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Scot and I escaped for a few days down to St. Croix (which I had to look up to find out where it was after I bought the tickets) to get some quality beach time away from Florida. Living in a tourist-destination state does mean we have our own little piece of paradise, sure, but being here and working all day every day really makes you wanna leave the mainland for a bit sometimes. This trip kinda-sorta coincided with his 32nd birthday and also our 'round-about 3 year anniversary so there were plenty of excuses to skip town.
St. Croix is US territory, but is the least touristy of all the Virgin Islands. No WalMart, no chain resort hotels, no big highways even. It was great! Except the fact that those crazies drive on the left side of the road. I'm glad we didn't rent a car, we wouldn't have made it out of the parking lot before running into someone. We stayed at a little beach resort, did a few tours, got some good sun, met another couple from Minnesota there and made some new friends. The only thing we didn't get to do was sleep in because the sun comes up at 5:30!!!
Some of my favorite things we did:
Jumped off the empty cruise ship pier- a 15 foot drop into crystal clear waters you could see the bottom of, probably 30-40 feet deep, or however deep a ship needs. It was absolutely amazing!
Fed the beer-drinking pigs at the Domino Club bar up the the rainforest. The pigs have been switched to non-alcoholic beer these days because a 950lb shit-faced pig is a bit difficult to deal with.
Catamaran tour out to the beach and snorkel and Buck Island. Buck Island is a national landmark that is 95% underwater with the reefs and all. Again, the water was so clear and the beach part we went to was so clean on the bottom it was like standing in the swimming pool.
Tour of the Cruzan Rum Distillery. $5 for the tour AND 2 drinks at the end? Yes, please!
Some things I'd wish we'd skipped:
The sunburn. No matter how many coats of sunscreen I put on, I turned into a lobster and shed my skin like a snake. It was gross.
The mosquitoes. Holy sheet, ya'll my legs are still covered in bites! And because there's no WalMart on this island, I had to drop $9 on a tube of hydrocortozone.
My kayaking adventure. We borrowed some from the resort and went out on the waves. It was all good and well until I decided I wanted to see if I could surf a kayak. Spoiler alert: I can't. I drank a gallon of seawater and lost my towel and my paddle. I totally think it could have worked if my center of gravity hadn't been so far forward. Maybe next time.
Enjoy some pictures!
Our beach!
Taking the plunge, so to speak
And of course, Scot doing something insane
Walking on air!
I tried to upload a video of the beer-drinking pig but it wouldn't work. I have it on my Facebook page if you're so inclined. I think it's hilarious. Until it spit beer all over me. Asshole pig.
Buck Island- see? Swimming pool!
Lizard friend
Rum, glorious rum! This is only a fraction of the total barrels
Iff'n you're looking for a good drink recipe...
COME ON, HOW IS THIS NOT THE BEST PLACE EVER?!?
A couple days after we got back in town, my parents flew in to visit us as well! They stayed for 4 days and we got some good visiting time. We did a couple touristy things like the Orange County Regional History Center, which is fantastic, and went to see the movie "The Great Gatsby." (GO SEE IT. NOW.) The day they were due to leave, my cousin Sarah and her family got in to Orlando off a Disney cruise. I knew they were going to be in town (they live in Tennessee) so I arranged for them to meet us for brunch before Scot and I had to go to work and my parents had to go to the airport. We met up Peach Valley cafe (love me some chicken and waffles) and I didn't tell my mom they were going to be there. She was so surprised and thrilled to see them, which made me feel pretty awesome too. However, 8 people in a booth built for 6 is going to end with a mess. And we didn't need the 2 kiddos under 3 to help.
So Memorial Day is this weekend and I think we're going to plan to do absolutely nothing. My mother told me I don't relax enough on my day off (true- we have yard work and projects and places to go) so I think a good run followed by a dip in the pool followed by some sunbathing is in order.
