ST THOMAS TRIP (Dec.12th.2008)

On boring days like today, it seems hard that a couple of months ago we were in a beautiful place having oh so much fun, soaking up the sun and having VIRGIN Island Ice Teas! (YUM!)
It's cold outside and besides having brushed my teeth, posting this is pretty much all I've done today.

We arrived in St. Thomas Dec. 12th 08. We had planned on staying in two different condos, just to see different things and mix it up. When we arrived at the first condo it took more than 50 minutes to check us in. We were tired, hungry, and wanted to go enjoy the summer breeze we had not experienced in more than 5 months. The lady at the front desk was either incapable or new, or both for that matter. While she was trying to figure out how to check in another young couple before us, another hotel worker came in with a worried face and informed her (and us) that there had been a fire at one of the condos.

Brian and I did not exactly take this as the best sign. With an optimistic attitude we checked out our condo, and let's just say that the photographer for the brochure, must have been a good one. The condo was not bad, it just wasn't up to our standards and expectations, and for its price we would have certainly found a better deal. Anyhoo!!!!!!!!!!

We were not going to let that ruin anything, as we were excited to be there and planned on spending 99% of our time on the beach anyways. So then we went to the only restaurant in the resort, and it was crap. SO ENTIRELY OVERPRICED and with food (fish) i could have prepared in the same manner in my home in Huntsville, AL.
Again, we took this with high spirits, since we knew we were not going to stay there for the entire week.
In this first resort we did find our favorite little place to hang out at night, was this colorful hammock hung by two very very large palm trees! It was out little safe haven.

We did not hang out at the resort much those first 3 days, but went and explored the island and what it had to offer. We went to the shopping center and market "downtown" , from which you can see some images below. We also went to a bar (18 being the drinking age in the U.S.V.I ) and strolled on the main pier, where hundreds of white boats nostalgically rocked back and forth. The second resort where we stayed, was SO MUCH BETTER, and of this we were very very glad. With 2 restaurants, more amneties and fun atmosphere, we enjoyed staying here incomparably more! We went kayaking and also on a GORGEOUS SUNSET CRUISE. The sailboat cruise was BY FAR our favorite thing we did/saw on the trip! the images and captions below will probably do a better job at recounting it. We just loved that evening, it even brought up some hidden romance in Brian. I miss that care-free smile, that his work can so quickly take away from me :(

Since IIIIIIIIII complained about the first condo, we got the option of taking a trip at no charge, as long as it happens in the next 60 days... soooooo THERE MAY BE another post very soon about a place we have no idea IF we will visit and WHICH place it is...

STICK AROUND!




The second condo where we stayed.


One of the very 1st pics i took as we go tot the beach at our 1st resort.




















**The 1st cruise ship Brian had ever seen, he was quite impressed with them! :)


** They had some really cool pastas there, but we didnt buy any, because it had bugs in it! ugh.. :-/
We did however buy Balyes and other Liquers for much cheaper than if bought in continental.


At the top of paradise point, view from above!






**Our favorite thing we did while we were there, is this SUNSET CRUISE! We navigated for 4 hours on this big sailboat sipping on Champagnes as the sun melted into the sea and the wind softly blew our hair! it was beautiful!


**This is what Brian was doing while I was soaking up some serious sun... he didn’t want to get burned, so he read Atlas Shrugged under the shade of a palm tree leaf.


**View from the Ritz Carlton




** THE SUNSET ON THE SUNSET CRUISE!


** The captain of our boat informed us that this boat is about 4 and a half million dollars, and include garage with smaller boats! INSANE!




**This is the biggest privately owned yacht in the world, our captain also informed us. It is owned by the CEO of Oracle (a software company)
and it takes, (brace yourselves) 300 THOUSAND dollars to fill the tank. YUP you read it! This guy also owns a summer mansion in the British Virgin Islands.


** As Brian put it, we paid $70 bux each, and we were still on a boat sipping on unlimited drinks and nibbling on great food