Sea Days

Do you ever feel like you need a vacation from your vacation? You know, time to recoup after all the adventures? Well, then, cruising could be for you! Because after you go to all the awesome places, you have to get back! We've had two blissful days at sea where there is both nothing, and everything to do. 

We've spent a considerable amount of time at Cafe al Bacio, drinking way too much coffee. I started the week drinking something with pineapple in it, but switched pretty quickly to this masterpiece: Caffe Shakerato, with coconut.  It's made in a martini shaker, and served in this chic little martini glass. Or a paper cup if you have someplace else to be. So delicious. 

Mom has been drinking the much less labor intensive iced Americano. She was not amused when it came with whipped cream on the top, but I sure was! ;)

We took two more art classes, creating drawings of both dragonflies and sea horses. So much fun! The instruction was really fast, so that was a little stressful, but learning how to shade, and having time to do that was really fun. And look what we made!

If this one made you laugh, that's the right response! He's got a certain look in his eye! Ha!

And we played a bit of cards - our version of two person Canasta. 

Mom is studiously counting her points, while  I was making a ginormous mess!

We found a room we had mostly to ourselves and set up camp there. Everyone (staff) on board is so nice. Over the course of the two days, we spent quite a bit of time chatting with the attendant in this section. She is from Kenya, and saving to start her own business in Nairobi.  The world is big and wide, and we have met people from all over! Which is the point of traveling right? Broaden your horizons, inform your thinking, and, yes, have a really good time. 💖

 

We’re all packed, luggage whisked away to wherever it goes, and ready to dock again in Fort Lauderdale. But our adventures are not quite over! Before we hop on the plane back to Seattle, we’re going to the Everglades! 

Baths at Virgin Gorda or the Tale of a One Armed Swimmer

When we were exploring the idea of cruising for break this year, this stop, this excursion, is what got us really excited: the Baths at Virgin Gorda. It's also what I've been freaking out about since that exact moment. ;) 

Our last stop on this cruise was the British Virgin Islands.  We docked on the island of Tortola around 7:30am, and we were off by 8:15am on our next adventure. A boat took us to the island of Virgin Gorda, where we took a ride to the Devil's Bay area. 

At the Devil's Bay National Park (obviously we had to hit a National Park!), we had the opportunity to take the easy route to the beach, and end up where the above picture was taken, or do the "strenuous" trail, which is where you get to see the actual Baths. Well. Prior to this moment I had read every review available to me on the Internet, and watched every GoPro video I could find. And that only helped me know two things: I REALLY wanted to do it, and I wasn't sure if I could. The crouching down in places would be hard (you know, bending the knee that does not bend...), and there was also a steep incline going down that I was also worried about. But, I was not traveling half way around the world and NOT doing this! 

The geology of this place is amazing. And I don't fully understand it, so that's about all you're going to get! Volcano, magma, granite, erosion...all the favorites play a part here. ;)

It's a one way path through the Baths (short for batholith), and there were a fair amount of people on the trail. That worked in our favor because it meant we had to go slow, and there was no pressure to hurry. Plus, we made friends with the gal behind us (Amelia from Arkansas). The path goes between large boulders, over them, around etc, connecting one beach to another. The water comes in and out with the tide, forming pools of water that you sometimes get to wade through. 

This is THE shot, right?

We did it! Happy girl. 💕

Through to the other side.

If we'd have had more time, I'd have walked back to the top, and done the whole thing over again. Isn't this why we travel? To see something you didn't even know existed, on the other side of the world? We've seen and done some amazing things, and this little trek ranks right up there on the T&L adventure list. 💗 

On the other side of the Baths is a lovely beach, and we headed right in. 

You may notice that this picture seems to be taken from the water. We bought waterproof phone cases (Amazon, $15ish) just for this adventure. It wasn't clear if we'd feel good leaving stuff on the beach, so we bought the lanyards and cases just in case. Upon arriving at the beach, it seemed fine to leave our stuff as the beach was small, and I think it was mostly cruise goers. But then we got in the water, and wanted to capture all of the beauty around us. I swam back, got my phone, and plunged in. Only I had trepidation! We HAD tested the cases, and they WERE waterproof, but it just seemed dumb to completely submerge it. So I swam with one arm. THAT was dumb. I felt like superwoman at the time (especially coming off of my knee victory), but today, roughly 48 hours later, I can barely lift a fork with my right arm. Vacationing is SO hard! Ha!

Shoe commercial time: If you need water shoes, these were the best! Amazon, $30ish. Mine are white and pink and turquoise. So comfortable, and great traction. 

🤣 And I thought staying afloat was the trick! Turns out I needed to watch out for strangulation!

The water is as clear and turquoise as it looks. 

And then back up the trail, and back to the boat. With the afternoon ahead of us, we showered, napped, and took in another art class! Orchids this time. 

It's SO beautiful here. This has been the exact trip that was needed to unwind from ALL the things. Happy sigh. 

💖

Charlotte Amalie

Isn't that just the sweetest sounding name? Charlotte Amalie? It's the island St Thomas is on in the US Virgin Islands. St Thomas is a nice name too, but it will always be the Episcopalian Church and School across the street from my house in Bellevue. The one where they played bagpipes on Saturdays. I mean, was it every Saturday? Or was it just the ones when I was a surly teenager wanting to sleep in? Ha! Anyway, on a day that ends in "day" (I have no idea what day it is, and feel like the time is also unreliable), we had a stop at St Thomas. 

We didn't sign up for an excursion as we have a friend on the island - Melanie from the 7Dees days! How cool is that? She is spending 1/2 the year on the islands and the other half in Astoria. And bonus, Dylan was there as well. :) She picked us up at the ship and drove us up to a villa where she is housesitting. Yes, a villa! How swanky is that? ;)

The views were beautiful, but even more amazing catching up with friends! We chatted, bonded with their dogs, and watched the boat traffic come in and out. 

There's our ship!

View from the kitchen.

Making friends!

And then I totally crapped out. Like my parents and my aunt, I'm on track to get my knees replaced. I had a cortisone shot a few weeks ago that has really helped, but we walked five miles in San Juan, and that kind of activity is not really in the cards for me right now. They dropped me off at the ship, where I took lots of ibuprofen and filed my taxes. I know you are all so envious of the epic life I'm leading! Ha!

Mom went on with Melanie and Dylan to Water Island, where they are working at a retreat facility. 

Golf carting!

How many hermit crabs can you see? I'm at about 20...

Sunshine suits Melanie! :)

In the infancy of Thelma and Louise was an amazing trip to Italy. I graduated college a semester early in January, leaving the spring, and Spring Break, wide open. I substituted a handful of days at a Catholic school in my neighborhood, and T&L went on one of our more storied trips: a Rick Steves trip to Italy. We flew into Milan and spent our first night in Varenna on Lake Como. We woke up the next morning to a wake up call: Alarme! Alarme! Mom was in the shower, and I sleepily answered: "Thank you!" This tour was running a tight ship as they called right back with the same message. No, we hadn't set an alarm, but we weren't especially late... We stumbled down to breakfast to a staff that completely doted on us, in a language that we didn't speak, and drank some strong coffee. Mom regaled me with tales of the shower that didn't drain, and instructed me on pulling the rope provided in the shower. If you've traveled abroad you may recognize this cord in the shower as not a drain fix, but as an emergency rope that you pull if you've "fallen and you can't get up".  Oops. We tugged that thing all over Italy. Which I think is more informative about the drainage systems in Europe than our communication skills.  But I tell this story just to qualify how often I have answered a hysterical call from a hotelier: once (well it twice that day) in 29 years. Until today. 

I was minding my own business, thinking about taking a shower, eyeing the time as it marched toward a 4:30 departure. I hopped in the shower, which is a blog in and of itself, and knew that mom would be back in our room when I got out. I survived the shower, got dressed, took a cursory look at my hair, and emerged to our room. Where mom was not. Quick time check: 4:15ish. And the phone rang: Alarme, Alarme! I mean, that is not what the nice woman said, but that is what I heard! Basically: Do you know where your mother is? Um. NOOOOOO!?!?!!  I texted a friendly reminder to my travel companion: WHERE ARE YOU??  Radio silence from her, but I got another phone call from ship security inquiring about her whereabouts. ARE YOU CLOSE???  You know, because it's like 4:25.  I got a cheery "Close!" back. If you're on a ship that is about to leave without half of your travel party, "close" is not enough information. "Close" could mean one of a hundred things.  I had my little face pressed against the window, I don't know, thinking that I might see her launch herself off the dock and swim alongside the cabin? Phone call number three happened at 4:28, and the caller's hysteria was starting to match my own. At 4:32 mom burst through the cabin door, dripping from her jog down the long pier. In St Thomas, mom has the distinction of being the last (of around 3,000 people?) to arrive back on board. My heart rate is still, several days later, returning to normal. But this is how you know you're alive, right? Otherwise cruising is just one relaxing moment followed by another. Ha!

Photo evidence that I got her back. ;)

San Juan: Wherein Thelma & Louise Went Rogue

Monday afternoon we sailed into San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sailed? That’s the right verb isn’t it, even though there are no actual sails? 

El Morro

San Juan Cathedral

Before that, I’m trying to pin down what we did. I think I napped for a time. We opened up the top of our window, and the sound of the ocean, just put me right to sleep! Oh! And I also flooded the bathroom during my shower. Like 2 inches of standing water. Not entirely sure how that happened, but it took every towel we had to mop it up. Eek!

Back to San Juan. We signed up for a tour of Old and New San Juan. So we circled up with our guide, and a small group, and headed out. 

Our first stop, well the first one I want to talk about anyway, was Castillo San Cristobal. San Cristobal was built to defend the city of San Juan after significant attacks from the English and Dutch in the late 1500s and early 1600s. The fort was started in 1634 and completed in 1765.  We arrived too late to tour the inside of the fortress, but enjoyed exploring the outside!

City walls were also constructed at that time; they wrap around most of the city.  

Our guide was…distractible? I’m trying to qualify the experience in the most positive light. ;) And the group members were…nah. I’m going to leave that one alone!  But it was almost 90 degrees, and I polished off my water pretty quickly, which meant my patience sort of deteriorated as well. 

Anyway, we wanted to see the city, stop and take pictures, and wander where we wanted to. And so we did! Ha! Ditched that tour guide! There was one more ship in port besides ours, and as it was a beautiful evening, there were people everywhere. I say all this to qualify to my father that WE WERE SAFE. We walked down no dark alleys, well mostly none, and didn't even get to show off our (well, one of our) Spanish. Fun fact, back in the day, this is where mom and dad lived for several months to learn Spanish in the Peace Corps. (Not San Juan, but in Puerto Rico.)

We first headed toward El Morro, which is another citadel, which we passed coming through the harbor. San Juan is full of beautiful and diverse architecture, and tons of color. 

Castillo San Felipe del Morro was started in 1534, and finished in 1790. It's guarded the city during many battles, and was only retired as a military position by the US Army in 1961. Now it is maintained by the US Park Service, and was declared a World Heritage Sight by the United Nations. We couldn't go inside here either, but loved the surrounding views. Lots of locals were flying kites on the grounds, watching the sun go down, picnicking and so on. 

We were so hot! One would swear we are sitting on the actual equator, but apparently it's still 1,000 miles away! I insisted on these being black and white so you cannot really see the tomato quality of my face. Sunscreen did the trick though - super warm, but no sunburn! Woohoo!

This is me playing with selfies while mom figured out how to get us back to the ship. ;)

We watched the sun go down on San Juan and headed back to the docks. All in all yesterday, we walked a little over 5 miles, and boy am I feeling it today! We are both so happy that we went off on our own so we could have a T&L  adventure.

Last looks at San Juan!

Tuesday we will wake up in St Thomas on Charlotte Amalie!

Home Sweet Home 💙