St. Thomas vacation (Christmas break)
A rare family photo. Taken in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.
December 2016
We held Christmas a day early, as we woke up at 4 AM on Christmas morning, drove to the airport and flew to St. Thomas for a 5 day/4 night vacation. Look at our happy faces; a good time was had. We have friends, whom we met when Erika started attending the same daycare as their son, and they were only born 3 months apart, and so we've known them for 6 years now. She [the mom] was born in St. Thomas and has family there, and goes back there regularly, so she suggested we go to St. Thomas together for winter break. We agreed that we didn't want to be too attached, so each family booked our own accomodations and flights (they ended up going for 8 days, so jealous), but we'd meet up to hang out on the beach or to eat dinner together. It gave us some privacy, flexbility, but also nice to see someone familiar while on vacation; especially someone who was a "local".
We got an AirBNB place that was a 1-bedroom apartment unit (pull-out sofa for the kids) with a full kitchen and a balcony overlooking the ocean, in a complex with three swimming pools, a spa, a gymn, and a small beach. We rented a car and drove around the island, and found some really nice beaches and some delicious restaurants. We also took the passenger ferry over to St. John and then hopped a jitney to a remote beach and spent the day just snorkeling, swimming, building sand castles, and napping on the beach. It was a lovely relaxing break from life.
St. Thomas was a lovely place for us to visit, but we probably will not revisit. It has turned into a big cruise ship destination for shopping; and it was too touristy and built up for our liking. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the warm sun, but lacked the natural attractions and unique "off the beaten path" things that we enjoy for a vacation destination.