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TRIP REPORT DIALOGUE - Day Four, May 20
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Robin in NC
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:19 pm
- Location: Kernersville, NC
TRIP REPORT DIALOGUE - Day Four, May 20
Tuesday, another beautiful day. It rained hard overnight, and there was just the briefest shower very early - before 8 a.m., because that's when I got up. There were no cruise ships in port, and everyone knows what that means.
FEWER PEOPLE OVERPAY FOR JEWELRY ON ST. THOMAS.
What everyone knows is that you choose the days without cruise passengers to go to Trunk Bay. Now, as I said, I was up before 8 so we could get a reasonably early (for us, at least) start to the beach, but I was surprised to find that Jeff, Teresa, and Jeannie had headed down to Ditleff Beach. Jeff immediately fell in love with snorkeling on Monday, and he and Teresa couldn't wait to get back in the water. Jeannie didn't go in, but enjoyed the early morning on the beach and took pictures. The beach there is sandy in a small section, then gets a little rocky in the section toward the point. J&T reported that they saw more fish than they had Monday at Maho, and really enjoyed the snorkel.
WHAT'S DITLEFF LIKE THESE DAYS?
It has more stonework than a Gothic cathedral. If you saw the on-stjohn jeepcam video of Ditleff, they noted that there was a lot of stone being laid, and they were right. The road is essentially curbed with stone, there's a stone "guard house" being built, there are stone steps down to the beach, and it looks like they're building something down at the very end of the road - building with stone, of course. I think there's another house foundation underway, too. Don't know how much longer we'll have access to Ditleff, so go see it when you're on island if you can. "On island" - is there a more felicitous phrase in our language?
DID YOU JUST SAY FELICITOUS? NO ONE SAYS FELICITOUS.
Sounds like a Roman emperor when you think about it, doesn't it? "The Emperor Felicitous has ordered you to be sacrificed to the lions in the Colosseum."
DIDN'T THIS START OUT AS A TRIP REPORT? WE FORGET.
Oh yeah. Anyway, once J&T and the lovely Jeannie returned and had breakfast, we all headed out to Trunk Bay. Gary thought his ankle could take the sand and salt water, so all six of us made this trip. You know, with each beach you visit you never get over the "wow" of looking out on that amazing water and the incredible scenery. We found a nice shaded area down the left a ways, and set up camp. Gary assumed his customary place in a chair at water's edge, Pam read on the beach, and the rest of us took off toward the cay to snorkel. We saw more fish than the day before at Maho, but nothing particularly exciting like a turtle or barracuda or ray.
OR MAYBE YOU JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.
A distinct possibility as well. Coming back to our shade and chairs, I had my first experience with The People Who Could Set Up Anywhere On The Beach But Decide To Be Your New Best Friends.
ISN'T THAT ODD - WE'D TRY TO GET AS FAR AWAY FROM YOU AS POSSIBLE.
This couple was from Oregon, so you can see how dedicated they must have been to come all the way to St. John. They told us about all the trips they had taken, to some very swanky places, and I really wanted to care. But not as much as I really wanted them to shut up.
YOU REALIZE THEY'RE PROBABLY LURKING ON THIS FORUM AND ARE NOW TERRIBLY OFFENDED.
I sure hope not. Anyway, we got food from the Trunk Snack Bar, and it wasn't bad at all. We stayed for another hour or two, and headed back to the villa in mid-afternoon. My cryptic notes indicate that J&T went back to Ditleff to snorkel again, but that's not how the lovely Jeannie remembers it. In any case, they went a second time, it may have been another day, I can't say for sure. What I do know is that Teresa saw a ray, and possibly a nurse shark, and it unnerved her a bit. She decided she'd finished snorkeling for the day. I'd love to see those, but I imagine I'd be a little freaked out too until I reminded myself that they're not a threat.
YES, MORE PEOPLE SUFFER FROM READING LONG, POINTLESS TRIP REPORTS THAN FROM SEEING NURSE SHARKS.
We cooled it at the villa for the afternoon, then called in to Ronnie's Pizza for a couple of pies.
"PIES" - WHAT IS THIS, THE SOPRANOS?
Their cute little delivery car was still crumpled, sitting out front of the restaurant. The guys were really nice, I told them I'd read about their misfortune online, and they weren't surprised at all. They made some good pizzas, though they were a bit pricey by our hometown standards. We had two 18" pizzas, one with everything and one with pepperoni and cheese, and the tab was $48. They were good, not spectacular, but solid. We didn't want to go out that evening because we were looking forward to doing something fun and silly.
WOULD THIS INVOLVE SKINNY DIPPING, BY ANY CHANCE?
Jorge, is that you buddy? No, I'm afraid it was much more prosaic - we watched the final competition on American Idol. The interesting thing from a traveler's perspective was the commercials. The local Fox channel completely preempted all the network commercials, and ran their local ones and public service announcements. One of the PSA's was so funny, we got our video camera out and taped it. I can't load a video into the trip report, but I can at least give you the script. Setup: two families at the dinner table, a host couple (wife is pregnant) and a guest couple with two children, a boy and a girl.
GUEST FATHER: "I have got to pass gas."
HOSTESS: (Trying to be polite) "Our powder room is right there."
SON: "No!"
DAUGHTER: "Daddy's gas could kill us all!"
GUEST FATHER: "That's right. Toxic clouds like I'm about to unleash could make everyone
deathly ill. Even that baby of yours." (Takes a pack of cigarettes out of his
pocket.) "Be right back." (He goes outside to smoke.)
ANNOUNCER: "Second-hand smoke contains hydrogen cyanide and other deadly gases."
HOST: "What a guy."
GUEST MOTHER: "He is a keeper."
ANNOUNCER: "Don't pass gas. Take it outside."
WE FEEL SO...UPLIFTED.
Well, it was better than the Valerie Bertinelli commercial for Jenny Craig that we saw about ten times. All right, that's Tuesday. It was a great day. Shoot, every day was a great day. Tomorrow: Who goosed the Mongoose?
FEWER PEOPLE OVERPAY FOR JEWELRY ON ST. THOMAS.
What everyone knows is that you choose the days without cruise passengers to go to Trunk Bay. Now, as I said, I was up before 8 so we could get a reasonably early (for us, at least) start to the beach, but I was surprised to find that Jeff, Teresa, and Jeannie had headed down to Ditleff Beach. Jeff immediately fell in love with snorkeling on Monday, and he and Teresa couldn't wait to get back in the water. Jeannie didn't go in, but enjoyed the early morning on the beach and took pictures. The beach there is sandy in a small section, then gets a little rocky in the section toward the point. J&T reported that they saw more fish than they had Monday at Maho, and really enjoyed the snorkel.
WHAT'S DITLEFF LIKE THESE DAYS?
It has more stonework than a Gothic cathedral. If you saw the on-stjohn jeepcam video of Ditleff, they noted that there was a lot of stone being laid, and they were right. The road is essentially curbed with stone, there's a stone "guard house" being built, there are stone steps down to the beach, and it looks like they're building something down at the very end of the road - building with stone, of course. I think there's another house foundation underway, too. Don't know how much longer we'll have access to Ditleff, so go see it when you're on island if you can. "On island" - is there a more felicitous phrase in our language?
DID YOU JUST SAY FELICITOUS? NO ONE SAYS FELICITOUS.
Sounds like a Roman emperor when you think about it, doesn't it? "The Emperor Felicitous has ordered you to be sacrificed to the lions in the Colosseum."
DIDN'T THIS START OUT AS A TRIP REPORT? WE FORGET.
Oh yeah. Anyway, once J&T and the lovely Jeannie returned and had breakfast, we all headed out to Trunk Bay. Gary thought his ankle could take the sand and salt water, so all six of us made this trip. You know, with each beach you visit you never get over the "wow" of looking out on that amazing water and the incredible scenery. We found a nice shaded area down the left a ways, and set up camp. Gary assumed his customary place in a chair at water's edge, Pam read on the beach, and the rest of us took off toward the cay to snorkel. We saw more fish than the day before at Maho, but nothing particularly exciting like a turtle or barracuda or ray.
OR MAYBE YOU JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.
A distinct possibility as well. Coming back to our shade and chairs, I had my first experience with The People Who Could Set Up Anywhere On The Beach But Decide To Be Your New Best Friends.
ISN'T THAT ODD - WE'D TRY TO GET AS FAR AWAY FROM YOU AS POSSIBLE.
This couple was from Oregon, so you can see how dedicated they must have been to come all the way to St. John. They told us about all the trips they had taken, to some very swanky places, and I really wanted to care. But not as much as I really wanted them to shut up.
YOU REALIZE THEY'RE PROBABLY LURKING ON THIS FORUM AND ARE NOW TERRIBLY OFFENDED.
I sure hope not. Anyway, we got food from the Trunk Snack Bar, and it wasn't bad at all. We stayed for another hour or two, and headed back to the villa in mid-afternoon. My cryptic notes indicate that J&T went back to Ditleff to snorkel again, but that's not how the lovely Jeannie remembers it. In any case, they went a second time, it may have been another day, I can't say for sure. What I do know is that Teresa saw a ray, and possibly a nurse shark, and it unnerved her a bit. She decided she'd finished snorkeling for the day. I'd love to see those, but I imagine I'd be a little freaked out too until I reminded myself that they're not a threat.
YES, MORE PEOPLE SUFFER FROM READING LONG, POINTLESS TRIP REPORTS THAN FROM SEEING NURSE SHARKS.
We cooled it at the villa for the afternoon, then called in to Ronnie's Pizza for a couple of pies.
"PIES" - WHAT IS THIS, THE SOPRANOS?
Their cute little delivery car was still crumpled, sitting out front of the restaurant. The guys were really nice, I told them I'd read about their misfortune online, and they weren't surprised at all. They made some good pizzas, though they were a bit pricey by our hometown standards. We had two 18" pizzas, one with everything and one with pepperoni and cheese, and the tab was $48. They were good, not spectacular, but solid. We didn't want to go out that evening because we were looking forward to doing something fun and silly.
WOULD THIS INVOLVE SKINNY DIPPING, BY ANY CHANCE?
Jorge, is that you buddy? No, I'm afraid it was much more prosaic - we watched the final competition on American Idol. The interesting thing from a traveler's perspective was the commercials. The local Fox channel completely preempted all the network commercials, and ran their local ones and public service announcements. One of the PSA's was so funny, we got our video camera out and taped it. I can't load a video into the trip report, but I can at least give you the script. Setup: two families at the dinner table, a host couple (wife is pregnant) and a guest couple with two children, a boy and a girl.
GUEST FATHER: "I have got to pass gas."
HOSTESS: (Trying to be polite) "Our powder room is right there."
SON: "No!"
DAUGHTER: "Daddy's gas could kill us all!"
GUEST FATHER: "That's right. Toxic clouds like I'm about to unleash could make everyone
deathly ill. Even that baby of yours." (Takes a pack of cigarettes out of his
pocket.) "Be right back." (He goes outside to smoke.)
ANNOUNCER: "Second-hand smoke contains hydrogen cyanide and other deadly gases."
HOST: "What a guy."
GUEST MOTHER: "He is a keeper."
ANNOUNCER: "Don't pass gas. Take it outside."
WE FEEL SO...UPLIFTED.
Well, it was better than the Valerie Bertinelli commercial for Jenny Craig that we saw about ten times. All right, that's Tuesday. It was a great day. Shoot, every day was a great day. Tomorrow: Who goosed the Mongoose?
