Surviving Adulthood: Island Time

Day 1

Christine and I arrived on the island at approximately 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Alexa, her son, Ethan, and dad met us at the airport. We dropped off our items at the lovely home where we stayed and then took off for a scenic drive. We drove out to Point Udall - the furthest eastern part of the United States. We then had a lovely dinner at the Brew Pub on the docks in Christiansted.

Yay beach!!!

Point Udall. Don't mind the missing letters...

Day 2

I woke up with a tickle in my throat. I tried to blame it on allergies. We had a pretty lazy morning enjoying this view:

Seriously the view from the back porch.That is the Salt River.

Then we went to the Buccaneer - the nicest hotel on the island. We enjoyed their beach, complete with the idyllic palm tree scenery, calm bay, and most important: lounge chairs.

We buried Ethan in the sand:

The Three Musketeers: Alexa, Christine, Me.

Christine, Ethan, and I went exploring on the rocks:

Then I took a nap, woke up and realized the tickle really was the return of the sickness. We left soon afterwards and went to the store to get some stuff to hopefully help me feel better. I got a blessing from some really great people in the branch there. We stayed in for dinner.

Day 3

Black Friday. See blog post.

Day 4

I was beginning to feel slightly better. We went over to Cane’s Bay to eat at Off the Wall and enjoy the beach there. Minus getting bitten by a million sand fleas, this beach was pretty cool. Cane’s Bay is where the Wall is located about 250 feet offshore. The wall is the deepest water in the world located to land. You can snorkel out and see where all of a sudden there is a 13,000 foot drop – a pretty awesome abyss. Next time, I’m totally doing this!

At Off the Wall.

Conserve Water! Drink Margaritas!

We stopped by a rundown sugar mill on our way back home.

We had dinner at Angry Nate's.

Day 5

Another rainy day – and Sunday! We went to church. What a great group of humble saints! We really enjoyed Fast & Testimony meeting. We had plans to hit up the beach in the afternoon, but it rained all day. We stayed in and played games, but did venture out to Sharkey’s Bait Stand for dinner.

Day 6

Happy 4th of July! We drove through the rainforest and stopped at a creepy mini-zoo where they also had delicious smoothies. We also stopped at the dam:

Trying not to fall down the spillway.

Then we hiked up to a lighthouse:

We went back and had sandwiches for lunch. Then we hiked down to Isaac's Beach (about a 20 minute hike from the parking lot through some very tall grass). There we found a washed up coconut still in its bark. Alexa's dad took it upon himself to break it upon and provide us with some deliciously fresh coconut. It was quite the effort, and I was greatly impressed. Not enough to have thought to take a picture, though. Silly me.

The finished product back at the house.

Christine and I both snorkeled at Isaac's Beach. There were some lovely coral to see! We then had dinner at Pirate’s Tavern on the Salt River (the location where Christopher Columbus landed). Afterwards we had the best Fourth of July ever when we went on a kayak trip out to see the bioluminescent organisms. Seriously, it was the coolest thing I have seen. Ever. We swam around in the water and giggled like small children. Too bad no film on earth could possibly capture the magic we experienced!

Day 7

The last day on the island: what to do? Beach! I definitely got all the beach time I ever could have asked for! We headed back to the Buccaneer for lunch and because, well, we really wanted to use those lounge chairs!

We headed back just in time for dinner and had a lovely meal in of mahi with mango salsa. We packed up and got ready to head home early the next morning.