Welcome to the Chronicles of
~ the Second Noordam Adventure ~ the 15th Anniversary Cruise ~
12/06/2008 - 12/17/2008
12/10 - St Thomas
Good morning! I am writing to you from the balcony of our stateroom today, as we make the transit into St Thomas. It is a busy mornging here for the harbor pilots, as I have alsready seen at least 3 other ships moving today. Here is the morning view:
And if you look off to the left a bit from the balcony, you get a nice view of St Thomas:
Ahead of us was another cruiseship, but I couldn't tell which one. But behind us was a Carnival ship: This transit is pretty interesting - different from any of the other times we have pulled into St Thomas. As we are coming in, all you can see is anchored little sail boats, and you can't help but wonder, where the hell are we going. I suppose the pilot knows, and I don't need to, really. And since it seems like there are a few boats coming in at the same time - and I mean like they have pilots aboard from the port, and are all headed in at once - that we might be docking someplace I haven't been before. We'll see. By the way, its like 75F out, light breeze, and as you could see, sunny. Gorgeous morning.
By the way, something I forgot to mention last night (I was tired) - the Towel Animals began to make their appearance last night! I was wondering if we would see them this time around, and now we have! They tend to get a bit more elaborate as the cruise goes on. This is our lobster: I still have no idea where the heck this ship is going. It feels like we are almost there, but I can't see anything from here (except a bunch of anchored sailboats). Oh well. We have to get thru customs before we can go anyplace, so I suppose when Carol is ready, we'll go and have some breakfast. I'll let you know how the day goes (and if I ever get to see the pier from the stateroom) a little later.
5:15pm - In the Channel at St Thomas Well, here I am on the balcony once again. The pilot for St Thomas just left the ship,a nd we are once again at sea. You know, I could get used to this writing from the balcony stuff! What a fabulous day! It is a shame it ended so early! I know, that is what you are supposed to say when you are on vacation, but today was incredibly nice and relaxing.
To start with, here is a shot I took fmro the balcony while we were tied up this morning:
I got a picture of the view on the other side of the ship, from up on the Lido Deck (where the buffet is, one deck above our cabin):
After we got cleared thru Customs, the plan was to go over to St John, rent a car, and tour. So that is what we did. A bunch of us got a taxi (4 of us were going to the ferry - and we did not know any of these people), and we caught the 11am ferry to St John. Here is the line that we managed to beat for getting tickets on the ferry: The ride over is very pretty, and overall, it was a smooth trip - 3 foot waves, and a stiff wind to make some whitecaps.
I wasn't sure what the harbor of Cruz Bay would look like - I have read about it, and know that it is fairly busy, but never really saw any pictures of it. It was quite picturesque. Very quaint, and not as developed as I imagined it might be. Here are some shots coming into the harbor:
Once we got on the island, we found a car rental place (there are a bunch - it took us 2 tries, because the first place only had big vehicles, and no Wranglers, like we wanted). Then we set off in search of adventure! And did we ever find any! First thing to understand is that this once upon a time was a British colony, and they still retain the whole drive on the left side of the road thing. But the cars are set up exactly like the ones we have at home. Then they decided some time back that you really didn't need all the width that people on the mainland are used to using - quicker and cheaper to build a road 2.1 cars wide and 3! Besides, it is pretty tough terrain. Now, I knew that the roads would be tight, and I knew there would be some hills and switchbacks, butit was a little more than I had expected really, even with experience in the mountains of Puerto Rico.
While driving back, I took a picture of a switchback for you:
But I have to tell you, it is worth the effort to drive around there. The beaches and views are spectacular! Here are a couple"
Some of the roads are in tough shape. I mean, like dodging the oversized -swallow-my-jeep-kill-the-tires type tough. But you still have some of the most beautiful gated entries off some of the worst roads. Like this one:
We drove out for a bit, and then started making our way back, stopping at Cinnamon Bay, a free beach that the locals recommend because it has a nice beach, plenty of amenities, and no fees (unlike the more famous Trunk Bay). Here is the sign with some of the amenities:
The beach itself, and the bay in general, were gorgeous. This is the view approaching the beach:
The water was a bit rough(they had strong srf advisories out), and there was even a couple of guys surfing out there today. Carol started chatting with a woman who was swimming, and we ended up talking and swimming with her and her husband - they were newly weds from New Hampshire, who had rented a place in Cruz Bay. They were accountants, and this was his first time to the islands. Really, this was his first trip to almost anyplace, it sounded like. Very nice people (that seems to be the only kind Carol finds!). We swam for about half an hour before we had to start heading back to the ferry. Now you know why I say the day was too short!
We got back a couple of minutes late, so we missed the targeted 2 pm ferry. So we had lunch at this place called JJ's Texas Coast Cafe (no, you cannot make these things up!), where Carol had a burrito and I had a burger, while we waited for the 3pm ferry. In case you don't believe me (not sure I would, were I you):
It right off this little park across the street from the ferry dock. One thing that seemed a bit out of place was the Christmas tree in the square of the park, so I naturaly had to shoot it:
We were probably one of the last 10 people on the ferry, but we were on our way (would have sucked to have missed it!). It turns out that the other couple from our ship who we shared a cab with one the way out, were also on the ferry back with us. So we compared notes, and shared another taxi (they are vans out there) back. All aboard was at 4:30pm, and since it was only 4:15, I figured we could take our time going to the ship (once we reached the pier complex), and there were these iguanas there that were happy to pose for pictures (although one refused to look at me once I brought the camera up!): So, after a couple of showers, we sat on the deck, watched our departure from St Thomas, and I am writing to you - as Carol takes a nap in her chair on the balcony. Not bad, huh? The sun has set, the winds are starting to pick up, and it is about time to change for dinner, and continue the tradition of having a Grapefruit Cosmo before dinner. As they say on HGTV -- How Devine.... Talk to you later! Til then.... Keep Smiling!!!
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Copyright 2000-2008, Timethief Photography
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