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Hi all,
I'm sitting in the Deli Grotto in Cruz Bay, St. John with time to kill before catching the ferry back to St. Thomas and the airport. Time to come home. I've had a great trip here, even though not everything went as expected.
I arrived in St. Thomas on May 28, on my way to a 5-day kayak/camping trip with Arawak Expeditions. None of my friends wanted to do the trip or could afford to come to the island with me, so I came by myself. When I got off the plane the humidity was suffocating. I'm from LA and am used to hot weather, but not to humidity.
My kayak trip started on St. John the next morning, but I hadn't been able to get a 1-night hotel room anywhere on St. John so I stayed at the Holiday Inn Windward Passage in Charlotte Amalie. All the hotels on St. John had insisted on 3-night minimums, although I found out later that if you keep calling, the closer you are to your trip, the more flexible about this they will be. Everyone else on my kayak trip was able to book a 1-night room in Cruz Bay.
No matter. The Holiday Inn was very nice, with excellent service, a nice-looknig pool, a pretty good restaurant where I ate dinner, and EXCELLENT air conditioning.
I had an afternoon to kill, and I was walking distance from downtown Charlotte Amalie, so I ambled down the street. Did I mention it was hot? I also discovered quickly that everything was closed. It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend with no cruise ships in port, so nothing on Main Street was open. I did find Cruzan rum for $2.75 at a little liquor store down a side street, where the locals outside the bar next door leered at me as I walked by. Time to go back to the hotel and its air conditioning, and take a nap.
The next morning I had to be at Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay by 7:30 a.m., so I got up super early and caught a taxi about 5 a.m. to catch the ferry at Red Hook. Got to the ferry dock in record time. In fact, I was in time to catch the unscheduled 5:30 am ferry that takes all the day workers over to St. John. I was the only white person and the only woman on the entire ferry, but the ferry employees were friendly and courteous, and nobody on the ferry paid me any heed. I got the last seat on the top deck and was relaxing, looking at the view and deciding it would make a nice photo when, horrified, I realized I'd left my camera and snorkel gear in the cab, which of course had left. I let out an audible expletive, scrambled back off the ferry (they gave me back my ticket to use later) and found the pay phone. But of course, I had no change. I am very happy to report that Verizon wireless worked flawlessly when I tried my cell phone. Not sure how much that cost me, but I wasn't worried about it at the time.
I called the Holiday Inn, which had booked the taxi for me, and they called the taxi company which tried to call my driver. He wasn't answering his phone, however. I stayed on hold for many minutes, anxiously hoping the guy wasn't on a long coffee break somewhere. The outcome was that my driver did indeed come back with my camera and snorkel gear safe and sound, and in time for me to catch the 6:30 ferry. Whew.
Well, gotta go catch the ferry. Part 2 to come!
Hmmm the locals "leered at" you? How so? What is the difference between a "leer" and a friendly glance?
You took time to point out that you were the "only white person" on the ferry. Honestly, is this a point that is even important to note in a trip report? You came to a CARIBBEAN island, what else did you expect?
Hi mischievous. I think it takes a lot of guts to take a trip like this on your own. I am very interested in the rest of your report so please keep it coming. I have been "leered at" in the past. When it happens to you, you know the difference between a leer and a friendly glance. When people leer at you, the smart thing to do is walk away. When people give you a friendly glance you say, "Hello". You did the smart thing.
What a nice compliment to the black island people of St. Thomas. They made a single white woman feel comfortable on a crowded ferry. Sadly, there are many places in this country where people are not color blind, as they should be, and a single white woman would be well advised not to venture into those areas. It is nice to know that the island ferry between St. Thomas and St. John is not one of those areas.
This report also shows how nice the island people were when you forgot your stuff in the taxi. The ferry boat gave you a ticket to use later, the hotel staff connected you to the taxi driver and the driver came back with your camera and snorkel gear. How great is that!
Thanks Mischievous - I am enjoying your post so far and totally agree with Kraushaus's post above.
What luck to get ahold of the driver and get your stuff back. I would have panicked too. Especially since you had to have it in time to be at St. John by 7:30am.
Looking forward to the rest of the report! I've always wondered what it would be like to vacation alone. 🙂
I apologize if anyone took my comments the wrong way. What I meant to say, but said poorly, is that on the ferry I was the only non-local/tourist, and the only woman. In no way did I mean to imply that the locals being people of color was a problem for me, because it wasn't. I only meant that I felt out of my element in an unfamiliar location with people who were unfamiliar to me.
Additionally, the locals by the bar did leer at me. They were all men, and they called out to me, and they were being VERY friendly. I didn't feel threatened, but I know when I'm being ogled.
Again, my apologies if I offended anyone with the terms I used.
Part 2 of my trip report will be posted shortly.
