I woke up early (~6:15) to the sound of the surf from Drunk Bay. I wandered downstairs to the kitchen, and much to my surprise, discovered that we had no water. Oh well, I wasn’t planning to make coffee anyway, as I had packed it in my suitcase. So I poured some OJ and sat on the deck to jot down some notes in my travel journal. Yup, the view is as magnificent as it was yesterday!

On my to-do list for today - call USAirways to get the status of our lost luggage. At the airport we were told that it had been tracked to PHL, so it had made it that far, but they couldn’t locate it after that. Not the most confidence inspiring information I had ever received, but I’d never had luggage lost permanently, so chin up.

The guys weren’t up yet, so I decided to see what I could glean about the water situation. I headed down to the pool/office area. The pool at Concordia was closed because construction of the new restaurant kicked up dust that settled in the water and clogged the filter. I had no bathing suit, so it was a moot issue for me, but the man with the goober suit was a bit disappointed about it.

The on-site manager was puttering around the office area, so I told him that we had no water. He said the water was the reason he was there so early - none of the studios had any. Apparently there was a leak somewhere between the cistern and the studios and they had lost 40,000 gallons over the last few days (!). He had a call in for water delivery, but wasn’t sure when they would arrive (island time), so we just had to be patient. Okay, I have no clothes, no water, and had no coffee this morning, and you’re asking me to be patient??? Okay. Seriously, I really was. I was so totally happy to be there - nothing was going to change that!

When I returned to the studio the guys were up. We had some yogurt on the deck and decided that our plan of attack should be to try to contact USAirways while waiting for the water. Unfortunately, I had left my cell phone on all night and it had been roaming on this side of the island - that sound was me kicking myself. That meant the dreaded pay phone (!!!). If you are looking for employment in the VI, consider being the phone guy there. I spent a young fortune in that #^%@* phone calling 800 numbers. Isn’t the $.25 supposed to be returned after you make toll free call? It dropped into the change return a couple of times, but it seemed pretty random to me. Anyway, I made absolutely no progress in the luggage department for various reasons ranging from offices being closed, access numbers being required, and other equally frustrating circumstances. So I took pictures in the cute wooden phone booth. I’m still a happy person.

At about 9:30 the water trucks arrived! Not one, but three! I can feel the shower now! Well, not exactly now, but soon. As it turned out, the water wasn’t back on until about 11:00, but who cares when you’re in paradise?

After the pics, I went to the office to see if by chance USAirways had called about the luggage. Nope, not yet. I relayed whole frustrating telephone story to the receptionist, who was an absolute sweetheart and made several calls for me. She had much better luck (especially since her phone didn’t live on a steady diet of quarters) and was able to speak with a real-live person. She also discovered that the USAirways agent at STT had transcribed two digits in the phone number she had given me; that’s why it never worked! Didn’t I tell you she was great? Bottom line - still no new news on the bags, but the receptionist promised to call my cell phone if USAirways called back later. She was such a big help! Unfortunately in the commotion, I neglected to get her name. If anyone happens to know the name of the receptionist at Concordia (mom of an adorable 5-month-old boy), please PM me. I am planning to write a letter to thank her for her help that day and would very much like to address her by name.

Anyway, back at the studio there was still no water so we decided to hit Lily’s in Coral Bay to pick up something for lunch. In the meantime, Rod had discovered that his cell phone charger worked with my phone - things were looking up! We left my phone to charge and off to we went. I had never been to Lily’s before, and I have to say I was pleased. Wow, Coral Bay has gone upscale. Lily’s has a nice selection of groceries, some gourmet items, wine, beer, and a very nice deli. And FYI - they also have brewed gourmet coffee for take-out. I wish I had known about that this morning. We opted for lunch meat and bread for sandwiches, and some snacks and sodas.

Shortly after returning to Concordia, the water came back on (!) We showered (finally!), I put on yesterday’s shirt with my “I’m a tourist shorts” and hubby donned the goober suit. Rod and I took one look and we both shook our heads - no way will we be seen with you in that! Rod happened to have a t-shirt that matched the goober bottoms, which he insisted hubby borrow. Thankfully, the shirt mitigated the damages sufficiently enough to avoid public humiliation. Amy’s flight was due in at 1:50 and Rod wanted to meet her at the airport, so we planned to put him on the noon ferry. We had a quick lunch and set out for Cruz Bay, heads held high 🙂

Because we still had no idea when they would deliver our luggage (or if we would ever see it again for that matter) and because we knew we would have to pick it up at the ferry dock, hubby and I decided to spend the afternoon in Cruz Bay. We had been told that there was a good chance it would arrive on the same flight we had been on the day before, even if the trace they put on it didn’t provide any information. My plan was to use my freshly charged cell to call the local number after that flight landed and hopefully get some good news. This proved to be easier said than done. I called repeatedly from 2:30 on, only to be told that they had no information on our luggage. You know the feeling you get when you can tell the person you are speaking with hasn’t even bothered to check the facts before answering your question? Well, that was the feeling I got each time I called - talk about utter frustration! Until then I had shrugged the situation off for the most part, but I was now becoming agitated.

This situation called for a margarita and chips at Polli’s. We sat on the balcony overlooking Cruz Bay - and I stared at my phone, willing it to ring. It did, but it was only Rod calling to say that they were on the 3:00 from Charlotte Amalie.

After we finished our drinks, I decided to call the Silver Preferred customer service number, hoping for better service. Jessica was by far the most helpful USAirways person I had spoken to yet. I explained the situation and begged, pleaded, implored her try to find out whether our luggage had made it onto this afternoon’s flight from PHL (which, at that point, had landed on STT over two hours before). She promised she would and gave me the information I needed to call her directly. Okay, now I feel better. Travel tidbit: if you ever earn a privileged status with an airline’s FF program, keep the card even if your status lapses - you never know when those customer service numbers will come in handy.

Rod and Amy’s ferry arrived just as I was thanking Jessica for her help. We went through the introductions and walked around for a bit. We settled at Joe’s Rum Hut for a drink, and at 5:15 my phone finally rang! I was told that our three bags would be aboard the 7:00 Red Hook ferry! What a enormous relief! I called Jessica back to let her know and to thank her again for her help.

Our original plans for Miss Lucy’s would have to wait as we had to meet the ferry, so we decided to try the Lime Inn. There was a fairly decent wait for a table, so we moved along and ended up at Margarita Phil’s. The food was pretty good and the margaritas excellent. I could feel myself slipping back into relaxed island time again.

We finished up about 7:00 and headed to the dock. I waited with bated breath as the ferry pulled up at 7:20. I wanted to hug the luggage guy who brought our bags out, but instead I tipped him - well. He offered to deliver the bags all the way to the car, but I told him that wasn’t necessary. Honestly, after this ordeal I didn’t want anyone else to touch them. We loaded the car and headed back to Concordia - victorious.

After finally having the pleasure of dragging our beloved bags to the studio, we decided that since we now had bathing suits, we absolutely MUST go swimming NOW. The pool was still closed, so this would mean a hike to Salt Pond Bay. Yes it was dark, but Rod had packed two flashlights, so it was decided. We drove to the lot and hiked the trail to the beach. The trail was overrun with hermit crabs which retracted into their shells as we passed making rustling noises in the brush. No, I’m not paranoid, nothing is watching me...

When we made it to the beach, we turned the lights off and allowed our eyes to acclimate. The full moon had been only 3 nights before, so there was quite a bit of natural light. What we witnessed after that was an amazing phenomenon I still have trouble describing. At the water’s edge I noticed tiny greenish phosphorescent flashes at the point where the water washed up against the sand. I pointed them out to Amy and we both walked into the water to get a closer look. As we moved through the water, we noticed that the flashes tended to appear wherever the water was disturbed. As we pushed the water around with our hands, it sparkled like fairy dust. No, I was not drunk - not even close. Drunk with amazement maybe, but that was all. It was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life.
Side bar: these phosphorescent creatures, referred to as glow worms in Feet, Fins & 4WD, can be seen 2-3 days after a full moon - how lucky were we to time it just right?. Check out http://www.ambergriscaye.com/reefbriefs/briefs65.html for more info.

After about an hour of stunned amazement, we grudgingly decided to head back after this long, but exciting day. We mixed some painkillers and sat out on the deck enjoying the view and discussing exactly how we would describe tonight’s experience to people. “They’ll think we had too much rum” Rod decided. I’ll figure out some way to convincingly relay it. So do you guys believe me???