Welcome to the Chronicles of
~ the St John Adventures ~
Monday 6/14/2010
Well, today was a little different! But before we start those stories, here is today's morning view:
Yes, another gorgeous day in paradise! So, about the day being different. Thus far, we have managed to hit one beach every day of this little excursion - 2 on one day, as well! Today, Carol got up and groaned, "Snorkeling again...." Now, while I completely understand the sentiment, I don't necessarily share it, although in another week or so, I could see myself saying the same thing. I mean, I really do like the fishies! Now one thing about St John is that if you are not into hiking (there are supposed to be some great trails in the National Park), snorkeling, sunbathing, or drinking, there are pretty slim pickin's when it comes to entertainment. What we decided to do was take the ferry over to Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas), the place where the cruiseships put in, take a walk around the town and check out the shops, and maybe take the tram up to the top of the mountain for the view (I have heard mixed reviews of the trip from cruiseship passengers over the years - since we never hang around long enough to actually take the tram ourselves). We got down to town, parked in our friendly pay for parking lot (compared to back home they are cheap - $5 for a couple of hours, $15 for the day), and parking is really at a premium in town. We could park at the car rental place, but that requires a walk way up the hill of town to get back there (probably wouldn't mind it so much if it was downhill at the end of the day!). As far as I am concerned, though, these are the smartest people on the island! They are cleaning up! We went to the ferry dock to get our tickets. There appears to be a 9:15am ferry going where we want to go(there are a couple of choices of places to end up on St Thomas, and you don't want to end up inthe wrong place). We are tehre are 8:27am, and apparently they don't open the ticket office until 8:30am. There is this woman in front of us in line (initially, we are the line). As much as it pains me to say it, she is from NYC as near as I can tell. Her mother in law comes up, and she is a little jewish lady (all of 4'11"), and she is complaining that the security lady (and we know what a good source of intel they are!) told her that they might not run the ferry over to Charlotte Amalie - no particular reason given. She just figures of enough people don't go, they just cancel the trip. The daughter runs with the info, complaining about how, of course! These are island people, and they do whatever they want. They don't have to stick to schedules! I try to calm her a little saying that if our ferry is the one that needs to make the run from Charlotte Amalie back to St John, then they have to send the ship, empty or not. That starts a new round of how they would leave the tourists stuck there, too. Now, I have to admit - some things on the islands move at their own speed, and for their own reasons. Often is it not easy to understand why, or to predict how things will work out. But things always do seem to work out, because at their heart, they make some rational sense. It may not go quite the way we want it to, or run as we are used to in a "civilized" world, but it does seem to work out. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, we've all got tickets to board the ferry to Charlotte Amalie. The NYers (there were 4 or 5 of them) are sstill grousing in a corner, and I am just glad they don't come upstairs to the sun deck of the ferry with us! I'll bet they were in the air conditioned "lounge" complaining there was no bar service onboard! The trip over was nice. We were checking out houses on St Thomas, some open, some closed up, and some either abandoned or being built - its hard to tell the difference, since you never actually see anyone working on the ones being built! We cruised past a nice sailing cat (that was actually sailing - another rare sight at times!)
And a high speed ferry cat that I thought was sort of ugly for a catamaran - I usually like their looks
As we pull into Charlotte Amalie, along a route we are quite familiar with from the cruiseships, we see there is a ship in port, the Carnival Victory - but just one, which is good! It won't be a zoo downtown!
We tie up and get off the ferry. We are basically downtown, where all the shops are. We start poking around some of the shops - a couple of tee shirt shops, but they are not the sort of shop I am looking for - I hate cheesy tourist tee-shirts! We go into Passman's, which is a jewelry/art store, where they make things with black coral. Their jewelry is okay, but let's face it - black stone is black stone in jewelry. The fact that it is black coral can't be distinguished from black onyx, until you see the pricetag. But where the working of black coral stands out is in the scultures this guy makes with them. They are gorgeous. So I let Carol look at the jewelry, and deal with the sales girls, while I do the stupid husband thing, and wander off to check out the sculptures. Really pretty stuff. One day I will get a couple of pieces. Not yet, though. Not quite ready to plunk down $5k for an 8" sculpture, regardless of how much I like it. Then we went into the town square, where they have this sort of tent market - tee shirts, sweatshirts, pocketbooks, souveniers, etc. We went thru much of it, and didn't see anything we wanted, although the quality of much of the shirts was pretty good. We walked by a food vendor, and I noticed they were selling Johnny Cakes. Now, I have heard about Johnny Cakes in various conversations, but honestly had no idea exactly what they were. So I went back to ask what it was, and to get one. Turns out it is fried bread, and unfortunately all the guy had left was plain, but I got one (and a diet Coke, since I was thirsty). They were pretty good. Think whole wheat plain donut - very plain donut. We sat at a bench in the park eating Johnny Cake and drinking soda. It was nice. I did miss the typical shaved ice pushcart of my youth (it is the quintessential memory of the town square in San Juan for me). Turns out the shaved ice guy is portable, with it being out of the back of his pickup truck! We saw it as we walked by it on our way out of the park. But, for purposes of our story, we are still on the bench, eating. There are chickens in the park - a Caribbean thing - so I toss a little piece of Johnny Cake to the hen hanging out in front of us. Now I have a friend.
A couple more pieces, and we attract the attention of the local rooster!
Soon, the pigeons are coming by, too! Slightly Hitchcockean...! Then, we run out of Johnny Cake, and some other guy is feeding everyone, so we are soon forgotten. We leave the park, figuring to see the shops along the main drag, and start making our way back to the ferry landing. Then things start going downhill! We get to the Diamonds International store, and go in to "just look" (the 2 words that strike terror in my heart). Long story short, we come out of there with 2 pairs of earrings (which Carol counts as 4 items - I guess she is going for volume!). It was funny watching her try on some earrings, with the little tags still dangling from them (they are round earrings)
Then we head back to the ferry landing. We meet some people who are staying at Frenchman's Reef (the Marriott resort on the point from Charlotte Amalie) who were from Brooklyn. It was pretty funny to hear Carol ask if they were from NYC, and the girl to say "No, we're from Brooklyn." They were a nice couple with their 3 or 4 year old. We board the ferry, after paying for the return trip (no ticket agent in Charlotte Amalie, so you pay the guy who collects the tickets). We wait a few minutes, and we start wondering what we are waiting for. Apparently the pilot/Captain was not aboard (lunch maybe?), but he shows up and we can get underway.
As we pull away from the pier, he gives the guys on the boat behind us a thrill as we come within a few feet of their ship, laughing the whole time - I figure there is a pool bet going if he hits them or not. It was fun, especially since we didn't hit them. The Captain has a decent personality (couldn't tell from the trip out - maybe he was late because he was with a girl? Won money gambling?), but his heavy Jamacan accent means Carol can't understand half of what he is saying, and I am joking with him. The trip back is pretty uneventful. As we approach St John, we realize that our place is right past this point
but they won't drop us off there, no matter how much we ask! We pull into Cruz Bay, and we notice something.
See the top floor place - the one with all white windows? That is a rental apartment called the Crow's Nest. Advertised as being in the middle of downtown, and not being too terribly expensive. It is right in the middle of downtown - right inthe heart of the action! In that building are 3 bars, a restaurant, a pizza joint, the ice cream shop, dive shop, and one casino! You could be entertained for a whole week, and not go more than 50' from your apartment! Not sure how quiet it is, though... After docking, we go to the aforementioned pizza joint, get a slice, then get an ice cream at - you guessed it - the aforementioned ice cream shop. While eating the ice cream, we come across a shop that has some nice stuff in the window. Finishing the ice cream, we go in. Let's just say that Carol found 2 more good friends in the women working in the shop! She had a whole counter's worth of stuff sitting out there to try on! The ladies kept bringing other stuff for Carol's consideration! She was walking around the store with the stuff on! She was showing it to other people who came in to browse. It was kind of funny, and the ladies really were nice.
This was just part of the pile! And yes, a couple of nice purchases were made. The economy of the Caribbean is not being hurt by us being here! And then back to the villa for a cooling dip - I find myself feeling *way* too dry! In fact, it is funny. Today is the first time this trip where I have put on socks and shoes since we first arrived! Dinner is going to be BBQ chicken (I brought BBQ sauce, too!), and some pasta. Tomorrow is going to be fun. It is the day we have slated for going over to the BVI - and back into the water I go! Snorkeling in at least 2 spots, I believe, one of which might be the Indians! We shall see! But it is going to be a long day, starting at 7:30am, and we don't get back until after 4pm, I think. But it will be an adventure! I already talked to them today about our passport numbers and all (the BVI is another country, after all!), so we are all set to go. So, consider yourself updated, and we shall talk again tomorrow! Hope all is well in your corner of the universe!
Keep Smiling!!!
|
|
All Images and Accounts of this Adventure are strictly the doings of the Author, and have Nothing to do with the Official Positions or Opinions of Timethief Photography, its affiliated divisions, or anyone associated with the company. If you have any issues with the accounts, how people or places are portrayed, or with any statements of fact, take it up with him! Of course, he'll probably be off on another adventure!
Copyright 2000-2010, Timethief Photography
|