Well, it's time to give you my report. I think I've been putting it off b/c I was so sad to leave this time, I couldn't bare reliving the moments again.

Day 1: Houston to STT. While not easy to get to the Islands from Houston and it is a long day, the results are well worth it. We leave at 6 am here, end up in Miami with a 3 hour layover. Hubby is not used to sitting in airports and I seem to spend my time sitting in airports so no big deal to me (knowing this is just a layover not a weather delay) - - he is NOT the most pleasant to sit with for that long until . . . 2 mojitos later and all of a sudden he seems to be enjoying the people watching. . .

Arrive in STT and am pleasantly surprised by the loud WELCOME TO ST. THOMAS shouted out by the new welcoming committee, shots of coconut or banana rum and a high school steel pan group playing. I love the new welcoming committee!

I run to the avis line, hubby walks slowly to the luggage belt, he stops and gets a beer on the way to it, knowing he has plenty of time and no reason to rush. I am 3rd in line and there is one woman working the counter. No worries, I see my rental car packet hanging there just waiting for me. The gentleman in front of me, I realize is not alone, he has in fact held this place in line for not one of his friends, not even two of his friends but three of them. A total of 4 rental cars and all paperwork had to be done! And they needed an interpreter with each one. Meanwhile, renter #1 has returned with a frustrated angry look and needs to interrupt everyone so they will pay attention to her. . . there is a scratch on her car, she does not say dent, ping, bumper falling off, roof caved in, she says SCRATCH. I just want to tell her, oh honey, there's going to be a lot more scratches when you return it, I wouldn't mark down one of them. Meanwhile, hubby has gathered our luggage, all of it arrived. We finally get to the front of the counter and we get a 4 wheel drive Suzuki. I've been upgraded. Nice.

Off to Point Pleasant. As background, we have stayed at The Reef, Sapphire Beach, Anchorage Condos, Wyndham and other places. We decided to stay at Point Pleasant after hearing all of the wonderful comments and the location. Easy to get anywhere from there. We stayed in Mr. and Mrs. Future Islander's place, Unit D23. Front desk was pleasant, efficient and everyone had smiles. We arrived at our unit and walked in and all I can say is WOW! The views are amazing, the breeze was wonderful (first thing we did was open it up to the breezes). Everything was perfect! and there was a welcome bottle of rum and a coke to go with it. Off to the grocery store (after a little drink). We went to Plaza Extra, because it is close and stocked up on breakfast foods, liquor and mixes and a couple of things to make dinners later in the week. Prices were much higher for some things but others we didn't notice a big difference. (when you're paying a little over 9 dollars for a bottle of Stoli and 4 for some rum, the savings on one equal no complaints about the extra expense of the other).

Unloaded and then we were off to the Toad & Tart for dinner. We brought 3 tomatoes from our garden at home for the Old Tart (don't yell at me for saying this, I don't know if she wants me to mention her name) which she truly appreciated. We caught up on all the gossip that I've missed and I had Fish & Chips and hubby had clam chowder. Both were yummy. The breading on the fish was light, almost non existent. No lemons, tarter or cocktail sauce needed. Clam chowder loaded with clams! We made plans for Tuesday nite at Latitude 18 for open mic night with the Tart and went back to our beautiful view and watched the fireworks in St. John from our deck.

Now, if I can figure out how to post pics from Picasa, I will post. . . Waterguy, are you out there? Can you post from Picasa?

And Sherri, so sorry we didn't get together, I really wish we had. I couldn't find your phone number, I thought I had put it in my phone but must not have hit save or something when I put it in there.

More to come. . . .

C Urchin 😀