St Thomas was waiting for us as we pulled back the curtains and looked just as we thought a Caribbean port should in the morning sunshine. Posh yachts dotted the harbour and lovely looking houses looked down upon the port from above.
Yesterday we had expected Antigua to be lovely and we were disappointed but our expectations of today exploring St Thomas one the US Virgin Islands were much lower. Expectations can be funny things as they can either make or ruin your day. Perhaps we should have lower expectations all the time so that they can be exceeded more often. Spoiler alert for today – ours were exceeded, so it was a good day.
The ship was docking here for 12 hours and so there was no rush to get onto land immediately. We had a tour booked through the ship using our onboard credit which didn’t start until 10.15am so we had a reasonably leisurely breakfast. I went for the Eggs Benedict which was good again.
We returned to the cabin to pack our bags for the day and wandered off ship to have a little walk around the port area. It felt different. It still felt like the Caribbean but the US influence meant that there was some proper infrastructure and organisation. Somehow it just seemed less chaotic and more affluential.
I was reminded why I hate organised tours as we had to form an orderly queue to wait for the tour. It just seemed to take ages for everyone to arrive with numerous head counts. It does my head in. I felt I could have taken a taxi, been there, done it, and got back before we even started and all for 10% of the cost.
We were divided into smaller groups and taken to our ‘air conditioned’ buses. That is to say buses with no windows or doors or safety features. All the buses seemed new though and well looked after apart from the one we had to get on. I think Alfonse the owner bought it cheap from his grandfather about 50 years ago as he grandfather had never had any problems with it in the 50 years he had owned it previously.
It was a wreck. The driving cabin was a worse wreck with engine parts lying inside. There was a dillaperdated sign saying maximum22 passengers only. Alfonse squeezed in 25 of us.
But off we set. Alfonse obviously learnt to drive from his grandfather before the niceities of traffic lights, stop signs and road markings were introduced. He paid no attention to any of them.
It became obvious our route was going to take us up over the mountain in the centre of the island. This road was at least a 1:4 in parts and more at times. The old bus was misfiring, groaning and really struggling to get up them. There were sharp hairpins taking us on narrow roads that Alfonse merrily took on whichever side of the road he fancied. Blind turnings never phased him or slowed him either.
By now many passengers were screaming out loud with fear which only seemed to encourage Alfonse further, not that he could probably hear anything as he sat over the engine rattling away. The lady next to me banged her feet on the floor in a futile attempt to try and apply some brakes when we got to a downhill section. I genuinely heard her saying a little prayer as well.
We stopped at a viewpoint called Drakes Seat which looked down over Magens Bay and was lovely. It was with some reticence that we all got back on the charaban for Alphonse to take us down to the Magens Bay where we were given 2 hours to enjoy the beach.
The beach made it all worthwhile. It was beautiful. One of the reasons I had picked this trip (apart from the fact we had $100 credit each and this cost $99.95) was that The Times had just named this as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It was lovely but any list that doesn’t include Gorleston in my opinion is flawed.
The beach also had an American vibe with lots and lots of picnic benches set all along the 1 mile beach which suited us fine. We walked and found a good one and settled down. I went in the sea and was delighted that the walk in was very gentle and no rocks at all. It was lovely although still not the warm bath like I had hoped for. Still it was not cold as such.
I went back to the bench and found that in the dappled shade we had hummingbirds flying and feeding all around us. We shared a roll and muffin I had purloined from breakfast to tide us over until we got back to the ship.
Everyone was waiting at the desiginated spot for Alphonse on time and I heard amongst the chatter people hoping they sent a different bus for us. They didn’t and the ride back was over the mountain was accompanied by more screaming and people saying goodbye to their loved ones.
Our final stop was at the chairlift up to Paradise Point. There was an unusual boarding method which involved lots of shouting by the staff at the passengers. We had to all line up to the inch on a certain spot. It turned out the chairlift didn’t stop and it involved much jeopardy with allowing firstly the other people getting off which you hope they had done as the chairlift came round to your spot. They didn’t and I ended chasing the cabin round to try and jump on in time.
It was a great view from the top. By now the sun at its highest and it was hot. Now the claim is that the Banana Daiquiri was invented up here. I wandered to perhaps get us a couple but was disappointed to find they were only selling from one of those washing machine devices you can see anywhere. It was also $12 for a glass. We both agreed we would have free fresh ones back on the ship instead and so relatively quick came back down again.
It was a short walk back to the ship where we grabbed another roll each to finish our lunch before sitting by the pool and having a couple of the aforementioned Banana Daiquiris and raising our glasses to the top of the mountain in praise of its ‘inventor’.
Back on the balcony I subjected my foot to a double dose of shockwave therapy as I was in a lot of pain having walked about 4 times further than I had any days this year so far. My knee was also sore.
We made our way into dinner where tonight we were seated immediately. Food was fine. Karen had the Turkey Roast which included one sprout and one carrot but no other vegetables, not that easy going commented.
From here we took a glass of red into the theatre to watch the show by the comedian – Buddy Fitzpatrick. He was very dry and amusing. The best lines were about waiting for a lift whilst on board. He did mention that his partner is hoping to be a nominee for an Oscar as she was the make up artist on ‘The Joker’.
Afterwards we went back to the piano bar where we sat for a while. One of the pianists was being a bit self indulgent playing songs that he liked but as the other pianist said nobody else knew.
Not long before 11pm I had had enough and we retired for the night.
St Thomas had been eventful and had exceeded expectations a real ‘Brucie’ bonus. A good day.
