The Shade family summer vacation this year took us to Water Island in the US Virgin Islands. There is so much to talk about...It's hard to know where to even begin??? We stayed on Water Island, which is a very small Island right off of St. Thomas. You can only get there by ferry. Our entire 1st day was spent in the airport traveling. We ended up getting into St. Thomas too late on our 1st night and missed the ferry. Since we were suspecting that this would happen, we made reservations at a hotel next to the airport. We were all exhausted and hungry and really ready for a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, the hotel had a system crash and we were not able to check into our room for a good 45 minutes. What a nightmare!
The next morning, we got up early and took the ferry over to Water Island. What a cool ferry! When we got to the house, we were all pretty taken back by the state of cleanliness (or lack thereof) the house was in. It really wasn't how it should have been for guests but since we were in the islands and it was so gorgeous out, we just brushed it off and planned to spend the majority of our time at the beach. The views off the balcony of the house were INCREDIBLE!!!
Doug and I were given the apartment down below the house and unfortunately, that was dirtier than the upstairs. Again, we decided to focus on the positive aspects of the vacation which was the beach! The closest beach to us was called "Honeymoon Beach" and it was just a short golf cart ride from our house. Oh yes...I should mention that the most common mode of transportation on the Island is a golf cart! How fun! :)
The Island was so bizarre! When you picture the Islands, you imagine palm trees and lots of sand everywhere. Maybe some brush and wildlife. Well, this Island had several different types of cactus all over, tons of shrubs and trees, definitely some palm trees down by the beach but not as many as you would assume. It was also HOT and DRRRRY! And, as we all know, when a place is hot and dry...it usually means that there are insects and crazy creatures. Let's just say we had a gecko that lived in our shower (which we named Claude), HUGE Iguanas everywhere you looked, very large turtles that had their dinner on your porch and scorpions that crawled into your bed. YUP. A scorpion actually crawled into our bed at 3 am and stung me twice on the arm. I think it is safe to say that this was most definitely the most primitive place I have ever been!We later came to learn that the insects entered your house because it was so dry and they were looking for water. It rarely rains on Water Island so I'm not exactly sure how it gets its name...?There were multiple times that we could see rain storms in the distance (over St. Thomas) but they never hit us on the Island. We found out later in the week that because STT has such high mountains, the mountains attract the rain. Water Island does not have any mountains so it gets skipped. The water that you use in your house is the water that is collected from the rain. Since they don't get much rain...there is obviously not much water to be used. So, you are required to really conserve! You have to take "Navy Showers" which basically means you can only run the water when you are rinsing. The water has to be turned off when you are sudsing up. Talk about an experience!
Back to the beach: It was AMAZING! The water was so warm and clear and we swam so much! There was a dock about 50-60 feet from the shore that we would swim to and then jump off. We swam with a ton of tropical fish and it was gorgeous to be able to see them underneath you. We didn't do any snorkeling at this beach because we didn't have equipment with us. Almost everyday, we ate lunch at Heidi's Honeymoon Grill. Heidi would cook burgers, sausages and chicken on the grill and it was so yummy! She had a HUGE feast on the beach on Saturday night (Dungenous crab, filet mignon, chicken marsala, corn on the cob, potatoes, garlic bread...) and we all went down and ate on the beach and watched the sun set. Talk about beautiful!!! That sunset was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen!!!
One of our last days in the Islands, we decided to charter a sailboat and sail over to St. Johns. The sailboat was named "Winifred" and was so comfortable and fun! We sailed for most of the morning and then arrived at STJ's "Honeymoon Beach." This beach was even better than the one on Water Island and is only accessible via boat. It was SO secluded and the water was beyond amazing!!! You could see all the way to the bottom of the ocean up to 40 feet deep! Our captain and first mate (haha) gave us a quick tutorial on snorkeling and then let us lose. About 10 minutes into our dive, we encountered a GIGANTIC barracuda! I was freaking out when I saw it's teeth. They told us that barracudas are very Territorial and that they stay in the same place for their entire life. So, we figured that we would probably run into one. It swam away and didn't bother us. About 45 minutes into the dive, Doug started freaking out. 2 barracudas came about a foot away from his face. I didn't realize it at first until he squeezed my hand. It was SO scary! We asked our captain why they got so close and he said that they are myopic-they have no depth perception. Crazy stuff! The coral was BEAUTIFUL and once again, the tropical fish never cease to amaze me. It's so cool how you feel a part of their world when you are snorkeling. I can imagine that it is even cooler when you go diving really deep!
This Virgin Islands vacation was one that I am certain I will never forget. It was such an experience (with both the good and the bad) and the first time that I have ever gone to an Island and stayed outside of a resort. I must admit, I was a little anxious to get home to my own, clean house and bed. BUT...I was definitely sad to leave such a gorgeous beach!
I wonder where vacation next summer will take us...? :)
