You thought we were getting some relaxing in just because we're on the Virgin Islands? Wrong. We were up this morning around 5:40 AM to catch a 7 AM ferry to St. John. This is another national park trip we're taking, there is a large and beautiful one on St. John. It's actually about two thirds of the total land of the island.
Anyway, we packed our unnecessarily large bag and headed to the resort's taxi stand, where the staff hailed a taxi to the station. I couldn't believe there was someone around to help us, even at 6:15 AM! And the woman that came to drive us was lovely.
She got us there just early enough we were able to grab some muffins and waters from the bar at the ferry station (bar? ferry station? open at 6:45 AM?). I decided to eat right then and there, as did Dad. Mom and Gideon were insistant they were going to wait for the ferry. The line started moving so we pulled out our tickets and walked up to the ticket taker who checked us in and then gently reminded
us there is no food on the ferry. Or water. Great. We packed the rest of those away. Sorry Mom and Gid!
The islands here are very close to one another, so the ferry ride was only about 20 minutes. Short and sweet. And then we were out and ready for our adventure!… 20 minutes too early. Which turned out to be a blessing so Gid and Mom could eat, me and Gid could apply sunscreen, and we could all use the restroom before our tour started. Then, we headed across the street and met our tour guide who was lovely. None of us can remember his name for shit. Ron or maybe Roy? Something like that. I will probably refer to him by both names here at some point. Anyway, he gave us a quick history of the island and idea of where we were going on the tour and we loaded on his bus to begin our adventure.
He decided (and rightfully so) that hitting up the national park gift shop first thing while it was empty was the best idea. So that was the first stop!
Then was up to numerous vistas of beaches, mountains and crazy expensive beach houses. St. John was beautiful from every angle, and the open air bus was a nice relaxing way to ride! We even saw mongeese!
The next and perhaps most anecdotically fun part of the tour was a self-guided tour of some old sugar mill ruins. The ruins themselves were surprisingly beautiful, and the history was quite interesting. Obviously, it was a truly miserable experience for the people who were enslaved to work there, but the whole scene was a great tribute to what they went through, I think!
Next was a drive on the path to the highest point in St. John. Roy went about 200 mph down a one way road. I was thankful when we made it back to a two way road. Only to discover a truck wheeling a CAT machine was stuck and blocking the road! This massive tour bus can't make a three pointer on this cliff! Ron went out and talked to the guy who got stuck and affirmed he was certainly stuck there for a good long while. And of course, while this was occurring, a white pick-up truck pulled up behind us… oh, no. Luckily, Roy was friends with everyone he met and quickly explained the situation to the truck as well. The truck backed down the cliff road with ease. Now, it was Ron's turn. At this point I began saying the Our Fathers that I never actually learned and laid down on the bus seat so Roy could see further. With much skill, he made it down! But the next issue was… we were stuck. The one way road or a road going in the opposite direction as necessary were our only options. Ron actively said in the speaker But if we go the one way and I pull off the road we could lose a tire
… and then did it anyway. Raring and blaring. He made one Jeep back up a large stretch of the road to get out of our way, even! I am definately under glorifying the situation, and to read or maybe see more you should go see Mom's blog!
Anyway we had to abort the last stop of the tour, but we arrived safely back at the dock. At this point we were starving. Fight or flight had truly run it's course. We headed to a little beach restaurant right next to the port and it was really cute! Great drinks and yummy food too! We had a nice relaxing recovery there. That did cause us, however, to just miss the noon ferry, so we had to wait around until 1.
We wasted our time checking out all the little shops and stands around the ferry station full of fun little souvenirs. On the boat ride home we rode on the sundeck of the ferry so Gideon could possibly get a view of Epstein island. Yeah, we know he's weird, but he's ours. Of course, as soon as we got up there, he fell fast asleep, so it was all for naught anyway! With that, I decided to take a nap too.
Back on St. Thomas and newly equipped with a few taxi call cards in our pockets, we were back on resort shortly and ready to continue our naps in a more comfortable environment. As soon as me and Gideon got settled, Dad came in our room and told us they couldn't get in theirs. Mom came in to sit with us and the boys began experimenting on the door while security was on the way. So much for relaxing. Anyway I slept through most of the rest of this drama, but both rooms are okay now.
When we all woke up and washed up, I had a moment to carry out my new favorite habit. Sitting out on the porch for a few minutes and waiting for my friend to come say hi. Sure enough, there she was!
We decided we had some time to hang out in the hotel lobby, have a couple of drinks and play some cards as a family before dinner. I got to teach them all how to play BS which was fun.
Dinner was a not-too-shabby asian cuisine buffet, and me and Gideon did not forget to grab the ice cream for dessert, either! After dinner we all sat out on the porches and read, learned languages or wrote blogs until it was time to head to bed. We were all excited for a more relaxing day tomorrow!