Connie pressured me into it, so here's my very condensed version!

One word: Un-be-liev-able. Better than expected! I just downloaded my 397 pictures from my digital camera, so I need to figure out which are the best to post. So far, I'm thinking it's not your typical postcard type photo. My true favorite is of the crunchy fish sandwich from Miss Lucy's. I seriously am salivating as I think about it. However, my photo is almost identical to the previous post by someone else (can't remember who - i drank a LOT of painkillers). Can someone tell me how to post photos on here?

Fine, Connie, I'll type a trip report. I should be up cooking dinner, but here I sit instead, salivating, listening to Buffett on iTunes and longing for what was just yesterday...

We stayed that first night in St. Thomas at the Mafolie. The hotel got so-so reviews on TripAdvisor so I wasn't expecting much, but it was just one night and only $140. Frankly, the hotel room wasn't great. We stayed in room 109, which was LOUD! You could hear the noises from the road as if they put your room smack dab on that yellow line. I woke to the roosters crowing at 5:30 a.m. (literally!). That being said, the service at Mafolie was great. Alana at the front desk was extremely helpful and went to bat for me when we had an issue with Budget rental car at Sapphire Beach.

Went to the Food Center on STT to shop for the week's provisions. After paying $180 for what should have cost $50 for groceries in the states, I realized I wasn't prepared for sticker shock after all. But, we were staying in a villa at Coral Bay and eating at the house with 14 and 10 year olds is much more pleasant than battling about what restaurant is chosen. We ate reasonably well all week and I'm happy to report that not much of that $180 was wasted.

We were greeted at the dock by this web board's very own Pia!! I didn't realize she was a local--she was and is a lovely person with whom I wish we'd gotten to spend more time. Pia took us to our house at Caribbean Cove, managed by Windspree, and we fell in love immediately. 77 steps down to the ocean at Coral Bay and I was ready to chuck it all and move there. Who cares if my daughter needs to go to high school and couldn't live without her posse?

We went to Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay and the Westin's beach, and Trunk is by far my favorite. Amazing...

My father's friend and his wife took us out on their boat on Sunday to Hurricane Hole and we snorkeled a bit there. The snorkeling was good and the weather was great. Had a couple beers, swam a bit and felt no need to charter a boat for the remainder of my stay. Saved us about $700! We never did make it to the BVI's, but that'll be next time, sans kids. The only drawback to going boating that day was that we missed the 3:00 happy hour at Woody's - sorry guys! It would have been fun.

We spent Tuesday at the Westin as guests of my father's friend who works there. The beach was just okay, but the water trampolines and 'arctic glacier' kept the kids busy enough while we just enjoyed relaxing and drinking rum. Tuesday night, as most of you know, the power went down and we were without our beloved air conditioning. No matter - we went down to the bar at Aqua Bistro (we could see they had power) and enjoyed a couple painkillers at the bar while the kids at their $6.50 a pint ice cream that we purchased at Lily's Gourmet Market. Gotta love the islands - where else can you sit WITH your kids at the bar and nobody freaks out that a person under 21 is sitting, not drinking, at the bar. Reminds me of what's wrong with the states...but I digress.

Had to come home yesterday and now I'm in detox. I hadn't eaten a salad or any other fruit or vegetable - aside from all the fruit juice in Painkillers and homemade mai-tais - in a week, and my body is in bad shape. I think i woke up having withdrawals because orange juice just plain old sucks without a shot of Cruzan in it! So I have vowed to eat healthy and get my flabby a** back to the gym, foregoing everything I learned in the past 8 days. Back to the rat race, people!

We're going back...maybe not next year, but definitely the next. And definitely without the kids! Perhaps a Windjammer cruise again, or maybe rent the same house. I'm just happy to have experienced it, because it was awesome and the memories will last a lifetime. Or at least until my hard drive gets wiped out!

BiminiDr