Magen’s Bay was as beautiful as we expected. It was hard to capture it in a picture because the white sand stretched for about a mile. During the day, hoards of cruise ship passengers landed on the beach but after 4pm, it became our own private paradise. We were amazed how quickly the beach chair boys could clean up at the end of the day. They were like ants and had those chairs and umbrellas stashed about 5 minutes after the cruise passengers departed. We had a beach day on Monday and the water was awesome. I’d like to say we enjoyed our lunch at the beach snack bar but our hotdog and one slice of pepperoni pizza were $17.00 and they didn’t even give me any toppings for the hotdog! On Tuesday, we taxied over to Coral World Ocean Park. For a small aquarium park, it was very impressive. They had dolphins, sea lions, sharks, turtles and birds. There was a large circular aquarium where the fish seemed to think they were swimming to Hawaii instead of going around the same circle pattern all day. I must admit that taking pictures of animals in a zoo was much easier than catching them on the Serengeti! The park had presentations every 30 minutes to talk about the animals but I think the most interesting fact of the day came from a poster on the bathroom wall. Did you know that a parrot fish poos out 700 pounds of sand per year? I did not! So, next time you are lying on the beach, give that parrot fish a little thanks.
After our Magen’s Bay adventures, we went back over to St. John’s to visit Lameshur Bay which was in the St. John’s National Park. In 1987, Bill had attended a summer study abroad program to do research on the reefs in Lameshur Bay (yeah…tough way to spend a summer at the age of 22!). We arrived to find the bay almost empty which was a surprise because it is usually hard to get a mooring. Bill asked the national park ambassador (evidently a “ranger” has gone the way of the “stewardess” and a “fireman”) if the camp was still there. Finding out that parts of it had survived the last 35 years, we hiked to the camp and went down memory lane. Most of the buildings were still standing but mother nature was in full force reclaiming the area. It was fun to see where Bill had spent his summer all those years ago and to hear about the research he had been doing. After a hot hike back to the beach, we jumped in the water for some snorkeling. The reef had a good amount of huge coral formations and I saw another Porcupine Fish which made me smile. I think if I ever need a therapy pet, I will choose a Porcupine Fish. After Lameshur, we tried to go to Salt Pond Bay but the moorings were all taken by the time we arrived so we changed our plans and sailed over to Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. Charlotte Amalie is the capital of St. Thomas and we had visited previously during times of The Stupid. The city was very different this visit with people everywhere and all the shops and restaurants open. We found a local joint that had a huge food bar and we got enough take away for at least two meals each. We wanted to visit the Pirate Museum but it was closed so we might stick around another day and see if it opens on Monday. Our next stop will be to revisit Honeymoon Bay where we were a couple of years ago and then we will be tracking our way back to Puerto Rico to get Galt and Bill ready for the trek to Bonaire. We are definitely looking forward to the price drop in Puerto Rico for groceries and we won’t miss the $40 per case beer prices! The blog may be a little late next week but I will get it done when possible. Have a wonderful week and I hope Spring is in the air for you all!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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