A week of successes and some not so successes. Early in the week, we moved from Honeymoon Beach over to Christmas Bay so that we could fulfill another bucket list item….the Pizza Boat! On the way, we parked in Brenden’s Bay and hopped in Harry Houdinghy to go over to the marine shop to pick up our new inflatable dinghy. We had ordered it a few weeks ago and the store shipped it in from St. Maarten so we were definitely ready to get it. When we arrived, they stated that the dinghy had arrived but they needed us to approve the charge. When I pulled up my credit card app, the charge was several hundred dollars more than we expected. With some research, we found out they had sent the wrong dinghy. After some discussion, we decided that we would take the dinghy that had been sent because it would work for us and we did not want to wait for another one to ship. Plus, the guy who was buying Harry had been super patient and offered us full asking price so we did not want to lose that sale. The store had inflated the dinghy and it was up to Bill and the sixty-five year old employee to get the dinghy into the water. Luckily, the new dinghy only weighs 125lbs so no heart attacks occurred during the transfer. We then used Harry to tow the new dinghy back out to Galt and hoisted both dinghies on the boat to be able to make our way to Christmas Bay. By this time, we had earned our Pizza Boat adventure! After we had anchored, we pulled up the Pizza Pi menu and while the dinghy carrying did not give anyone a heart attack, the price of a boat pizza did! But, we figured it was a once in a lifetime event so we would splurge for the $33.00 pizza (without delivery tip added!). We wanted to experience picking up the pizza at the pizza boat but alas, the new dinghy gas connector piece did not fit and dinghies do not run well without fuel…so delivery it was! The girl brought the pizza in her dinghy, tied up to the side of Galt and handed me the pizza. We had to admit that it was very good pizza and the fun of the delivery was worth the cost. That afternoon, we sadly said goodbye to Harry as his new owner towed him away and we got the new dinghy settled onto the back of the boat. We both had to admit that while we would miss Harry, the new dinghy was so easy to hoist onto the boat that we probably would not miss Harry and his 300lb weight for very long.
The next morning, we pulled up anchor and made the six hour trek across to the Virgin Island of St. Croix. Marina Sally had been on anchor for about a month and needed some marina pampering so we pulled into Green Cay Marina to find a pool, beach and hot showers! And even more exciting, they had a buy 5 days, get two more days free deal going….Marina Sally was happy! Prior to arriving in St. Croix, we made a list of things we wanted to see and do on the island. There were so many options! A restored sugar cane plantation, a rum distillery tour and several forts. However, our first stop was at the Customs Border Patrol office to get an exit form that was required prior to our jump to St. Maarten. The CBP office was located at the airport which was mid island. The island is only 21 miles long so it doesn’t take long to get anywhere, you just have to watch for huge potholes along the way while driving on the left side of the road. Once we arrived at the airport, we were directed to a tiny office in a hidden corner and a lady came out to inform me that the marina should have given us the necessary forms….when I told her the marina office was the one who directed us to her at the airport, she sighed and began gathering forms, grumbling about how no one ever does what she tells them to do. Ah, a disgruntled US government employee….how I have missed them! Once we gathered our forms, we headed out to begin being true tourists. First, we headed to the Captain Morgan distillery…..gift shop open but no tours available…and the last rum tasting was at 1pm so we had missed it. Not to fear! We would head over to the Cruzan Rum distillery for their tour….nope, closed due to the Stupid. Onward to the Whim Estate sugar cane plantation tour….nope, closed due to the Stupid. Hungry and thirsty, we decided to give up on rum and go to the Leatherback Brewery….open! No tours but we could at least get some cold beer and pizza. After the frustration of the day, we headed out to Udall Point which is the farthest eastern point of the United States. Most people go to the point for sunrise but since there was no way grumpy morning Sally was ever going to make a sunrise, we settled for sunset at the eastern most point of the United States! We finished the night with a trip to the only casino in the Virgin Islands that offers table games as well as slots. Bill managed to win $100 at blackjack and I walked out with a whopping $3.50 after losing my $10.00 of slot money on a single spin of Roulette….damn that red! We found another bucket list item that we did not know existed so get out your pen and paper! As we were wandering the island, everyone we met asked us, “Have you seen the beer drinking pigs? You don’t want to miss the beer drinking pigs!” We decided that we definitely did not want to miss beer drinking pigs. We headed out into the middle of nowhere and came upon a small bar with a sign that stated they were the home of the beer drinking pigs. We found out from the owner that the pigs had begun drinking beer several years earlier when a friend had set his beer on the wall surrounding the pigpen. The pig had reached up and stolen his beer and the rest was history. A small crowd showed up and the owner pulled out some O’Douls (non alcoholic beer) and we all set off to the pigpens. Even before everyone could get into the area, the pigs were standing up with their front hooves on the wall salivating. I had never known that pigs could jones for anything but evidently beer was their uncontrollable vice. The kids were instructed to shake up the beer can and then hold it up to one of the pigs. I had to give the kids credit…I am not sure I would have stuck my hand out there! One of the pigs grabbed the can and chomped on it sending beer foam spraying all over the kids in the front. The other pigs shouted in protest while he tilted his head back and drank that beer faster than a frat boy with a funnel. Then, when he had emptied the can, he spit the can out on the ground and waited for the next one. I must say that it has been awhile since I have seen a crowd so entertained for the cost of only $2.00! So, add beer swilling swine to your bucket list and move on! Our next treat of the week was going over to the Frederiksted pier for a snorkel. This area was by far the best snorkeling we have done. Schools of fish swarmed around us and we even saw a school of cuttlefish which were hilarious looking creatures. The final adventure was another swab shoved up our nose so that we could apply to get into St. Maarten this week. We knew we were back in that States once we saw the paperwork that we had to fill out…but the test results came in an hour and surprise, surprise….we don’t have Covid…..what a shock. We will be heading over to St. Maarten on Tuesday which is an 18 hour journey so we will be arriving on Wednesday. St. Maarten is an island that is half Dutch and half French so we are looking forward to seeing some new cultures. Stay tuned for new adventures next week but it will certainly be difficult to top beer drinking pigs!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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