in the middle of the caribbean.
After lunch we headed back to our room to relax before porting at St. Thomas at 1pm. Glancing out at our veranda we noticed a couple more small islands and sure enough…
LAND HO! It was St. Thomas (which made perfect sense since we were scheduled to dock within 30 minutes). We got excited looking at all the resorts, hotels and small houses along the beach and up on the hills. We took several pictures of them and the approaching island to document our first port as a married couple. (yes, cheesy, i know.)
We stepped out into the blistering hot sun and felt a nice breeze that mitigated (that word is for you, cj) it’s blaze. We were just a 5 minute taxi ride from downtown where all the shopping and dining happened. One of the funniest things was how many taxis there were. As soon as we stepped off of the taxi, there were more taxis there asking us if they could take us to the beach, on a tour of the island or back to our ship. I laughed and said, “we just got here, why does everyone want to get us away so badly!?”
We walked up and down the streets looking into shops and checking out the scenery. Since this was our first stop in the caribbean, it was a nice sight to see the tropical plants and animals, and feel the humid, tropical air. The buildings downtown were very old and had a sort of english theme to them (which makes sense because the island used to be owned by great britain.
Once we were finished looking (and not buying) we grabbed a taxi (more like a really fast and dangerous trolley) and headed over to the Mariott (a resort on the island) for some beach time. The ride over was insane. We passed cars and other taxis, no joke, with mere centimeters to spare, the speed limit was 10 mph, and our driver held at an even 50! Luckily we made it safe and kris and i were able to enjoy some nice sun, sand and warm saltwater.
After a while, we went back to the ship to shower off and dress for dinner. Dinner wasn’t too impressive. There just weren’t too many options that kris and i could really get into. i had some veal pasta dish and kris had some fish (snapper).
the fun really began once dinner was over. we had some time to spare (about an hour and fifteen minutes) and instead of doing what most newlyweds would, kris and i headed to the casino. i had been wanting to try my luck at the poker table and decided that tonight was the night. We went down and there was another guy waiting for the table to open (there needs to be at least two players). I sat down and bought $100 dollars in chips (don’t worry mom). In no time at all, the table filled up and i was playing the cards against seven other players, yikes! I kept my cool and played how i always have and after about 45 minutes of up and down i left. But the best part is that i walked away from that table with two hundred thirty-four dollars!!! It was nerve wracking at times with my stack fluctuating so much, but i was getting some good cards and playing those guys pretty well. Kris was so proud of me she kissed me in front of all of them! She was excited that i made up for a lot of the drinks we’ve had on board so far. here’s a shot of me with my winnings!
So now we are back in the room and about to head to the top deck to say farewell to St. Thomas. After our pool-side party, we will go back down to the ‘Palace’ to watch the newlywed game show. (no we’re not participating… even though i know we’d win). After our show we’ll come back to the room for ‘bedtime’ …
So, goodnight to you all. Tomorrow we will stop at St. Maarten for another day filled with shopping and beaches! Look for a post on Kristen’s webpage tomorrow night!
-simple