Wooo hooo!!! This is the party day!! Festival on STJ. We left the house at 10:45 and wanted to make the 11am ferry from Red hook to Cruz Bay. We found free parking next to the dumpsters by the high school and walked up. Lots of people in line for the ferry - but there seemed to be continuous ferries and the line kept moving. We were on in about 20 minutes. Sat up top and enjoyed the breeze and view. When we reached Cruz Bay, we saw that all of the ferries were there...the BVI ferries, Tortola Fast-Ferry...all the big ones. The parade had not yet started, but lots of people were around, staking out their spots to hang out that day. We walked to the little vendors area and found Geoff's ring at a silversmith's booth. It is a meditation ring that is representative of the ancient Tibetan prayer wheel. The center top spins around the bottom...hard to explain. You are supposed to spin it and pray or meditate. We liked the concept and meaning. But, the rings were all too large for me. We decided to look for a women's version. We decided to walk down to mongoose junction. On the way, we ran into RonUSVI, Promguy and the beautiful Mrs Promoguy. As usual, they were incognito in a little corner....claiming their shady spot, which was quite perfect for the parade. Promo invited us all over for dinner and fireworks later that night. We said we'd like to come by...but we really weren't sure. I wondered if Geoff was beginning to tire of my VINOW forum family reunion taking place on our vacation. I alway asked him if he was ok with this or that, and he always agreed and said it sounded good. But, you know....it can be weird. We decided to play it by ear.

Ok, so the Festival got underway and there's no sense in me writing what the photos can tell you. After the parade, we ate from the PuPu platter at Rhumblines, drank like college students, sampled local food at the fair and decided to get back to STT before the mass exodus to the ferries after the fireworks. We were exhausted! On the ferry going back, we ran into Sherri's daughter and new grandbaby....soooo cute!!!

Enjoy the show...

Carnival Queen...

here we go!!

Too funny! I forget the name of their group - but it was something funny. Love the costumes!

Waiting their turn to begin...

Moco jumbies!

Mandingo Warriors!

Stateside tourists are beginning to worry - lol..

Then they started passing out little cold bottles of Cruzan rum! Wooohoo! And then the VI Ale truck came long and passed out cold beers!

More jumbies..

Uh oh! A jumbie lost his pants! What's a jumbie to do? Enlist the crowd to help put them back on, of course!

Awww!

Lady in Red..

Phew - we're done! Where's the rum truck? Does anybody see it coming?

I want her necklace - not the plastic one, either!

Ok, Promo, THIS is why we didn't show up for dinner....we were tanked! Warning people 40 and over - this will happen to you at STJ Carnival!

The end of Carnival day....we found my Tibetan prayer wheel ring at a vendor representing a store called "Now and Zen" in Cruz Bay. Will have to take photos of the rings. We took them home to the villa and exchanged them late that night. But, prior to that, we watched the fireworks from the beach at the Ritz, which was not good for viewing...but lots of fun cus Geoff fell out of a tree, after trying to climb up and retrieve this flashing light-up necklace that one of the girls tossed up there - he tried to land in the hammock, but landed in the sand....too funny! What a day!