Cruise Diary: Day Four
I apologize for slacking off. We now rejoin the cruise on Wednesday, March 10.
We docked today in the town of Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas. We had taken advantage of Joe Wagg's offer to set up an inexpensive tour of the island, and once we got off the ship, we joined a subset of our group in climbing aboard one of two ironically labeled open-air buses.
Even though steering wheels are on the left in their cars, they drive on the left side of the road in St. Thomas. The streets are very steep and narrow, making for a slightly harrowing ride at times. Godfrey Tours took good care of us, though, including providing free beverages. We stopped at many scenic spots along our drive, and you can see the rest of my photos on Flickr. Highlights included the Botanical Gardens and the overlook of Magens Bay. We also had a group photo taken with a goat, which Kevin shares in this post. I even spotted a chicken on our brief stop at a beach!
The tour wound up at Blackbeard's Castle, where Jeff was waiting to give a talk and tour. Learning that the admission price was higher than we'd expected, Kevin, Irena, and I opted to skip the castle and go back into town. We did a bit of shopping, then took a taxi back to the ship. Kevin and I grabbed lunch before the cafeteria closed and then visited the pool, now completely filled with old people.
At dinner that night, we sat with D.J. Grothe and his partner, Thomas, as well as John and Andrea (the "Beadys" from our first cruise) and Larry and Kathy. It happened to be Kitty's 50th birthday, and Randi's help was once again enlisted to produce a necklace that Naomi had purchased for her. It was also Gail and Lynn's 31st anniversary; we had been a part of their 30th anniversary celebration on the cruise last year. This time, we were at the wrong tables to get any cake!
After-dinner socializing was once again held in the Card Room, where we enjoyed the company of Brian Dunning and his wife, Lisa. We wound up chatting with Irena until after 1 am.
We docked today in the town of Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas. We had taken advantage of Joe Wagg's offer to set up an inexpensive tour of the island, and once we got off the ship, we joined a subset of our group in climbing aboard one of two ironically labeled open-air buses.
Even though steering wheels are on the left in their cars, they drive on the left side of the road in St. Thomas. The streets are very steep and narrow, making for a slightly harrowing ride at times. Godfrey Tours took good care of us, though, including providing free beverages. We stopped at many scenic spots along our drive, and you can see the rest of my photos on Flickr. Highlights included the Botanical Gardens and the overlook of Magens Bay. We also had a group photo taken with a goat, which Kevin shares in this post. I even spotted a chicken on our brief stop at a beach!
The tour wound up at Blackbeard's Castle, where Jeff was waiting to give a talk and tour. Learning that the admission price was higher than we'd expected, Kevin, Irena, and I opted to skip the castle and go back into town. We did a bit of shopping, then took a taxi back to the ship. Kevin and I grabbed lunch before the cafeteria closed and then visited the pool, now completely filled with old people.
At dinner that night, we sat with D.J. Grothe and his partner, Thomas, as well as John and Andrea (the "Beadys" from our first cruise) and Larry and Kathy. It happened to be Kitty's 50th birthday, and Randi's help was once again enlisted to produce a necklace that Naomi had purchased for her. It was also Gail and Lynn's 31st anniversary; we had been a part of their 30th anniversary celebration on the cruise last year. This time, we were at the wrong tables to get any cake!
After-dinner socializing was once again held in the Card Room, where we enjoyed the company of Brian Dunning and his wife, Lisa. We wound up chatting with Irena until after 1 am.