So here goes Part 2 of our January 2006 trip report.

On day 3 we met our friend Phil in Cruz Bay. He was spending a week in STT, and had already been over to STJ a couple of times. We took the north shore road out of Cruz Bay, and stopped for the obligatory Trunk Bay overlook pictures (darn those look nice now!). And on our 4th STJ trip finally took the time to take a short tour of the Annenberg sugar plantation site. Kinda cool and worth up to an hour or so, especially if you can engage one of the knowledgeable park people or volunteers in conversation.

Then it was on to Waterlemon. We still were short one snorkel set due to the leak (see Part 1), so four of us (without Mike) walked to the close spot on the right of the Bay closer to the Cay and had one heck of a snorkel! Too many fish to count, some turtles, first just short of the Cay when we went in, and another on the way back. Did the counterclockwise tour, although the current was not bad and we could have gone the other way. The north side of the key is a great place to spend time just looking at coral (brain coral, sea fans, gorgonias, elkhorn and staghorn, it’s all there) following fish and just hanging out. I shoulda taken notes, can’t remember it all…

After our usual sandwich/fruit/snack lunch on the beach Mike was finally ready to get in, but we decided not to go back to the key because Phil wanted to get the last CA ferry in Cruz Bay. So Mike and I just paddled up the right side from the beach, say millions of tiny, small and medium fish. There were clouds of them. Another thurtl, and then I caught a glimpse of something large, came up to look for Mike, grabbed his attention and took off after the vision. Got close enough to realize I was chasing a 6 ft lemon shark, and probably in only about 10 feet of water and maybe 100 feet from the beach – wow! Mike still thinks I’m crazy.

Finally out, back to Cruz Bay in time for quick drink (beers and fru-frus) next to the dock (is that Rumbalaya?), and see Phil off. Just went for a slow car drive out to Hawksnest, but nobody wanted to get in (I think I was water logged). Saw sunset from just above Asolare at the Park parking lot, and wandered into town for dinner at Rhumb Lines. We had eaten lunch there before, and liked the spicy Carib/Asian fusion. Too bad about the fire in the building out front, but the place is open and did not seem to affected by the unrepaired damage. The spicy duck appetizer was first rate, my spicy tuna very good, maybe alittle over sauced, Donna and Mike had a vegetarian stuffed red pepper – nice not to have another pasta or salad as the only veggie option – forgot what Ellen had. And indulged in dessert too – v. nice Key Lime pie and some chocolate decadence, I think. An all around terrific day, except after that wine I had to drive us (safely) back to Coral Bay!

Another day (4) and we forced ourselves to go to Lameshur. First got Mike some snorkel gear at Crabby’s – he decided to buy – and we were all set for the rest of the week. Lameshur is definitely one of my favorites. Both left and right offer excellent snorkeling, with the far left out past the point having some deep canyons and other interesting geography. Last year we had walked out on the Yawzi Point path to shorten the swim, but getting in is trick with rocks and urchins, so we decided to try to swim all the way. Surprisingly we all made it with no trouble, and things were so interesting we stayed out for 30 minutes, a total of over an hour and a quarter with the back and forth. All told we were seeing all kinds of things – a beautiful queen angelfish, my first queen triggerfish (wow!), and lots more I can’t remember (I need to take notes!).

We almost made it to sunset, then back to the house, some wine/beer, the usual unhealthy snacks, and dinner at Sweet Plaintains – after we failed to get pizza in back of the Donkey Diner because they ran out by 7:30! Oh well, they sure looked great, but the food at Sweet Plaintains is also mighty fine – East/West Indies, nicely spiced. Portions perhaps a bit small, service (as I remember from last year) a little slow, but what’s the hurry?

I’ll stop for now and finish with Part 3 in a couple of days. Now with the cold back in NE, I wish I was limin’ once again!