Good bye St John.  The ferry ride back to St Thomas goes much more smoothly than our outbound trip and we arrive in Red Hook with time for a greasy burger lunch before we begin the journey back to the mainland.

Down time:

Beach time is pretty sweet. In the early mornings and in the evenings the beach is quiet and private.  It gets busy during the day but we can still claim suitable spots to relax.  There is reading and Frisbee and napping.  Everyone manages to make it through the week without serious sunburn.

New experiences:

Snorkeling, there are a few patches of coral close to the beach and they attract some of the beautiful colorful fish. It is Johnna’s first try and it starts with some sputtering and leaky mask but by the end of the week she got the hang of it and spotted some critters too.

Deep sea fishing: we headed out about 7 miles on a 40 foot charter boat (The Doubleheader) with captain Eddie and mate Nick that worked pretty hard to find us fish to catch. Tracy wins the prize for largest fish and most impressive fight to bring it on board.  Check out this picture of her 20 pound mahi mahi.  It is the one fish we kept.  We enjoyed two fantastic meals of the 10 pounds of filets it provided.  Kent, Lynn, Mike and Brian all had a chance to crank one in too.  Three were Gar and Mike’s a jack tuna.  We released those to grow for another day.  Seas grew to 10 foot waves as wee trolled in circles.  It was a bit more than Johnna’s tummy could stand but she bounced right back after a short bout of feeding the fishes.

Stand up paddle boarding: There were some really un-graceful climbs onto the board and totally uncontrolled dismounts but it was great fun.  There was a bit of wind and waves so the best rides were had a little further out from shore where waves were just rolls…of course you have to get out there before you can enjoy it.

Note to those who might consider trying this – apparently adjustable SUP paddles do not float. We are proud owners of a paddle that now rests somewhere on the sea floor off St John.

Camp time:

Mike was our master mixologist, he is still in liver defense mode so he’s not drinking…makes sense to make him bartender right? He mastered the pina colada and concocted some tasty, less standard coconut/rum drinks.

Evenings included cards, Uno and Phase 10, and some time decorating for Christmas.

The family that cooks together stays together…well, something like that! We grilled jerk chicken and fried plantains.  Christmas dinner was some fantastic Mahi mahi tacos.  We finished off the mahi mahi by stirring up our individual versions of awesome fish salad.

Out and about

Cruz Bay: out for dinner – Fish Trap – we are checking out some local cuisine.

Cruz Bay: out for dinner – Asolare – Kudos to Mike and Tracy for their pick (they had enjoyed this place while on their honeymoon trip).  The bartender is wonderfully creative.  The food is absolutely delicious.  The desserts top it off just right.  Add to that a fantastic view and great company.  I couldn’t have asked for more.

The local wildlife – feral donkeys, feral chickens (that is weird), iguana, anole lizards and mongoose, they are everywhere. A few white tail deer hang out right in camp.

A drive to the east end provides impressive shoreline views.

Everybody (Mike, Tracy, Brian and Johnna) is here, cars are rented, groceries are purchased and we head for the ferry and our home for a week, Cinnamon Bay Campground in Virgin Islands National Park.  As we had been forewarned, the ferry line is long and slow moving.  The view is nice and they have a little bar that offers a bit of a diversion during the wait.  There is a little drama as patience grows thin (Jeep drivers seem to feel a bit entitled).  The crossing consumes about 4 hours and pushes us to an after dark arrival at camp.  We are firmly on island time now.

Camp check in is a bit rocky but the security guard comes to the rescue to point us toward our tents and find us some linens. We scattered to our respective digs and crash for the night with the sound of the crashing waves and singing tree frogs filling our ears

Base camp for Dec-January at Uncle Bill’s and Emma Jane’s place. We spend some time catching up and have our first Christmas dinner with them.  We will hang out a while longer after our Island trip.