USVI-On-Line

Don't worry about the drink in your hand while your driving but ya better have on that belt or so I'm told. Had the same thing happen with my belt, finnally got it to work. KEEPEM COMING!!!

Can not wait for more and to hear about Ivan and White Bay...........
spaghetti and garlic bread and wine.......I think I figured out my dinner...........

Great job...I am so enjoying your TR's. Thnx!!

I LOVE your reports! I can't wait to hear about your adventures on JVD!

Awesome report so far! Sounds like you guys had an absolute blast. Can't wait to hear more...

Great report.

Cheeseburger in Paradise was actually written about a burger that Buffett had in Road Town on Tortolla, BIV's after a long boat trip down.



Keep it comming.

Jay[/img]

captainjay wrote:Great report.

Cheeseburger in Paradise was actually written about a burger that Buffett had in Road Town on Tortolla, BIV's after a long boat trip down.



Keep it comming.

Jay[/img]

Leave it to Jay to know the correct JB trivia. I thought it was the VIs, and I KNEW it wasn't REALLY Skinny's cheeseburger, but soooooo close.

I'm not even sure I think of Key West as paradise anymore. I've become spoiled.

I'll try to wrap it up this week. It's a light week at work, and I actually have a day where I don't have to do anything, if I don't want to!

Friday morning, we were up bright and early to head to Jost. I had made our reservations with Inter-Island on Thursday and the last thing the lady said to me was “Make sure you’re at the dock by 8:15 a.m.”

The six of us headed into town, in two separate cars because we hadn’t all figured out how to fit in the Liberty. I guess before we left I should’ve told Sandy and Lisa that we were meeting at Inter Island’s ferry dock, rather than the one you take to STT. But luckily we found them near Woody’s (just getting ready to turn) and we all made it to the dock right at 8:15.

We bought our tickets and then went to the little benches to wait. And wait. And wait. Finally well after 9 a.m., our ferry arrived and by 9:15 we were headed off to Jost. I tried really hard to be on island time, but I realized that part of the reason island time is easy is because you’re not generally wearing a watch, and today I wore one so that we never missed our boats.

We had to stop in Tortola to drop some folks off and we also went through customs there. We got back on the boat, and the six of us (at this point, we were the only customers), road over to Jost. When we got there, there were two taxis waiting. We picked this red Ford pick-up driven by Oliver, who was the best personal tour guide that $5 can buy. Even though Foxy’s was closed, he headed over there so that the girls could get some pictures and meet Taboo. Then he drove us over to White Bay. We went to Soggy Dollar first, but it was dead. And, besides the only goal I had for the day was to meet Ivan, who’d been expecting me for over a year since we first started planning this trip.

Ruth had told us where to go to lunch, but when I mentioned it to Oliver, he told us that they were off-island, but when we got to Ivan’s, he would ask Charlene to make us lunch. Anyhow, we got there and Ivan was waiting for us. I had heard so much about him from Rosi and we were both so excited to be meeting each other finally. When I introduced myself he said, “It’s about time! I’ve been waiting for you.” He met all my friends and then ran off so they could rustle up something for us to eat. I felt like I was visiting a friend, not like I was at some beach bar in the Virgin Islands. While we waited for lunch, we staked out our spot on the beach. I don’t think anyone goes down there in October, because for most of the day, we were the only people at Ivan’s. A few folks swam in off their boats, but for the most part, we had the whole place to ourselves.

We ate cheeseburgers and fries and I had a Carib. A few of the other girls had painkillers. We all just lounged on the beach, floated in the ocean and caught up on our reading. Ivan was working on the new villas he’s building, but he took breaks from setting concrete to come and hang out with us. He and I had a good chat, and I learned that he does a spot-on impersonation of Rosi. It was cute.

We spent most of our day at Ivan’s doing absolutely nothing. Finally, at about 1:40, we realized that we told Oliver we’d meet him at Soggy Dollar at 2. Ivan gave us directions on taking the little path, told us to be careful and to come back soon (and stay in the new villa!). We headed across the path and everything was going just fine. That is until I slipped on a rock. And my flip flop started floating out to sea. The last thing I remember was someone telling me that the next wave would bring it back, but I didn’t really want to chance going shoeless.

Next thing I know, I had completely lost my footing, and I was laying down face-first in the sand. (I only had one Carib, because I KNOW you’re all thinking it.) At first, I was laughing because it must’ve been hilarious to see me sprawled out laying on the sand with waves rolling over me. That is, until I realized that a wave had just gone inside my beach bag.

In my quest to save my $2 flip-flop, my $200 digital camera was ruined. It only had a few drops of water on it, and I don’t even think it was submerged, but it was apparently enough. Luckily I was able to rescue my pictures off the cards and it was pretty late in the trip. My cell phone fared much worse, as it was in the bottom of my bag sitting in about 4 inches of standing water. I also ruined two library books, and my travel journal had three pages that were illegible. My clothes and my towel were soaked. I was a soaking wet mess with a beach bag that must’ve weighed 60 pounds wet.

I was just out of sorts after that happened. I was pretty upset about the camera and the phone, but I think the biggest loss to me was my journal (and I almost lost it permanently because I left it under a beach chair on Soggy’s beach when I took everything out to survey the damage). I had done such a good job capturing all my thoughts for the week, and I hated that I lost some of the things I had jotted down. Even now it’s been hard to string everything together for a trip report.

But, it’s hard to be pissed off in paradise, so even though I was really upset and all I could think about was how I had no dry clothes to wear through customs (and I was worried because I know you have to be properly attired, and I had no pants) and how expensive my trip was going to be once I replaced all that stuff, I managed to cheer up a little tiny bit. The painkillers helped. I liked painkillers all week, but Soggy’s got the best ones.

I used an actual soggy dollar (or 20) to buy a cute t-shirt, and then Oliver came to pick us up. One of the girls lent me her beach towel, so I wasn’t completely sopping wet, and we could call it a sarong when we went through customs. We went directly back to St John this time, and had made it through customs by around 3:30. We headed over to the Beach Bar to hit happy hour before we headed home.

I remember that we went back to the house and made supper, but I don’t remember if we ended up going out that night. I think that we did, but I’m not positive. Regardless, it was a good day, even with the hiccups.

I think this was the day that I realized that our trip was almost over…

Thanks for that episode! Sorry about your camera and your phone. My boy dropped his phone in the water near the Beach Bar and I was mad (for a minute). I too kept a detailed journal all week. Got home, wrote the trip report (took me 3 hours) and when I hit the "preview" button...ZAP it was gone! I guess it just wasn't meant to be! Ivan is great and I love the SDB painkillers too. Is there more coming? Hope so!

Great report! Now I see why it's probably a good idea to get that waterproof camera (and maybe a ziploc for my phone). Plus that's a much better story as to what happened to your camera and phone than saying it fell out of your pocket into the toilet at a bar...not that that's ever happened...

Thanks so much for continuing your reports- they're great!

Sorry about your camera, that is a bummer. But I liked your line "it's hard to be pissed off in paradise." No truer words...

Before I went, there was drama a brewin'. That happens with 9 women sometimes. Anyhow, one of my friends said, "It'll be fine, because it's hard to be pissed off in paradise."

And some feathers did get ruffled during our adventures, but I made up my mind that I was not going to be upset. It is paradise, and there are no worries there.

Even when I came home, I had real trouble adjusting to reality with everyone being in a rush and being angry all the time. Whatever, it'll still be there tomorrow. And, if it's not, it wasn't meant to be.

Lulu, thanks for sharing the adventure. I've gotten so blase' about the roads on STJ that I've forgotten they can be intimidating. Thanks for the flashback.

Cheers, RickG

LuLu,
You are too funny. I am sorry about your camera and phone. Been there. Sounds like you had a great time.
Mrsb

What I remember from Saturday is pretty funny. Our computers are practically up at work, so I may not get to it. HOWEVER, they are running slow, so I may not have time to work on the project I haven't been able to do until after lunch.

OK, I'll be back, sports fans.