Well, you know the saying about all good things....this trip was no exception. Much as we would have liked it to go on forever (well M & I did, I think by the end of the week the kids may have had enough of each other and us!!)we had to pack up and say good-bye for now to St. John.

Day 8 - The Journey Home

Almost like an omen we woke up this Friday to clouds and overcast skies. There had been crashing storms during the night which woke me at least twice due to pounding rain against the roof and windows. This would be a lazy morning since it was clear the sun was not going to be our constant companion as it had been all week. That little voice in the back of my head said this might not be such a bad thing..it would make leaving a little bit easier! M, D and S went off to Baked in the Sun to pick up some breakfast goodies (cereal, bagels and milk are all gone by now) and I started to clean up the villa. A was still sleeping and knowing him as we all do we decided to let him sleep until the last possible minute. Now remember that we had arranged a late check-out of 1pm, so we were moving in semi-slow motion. I stripped the vacated beds and left the spreads folded on the mattresses and piled the dirty sheets and towels in the laundry basket I'd found on top of the stacked machine. That machine by the way worked great and made packing light a very real option. I probably washed t-shirts and underwear twice during the week for everyone. Back to the schedule...since we have a 7:30 flight to San Juan connecting to our 9:55pm flight home we have a full day of shopping and eating planned. Check out at 1, drop the bags at the CV office, return the car, do our shopping, have lunch and catch the 3:45 downtown or 4pm Red Hook ferry. Seemed like a good plan. Ok, the sun is making what will turn out to be its only appearance of the day so the kids are checking out the view for the last time and M is cleaning the car. Amazing to me that they want the cars returned free of sand on an island where you spend most of your time shlepping to and from beaches. Now being our first time I didn't want to take any chances with cleaning fees so he was up there with brooms, paper towels and windex. Oy. Looked up and saw a nasty front moving toward the island and wondered whether the shopping plans described above would be in jeopardy. I continued cleaning the kitchen, and gathered up all the things we had left strewn about during the week. Made sure all chargers, ipods, books and sunglasses made it back into carry-ons. Anyway, as M is working on the car Bernadette, the housekeeper, arrives. Apparently no one told her that we were checking out late. What a doll she was though. Assured us that it was no problem and she would just start the laundry and clean around us...the rooms we had already vacated. So we continued showering and packing. Around 12:30 we loaded up the car for one last time, said good-bye to the villa (and Bernadette) and headed into Cruz Bay to check-out. Went first to CV's office to drop off the keys and our bags. Derek was again so accomodating opening up the storeroom for us to leave our stuff and locking up after us. He assured us that someone would be there around 3:15 wshen we intended to return. Then the kids walked to Mongoose Junction and M & I returned the car to Paris. And the heavens opened up. This was the longest, hardest stretch of rain we had seen all week during daylight hours. Running from the cr to the office/trailer M got soaked and I just sat in the car. I guess M and the guys in the office were betting on whether I'd get out of the car or not (I did)...I told you how I feel about getting wet!!! We returned the car with the same 1/4 tank of gas they gave it to us and M pointed out a couple of dings they had not marked or noticed when we picked it up. No problem. Paid the $2 day government tax and we were ready to be on our way. They gave us a lift to Mongoose Junction to meet the kids. The deluge stopped just as we arrived. Did some window shopping, bought a small watercolor of Salt Pond, A headed back up to the Brew Pub to pick up a t-shirt and then we started wandering down towards the Wharf. After moseying past every restaurant in town we decided to have lunch at The Balcony. It looked nice, it was covered and the weather wasn't looking too great at this point. Appearances were deceiving. There was 1 waitress working, they were out of 3 things on the menu and we were regretting our decision...until the food came. Great sandwiches..goat cheese and tomato, baked brie with fruit, turkey, and some kind of cuban sandwich. All were terrific and served with kettle chips. Dinner menu looked kind of pricey, so it was good to sample this restaurant at lunchtime. After lunch we picked up the hook bracelet S had been looking at, made one last stop at St. John Spice for some tasty gifts to take home and our own copy of "Feet Fins and 4 Wheel Drive" (A book I highly recommend. We had borrowed a copy for our trip and used it religiously) and walked back up to CV to get our bags.Got the bags, thanked Derek again and walked back down to the pier to get the 3:45pm downtown ferry. Long line at the ticket booth, but we realized that was for the 3:30 Red Hook ferry. She started selling tickets and bag tags for the downtown ferry at about 3:40, and the ferry left at 3:50. Arrived in Charlotte Amalie about 4:30pm and headed up the street to purchase some duct tape to repair the gear bag that was coming apart. Believe it or not the 1st small, hole in the wall "pharmacy" had a roll right at the counter! Slapped it on the bag and grabbed the first taxi to the airport. Now we were VERY early. There was absolutely no one there for the evening flights. We all changed in the bathrooms from our shorts to long pants, checked in, went through customs and TSA security and settled in the bar to wait. Now, since M had been driving all week, this was his chance!! A few last beers and girly drinks later we boarded our puddle jumper to San Juan. It left early and we arrived in San Juan 10 minutes after we were supposed to have left STT!! Had enough time to get a bite to eat at SJU and left on time for NY. Landed early again, grabbed out bags and headed home. Happy, tired, and just itching to get back to St. John!