Escape from Reality

We woke up to a beautiful 4th of July morning and were scheduled for a half day sailboat charter with Bilinda Charters. We met the boat at the dock and I was excited to see a female captain and her first mate, Astro the dog.

There was also a first mate with thumbs.

He raised the sail and helped us get underway.

We also did our fair share of bobbing along.

We made a snorkel stop and the guy with thumbs and I jumped in the water for a bit. I had been feeling fine but the motion of the water started to bring back that bubbly feeling so we didn't snorkel long. He offered to take me on a guided trip at the Frederiksted pier with some other guests the following day. After we were back on board, he set up a tasty snack.

After our sail, since we were in our suits anyway, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the condo pool. We had it all to ourselves.

The plan was to drive to Frederiksted to see the fireworks by the pier just after dark so we needed to have a somewhat early dinner. We chose Un Amore, an Italian restaurant not far from where we were staying.

We started with an appetizer of fried risotto balls.

And then I had some kind of shrimp dish but I don't recall the details. I don't think I was able to taste much at this point.

We headed to the beach near the pier to find a spot and watch the show.

We arrived just at dusk and found a little place with a clear view of the pier.

The show was surprisingly good and we really enjoyed it. It was a first for me to be in a "foreign" country where a US holiday is celebrated.

Girls' trip to St. Croix! I usually travel with my friend, Brenda, but found a new travel buddy to add to the mix in my friend, Melissa. We both needed a break from life so decided to do a five day trip over the 4th of July.

We had an early flight so Melissa came over the night before to spend the night at my house. We went to a movie nearby and I made the unfortunate decision to have a chili dog at the movie theater. Fast forward to the next morning at 5am at the airport waiting to board and the food poisoning hits. It was a miserable flight to Miami, an even more miserable layover where I vomited in the airport waiting area, and another miserable flight to St. Croix. Upon arrival, we had to wait in line for at least an hour in the heat and humidity to pick up our Jeep then drive across the island to our condo. By the time we arrived, we had been traveling for a good 12 hours and I'd spent most of that time in the bathroom. Poor Melissa had to rummage through the cabinets and freezer to find food for herself for dinner. She managed to scrape together some shrimp and rice, made me some tea, and I was down for the night.

I was still a little shaky and bubbly the next morning but feeling much better. We had booked an ATV and jet ski rental and I didn't want to cancel so off we went to Frederiksted across the island. We stopped off at Turtle's Deli to get some coffee for Melissa since we hadn't been able to hit the grocery the night before. It was close to the waterfront and the famous pier I hoped to snorkel later in the week.

We met up with the ATV crew and followed them out to Rhythms at Rainbow Beach where we would start the ATV drive. They got us set up on our machines with helmets.

We rode up through the hills and stopped off for a break at an overlook.

Then we made our way to some sugar mill ruins.

When we got back to the beach, it was off the ATVs and on to jet skis. We spent about an hour tooling around on those out in the water in front of the beach. By now it was about 1pm and neither of us had eaten. I was ready to brave it, having had no food whatsoever since the chili dog. We ate some lunch at the beach restaurant there and then claimed a spot on the beach to relax.

We hung out there for the rest of the day then went back to the condo to clean up for dinner. We made our way to Cane Bay for the pizza at Off the Wall.

It was really crowded and the food was just ok. We had to park along the very dark road because so many cars were there. When we came back out, it looked like someone had tried to break in to our very touristy-looking Jeep. Luckily they weren't successful and we didn't leave anything in it anyway. It's not my first rodeo. We headed back to the condo and made it an early night.

Well, there was one little problem. On Wednesday, we were supposed to go deep sea fishing with Wahoo Slayer. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to weather. To pay for the trip, I had brought $1,000 in cash and put it in the safe in our room. The day we were to go fishing, I went to the safe to get that money out, and it was missing. This brought on a huge ordeal with the hotel where the manager accused me of losing my own money and I accused one of their employees of stealing it. They "offered" to call the police but made it very clear what an inconvenience that would be and I suspected it would not turn up the money anyway. So I let it go. We then spent the next few days before leaving...

Snorkeling at West Bay and at our hotel

Eating

Drinking

Listening to live music

Enjoying the beach view

And on our last night there, saying goodbye to the staff we spent so much time with.

We did have a plan for today - a day trip around with island with Cleve Bodden. Cleve picked us up at the hotel in his van around 10a and brought with him some mango juice and an empanada for our breakfast.

We stopped off for a pic at the Roatan sign.

Then went for a visit at the butterfly garden and island animal sanctuary. One of the guides gave us a tour around the butterflly garden.

Then for some bird interaction.

After that, Brenda played with a few of the sanctuary inhabitants.

Some were not allowed to come out and play.

We learned why when this little guy grabbed Brenda through the cage and bit her.

We left the sanctuary and resumed our drive, stopping for pics at a high point on the island.

The next stop on the island tour was a boat ride through Oak Ridge, known for its houses built over the water on stilts.

As we entered the mangrove area, the rain started to pour down.

It didn't last long but we were soaked.

Last stop of the day was at a nearby restaurant for some locally prepared shrimp, rice, and plantains.

Before ending the evening, we closed the night out with a few drinks at the hotel bar.

With no schedule, we didn't rush to get up the next morning but did make it up in time for french toast at the hotel. It came with a side of cat.

The beach in Roatan is not the white, sandy beach you expect in the Caribbean. The sand is dark and the water is not turquoise blue (at least not in front of our hotel). But a beach is a beach so we walked it for a ways in front of the hotel.

Our hotel from the beach.

Flower next to the room.

We decided to get into our snorkel gear and go for a snorkel off the pier.

Even though the water wasn't as pretty as other parts of the Caribbean, the sea underneath was spectacular. Unfortunately, I didn't have an underwater camera to capture it.

After snorkeling and relaxing the rest of the afternoon, we got cleaned up for, you guessed it, more drinks at the hotel bar. This time we had a shirmp snack to go with it.

That night's hotel entertainment was a fire show and once again, Ricardo.