Friday, August 01, 2008

in paradise, it's all good

It's all good. That's the mantra of the Caribbean Islands, the answer to every quandary, the solution to every problem. We left the manufactured ambiance of the shopping malls/airports of the mainland and seven hours later debarked from the the plane to the hot tarmac of the Cyril E. King airport of St. Thomas. We we're greeted by loud, happy women dispensing samples of rum and kids playing steel drums. And that began our tropical vacation with Bob and Rachel introducing us to the sights, sounds and tastes of the island.


From the airport to our hotel on the east end of the island we pass St. Thomas harbor. A cruise ship is at the dock.



Rachel and Dorothy



I took a lot of pictures at different times of day because the color of the water changed hourly




I could have spent the entire vacation in that chair contemplating the islands


This iguana is about 2 ft. long. They say they're harmless but this one was looking at my leg like it was a peanut butter sandwich.


View from the balcony



Our hotel from the land side.


Here we are with Bob and Rachel. Bob made us feel welcome and showed us all the sights on the island, especially those that tourist rarely get to see. We're grateful for his hospitality and kindness.


The first night we ate at the Latitude 18, an open air restaurant that sits on the dock across the marina from Red Hook. The food was wonderful. I had Mahi-Mahi with a mango shrimp salsa served with wild rice and broccoli that had a delicious dark sauce on it. Dorothy had grouper filled with mushroom stuffing and covered with lobster sauce. If you ever come to St. Thomas you must eat here.


These guys entertained us while we ate. They played and sang everything from 50's rock'n'roll and Johnny Cash to Pink Floyd tunes. The one on the left was the best guitar picker I've heard in a long time.


The guitar player has switch to the steel drum. They were playing their version of "Brown Eyed Girl" to a Caribbean beat. It was great.









2 comments:

dawn said...

You came back?!? It must have been very difficult to leave. I want to sit in that beach chair just from looking at the pictures!

Lorna said...

It was so pleasant to have a wannabe tour with you---the photos are lovely, and it can't help but make you want to go to St Thomas.