Anchored off St. John today. Had decided to rent a car for the day. I am not really sure if we would have done it if we knew what was awaiting, but we felt like being a bit adventurous.
All the drivers went over to the rent-a-car place to register as soon as we got off the tender, while passengers waited patiently at the harbor. I was, strangely enough, the only female driver.
When I was told that we would get 4x4 vehicles, I was expecting a cute little jeep. Oh no. As you know, everything is big in America. That includes the US Virgin Islands as well. I got a monster of an SUV. I think we could park our BMW X3 in the trunk of it. Shit.
Picked up husband - who was now elected "wimp of the year" by his fellow passengers. Imagine. Letting the little (?) wifey drive. Outrageous. But I do have a regular driver's license. Not one of those that are stamped "valid only if male driver not available". Just so you know.
Anyway. We drove off. Not looking at map, we just figured the sign "Beaches" was a good indication we were on the right track. And some beaches it were! Pristine, white, sandy beaches. Just like in postcards. As there were quite a few cars parked at ll of them, we decided to drive further, to find a really secluded one on the north east side of the island. That was when we realized that the roads on this island were among the steepest we have ever seen. We do not have roads like that back home, as you would simply not be able to get up the hills during winter. I almost had a heart attack when we met a truck in a hairpin. And I had to stop in the middle of this steep hill to let it pass. Glad I was driving an automatic, as I would never have been able to get the car up the hill again had it been a manual. I am a fairly good driver, but nowhere near THAT good.
The secluded beach was in fact so secluded we did not find it. But it was a nice scenic drive, once I got used to the fact that the speed limit of 20 mph was there for a reason. Sometimes it was even down to 10.
Had an amazing lunch at Shipwreck's Landing, just off Coral Bay. Met some really interesting people, and had the best fried coconut shrimp.
As we got back on the ship, preparations for Christmas was well on their way. The are proper Christmas trees in the reception, and in the piano bar. Love it! And - the pastry chef had spent days working on this piece. The gingerbread pagoda:
Pretty amazing? It even has little buddhas and all! I have had this tradition of building husband a gingerbread miniature of the Oslo Stock Exchange since back in business school. This tradition has been "sleeping" for a couple of years now, but when I saw this amazing piece of art I decided to bury that tradition. On the spot. As I could never compete with something like this. Now that he has seen what can actually be done with gingerbread, his expectations will be too high. And I hate disappointing him.
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Location:St. John, USVI
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