Day 3; June 29th – Up at 6:00 am to get dressed and packed. Out the door at 6:45, which I thought was plenty of time to get to Red Hook by 8:00. I immediately understood the value of taking a taxi as we did in previous trips! The cute little Starfish guide signs are never around when you need them! Two wrong turns later, we arrive in Red Hook at 7:45. Kevin at Born to Rhumb was nice enough to pick us up in STT instead of STJ at the Old National Park dock. Well, I assumed (yeah, I know) this was near American Yacht Harbor. Oops! After asking the Nauti Nymph desk for directions (which were “go to the end of town and make a left like you’re going to the Ritz”), we found ourselves yet again completely lost! Luckily Kevin had his cell on and was able to direct us to the National Park dock at around 8:15. We quickly get our butts on the boat and say hello to Bluwater and her crew for a day of SO much fun! The swells are fairly significant today, so we enjoyed a bumpy and wet 90 minute trip to Virgin Gorda!
It’s fairly loud on the boat, so it’s a bit difficult for us all to chat at this point. Kevin’s assistant, Steph, gets our passports to fill out the forms so we’re ready to get through customs in Spanish Town. While she does that, we go to the bakery for some apple turnovers and banana bread. So hungry (and hot) now! 40 minutes later we are on our way to The Baths! We spent about 2 hours here roaming around, swimming and watching the newly forged friendship between Blu and Geoff's two 9 year old daughters and our two kids. They were like peas and carrots (quoting Forrest Gump, which we will end up watching tonight when we get back to the hotel) from this point forward, having a grand old BVI adventure!

The 3 girls were incessantly shrieking inside The Baths as they see all the crabs and fish. If you’ve not heard three 9 year old girls collectively scream - - let me tell you it’s quite a treat! I apologize for any of you posters that may have been there at the same time! The Baths were more crowded than I have ever seen as both the New Horizons and two other groups were there at the same time. I LOVE BORN TO RHUMB! We stayed as long as we wanted while the guides were trying to reign in the New Horizon group constantly. Here is a sound bit from inside the Baths for ya: “Crab! EEEEE! Fish! EEEEE! New Horizons group this way please! New Horizons stay together! New Horizons must keep going! Crab! EEEEE! New Horizons get back on the boat!” After taking our good, sweet time J, we departed for a late lunch at The Soggy Dollar.

A funny thing happened on the way to JVD. I got seasick! Although it didn’t come to the substantive conclusion thankfully, I was definitely woozy and breaking out in those wonderful cold sweats. I am so pissed at myself at this point! How does this happen on the way to my FAVORITE BEACH IN THE WORLD (White Bay)!! OK, hold it together LandLockedBeachLover! That is your forum name after all! On land now at Soggy Dollar and decide after 30 min of chillin’ in a nice chair on the beach (with NO painkiller in my hand - - Good God I really don’t feel well) that I will eat something. Great deal with the Beach BBQ - - for $12 you get salad, chicken sandwich or burger, cold slaw, and potato salad. Eat a bit. STILL, no painkiller in my hand. Must focus. ODH, being the, well, OldDeckHand that he is (old sailor in addition to loving hubby) walks down the beach to pick up some “less drowsy” Dramamine for me for like $15. I would have paid $50 at this point. Blessed medicine. After an hour, I’m ready for a painkiller now! Jesus I could live (or more accurately die from liver failure) on those drinks! The kids are snorkeling for money now (Steph made the mistake of telling them a former passenger found $175 at the floor of White Bay). Kevin says if we want to hit Sandy Spit still today, we must forge ahead. After my tank top purchase and SECOND painkiller, we’re on the way!

Crazy thing about drinking a painkiller on the boat is that the fresh nutmeg on the top (if not properly stirred) tends to kind of blow back in your face and eyes when you’re under way. I say…better to have nutmeg fly back on your face than chunks flying back from getting seasick!! Yeah, I feel much better now. Kevin’s painkillers ALSO rock! Kids are now masterfully planning a sleepover and scheming to figure out who’s the most gullible (or drunk) parent to ask. Enjoy the moment, we all say!

On the beach at Sandy Spit, the men on the ship try to prove their respective manliness by climbing the famous leaning palm tree. We love you all anyway even though you fail miserably!

The kids find a rock with an “X” that marks the spot. Thinking there is FOR SURE treasure buried here, they spend the next 20 minutes digging a trench to Japan. Collective moms & dads are by now feeling no pain.

It’s now 4:00 and we must head back to STJ to check back into customs. We then get pulled over by border control (L), which was a first for Kevin and Steph and very nerve-wracking for us all! During this time though, and as luck would have it, the many charter boats as well as the ferry from the BVI beat us back to Cruz Bay. And the computers are down. 5:00 still in line and haven’t moved. Thank God we have beer and painkillers left. Kids, however, are restless, hot, hungry and HMG has to tinkle. In a clean place, Mom. Right. Got it. ODH tries to save the day with snow cones, but sadly the machine is broken. ADD can barely wait in a long line for Space Mountain, none-the-less a customs line! FINALLY at just before 6:00 we’re done. We head back to STT and try to add up our bill and figure out gratuity, which is not so easy after a long day of rum. We say our temporary goodbye’s to Blu’s crew and make plans to hook up at the Marriott on Monday for fear that without a plan to reunite, the girls would emancipate themselves to have a sleepover one way or another! Then, the moment I have been waiting for SO LONG. Drumroll please. Sopchoppy’s (now Island Time Pub) and their incredibly greasy and sumptuous pizza! Large pizza, 6 beers, 2 cokes and great view of sunset. $36. Priceless!

Now we just need to “left drive” our way back to the Marriott to check in. At the desk, I am finding that I am starting to slip into what I lovingly call “Cujo Mom” mode. I have full belly, sleepy, covered in salt/sand and ready to shower and collapse. God help anyone in my way. I race up to the registration, and there is no line. Great. She starts to check us in and confirms two times that we have a 2 double bed room. Yes. Using Marriott Points. Yes. 5 nights. Yes. Click, click, type, type (this goes on for 10 minutes). You are in room 1657. Just as she is about to activate the room key, another employee asks her for some stupid form. She leaves to look for it. Can’t find it at the desk. Goes into the back. Still can’t find it. After 10 more minutes of this, I am now starting to foam at the mouth. Other employee is now just standing in front of me with nothing to do without this damn form. Except look at me. While I foam at the mouth. I muster whatever patience I have in my Germanic body (which isn’t much) and ask whether we can get OUR ROOM KEY?!?! Oh, yes, sure. By the time he figures out how to do that, speedy lady is back to pick up where she had left me. With the 20 second activation of our ROOM KEY. Get back in car with ODH. He can tell I have not had a good experience and wisely instructs the children to leave Cujo alone. We lug our two 46 lb pieces of luggage and sandy beach gear up to 1657. Open the door. There is one King bed. No sofa or rollaway. Cujo rears her very ugly head yet again. Call down to speedy lady. Funny thing about Marriott Rewards Stay is that your room type cannot be guaranteed; only requested. They are completely booked. Only this isn’t so funny at this point. ODH again wisely calls up speedy lady to request two rollaways as Cujo is unable to speak. 45 minutes and two phone calls later, rollaway one arrives. Another 45 minutes and 2 more phone calls later, rollaway two arrives. Luckily while this whole-lotta-nothing is occurring, the kids and I have sequenced through our showers. Turn on TV to watch Forrest Gump. Yes, life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. Or not get. Everything happens for a reason. Two rollaways for ADD and HMG ensures that we will not have to endure “quit touching me…you’re hogging all the covers…well, I have no sheets…scoot over…get off my pillow…shut up…” before I fall asleep with a drink in my hand! ODH gently pulls the covers lovingly over Cujo in the sincere hope that she is gone.