ok so after tuesday night...the mix of happiness at the manager's party and the horror of the mugging afterwards (and dealing with the police until after midnight)(that story will be on the 'st thomas mugging thread' i am adding it to that place so the whole board is not full of mugging posts) we finally got some sleep
or tried to

the next morning we were determined to cheer us all up soooo
CARNIVAL was on! we caught sue and jim next door just as they were leaving for more touring and they were so kind to us it cheerd me up big time!
sooo then my cousin pat(one of the victims)) and steve and i went bright and early to the food and crafts fair in town...it was fabulous! live music and so so many rows of great cooking going on!
we found max's lovely wife irene right away and she was cooking up a storm!
we stopped at many of them for samples and loved everything....what a great time!
after plenty of great things to eat we checked all of the outside market stands and then i took my cousin (her first time in st thomas) to all the regular shops we hit them all! found a few nice things and by the time we got to the street where the hard rock was...YES IT IS GONE i had no idea!!!! so pat noticed an adorable little restaurant in one of the side streets palm passage it was called MESON AMALIA! WHAT A GREAT FIND! we had the most pleasant lovely lunch...and what a menu....it is like a little trip into italy or spain on a side street so european.....the service was great we sat outside with lovely shade trees.....
if you look in destination us virgin islands magazine they have a great write up about it!
don't miss it! finally a great place to escape the shopping madness! you will love it....we had bushwackers and fine wine and lovey calamari and fish and burgers etc....they even have fantastic paella!

so after that we shopped some more got perfume at our favorite place little europa or something like that...and also hit california surf co great sales....

this was a full day of fun and in the meantime my other cousins went to the ritz carlton and had lunch there (she likes pools so wanted to check it out) and they wound up spending the whole day there on the beach and they said everyone was great.....we have to try that next time....
they made a reservation for us for the last night thursday for dinner..

after the food fair and shopping we had just enough time to get back to secret harbour and catch a swim before dinner....
we took everyone back to noche since the second bunch of relatives didn't get to try it yet....of course it was great...noche in frenchtown is not to be missed....we also loved talking to the staff about their excitement for the next morning j'ouvert.....
we caught a lot of that on tv when we got up....wild time!

thursday lunchtime we looked forward to lunch at the beach bar meeting everyone from VINOW.COM...
we met
dale and steve and joseph
donna and steve
max and irene
sue and jim were again out on the run soaking up all the great things on the island....
and island paul of course came by to see us....he has become family for sure in this past year!

we all had drinks and food and talked ....
STEVE AND MY COUSIN DAN were conspicuously absent most of the time because they were on a MISSION to go to donna's house to get the AMERICAN IDOL TAPE! AGAIN DONNA YOU ARE THE BEST!
they loved her home and family toooo!
back at the beach bar:
max and irene were great to talk to ! especially since we have a boat at home and max has a great sailboat in st thomas...we can't wait to check it out next trip! it was great seeing you again max....and finally we got to chat with irene!
and irene you are a doll....thank you so much for being so kind to my cousin she needed to talk about the ordeal of the mugging and you really helped us keep her positive and happy!

donna i hope your poison ivy is better!
dale wrote the best trip reports so i will defer to those at this point for her perspective! little joseph is a treasure what a pleasure to have him around! and again handsome as ever

we swam and snorkled a bit and five of us went up to the room for an AMERICAN IDOL PARTY....chips dip and goodies and drinks while we watched two hours of fun! we screamed! my constantine was gone!!!!
back to the beach and then off to get ready for our last night at the ritz
spent some time with ernest before we left for dinner
and over at the ritz we went to the palm terrace and had the prime rib buffet one price...it was great they are very generous there and you can eat all you want.....two of us ate off the menu we had incredible MEATLOAF AND MACARONI AND CHEESE...it was OUTRAGEOUS i am calling for the recipe! they wer so nice they even let us take salad and dessert from the buffet along with the others...
there was lovely live music that night tooooo
it is very elegant yet we were made to feel right at home just loved it

ok so drank the last of my champagne back at secret harbour and used up my internet card and packed...
in the morning we made a fast dash in the van to charlotte am....for last minute shopping i decided to buy a ring i saw.....well when we got there steve waited in the car for me since the children's parade was going to start soon and a cop told him he had to move he said well my wife is just shopping fast in one store she will be right back and the cop said what store the stores are all CLOSED!!! it is parade day! yikes! who knew!
so needless to say simultaneously i found that out so we wound up seeing the beginning of the parade it was sooo much fun!!!
and back at secret harbour we watched the rest of it while getting ready for the airport...i taped it to show my mother at home...

we all went to blue moon for a last lunch and wouldn't you know it the RAIN CAME POURING DOWN just like it did the night we arrived..
enjoyed a last bushwacker and tons of those secret harbour french fries!!!

trip home was relaxing thank goodness and uneventful...
went too fast...

counting the days til the next time.....

PICTURES TO COME after the weekend