Our Last Day On St. Thomas

Secret Harbor

It was pointed out to me after our Eastern European adventure that I never updated our blog with regard to our final two days in Turkey or, more importantly, the fact that we made it back alive.  While I make no promises that I will not make the same mistake in the future, I will do my best to avoid leaving our readers hanging and leaving our family and friends wondering whether or not we’re alright.

Today was our last day in the Virgin Islands, so we decided to get in just a little more relaxation before heading to the airport.  Alex took us over to Secret Harbor, which may be my favorite beach on St. Thomas.  It was small, secluded, and not very busy yet there was still a bar/restaurant and a dive shop in a private condo complex right there in the harbor.  We grabbed a few early morning tacos before heading down to the beach.  They were good, but nothing like the Wahoo tacos we cooked ourselves a few nights ago.

Secret Harbor was great because it offered me the opportunity to do a little snorkeling – something that our adventures in the Caribbean had yet to afford me.  Unfortunately, I stood alone in my desire to go snorkeling as Kati opted to read and Alex opted to not snorkel.  My solitude didn’t stop me from checking out the harbor though, which is known as a fairly good snorkeling location on the island.  Despite the jubilant cries of a mother who claimed to have found a “big” octopus just feet from the sandy beach, I saw no similar creatures.  I did, however, find my fair share of tropical fish, sea urchins, and coral.  I even found a few lonely sea anemones.  It wasn’t the best snorkeling I’ve done, but it was still really neat and I’m glad that I got a chance to venture into the ocean a bit before we left.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach and escaping the heat at the bar, after all I had to get at least one more painkiller before leaving the land of sugar and sweet.  Kati opted for the humorously named “nutwacker” instead, which was essentially a bushwhacker with peanut butter and chocolate – a delicious combination that tastes just like an alcoholic Reece’s cup.

It is sad to be leaving the islands, but it’ll be nice to get back to our own bed and our own routine.  We did, however, leave with the promises of meeting back up with Alex and Wes (and hopefully more of my pledge brothers) in the future for similar trips.  And Alex and I discussed the not-so-distant possibility of a big joint 30th birthday celebration in Southeastern Asia.  Now it’s time to start perusing the world and daydreaming about our next jaunt into that big blue ball we call the world.  Until next time…

The Marriott

The Marriott Pool

All of us were feeling a little rough yesterday after a long night out around the island.  Kati re-learned that ever important lesson that you really don't want to try to go drink-for-drink with a group of Wabash men.  Taking it easy was fine by everyone though, especially since Wes flew out in the afternoon.  We started the morning off with brunch at an Irish pub.  The food was mediocre, but eating anything significantly helped our physical condition.  Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the Marriott's pool.

The Marriott has just about the best location of any hotel on the island.  They built it on the very precipice of this rock jutting out into the ocean and St. Thomas Harbor.  The pool is pretty fantastic.  There are actually two pools, a normal pool and an "adult" pool with a swim-up bar, both of which are what I would call first-generation infinity pools and sit right on the edge of the cliffs.  It really is an incredible place and it was nice to act like hotel guests for a day, steering away from the sand and shells, and relaxing in a much more pampered place.  It also gave both Kati and me the opportunity to finally develop a little color - something that both of us had inexplicably failed to do but that I blamed on Kati subjecting me to high-spf sunscreen.  

Kati in Front of St. Thomas Harbor

From the pool at the Marriott you could see a very small island that I believe was called Buck Island.  There is absolutely nothing there except a lighthouse, and I can't imagine much wildlife resides on the tiny rock either.  Alex said that back in the days of sugar plantations, the slave-owners would take a misbehaving slave out there and leave him on the island with no provisions for a fortnight.  It would have been a brutal punishment, but it was apparently almost always effective in "breaking" a slave.

After the pool, Alex, Kati, and I cleaned up and grabbed a nice dinner at Fish Tails in Red Hook.  We got some Caribbean lobster, which was great, some Mahi, and even some shark!  I'd never had shark before and it was very interesting.  I expected something similar to swordfish but it was really more like a very tender white fish.  We finished the night at Latitude 18, listening to the Sun Mountain Band and their fiddler.  The band was great, and put a very unique spin on a number of very popular songs.  Overall it was exactly the kind of relaxing day that all of us needed to recuperate from the night before.  It's really a shame we only have one day left down here.

Beach Day - Magens Bay

Magen's Bay

Yesterday morning the cruise ships finally left port, at least temporarily, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and hit one of the more touristy locations - Magen's Bay.  Magen's Bay is a beautiful, mile-long beach of the most ideal white sand.  Coupled with the fact that it's an easy trip from Charlotte Amalie, there's no wonder why it's one of the most populated beaches on St. Thomas.  We showed up around 11:30, after making a grocery run, and as soon as we stepped out of the car it started pouring.  Luckily, we had picked up some beer at the grocery.  Unluckily, playing drinking games during the hour-long shower destroyed our beer cache for the rest of the day.

Once the sun came out the day was perfect.  We did some sunbathing, played some frisbee, and generally relaxed.  Wes and I ran the length of the beach and back (I'd estimate about 1.7 miles total).  It was a great run until we got to the far end of the beach where the slant made it very difficult to run.  Still, it was nice to get at least a little run in while on vacation.

On our way home in the afternoon we stopped at a local ice cream shop called Udder Delight to get some alcoholic milkshakes.  Apparently the place is a dairy and a few years back there was a huge scandal because they were importing powdered milk, reconcentrating it, and pawning it off as fresh.  Despite that story though, the milkshakes were great.

We had dinner at a sushi place outside of Frenchtown called Enkai.  It's in probably the shadiest location ever - behind a bunch of warehouses in a not-so-nice looking part of town.  While its surroundings leave something to be desired, Enkai is great and it's right on the water, offering an amazing view of Water Island while you eat.  The sushi is supposedly the best on the island, and it didn't disappoint.  It's very American-style sushi with a Caribbean twist, but it may be some of the best sushi I've had anywhere.

Us and Morgan at XO Bistro

It was Wes's last full day down here, so we decided to celebrate and go out on the town.  We started in Frenchtown and played a few rounds of darts at Betsy's Bar.  While there we met this German highschooler down in the islands on vacation who was up for anything and kept trying to get us (or anyone) to arm wrestle him.  A bit later in the evening we left Frenchtown and relocated our darts competition to some bar on the top of a mountain.  For the life of me I can't remember what its called, but it was a pretty neat place.  We only stayed there for two drinks before heading down to Red Hook and finishing the night at XO Bistro.  One of Alex's friends, a local named Morgan who owns a clothing boutique, was there.  It was a great time. We came home and passed out in the early hours of the morning after yet another great day.

Hiking on St. John

At the Annaberg Plantation

Yesterday we decided to take a break from pure relaxation and head back over to St. John for some morning hiking.  We started out at Maho Bay and hiked over to Leinster Bay, where we took the Annaberg Trail up to the ruins of an old sugarcane plantation.  It was really cool to see everything from the slave quarters to the windmill and rum still.  There was also a guy there who cut open a few coconuts for us and gave us a taste of raw sugarcane (really good).  I also learned that cotton grows on trees!  Seriously, this could be another one of those "Jackson, you're an idiot" moments, but I never knew that cotton grew on a legitimate tree.  In the south you always see fields of cotton and it looks more like a bush.  Yet in the Virgin Islands, cotton grows on trees because they don't trim it or anything like that.  Who knew?

From the Annaberg Plantation we went back down to Leinster Bay and hiked the Leinster Bay Trail, which was really nice and followed the coastline of the island all the way around the bay.  Our ultimate destination was Coral Bay and our trip took us up and over a few "mountains" that provided great overlooks.  My personal favorite was a ruined house overlooking Leinster Bay from the peak of a small hill.  You could see 360 degrees from the remaining foundation and the view was just spectacular!  From this last set of ruins, the trail mostly followed one of the steepest and most ridiculous roads I've ever seen in my life.  It's amazing that people can even live on the sides of some of these mountains, much less access their houses with cars.

Finally we made it to Coral Bay which is as close to a town as you get on St. John once you leave Cruz Bay.  There was a neat Moravian Church that we walked past and the local goats had clearly been charged with keeping the grass in the cemetery and soccer fields short and manageable.

Kati at Skinny Legs

We stopped for lunch at a little bar called Skinny Legs that had great burgers and even better drinks.  I'm definitely getting my fill of overly sweet island drinks on this trip...but it's really hard to resist.  I became particularly fond of bushwackers at Skinny Legs...they're very good (and very potent).  As I would soon find out, the day was to be one of many coincidences.  The first came at Skinny Legs when Kati looked at me and said, "Jackson, they're Kentucky Colonels!"  Sure enough, hanging on the wall of the restaurant were two Kentucky Colonel certificates.  The second coincidence came when we hitched a ride from Coral Bay with a couple hailing from St. Louis.  We were making small talk and discussing college when we learned that the wife's nephew (I think) went to Wabash...and was a Sigma Chi!  It never fails to amaze me where the Wabash connections turn up around the world.  We ended up in Francis Bay, which was gorgeous and very peaceful.  We spent the rest of the afternoon there before heading back to St. Thomas for the evening.  Once again, we whipped up some fish tacos from our catch earlier in the week - blackened tuna and blackened rainbow runner.  Both were very good, but neither quite matched up to the Wahoo tacos from the night before.  

Me with the Kentucky Colonel Certificates

After dinner we went out for a bit in Red Hook.  We started in XO Bistro, but were quickly driven out by one of the most obnoxious people I've ever met in my life (obviously from NY or the like).  After a quick jaunt at ITP we decided to quell Wes's urge to visit Duffy's Love Shack.  It didn't even take getting a drink before even Wes had to admit that this tourist staple of St. Thomas may be one of the worst bars in existence.  We ended the night back at XO Bistro for one more drink before all of us turned in, exhausted from a long day of hiking.

Charlotte Amalie

Wes, Alex, and Me Standing at the ICMC Office

Wednesday was Monica's last day down here.  We woke up late and just relaxed around the condo in the morning.  Her flight left around 2:30 and she wanted to stop off at the Barefoot Buddha for lunch, so we all piled into the car at 11:00 to head over to Charlotte Amalie.  The drive should have taken 25-30 minutes, but the traffic was horrible and it took us an hour just to get to Barefoot Buddha!  We found out later that the reason traffic was so bad was because there was a "suspicious package" at the post office and they were diverting all traffic in the city away from the main road by the post office.  It's beyond me who would actually send a bomb or anything dangerous to a post office in the Virgin Islands (besides perhaps someone from the BVI), so the whole situation was a little ridiculous.  

The traffic left Monica in a bit of a pickle though.  You're supposed to get to the St. Thomas airport 2.5-3 hours before your flight because their security is as slow as can be.  Even if Alex dropped Monica at the airport immediately, she was pushing the 2.5 hour window.  Yet she desperately wanted this sweet potato wrap from Barefoot Buddha...so much so that she was willing to risk missing her flight to get it.  As fate would have it, everything worked out fine.  Monica got her wrap and made it to the airport with plenty of time because the airport was nearly empty.

While Alex was dropping Monica off, Wes, Kati, and I walked around some of the shops in the port.  It was exactly what you would expect from shops tailored to cruisers - alcohol and jewelry marked up beyond belief.  Alex swept us back up after about 40 minutes and we spent most of the afternoon in town.

Kati in Front of the Governor's Mansion

Prior to walking around Charlotte Amalie, I had thought the town was pretty dumpy, but when you get into the areas preserved by the historic society, it's really stunning.  Most of the buildings were made from balustrade bricks deposited by ships in the 1700's and many have been recently restored, giving them a very unique and authentic feeling.  We parked at Alex's office, which looked more like a king's palace (fitting because it's where the King of the Virgin Islands used to live and it's located on a street that translates from Dutch into King's street).

We stopped off at this old Synagogue that was built in the early 1700's.  It still has a sand floor.  It was a very simple yet beautiful building that really encompassed Caribbean life.  The funny thing is that the Synagogue was on a hill and they sold kitchy shirts saying "I climbed Synagogue hill"...what the shirts didn't say is that Synagogue hill is only about 100 feet up.  Still, from walking around town, I think that climbing that hill is probably the hardest thing some of those cruise ship types have ever done in their lives (their local Walmarts certainly have no hills like that and at least they can drive around Walmart in their Rascals).  It was actually scary how many fat or old people were driving around the broken sidewalks of Charlotte Amalie in their Rascals...and then complaining when they couldn't get somewhere or would have to stand up to get into a safari.  

After a little more wandering around town and looking at the buildings and shops, we headed to the beach.  By the time we were going to the beach, it was about 3:00 in the afternoon, so we decided to stick close to home and go to a little beach near our condos.  It was a great little beach and made for a relaxing afternoon.

That evening we cooked a bit more of the fish we caught the day before.  We whipped up another batch of ceviche (this time using some of the Blackfin Tuna) to go along with some blackened Wahoo tacos.  The Wahoo tacos were especially phenomenal and I think we were all a bit sad that we didn't have anymore Wahoo for another night.

To finish off the night we went to a nearby bar called Latitude 18 to listen to some local music.  It's called Latitude 18 because that's the nearest meridian to St. Thomas (St. Thomas is really located at 18 degrees and some number of minutes).  The music was good - very tropical and relaxing.  Afterwards we came back to the condo and called it a fairly early night.

Deep Sea Fishing

Alex Fishing

Tuesday was a big day, we went deep sea fishing.  I'd been looking forward to deep sea fishing for years, at least since our deep sea fishing plans fell through while I was in Bermuda for spring break during my senior year in high school.

We had an afternoon charter, so we decided to spend the morning at the St. Thomas Yacht Club.  Alex has eaten at the Yacht Club for three years without an issue, but our new waitress took issue with us not being members.  Luckily, they also recognized memberships in other yacht clubs...the bartender let us stay.  I decided that the High Rock Boat & Ski Club counts as a yacht club.  The beach was great.  We were the only people out there and the weather was ideal, with just enough wind to make it pleasant.

Our charter took off from Sapphire Bay.  We all had high spirits heading into the trip, but most of our moods were quickly dashed by the queasy seas.  We headed out to the South Drop, where the ocean depths raise from 160 feet to 70 feet and then tumble down to more than 1,400 feet.  The fish love that area where the seafloor drops off.  Eating and drinking beer before heading out on the seas was a very bad decision.  Despite the fact that we've all been fine on other boats many times over, everyone except Alex was feeling very nauseous.  Kati, unfortunately, was the worst and never really crawled out of her nauseous state.

Monica, Johnny, and Her Barracuda

We started by following the frigates to where the big fish supposedly hung out.  We tried to get some sail fish and Mahi, but the fish just weren't biting.  We got one really early bite that Wes took and reeled in a half-eaten Wahoo.  Catching a Wahoo was pretty cool because of my UVa background.  For those who don't know, while the Cavalier is the official UVa mascot, the students (and the administration) has embraced the Wahoo as an unofficial mascot (only God knows why).  The story is that they picked the Wahoo because it's known to be able to drink three times its weight in water and the students took that as a good mascot for their drinking endeavors.

The Crew and Our Catch

After that half-eaten Wahoo, we didn't get another bite for like two hours.  We switched to live-bait fishing and went after some of the smaller fishes.  We had some success with the live-bait fishing.  When my turn to reel in the line came up we had a Mahi Mahi hooked.  We'd seen it jumping through the waves in the distance.  Unfortunately, I got the Mahi right up to the boat and it shook the hook.  I watched helplessly as our only hooked Mahi disappeared into the depths.  Later we found ourselves in a school of Rainbow Runners and I reeled in my first fish.  Yet as soon as the fish was getting ready to be pulled from the water I had to pass the line off to Alex so that I could run across the boat and join Kati vomiting in a show of solidarity (of course that's the only reason I was puking).  Then the madness started.  The fish were biting left and right.  At one point we even had four fish on the lines at the same time.  We were primarily pulling in Rainbow Runners, but we also got another Wahoo.  Alex had a huge bite, but after a prolonged fight we realized that it must be a small shark and let it loose.  Monica got into a battle pulling in a three-foot Barracuda, which was quite a feat.

It was 5:00 and the day was wrapping up.  At the time our catch consisted of 1.5 Wahoo and about 8 Rainbow Runners.  The elusive Mahi had evaded us, as had the tuna that I was hoping so desperately to catch.  But then, right at the end of our trip, we got one more bite and, low and behold on the end of that line we found a fair-sized Blackfin Tuna!  After catching the tuna, we pulled everything in and set off back for St. Thomas, in view of an amazing sunset.  Everyone but Kati, who couldn't even stomach standing up, got a chance to reel in a few fish.  Despite the sea sickness, it was a great time.

Kati and Me, Feeling Better at Dinner

Once back at the dock, our crew filleted the fish for us to take home with us.  We stopped by the grocery store on our way over to Alex's friend John's house to fix up our fish.  John lives on Dragon Lane and his house is unbelievable.  He really is living the dream.  I cut up a little bit of tuna sashimi as an appetizer and Alex, Wes, and I made some ceviche out of the Rainbow Runner to go along with marinated fillets of Rainbow Runner and Wahoo.  Dinner turned out amazingly!  It was the first time that any of us had made a ceviche, but we couldn't have been more pleased.  Luckily, all of us were feeling much better by the time we got to John's, so we were all able to enjoy our dinner.  After dinner we came back to the condos and relaxed with a nice night cap of Cruzan Banana Rum before turning in.

Beaching on St. John

Kati and Monica at Maho

After a long day of boating, we decided to take it kind of easy on Monday.  We slept in and then caught the ferry over to St. John for a beach day.  St. John is cool and I think that I prefer it to St. Thomas.  The Rockefellers used to own the whole island and, when they donated it back to the United States, they did so upon the condition that a certain [large] percentage of it would remain in the National Park System.  Thus, the vast majority of the island is untouched.

From town we took a safari out to Maho beach, which was virtually empty compared to Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay, both of which seemed to be peppered with tourists.  The only problem with Maho was that the tide was coming up and the beach was very short.  By the mid-afternoon our spot had changed twice due to the rising tide.  Yet the tide didn't interfere with our frisbee, so we didn't mind too much.  We stuck around at Maho until about 3:00 when, because of a lack of safaris, we started hiking back to Cinnamon.  As we reached the Cinnamon parking lot, a safari was pulling out and we hopped on only to find out that it was filled with a bunch of tourists from Raleigh.

Alex, Wes, and Me at the Beach

We spent an hour or two relaxing in Mongoose Junction at the local "brewery."  The word "brewery" is used loosely down here because their beer is actually brewed and bottled in Portland, Maine.  They can't brew their own beer down here because they don't have enough water to see them through the process.  Nor do they have any of the facilities.  Alcohol production is strictly limited to rum for these reasons.

Alex, being the important businessman that he is, had a few meetings Monday night with "Asia" so he dropped us in Red Hook for the evening.  We ate at a place called Big Bamboo.  It wasn't bad and Kati has since become obsessed with their Chicken Roti, a signature West Indie dish.  After Big Bamboo we pretended we were locals and spent the rest of the evening at XO Bistro, Alex's favorite spot.  Alex finally finished being important around 11:00 and not long thereafter we called it a night because of the promise of a big day lurking right around the corner.

Cruising Around the Carribean

Kati and Me Boating

Our first full day in the Virgin Islands was fantastic.  We took a private charter from Red Hook and set out to explore the islands.  Alex's friends John and Ashley came along, as did their friend Sean.  It was a small, dual-engine speed boat, but it got the job done.

Not seconds after leaving the safety of the bay on St. Thomas, we hit rough water, and our captain, Steve, took this as a signal to hit full speed.  Between the size of the waves and the speed at which we were crashing over them, I found myself air born in the front of the boat.  Luckily, my (second) fall was cushioned by the conveniently located bean bags covering the floor.  After that, I learned my lesson and made sure never to be standing up while crashing through the waves again.

Our first stop was St. John's, Peter Bay to be exact.  This bay was unbelievable.  The water was pristine and we saw a sea turtle immediately upon pulling in (although further snorkeling revealed nothing of note).  Yet more impressive than any of the natural elements were the houses.  Peter Bay is where all of the filthy rich people with houses on St. John's live.  The former CEO of Qualcomm built a house there.  He built it for $36 million and had to turn around and sell it for $18 million when he led his company to one of the worst strategic moves possible.

After Peter Bay, we left the US Virgin Islands for the BVI.  We made a brief stop on Tortola to check in at the most run-down and least official customs house I've ever seen.  Then we set off around the island and stopped at the beautiful beach of Nanny Cay.  I think that Nanny Cay may very well have been the nicest beach we saw all day.  Yet the girls didn't even make it to the beach, opting instead to make drinks and hang out with Steve on the boat.  Unbeknownst to Alex, Wes, or me, they also moved the boat and forgot to tell us.  Luckily, just when we were contemplating which boat in the harbor we needed to steal, they showed up.

After Nanny Cay, we swung by Willy T's in Norman Bay.  Willy T's is a bar/restaurant located on a boat in the middle of the bay.  It was really cool.  We did some swimming, ate some conch fritters, and waited out the only rain we saw all day.  Wes and I were jumping off the second-story deck of the boat when, much to my surprise, Kati decided to jump off with me.  She didn't even hesitate.  It's amazing how far she's come with her fear of heights and the like.  Kati credits it to canyoning in Slovenia after which, she says nothing is really that scary.

[Almost] Everyone at the Soggy Dollar

Our last stop for the day was Jost Van Dyke and the mythical Soggy Dollar.  My parents have been talking about this bar for years, so it was kind of crazy to finally find myself there too.  It was awesome.  From the painkillers to the party on the beach, everything was great.  After days of unsuccessfully trying to hook the ring toss at my parents' house, she nailed it on her second try at the Soggy Dollar.  Unfortunately, I was waiting for the bathroom at the time (so it's questionable whether it even happened), but she was so excited and screaming so loud that everyone waiting in line with me also knew that she hooked it on her second time and that she couldn't believe "Jackson" wasn't there to witness it.

After getting back to Red Hook, we grabbed a bit to eat at a local pizza place before heading back to the condos.  Our intent was to clean up and have some more fun that night, but those plans were cut short by our sheer exhaustion.  Wes, Kati, and I were half-heartedly getting ready to do some drinking around 8:00 when Alex informed us that Monica had already laid down and passed out.  That was the last nail in the coffin for our night as all of us decided that sounded like a better idea and followed suit.

The Virgin Islands - Starting a Week in Paradise

Kati and I are traveling again - this time around the Virgin Islands.  My friend Alex, whom some might remember as having met us over in the Czech Republic for a week of fun and frivolity in 2011, has been living in the US Virgin Islands for the last three years.  We've been talking about making it down to visit him for years now and, in light of his upcoming move to Singapore, it was a now-or-never situation.  Thus, we cleared our schedules, booked our flights, and enlisted the company of one of my other pledgebrothers, Wes, to join us on our excursion.  This time we're going on a nine-day tour of the islands, anchoring out trip near Red Hook on St. Thomas.

Today, Saturday, is the first day of our journey.  After dropping the dear old Mox with our friend Jaime for the week (it's yet to be seen whether we're going to get her back upon our return or whether Jaime is going to run off with her into the sunset), we set off for St. Thomas.  It was an easy 3.5 hour direct flight from Charlotte to St. Thomas with no notable issues.  Our flight landed in paradise around 2:00 and upon disembarking we were immediately greeted with complimentary shots of rum.  The rum, of course, was Cruzan, made on nearby island of St. Croix (which we will not be visiting).  Needless to say, it was a very fitting way to begin the week at hand.

Alex and his girlfriend Monica met us at the airport, both having just flown in from New York themselves.  We made a quick stop-off at a nice little coffee shop called the Barefoot Buddha so that we could grab a quick bite to eat while Alex checked his mail.  The drive over to Cabrita Point, where we're staying, was eye-opening.  Some brilliant mind thought it would be a great idea for Virgin Islands drivers to drive on the left-hand side of the road...with American-made automobiles!  It really is a ridiculous set up and makes absolutely no sense.

Cabrita Point is about a 30 minute drive from the airport, even though the island is scarcely 12 miles across.  It's a small condo complex across the bay from Red Hook.  The setting could not be more picturesque.  We've got a small one-bedroom condo right next door to Alex's, and we're so far out on the point that the ocean crashes up along the rocky beach not even a stone's throw away from our porch.

The View From Our Back Porch at Cabrita Point

We spent the afternoon getting situated, meeting our temporary landlords, getting groceries, and relaxing.  It amazes me how expensive just about everything is down here.  We went to the most pathetic excuse for a grocery store that I've ever seen and got some eggs, a bottle of juice, ginger ale, a bag of oranges, and some sunscreen for $32!  It makes perfect sense seeing as we're on an isolated island with no real agriculture of its own, but I didn't even think about the price level being so high before we got down here.

Wes flew in at 10:20, so the four of us decided to grab some dinner and wait him out in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas.  We went to this tiny little pizza place called Pie Whole which, coincidentally, is owned by a lady from Muncie, Indiana and who's brother-in-law is dating (or married) to a Wabash biology professor - Amanda Ingram.  It's amazing how small of a world it is!  The food at the Pie Whole was phenomenal and matched only by the breadth and quality of their beer selection.  After an amazing pizza and a few beers, we went off to scoop up Wes at the airport.

On our way back to Cabrita Point we made a stop off on one of the mountain peaks to get a late-night view of the island and the amazing bays.  It really was breathtaking, even in the darkness, and the sky could not be clearer.  The rest of our night was spent relaxing and catching up before we turned in early, in anticipation of the long day barrelling down upon us.