On to St. Thomas

After a day at sea we reach St. Thomas for our second port stop. Our shore excursion was a tour of the island with panoramic views. We sat in an open-sided bus next to a couple from The Villages in Florida, Brooke and Mary Neal. After conversing for the entire tour, we are now lifelong friends and Larry has an open invitation to join Brooke and his brother-in-law and another friend in the coffee bar at 5:00 A.M. every morning. We are also invited to stop and visit them in The Villages on our way back to California at trip's end.

As for St. Thomas, this is where we find JEWELRY! Once again we find ourselves in the right place at the right time (end of season) and we find everything I'd been seeking - and then some!

I also encouraged Larry to buy a couple of T-shirts (one for Bruce - we'll see if they read this) and I got a free Del Sol tote bag as my reward. We didn't even reach the main shopping area, but still did quite well at the pier. Many stores offer incentives of free charms, gemstones, etc. just for stopping in. Milano rewarded us with 4 silver colored heart pendants and a watercolor print - just for being such good customers. Larry will exclaim loudly that "they weren't free!!!"

We once again boarded the ship to set sail for our third and last port, St. Maarten.

St. Maarten is the smallest island to be occupied by two countries: Holland and France. Since we had an 11:30 tour of the island, Larry and I left early so we could see the shopping area before the tour. The sky looked threatening, but I had seen the weather report that forecast only clouds, so I was confident we would be okay. Silly me. Just before we boarded the water taxi it was sprinkling and by the time we reached the other side, it was raining steadily. I was wearing knee-length pants and a sleeveless shirt. Soon they were soaking wet pants and shirt.

Larry decided to go back to the ship for jackets and umbrellas, leaving me to browse. We'd agreed to meet back at Diamonds International at a 15-minute time frame. It took him a long time to return! I managed to visit most of the jewelry shops on the street during that time period, racing back and forth from one end to the other so I wouldn't miss our rendezvous.

He finally arrived with rain gear in hand and I put his jacket on over my soggy clothing, only to have the sun appear a very short time later! Eventually I dried out, but my hat stayed damp for the rest of the cruise.

Quite a few of the excursions had to be canceled due to weather, but ours was a "go". Back to the ship's pier to board a bus. It seems we had the same idea as everyone else; the line was very long. Charlie and Carol Helm and Marcia and Cam and Larry and I congregated together so we'd be on the same bus. At the last stop we found a lunch spot and ordered and ate in record time. We split plates because the serving sizes were huge. On the way back to the pier the driver dropped off the shoppers in the downtown area, enabling one last shopportunity.

Marcia found a lovely gold and diamond pendant and we both got matching diamond stud earrings. That saleswoman was very hard to resist. I also convinced Cam, Marcia and Larry to get their free bamboo and shell necklaces at the Cariloha store. They make you work for them by shouting "CARILOHA". I know Larry is quite proud of his acquisition, although he claimed the saleswoman gave him a hard time.

The final two days at sea were Friday and Saturday, and we spent the mornings playing Joker on the 14th deck with our Airstream friends. And EATING! We were sad to see it come to an end, but we have more adventures to come.

Sunday it was back to the RV Park and a reunion with those who'd stayed behind. They had their fun and adventures as well, especially the huge once a year flea market here at the park.

They got TREASURES! Maybe it's just as well we weren't here.