Happy Anniversary to us
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:27 am
The funny thing about life changing moments is that, sometimes, it takes a while to realize that you've had one.
January 7, 2000. It had been a good day. Our cruise ship had stopped at some place named Tortola and we'd been to some other place called The Baths on some other island called Virgin Gorda. We'd had fun and visited some fun shops. We even got to be on the ship's bridge when we pulled out of town. My brother steered a cruise ship. That was cool.
We were set to arrive at St Thomas the following day. To be honest, we were tired and wanted to go home. Enough activity and enough food. We wanted to relax. We'd visited the excursions desk late on Thursday and asked what there was to do. The lady there told us our best bet was NOT to book a trip but to catch a ferry to some place called St John.
January 8, 2000. We were still tired and a tad bit cranky, so we slept in. We did our usual morning laps around the ship and then even went to the dining room for breakfast. We were seated with a bunch of obnoxious people. But, we all discussed our plans for the day. We more or less shrugged and admitted to not having a plan. We were told "Go to St John".
Fine.
We'll go.
We gathered some stuff and went off the ship. We'd learned that we needed to catch a taxi to the other end of the island (What a pain in the ass) and then take a ferry (JESUS!). We both recall thinking that this little island was a pain in the ass to get to. And that it had better be good.
Not yet understanding the concept of Island Time, I got in a fight with a cabbie. I demanded that we be taken to this Red Hook place and not be dragged across the island dropping people off here and there. Dammit! We had a schedule to keep!
We arrived at this Red Hook place and got on a ferry. We were immediately separated. I ended up on the bow and Susan ended up somewhere inside. The ferry ride was nice enough and I struck up a conversation with a mother and daughter who were headed to St John for the day. Mom was visiting her daughter and husband (A Coastie stationed on St Thomas). I told them that we had no clue about what to do and they told us to come with them to a beach. Cinnamon Bay. I was assured that we'd like it.
Meanwhile, inside the ferry, Susan was chatting up a family from NJ. They had flown down and were spending a week on St John. They were renting a house?!?!? (Seriously...WHAT?). Susan got a card from the rental company and stuck it in her pocket.
But really...who the hell goes to that length to rent a house on some tiny island that's damn near impossible to get to?
We got off the ferry in some dinky little Caribbean town and got in a safari cab with my new pals. We bounced along in the back of the truck for 20 minutes, up and down insanely steep hills before arriving at our destination. On the ride, something started clicking with us. Somehow it seemed like an OK place to be. We only had about 2-3 hours in total before we had to be back on a ferry and back to St Thomas, so time was of the essence.
We arrived at Cinnamon Bay.
Wow...this sure is a pretty beach. Look at that little building. Look at the tree leaning into the water. That's nice. But, it sure was windy. The soft white sand was nice...but it got everywhere!
Our hour up, we got back in our cab to go back to town. Along the way, the skies opened up and we got soaked. Dodging raindrops, we got back to town with about 5 minutes before our ferry was leaving. We ran into some little shop and ogled the rum prices before picking up a pin. We'd been collecting pins on every island of the cruise and wanted one from this tiny little island.
As we ran to the ferry, we went past some crappy looking bar with a Texas flag out front. Seriously...what a hole. Who the hell would every think of going to such a place?
We took the ferry back and got a cab to take us back to town. We did the obligatory Charlotte Amalie thing and were happy we hadn't spent the day there.
We went back to the ship and set out for our last night.
But that business card stayed with our stuff. For some reason, Susan had kept it. It landed on my computer desk and I went to the site from time to time. I mean...really...you can rent a house in the Caribbean? Why on Earth would you want to do that when you have huge resorts to cater to your every need? Seemed like a silly idea to me.
But, somehow that little island had an impact on us. We even said, after leaving, "Well...if we didn't have a cat, we'd consider moving down there". Big talkers we were back then. The cat? That's what kept us in NJ?
Fast forward 4 years and 8 months. I turned 30 on that silly little island. That crappy bar with the Texas Flag? Cremate me and spread my ashes in front of it among the chickens and crazy people. It's one of my favorite places on Earth.
We've been back to that silly island 3 times since January of 2000 and will be there in less than 200 days (not that we're counting).
We suckered 2 people into joining us on these trips and they've fallen in love too. That island, and a ton of booze, helped forge a relationship that stopped being just friendship a while ago and became family.
We're taking TheKid this year. We're about to ruin her life because she's going to fall hard for that island. I have no doubt that we'll end up sitting down with her 10 years from now and discussing a 1-year deferral of college so she can go work on that silly little island. (PS...we'd let her do it)
I've met several wonderful people because of that island. Some I've even met in person! It's like being in a secret club. Once people know that you go to St John, they kinda nod knowingly. They know that you know.
It's a good place.
And it all started with a ferry ride that we didn't want to take.
What if we hadn't taken that ferry?
January 7, 2000. It had been a good day. Our cruise ship had stopped at some place named Tortola and we'd been to some other place called The Baths on some other island called Virgin Gorda. We'd had fun and visited some fun shops. We even got to be on the ship's bridge when we pulled out of town. My brother steered a cruise ship. That was cool.
We were set to arrive at St Thomas the following day. To be honest, we were tired and wanted to go home. Enough activity and enough food. We wanted to relax. We'd visited the excursions desk late on Thursday and asked what there was to do. The lady there told us our best bet was NOT to book a trip but to catch a ferry to some place called St John.
January 8, 2000. We were still tired and a tad bit cranky, so we slept in. We did our usual morning laps around the ship and then even went to the dining room for breakfast. We were seated with a bunch of obnoxious people. But, we all discussed our plans for the day. We more or less shrugged and admitted to not having a plan. We were told "Go to St John".
Fine.
We'll go.
We gathered some stuff and went off the ship. We'd learned that we needed to catch a taxi to the other end of the island (What a pain in the ass) and then take a ferry (JESUS!). We both recall thinking that this little island was a pain in the ass to get to. And that it had better be good.
Not yet understanding the concept of Island Time, I got in a fight with a cabbie. I demanded that we be taken to this Red Hook place and not be dragged across the island dropping people off here and there. Dammit! We had a schedule to keep!
We arrived at this Red Hook place and got on a ferry. We were immediately separated. I ended up on the bow and Susan ended up somewhere inside. The ferry ride was nice enough and I struck up a conversation with a mother and daughter who were headed to St John for the day. Mom was visiting her daughter and husband (A Coastie stationed on St Thomas). I told them that we had no clue about what to do and they told us to come with them to a beach. Cinnamon Bay. I was assured that we'd like it.
Meanwhile, inside the ferry, Susan was chatting up a family from NJ. They had flown down and were spending a week on St John. They were renting a house?!?!? (Seriously...WHAT?). Susan got a card from the rental company and stuck it in her pocket.
But really...who the hell goes to that length to rent a house on some tiny island that's damn near impossible to get to?
We got off the ferry in some dinky little Caribbean town and got in a safari cab with my new pals. We bounced along in the back of the truck for 20 minutes, up and down insanely steep hills before arriving at our destination. On the ride, something started clicking with us. Somehow it seemed like an OK place to be. We only had about 2-3 hours in total before we had to be back on a ferry and back to St Thomas, so time was of the essence.
We arrived at Cinnamon Bay.
Wow...this sure is a pretty beach. Look at that little building. Look at the tree leaning into the water. That's nice. But, it sure was windy. The soft white sand was nice...but it got everywhere!
Our hour up, we got back in our cab to go back to town. Along the way, the skies opened up and we got soaked. Dodging raindrops, we got back to town with about 5 minutes before our ferry was leaving. We ran into some little shop and ogled the rum prices before picking up a pin. We'd been collecting pins on every island of the cruise and wanted one from this tiny little island.
As we ran to the ferry, we went past some crappy looking bar with a Texas flag out front. Seriously...what a hole. Who the hell would every think of going to such a place?
We took the ferry back and got a cab to take us back to town. We did the obligatory Charlotte Amalie thing and were happy we hadn't spent the day there.
We went back to the ship and set out for our last night.
But that business card stayed with our stuff. For some reason, Susan had kept it. It landed on my computer desk and I went to the site from time to time. I mean...really...you can rent a house in the Caribbean? Why on Earth would you want to do that when you have huge resorts to cater to your every need? Seemed like a silly idea to me.
But, somehow that little island had an impact on us. We even said, after leaving, "Well...if we didn't have a cat, we'd consider moving down there". Big talkers we were back then. The cat? That's what kept us in NJ?
Fast forward 4 years and 8 months. I turned 30 on that silly little island. That crappy bar with the Texas Flag? Cremate me and spread my ashes in front of it among the chickens and crazy people. It's one of my favorite places on Earth.
We've been back to that silly island 3 times since January of 2000 and will be there in less than 200 days (not that we're counting).
We suckered 2 people into joining us on these trips and they've fallen in love too. That island, and a ton of booze, helped forge a relationship that stopped being just friendship a while ago and became family.
We're taking TheKid this year. We're about to ruin her life because she's going to fall hard for that island. I have no doubt that we'll end up sitting down with her 10 years from now and discussing a 1-year deferral of college so she can go work on that silly little island. (PS...we'd let her do it)
I've met several wonderful people because of that island. Some I've even met in person! It's like being in a secret club. Once people know that you go to St John, they kinda nod knowingly. They know that you know.
It's a good place.
And it all started with a ferry ride that we didn't want to take.
What if we hadn't taken that ferry?
As amatter of fact I am moving to St John in 3 years.