Once is a Pearl Jam tribute band and you can find them rockin’ the rock this Friday night December 4th, 10:30 at the Caribbean Saloon. These tribute bands have been awesome.  

Enjoy your family and friends.

Watch the parade.

Eat too much and nap on the couch.

Read, play cards, watch movies.

Eat some more.

Watch football. 

Take a moment and remember what you’re thankful for.

Q. What happens when the water is as flat as glass, with no waves and barely any ripples, just totally mirror-like?

A. You make it to Jost in record time, and our current record is 16 minutes (on a 26ft-ish boat). Possibly 15. I forget, as we were all too busy marveling at how fast we were getting there. I barely had time to finish my mimosa. It was such a smooth ride I could have painted my nails on the way. Our car’s engine, that we had parked about 10 minutes prior to our departure, was probably still hot. Clearly we went straight to Jost…we did not bounce past St. John for a quick sight-see, or pause to snorkel. We did not pass GO and we definitely did not collect $200.

We left from American Yacht Harbor (in Red Hook), with a party of 6 or 7 people. Depending on the way you go (and I don’t know from technical speak, but if the water is not too crazy there’s a short cut you can take, otherwise you have to go all the way around) a trip to Jost should take 25-35 minutes. Longer if the waves are bouncing, at which point those with motion-sickness may start to sweat.

One of the main reasons we chose St. Thomas is it’s close proximity to other islands (a sentence I’ve probably repeated 30 times on this blog). So, if you don’t want to try and beat our speed record trip to Jost you can enjoy plenty of island-spotting and snorkeling on the way.

Here I am pointing to Jost Van Dyke from the now-closed Mountain Top:

Above my finger is White Bay, home of the Soggy Dollar Bar. If this picture of Magens Bay isn’t enough to make you wish you were here, then check out Soggy Dollar’s webcam: http://soggydollar.com/. WARNING: Highly addictive. Here’s a current shot from the webcam:

Have fun watching people swim in and out all day…New Horizons tour should be coming in around 2pm…

We’ve been back on island just over a week, feels like we’ve never left. In nine days we’ve:

- Beached it on Magens, although it was a little rainy (one week ago)

- Dined at Romanos

- Saw a lot of rain (FULL cisterns)

- Caught football at Caribbean Saloon (Pats win!)

- Had a couple at Sibs (had to have the chicken fried chicken, clearly not a diet dish)

- Fought off some mosquitos and sand fleas

- Snorkeled and sunned at Secret Harbour (great breakfast out there, by the way. I had a very tasty ham/cheese/egg croissant sandwich)

- Ran errands, one day event: mail, Plaza Extra, Home Depot, lunch at Jack’s Wings, dry cleaners…

- Beached it at Emerald, indulged in a bushwacker

- Sushi’d up at Enkai (can you say food baby?)

- Ran over an iguana (sorry buddy – you skitted under our tires before we had a chance to stop)

- Played a couple games of pool at Hull Bay (I lost. I used to be good in college. I swear.)

Today I got to work; first shift back at Shipwreck on a one-ship Monday. I made sure I was extra energized with an iced chai from Barefoot Buddha. Delish!

Oh the wings! That’s right Jack’s Restaurant is now in our family of advertisers and that’s not gonna suck because their wings are INCREDIBLE. As a matter of fact they won our Best of St. Thomas Award for “Finger Lickin“.

Come out on Thursday nights and hang with the St. Thomas Blog. Every Thursday night they bring in a cool band and rock the joint. We’ll be keeping you up-to-date with who will be playing.

We saw these huge flip flops hanging on the wall in a bar up in MA.

They’re rubber, and the straps are cloth-ish. And, I want them. Unfortunately for me they were A) secured pretty well to the wall, B) impossible to fold up and put in my pocket and C) I don’t steal.

I asked the manager if I could have them, and was shot down. He told me there was a liquor store about 30 minutes away that had them in their window display and they might relinquish them. So I asked Scott, who reminded me that we drive a Mini and even with the top down it would still be a clumsy fit. Plus, even if we did manage it how in the world was I expecting to get them from MA down to St. Thomas?

That’s a good question. Could we ship them? I suppose, but with the size and weight it would be a pretty hefty shipping bill. We could check them as baggage on the plane, but A) we are strictly carry-on folks and B) again, the size – too big for a suitcase, and what’s the other option, wrap them in brown paper?

So, the last resort, and what I thought was the perfect plan; I’ll just wear them on travel day. Hello, they’re shoes! So what if they’re a tad big for my size 7.5 footsies, and they probably wouldn’t fit in the tub to go through security, and maybe they’d stick out in the aisle on the plane, and I’d probably be exhausted after 5 minutes of dragging them around. And okay, I’m sure someone, at some point, would probably ask me to remove them, but on what grounds – that I don’t know my own shoe size?

I imagine these would be great to have down here! You could use them to float on in the ocean, or lay on in the sand. I could toss one across our plunge pool and use it as a bridge. You could hang onto the straps and ‘tube’ off the back of a boat in one of them. And, bonus, there’s two, so your friend could ‘flop tube’ at the same time! I’m sure there’s just hundreds of uses!

But, at the moment, the dream has died. Those flops are still on the wall in some bar in MA, and I am here on St. Thomas, without my oversize flops. So, I wait.

This morning, as I was coming down the stairs, Scott yelled out, “Guess what I found in one of the scorpion bowls?”

A scorpion bowl, for those who might not know, looks like this:

 Directions: fill with some sort of boozy concoction. (Just ask my uncle, he knows all about them.)

I stop in my tracks, halfway down the stairs. I don’t like this game. I don’t want to guess. I don’t want to know. And I certainly don’t want Scott to come around the corner to shove whatever-it-is in my face. I know we live in the Caribbean, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to be any less girly about insect/bugs/flying things.  

Then he says, “It’s pretty ironic…”

Oh, I get it, and now I want to see, but on my own terms, which means ‘please leave the bowl on the counter and I will creep up in my own time lest the creature bounce back to life and jump on me’.

I peer inside, and sure enough, he was right. It is ironic. And small (whew).

The scorpion bowl has trapped one of it’s own.  I’m happy for two reasons: A) it’s not alive and hiding under my pillow, and B) it’s a baby. Here’s a close-up:

I wish he had called ahead as we would have made sure there was something in the bowl for him.

Scott likes the ‘guess what I found’ game. There was the ‘guess what died in the sliding doors’

Hate. The roaches.

The ‘guess what I found, it’s in the sink’ (scratching and clawing like mad to get out)

He was okay, we set him free.

And the one I’ll never get over…’guess what died in our pool’.

Teaspoon for comparison. It killed me to lean down this close for the picture. In case any spider experts happen upon this post…no, I don’t want to know what it is. I don’t want to know if it travels in packs. I don’t want to know why it chose our pool. And I certainly don’t want to know if it likes to hide under pillows. Or crawl into scorpion bowls.

I wish.

However, if you’re one of the 43 people waiting for your yacht, it looks like it’s arrived and is waiting for you in Crown Bay. Per the STT Source, yesterday’s delivery of 43 yachts was the largest ever fleet brought to the island by Super Servant 4, operated by Dockwise Yacht Transport.

The shipment, which loaded up in Newport, RI, was worth around 41 million. This particular ship partially sinks to allow the yachts to get on and off under their own power, instead of using a crane. Sounds like an interesting process to watch…especially if one of those beauties is coming your way. You can read more about this trip here.

On a related note, Scott and I are available for any yacht trips. You know, if there’s some sort of ‘maiden voyage’ or ‘let’s see what this baby can really do in the open water’ trips scheduled. Just sayin’.

I already told you what we’re looking forward to. But, for sure, there are things that will be missed.  Although I can’ t think of many at the moment as I’m sitting here in sweats, waiting for the heat to kick on and really looking forward to feeling that hot island sun…

Last night we called up our favorite take-out place and ordered pizza (me) and a meatball sub (him) for dinner. Brought to our door. Luxury! That won’t be happening on the island…we’ve had to direct cabs down to our place, I’m pretty sure a food deliverer isn’t making the trek.

We’ve had our share of flying up and down route 6, route 3 and 495 all summer…at speeds of 80 (gasp!) It’s nice to hit the open road and just drive. Tomorrow, when we fire up our island ride we’ll get back to the winding-around-the-hills speeds of 35. Maybe 40, if we’re feeling spunky. However, there is the possibility of a safari cab lurking around every corner, and clusters of cars manuevering in and out of trash spots…so let’s say 35. Not exactly a wind-whipping speed, but it is a safe one.

In the states we live a stones throw away from a post office, bank, grocery store, convenience store, pharmacy. It’s no problem to arrive home, realize you forgot milk, and run back out to grab it and return before a commercial break has finished on TV. (Small tangent: During my Pittsburgh years I once made it on foot down an alley, into a convience store and back home with three items before the commecial break ended. True story. I think I hold the record.) Once, on the island, we were having pasta for dinner and realized we were out of grated cheese. Clearly this was an emergency, so I made the haul up our road, onto the main road, winded my way to the nearest store, and overpaid for a small container of grated cheese. There’s no way that trip fit into a commercial break. I think Scott watched a movie while I was gone. Okay, small exaggeration. We do miss the closeby conveniences, although you do become much more efficient with your errand-running on the island.

Each time an islander takes a vacation up to the states they usually make a beeline for their favorite restaurant. And then facebook about it to make everyone else jealous. We have our favorites, just like everyone else.

I have to be honest, while I like shopping as much as the next girl I don’t really miss it. Most stores have online shopping available, and while squinting at the computer screen and wondering if it will/won’t fit isn’t as fun as wandering a mall with a girlfriend and gossiping, it’s still some sort of shopping. So I’ll take it.

We’ll miss family and friends. Of course.

That’s the major stuff, not much else I can think of. Oh, one more, the many options of beers on tap in the states. Yum. I’ll miss that.

Now I’m done. Bring on the sun.

“I’ve fallen and I can’t…”

You know the rest.

We saw this ad the other night on tv, the medical alert -ish one, don’t ask what we were watching. A few posts ago we told you about the new and improved 911 system in the Virgin Islands. There was another article about it recently, online on the VI Daily News. In it they spoke about the new system, and how it’s a huge step up from when operators used to take calls by pen and paper.

I say anything is a step up from that. Especially in today’s world. I don’t even ask people for phone numbers anymore; now it’s “Are you on facebook?” I can’t tell you the last time I wrote anything extensive with pen and paper. Lost art.

Hopefully we’ll never have to experience or review the new 911 system firsthand, but I’m happy to see improvements being made. Yes, it’s an island, and you hate to see too much of the modern world interfere, but enhancements and progress are always being worked on in the background. 

So, back to our leading lady in the next most popular commercial after “Where’s the beef?”…I wonder if the medical alert button-on-a-necklace thing would work on the island. I don’t see why not. It might even be in place and I’m not aware.

Either way, kudos to the new 911 system!

Here is the information for Rabbit’s Memorial Service.

For donations email: rabbit@demastri.com

Scott and I will be back on island this Saturday. Sometime in the early afternoon. With our two parrots in tow. The lovely Karen will be picking us up at the airport…and on the ride home I fully intend to pop a Corona as I watch the familiar landscape roll by the car window.

I can’t wait…

…to see the island

…to see our home

…to step out onto the deck

…to hear waves crashing

…to hit the beach

…to hit the beach (yes, it deserves a repeat)

…to see friends

…to see the sun

…to visit restaurants and see familiar faces

…to feel the warm breeze

…to look at the horizon

…to see a sunset that only the Caribbean can produce

…to wade into the warm water

…to stop using lotion and let the natural atmosphere of the Caribbean hydrate my skin (and oh yes, ladies, the minute we arrived stateside I swear my skin just shriveled right up, my hair dried and my nails cracked. Pretty much the minute I stepped off the plane.)

…to get my tan back (yes mom, with plenty of sunscreen. And a hat. I hear ya.)

…to down a few calorie-laden frozen drinks

For now I’ll dream of the above, and not the other things that await…like downtown traffic, slow-moving water trucks, long Cost-U-Less lines, construction sites and driving around the island all day to get a few simple errands done.

Of a rainbow.

And a huge one at that:

Gorgeous, right? This picture was snapped by fellow island dweller, Jamie Hitchcock, who was lucky enough to see it live on beautiful Lindquist beach. Even more impressive she took this photo on her PHONE; imagine what one of those fancy National Geographic photogs could do with their big, bad cameras if given such an opportunity.

Here’s another shot, with Jamie on the right:

I’m telling you, if you see the skies darken with a storm on the way, and notice sun trying to shine behind the storm, then grab a camera, ‘cuz a rainbow be coming. Great pictures Jamie!

And no, in case anyone is wondering, these photos are not retouched. The water in the Caribbean really is that color. That’s a fact, Jack.

Yup, it’s our villa and this is shameless self promotion. Go to our website: http://www.caretbay.com and check it out.  It normally rents for $9,950 for either of those weeks but if you email me at scott@stthomasblog.com and use the code “Big Special” you’ll get 15% off or $1,500. That’s not chump change you know. So hurry and rent this St. Thomas Villa now.

Here are some pictures to look at in the meantime.

A friend and well-known Frenchtown fixture has passed away. Rabbit, always behind the bar at Epernay with a smile and a story, you will be sorely missed. We are shocked at the news.  We’ll miss seeing you and chatting with you, you were a great person.