Just Another Day in Paradise

040418 St. Thomas

How has this slice of paradise escaped my radar for so long? This place is amazingly gorgeous. I know I keep saying this every day but I swear it’s true. The water, the mountains, the flowers—everything was just beautiful.

Sapphire Beach

Today we chose to sleep in a bit and then take a cab to Sapphire Beach. From what I’ve read, with 3 ships in port, Magen’s Bay would have been extremely crowded. The cab was $10 per person each way to Sapphire beach. It took about 25-30 minutes to get there and we drove up and down these crazy hills on the left side of the road.

Along the way we saw evidence that things are still not returned to their pre-hurricane state. Many houses sported blue tarps on the roof—still waiting to have the houses reroofed. There was also much debris along the sides of the road including things like cars, trailers and piles and piles of building debris.

Schools are open however they were closed for 2 months after the hurricanes came through. The children will get no days off to try and make up as many days as they can during the school year. Interesting side note here: All the kids on the island must wear uniforms – no matter which school they attend. They resembled a typical Catholic school uniform—only in shades of pink and crimson—boys and girls.

Despite being hit hard by the hurricane, this island seems to be faring much better than Puerto Rico with regard to repairs and the return of tourism. Sapphire Beach is operating, however, there was one large area that looked like some type of bar/restaurant that was being rebuilt. However, there is a bar that sells all the normal beachy drinks as well as some decent food. Internet was restored and credit cards were accepted.

There is also a dive shop that was doing a great business renting chairs, snorkels, rafts etc. Some of the condos around Sapphire appeared to be fully restored while other still look damaged. There was also a para-sailing outfit that looked steadily booked while we were there.

The Hat Man

The sandy beach was beautiful as was the water. Lots of fish and lots of visibility. People were snorkeling from the shore.

Sapphire Beach

As we did not arrive until close to lunch, all of the chairs they had were rented to the people on ship’s tours. We were able to rent an umbrella from the ‘dress lady’ for $10. So that was fine. We just laid out on our beach towels about 15 feet from the water.

The Dress Lady's boutique

I bought 2 strawberry pina coladas for $9 each + tip. They did not skimp on the booze and they were delicious.

Our little umbrella in paradise

We spent quite a bit of time in the water lazing around and then looking for shells or anything else of interest. We were quite lucky to find 2 nice pieces of sea glass and some tiny seashells. We did put those in the backpack and were able to take them right onto the ship—that we almost missed!

Yes, we did. We stopped at the various stores in the port area and I bought a pretty sea glass bracelet.

We knew all aboard was called so we were rushing to get back to the ship when I realized I had dropped my ship’s card someplace. EEEEEEEK! So I backtracked to try and find it. No luck. When we got to the first security checkpoint, I told the guy I lost my card and he said to go up to Gate 3 where you ship is, someone found it. We start the ¼ mile trek to Gate 3 and there is a ship’s person yelling at us to hurry. OMG

We missed the lemon water table and the cool towels to wipe your face—everything was packed up and there were 3 ship’s officers waiting there. I said to the man checking the cards that I had lost mine and he says—oh that woman over there has it. Sure enough, someone found it and turned it into the ship. Thank you, Jesus. I did have my passport so they could have validated who I was and be issued a new card… but headaches! So glad it all worked out.

We rushed aboard and before we were even out of the elevator, we heard the ship’s horn sound and we were moving away from the dock. We did sail early (about 4:50) but the three of us were the last people aboard.  Despite the mini-drama, still a great day so far!

Once onboard, we headed up to the Lido deck and I finally got a Dive In burger and fries. We hadn’t eaten all day and were very hungry. The burger and the fries were delicious. I recommend this place if you are on the ship!

Afterward, a nice tepid shower was in order as my back is a bit burned. And before I knew it, it was time to head to dinner at 8pm. I thought tonight’s dinner was the best I’ve had so far. I had a chilled melon soup, Caesar salad and the Shrimp and Cajun sausage with some excellent rice. Dessert was some sort of decadent chocolate goodness that just melted in your mouth.

My Dinner

Kolton's Pot Roast dinner

I decided to try and redeem myself at 3 card poker. $100 stake and the game was on! Lady Luck was with me tonight and I had a great streak – including a straight flush that paid very, very well. I cashed out for $500 after a couple of hours and quickly turned those black chips to cold, hard cash that will remain locked in the safe until the cruise is over!

The slots have also been very, very good to Kolton and Betzi—they’ve both hit some sizeable jackpots.

After a nightcap on the Lido deck, I’m in my cabin finishing this post. It’s about 12:30 here and tomorrow is a day at sea! We can sleep in.

Sweet dreams from this Lucky Lady!