Mom and Aunt June left earlier today. Their flight was at about 9 and mine wasn’t until 3 so I had some time to kill after I dropped them off at the small St Thomas airport.
I went back and helped Auntie Clarice hang a picture on the wall of her one bedroom condo. It was a big heavy picture that had apparently fallen in the past and she was wanting to get it back up, but I was determined that it would be up solidly as the last thing I wanted to find out is she had been beaned in her sleep by a 200 pound picture of the setting sun…
I cleaned out the condo mom and I had stayed in and showered and finished packing and then took Auntie Clarice down to Redhook for our last lunch. Well – she actually took me partly. I only had about $15 in cash and, the one thing about St Thomas is there are tons of places that don’t take credit cards and the ATMs can be finicky as I had been refused cash at some points and had it spewed out at me on other occasions.
While we munch on shrimp po’boys and hamburgers, we discussed my like or dislike of the island and whether I would ever come back.
There had been one even with the local Kmart and mom’s prescription that had quite soured me on the hospitality of the “natives”. I won’t go into detail – sorry, I’m sure you all love that – but long and short, a full day was taken to arrange for things to get her medication… and it was a meaningless full day with clueless people who never really tried to help us. And then, when we went to pick up the prescription, it took about 2 hours and even then we finally left in disgust, no pill bottle in hand. They had tried my patience to the maximum.
Overall – I loved a lot about the island and I would totally come back to the Virgin Islands! The weather, the beaches, the condos with the view. It was a fun week.
However, I will fill out a comment card for those who are interested.
Overall hospitality of island – (scale of 1 – 10, 1 being lowest and 10 being highest) – 2
Helpfulness of Islanders – 2
Friendliness of locals – 1
Driving skills of locals - -1
The islanders never smile at you and make you feel as if you’ve invaded their island paradise, which I’m sure we have, but whatever – stop working at the t-shirt hut and then you won’t have to deal with us! The term “island time” is in full force here. They do things at their own pace, and I think their own pace is set at “bug the crap out of the tourist” mode. I honestly could see them taking their time or ignoring you, just to tick you off.
My other thought was that the water is SO much bluer in the Bahamas. That’s what I remember. I remember being on the power boat coming down from Ft Lauderdale to Bimini and being in the middle of the ocean and the water being a crystal blue that was clearer than bathwater that you could see right to the bottom of the ocean. It was seriously that clear! Every Cay we visited in the Bahamas had the most amazing water and reefs.
The water was definitely a lot bluer over by Virgin Gorda. I could look down from the boat when we pulled in to dock and I could see down. There were patches of clear blue water around St Thomas, but overall, it just wasn’t that impressive I didn’t think.
St John was a little bit nicer as it was not had inhabited as St Thomas and the locals seemed a little more friendly. The buildings seemed a little newer and cleaner.
My overall take on my St Thomas vacation was 4 stars (out of 5). I think that overall I had a really great time and I love my new tan and my really bleached blonde hair! I haven’t gotten this in so long as I haven’t taken a beach vacation in forever! Auntie Clarice is already asking if I would come back next year – she didn’t think I had a good time – I’ll be back, though J
I went back and helped Auntie Clarice hang a picture on the wall of her one bedroom condo. It was a big heavy picture that had apparently fallen in the past and she was wanting to get it back up, but I was determined that it would be up solidly as the last thing I wanted to find out is she had been beaned in her sleep by a 200 pound picture of the setting sun…
I cleaned out the condo mom and I had stayed in and showered and finished packing and then took Auntie Clarice down to Redhook for our last lunch. Well – she actually took me partly. I only had about $15 in cash and, the one thing about St Thomas is there are tons of places that don’t take credit cards and the ATMs can be finicky as I had been refused cash at some points and had it spewed out at me on other occasions.
While we munch on shrimp po’boys and hamburgers, we discussed my like or dislike of the island and whether I would ever come back.
There had been one even with the local Kmart and mom’s prescription that had quite soured me on the hospitality of the “natives”. I won’t go into detail – sorry, I’m sure you all love that – but long and short, a full day was taken to arrange for things to get her medication… and it was a meaningless full day with clueless people who never really tried to help us. And then, when we went to pick up the prescription, it took about 2 hours and even then we finally left in disgust, no pill bottle in hand. They had tried my patience to the maximum.
Overall – I loved a lot about the island and I would totally come back to the Virgin Islands! The weather, the beaches, the condos with the view. It was a fun week.
However, I will fill out a comment card for those who are interested.
Overall hospitality of island – (scale of 1 – 10, 1 being lowest and 10 being highest) – 2
Helpfulness of Islanders – 2
Friendliness of locals – 1
Driving skills of locals - -1
The islanders never smile at you and make you feel as if you’ve invaded their island paradise, which I’m sure we have, but whatever – stop working at the t-shirt hut and then you won’t have to deal with us! The term “island time” is in full force here. They do things at their own pace, and I think their own pace is set at “bug the crap out of the tourist” mode. I honestly could see them taking their time or ignoring you, just to tick you off.
My other thought was that the water is SO much bluer in the Bahamas. That’s what I remember. I remember being on the power boat coming down from Ft Lauderdale to Bimini and being in the middle of the ocean and the water being a crystal blue that was clearer than bathwater that you could see right to the bottom of the ocean. It was seriously that clear! Every Cay we visited in the Bahamas had the most amazing water and reefs.
The water was definitely a lot bluer over by Virgin Gorda. I could look down from the boat when we pulled in to dock and I could see down. There were patches of clear blue water around St Thomas, but overall, it just wasn’t that impressive I didn’t think.
St John was a little bit nicer as it was not had inhabited as St Thomas and the locals seemed a little more friendly. The buildings seemed a little newer and cleaner.
My overall take on my St Thomas vacation was 4 stars (out of 5). I think that overall I had a really great time and I love my new tan and my really bleached blonde hair! I haven’t gotten this in so long as I haven’t taken a beach vacation in forever! Auntie Clarice is already asking if I would come back next year – she didn’t think I had a good time – I’ll be back, though J
1 comment:
Wow - so much here I had to print it out (16 pages). Glad you and mom had a good time, and I'm sure you're happy to be back in the US.
(You sounded a little colonialist on this last one!)
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